Cat's Wolf (A Shifter Romance Novella) (10 page)

The bear let out an unholy roar as
he pushed back to his feet and glared down at Rhys. Then he was attacking
again, his fist aiming for the wolf’s face but once again Rhys was quicker and
easily dodged the boulder sized fist. When this proved ineffective, Tito began
circling again, looking for an opening.

Rhys grinned, “Too quick for you?”

His only response was a disgruntled
growl.

Then it was Rhys going on the
attack. He was fast, nearly a blur as he punched Tito in the face and stomach
repeatedly. Kaitlin missed half of the blows, only heard the sounds of flesh
hitting flesh. It took mere minutes until Tito was a bleeding lump of flesh on
the floor with Rhys leaning over him, not even breathing hard after the fight.

He glanced at the group of bears,
“Anyone else want to try?” They all dropped their gazes to their leader on the
floor and shook their heads. “Then take him and get the hell out of here.”

Quickly obliging, they dragged Tito
off into the trees and disappeared.

Turning back to them, his gaze
instantly went to Kaitlin’s and ran over her, checking she was fine. No-one had
been anywhere near her so why wouldn’t she be?

His gaze then went to Malachi. “We
need your help but I need to tell you something first. Kaitlin is mine; my
friend, my lover, my mate. Understood?” Malachi nodded, his gaze slipping to
her for a second before returning to Rhys. “We are at war with her father and
there is now a bounty on my head thanks to him. We need your help to bring him
down in whatever way possible. If you know anything we can use to bring him
down, any secret, we need to know.”

Malachi hesitated, his eyes
flitting between the three of them and the woods. Then he let out a puff of
air, “I’ll help you bring him down. I’ve been researching him for years since
he kicked me out. I have everything in a file at home.”

This was better than they could
have hoped for. Kaitlin grinned and threw her arms around him, forgetting about
her still healing wrist and let out a grunt of pain as it came into contact
with his shoulder. “Thank you, Malachi.”

His hand tentatively patted her on
the back, his body tense as he waited for the repercussions of her actions.

She pulled back, favouring her
wrist, and stepped back into Rhys’ waiting arms.

“Let’s go get us this folder,”
Brent said with a grin.

Chapter 14

They all piled into the black SUV,
Kaitlin in the front with Rhys, while the other two climbed in the back.

Kaitlin struggled with her seat
belt for a second and then Rhys was taking it from her and pushing it into the
clip.

“You should have changed,” he
reprimanded softly.

Her lips curled up in a soft smile.
“Maybe if you’d asked instead of ordering, I would have.”

He snorted to let her know what he
thought of that. Yeah, okay, she probably wouldn’t have done it then either.

“How is your wrist now, anyway?”

She glanced down at it. It was
still slightly swollen and an angry red colour but it didn’t hurt half as much
as when it had first happened. “Healing.”

Rhys gave her a hard look.

“It
is
healing!”

“Can you wiggle your fingers?”

Kaitlin had to concentrate but her
fingers wiggled slightly. “See, I’m okay.”

His jaw clenched but he started the
car and they set off.

Malachi leaned between the seats,
“Maybe we should stop somewhere safe so she can change, just to make sure? Then
we can head to my place to pick up the file.”

Rhys grunted his agreement as he
shifted gears and they sped up, putting as much distance between the bar and
them.

Kaitlin settled into the seat and
watched the traffic in front of them, her wrist tingling as her shifter DNA
healed the break. It didn’t hurt half as much as it had and she let out a sigh.

They turned off the main road and headed
west. Ten minutes later, they pulled over into a layby and they all climbed
out, heading into the woods.

Rhys stopped when they were about
thirty feet in and no longer visible from the road. He folded his arms across
his chest and stared at her for a second. “Will you change,
please
, so I
don’t have to worry about you getting more hurt?”

Kaitlin glanced over her shoulder
at Brent and Malachi and then turned back to Rhys. “Have you forgotten about my
puma not liking other breeds?”

He waved her comment away, “I won't
let anything happen to you, Cat.
Ever
. Your puma just needs to get used
to me and other shifters scents.”

She trusted him; believed him.

The fingers of her good hand went
to the buttons on her checked shirt, undoing them from top to bottom.

Nudity meant very little in shifter
circles; it was a fact of life. If you shifted wearing clothes, they’d be
shredded and be of no use when you shifted back. It was always better to strip
first so they would still be wearable afterwards.

She was just about to push the
shirt from her shoulders when Rhys whistled and gestured for the two other men
to spin around. Kaitlin rolled her eyes as she shrugged out of it. A shadow
fell over her and she glanced up to see Rhys watching her with heated eyes.

“You’re mine, Cat, and I won't
share you with anyone. Not even the sight of you naked. That pleasure will be
all mine from now on.”

Amused, she shook her head and
pushed at his chest lightly. Kaitlin then attempted to undo the button on her
jeans but was unable to do it. Rhys’ hands nudged hers aside and he swiftly
pushed them down her legs, taking her underwear with them. The cool breeze blew
against her bare flesh and she shivered. He spun her around and unhooked her
bra and helped her out of that too. His warm breath touched the bite mark and a
soft sound left her parted lips.

Then he stepped back and she
crouched down, getting ready for the change. Kaitlin reached for that power and
sucked in a quick breath as the change started in her. Her bones and muscles stretched
and lengthened and fur erupted from her pores. Her teeth lengthened in her jaw
and her nails grew into sharp claws. A pained yowl left her as the change
focused on her injury, the bones fusing back together.

