Page 7 of Hellcat

Oh. Well, that made sense.

Months ago now, Demetria Winters, the...thingthat had saved their skins after Zack turned Clari, came with an ominous warning. Her attention had mostly been on Niamh, but she'd spared a second to speak to them about the attack in Boston. According to her, it had come from creatures like her, the scions.

“The PIA has fallen, Knox is going to be MIA. Honestly, you shouldn’t be on their radar, but if they come to you and demand your allegiance? Kneel. Don’t even question it. Kneel and live to fight tomorrow,”she'd told them.

“That’s not in our nature,”Rye had replied.

Tria's eyes were full of indifference.

“Then die.”

How long had it been now? A year maybe. The world hadn't changed much on the surface, but anyone paying attention could noticed alarming things. Such as packs, prides, clans, and covens disappearing overnight. Friends going silent, family going on illogical trips, tight-lipped about the details. Someone was pulling strings, manipulating shifters and other sups out there. The victims were smaller, more vulnerable groups. The Wyvern might not be a large pride, but they were powerful, with a mated pair for alphas, several renowned fighters, and links to some of the most powerful feline shifters in the land. Besides, they also had Ava Flavia Dale, who came with the support of every eagle shifter around the globe.

But whoever was moving the pawns, they'd eventually get powerful enough to take them on if things carried on that way. Then what?

Rye was right, kneeling wasn't in their nature. They'd fight. And they would lose. Ian had seen scions in action, he'd researched them thoroughly since meeting Tria and her cousins.

"Any news from her?" Ian asked.

Ace shook her head. "No news is good news, right?"

Not really, this time. If Tria had fallen, then they'd lost all protection. Ian doubted her stunning blond cousins would spare them a thought. Tria cared because she liked Niamh. That was their one link.

He cleared his throat. "Well, nothing we can do about that now. Anyway, I'm taking Cutie to the vet, do you need anything while I'm out?"

Ace's eyes widened and Rye choked on a piece of toast. "You're taking Cutie? For his morning appointment?"

Ian shrugged. "Someone’s gotta do it."

Chapter 5

She took a ridiculous amount of time to pick a selection of dishes throughout the week. By Friday, Tania decided to bite the bullet and just make some new stuff for Ian Summers.

A set of four small, and large plates, large pasta bowls, mugs, and cereal bowls she dried and glazed in various blues. She smiled, satisfied with her work. She didn't recall ever purposefully creating a matched set like this one, and it was positively charming; not every plate was identical, and she definitely hadn't gone for symmetry, but she thought it looked good. On Tuesday evening, she grimaced. Dammit, it was obvious that the set was new. What if he thought she was trying too hard? Maybe she should bring something else.

She sighed. Fuck, she was really acting like a teenager with a crush, just because some hot guy had smiled at her. Not cool.

She didn't even know if he was single, and it didn't matter. She was practically starving for friendship, fun, human interactions. She had a network of friends in LA, but here, her colleagues saw her as a superior as she was replacing the business owner, who was her uncle, to boot. She'd never really made friends in high school, and she was too busy now to join a club or do whatever people did to meet.

Ian was in his early thirties, and the shifters he'd come with were even closer to her twenty-eight years old. They looked like fun. Maybe they could hang out.

She shoved one of her large moving boxes in the back of the work truck and brought out the plates carefully, four by four, adding bubble wrap to make sure they wouldn't break in transit.

Tania was at work by seven-thirty. She checked up on the overnight patients, got started on her admin, prepared her op table, and in no time, it was eight-thirty.

"Amy, do you mind letting me know when Cutie's here? I need to speak with the owner."

They admitted animals who needed a general anesthetic between eight-thirty and nine.

"He's already in at the back," Amy replied.

She'd missed Ian?Tania was ashamed to say that her disappointment was way too acute. Shit, he was just a stranger. Who cared?

"All right. Bring him in, then, would you? We can put him under."

Amy disappeared into the back of the practice. She was back two minutes later, with big wide eyes, and without Cutie.

"Holy shit! No wonder you wanna talk to that!"

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