Page 17 of Stray Cat

“Not my rules,” Xav said quickly. “I hate what Shifter Bureau has done to you.”

Cassidy lowered her hand. “I meant that a Shifter woman isn’t going to act the way a human man wants her to.” She shrugged. “We can’t.”

They were momentarily interrupted by three cubs—a bear, a snow leopard, and a wolf—who circled the two of them at an insane pace and then raced away again.

“I think I figured that out a long time ago.” Xav’s mood softened. Cubs had that effect on him. “The protective thing is why you stayed with me when that crazy bear and his followers grabbed me. You could have gotten away from them easily. Diego wasn’t even your mate yet, and you had no obligation to me.”

“He was my mate in my heart.” Cassidy smiled, the love she had for Xav’s annoying older brother shining in her eyes. “That means you were already my brother, and he couldn’t be there to look out for you.” Her gaze sharpened. “I thought you were unconscious for most of that.”

“Not as much as I was going to let those bears think.” Xav had learned that the tactic often worked, which was why he’d employed it last night. “IwishedI’d been unconscious when Reid took me out of there.” He shuddered.

Cassidy had rescued a female bear that day who was now mated to Reid. Piegi, the bear in question, sprinted by in pursuit of a cub just as Xav spoke.

“I’ll tell Stuart you said thanks,” Piegi called as she raced past.

Xav rolled his eyes. “I can’t open my mouth around here. Are you going to tell Lindsay I feel bad for yelling at her, or are you going to make me do it myself?”

Cassidy smiled. “What do you think?”

Xav suppressed a sigh and squared his shoulders. “Wish me luck.”

Cassidy could have said something snide about him not needing it if he did things right, but she only continued her warm smile.

Xav doubted she ever lost an argument to Diego.

Cubs swarmed around Xav as he started across the yard toward Lindsay’s house, using him as a marker for turning around and racing the other way. Xav waved as the cubs screamed their greetings and farewells. Sometimes it was fun being an honorary uncle to Shifters.

Xav usually went straight to the back door when he jogged from Eric’s house to see Lindsay, but today for some reason, he decided the front door would be best.

The houses on Lindsay’s street were low and long, built in an era before air conditioning became the norm. Low ceilings, thick walls, and small windows kept rooms cool against the blasting sun. Where summer temps could reach a hundred and ten and more, retreating under deep porches and into dim interiors made sense.

Ruminating on mid-twentieth century architecture let Xav procrastinate about knocking at the door. Unfortunately, Shifters had great hearing, so before he raised his hand, the door opened, and Lindsay’s mother gazed out at him.

Leah Cummings greatly resembled Lindsay, with the same golden hair and green eyes, though with a stateliness Lindsay hadn’t aged into yet. Leah’s eyes danced as much as her daughter’s, and she possessed the same intense stare, as though she knew everything about a person at first glance.

Lindsay’s mom and her dad, Martin, were both lynx Shifters. They’d mated in a time before Shifter species intermixed much, when different sorts of Felines still avoided each other. Technically, all Felines were Fae-cats, originally bred by the Fae in their distant world, but over the centuries, the Feline clans had each tended toward some type of wildcat.

“Hello, Xav,” Leah greeted him, sounding neither forbidding nor welcoming. “I’m sorry, honey, but she says she doesn’t want to speak to you. Ever again, I’m afraid.”

CHAPTERSIX

Xav wasn’t extremely surprised at Leah’s declaration. She watched him with eyes so like Lindsay’s while Xav pondered what to do.

He could turn around and walk away, pretend he was glad Lindsay was ending things. Or he could not let Lindsay’s anger stop him.

“Will you tell her I’m here to talk about the mission?” he asked.

Leah’s expression softened. “I’ll try. Martin’s in the kitchen. Go say hello to him, and I’ll send Lindsay in if she’s willing.”

There was nothing else Xav could do but take himself into the kitchen while Leah moved down the hall so lightly Xav never heard her go.

Martin Cummings sat over the remains of his lunch, but he rose and smiled at Xav when he walked in.

“Xavier. How are you?” Martin shook Xav’s hand with his usual firmness.

Martin wasn’t as tall as most other Shifters but he had a large frame and broad, strong shoulders. His hair was darker than his wife’s, but streaked with blond, exactly matching his fur in lynx form.

Martin worked as a carpenter for a human business that made custom-built furniture. He moved with the slow quietness of someone who created things with his hands, and performed every task, even carrying his lunch dishes to the sink, with easy deliberation. Xav often wondered how this man had produced a daughter who couldn’t sit still for more than five minutes.

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