Then she was stood there as a puma
and she felt in control. It was a surprise and she sat down, her gaze going to
Rhys. She could smell him; a woodsy smell mixed in with something more
feminine. She took another breath and smelt herself on him.

An inquisitive noise left her and
Rhys held out a hand for her to sniff. It was a smell she knew she loved and
she ran her cheek against his palm. He laughed, “You can change back now, Cat.
We’ll orientate you with the pack later on.”

Kaitlin shifted back and stood up.
Dizziness overcame her and she stumbled. Rhys caught her around the waist and
held her against him.

“You okay?”

She nodded slowly, her head slowing
down from its crazy spinning. Her belly rumbled loudly and he laughed softly.

“Let’s get you dressed, then we’ll
head to Malachi’s and grab some food on the way.”

Five minutes later they were on the
road again, looking for somewhere with a drive through. It didn’t take long for
them to find one and they ordered enough for a small army.

Kaitlin was the only one who
started eating and even that was only because Rhys asked her nicely, saying it
would make her feel dizzy.

Malachi called directions from the
back as he led them to his house on the outskirts of the city. It was a fairly
large detached house with a well-kept garden and she couldn't help wondering
how he could afford it.

As if reading her mind he said,
“I’ve done the odd job for other shifters over the years. Well paid ones.”

They climbed out and Kaitlin was
glad to find she wasn’t dizzy anymore. The Sprite and burger had obviously
given her enough energy.

Rhys came around the car and placed
his palm in the small of her back as they followed Malachi towards the front
door and watched as he reached into his back pocket for the key. He unlocked
the door and they all went inside, Brent at the rear of the group. He scanned
the street once before shutting the door and nodding at Rhys.

“So where’s this folder?”

“It’s in the office. You might want
to come with me. Like I said, I’ve been tracking his movements and meetings
since he got rid of me. The whole room is one big study case.”

Rhys raised his brows but beckoned
Malachi to lead the way.

He whistled something as he walked
down the hall and pushed open a large heavy door. Kaitlin gasped as she saw
every available surface was covered in pages of paper; some were hand written,
others typed and more were pictures of people. There were lines of coloured
string connecting people and information.

She was surprised to see a picture
of herself with two pink strings leading from her. She followed them, finding
one leading to Tito and the other to…Rhys?

“Malachi, have you been following
me?”

His brows rose at the question and
then saw where she was pointing. “Ah, no. I was told by a…reliable source that
you were seeing the wolf.”

Reliable source? She frowned having
no idea who it could be. Misha? Tito? But why would either of those tell
Malachi about her relationship with Rhys?

The other man turned back to gather
a thick file from a locked draw in his desk. “This contains everything you see
here but on a smaller scale.” He placed it on the desk top and looked up at all
three. “Every secret; torture he’s performed and meeting is in this.”

Brents brow furrowed, “How have you
managed to collect all that alone?”

“I’ve had help from a few reliable
sources.” His gaze briefly went to Kaitlin’s before returning to Brent’s.

Now she was even more confused. Why
had he looked at her when he’d mentioned his sources again? Did she know them?

Rhys moved forward and lifted the
file from the table. “We should get out of here and head back to the hotel.”

“I agree,” Brent said.

Kaitlin continued to watch Malachi
as he grabbed up a few things before joining them at the door and they headed
outside to the car.

Chapter 15

It took just under half an hour to
get back to the Bay and her puma went on alert at the number of wolves inside
the suite. There must have been three times the number she’d met before and she
itched to run away; her skin feeling almost like it was crawling. Not a nice
sensation at all. She rubbed her arms trying to stop it.

Malachi looked just as freaked. The
clenching and unclenching of his hands showed her just how hard he was fighting
the urge to do something.

Kaitlin moved closer until her arm
touched his and watched as some of the tension left his shoulders. She’d
relaxed a little too. He gave her a grateful smile.

“Right guys,” Rhys said loudly,
grabbing her attention as well as everyone else in the room. “We have possible
information that could bring down the head of the Shifter Council. If it wasn’t
bad enough that he put a bounty on my head, he’s also exiled one of his own
clan members and abused his daughter mentally and emotionally. He is an evil
man and he must be stopped and tried for his crimes.”

A cheer of approval went through
the room.

He wiggled the file he was holding.
“This holds everything we need. I need volunteers to recheck the sources of
this to see whether they’d give evidence against Paul Mahone. Who’s up for it?”
Several hands raised and he beckoned them forward to come and retrieve the file
from him and had a quiet discussion with them.

Kaitlin looked across at Malachi
but he’d relaxed and seemed content to wait while his file was looked through
and confirmed. Movement beyond him caught her attention and she glanced past
him to see a guy with a phone pressed to his ear talking quietly and rapidly.
He seemed familiar, like she’d seen him before but it was only when he turned,
finishing the conversation that she recognised him. It was the guy who’d been
staring at her her first night here. A shiver moved down her spine as he caught
her watching him and gave her a cold glare. Something wasn’t right there.
Instinct told her she should tell Rhys and she quickly turned to him. “Rhys?
Rhys!”

At the almost desperate quality in
her voice he turned sharply. “What is it?”

Turning back, she gripped his arm
when she saw the man had vanished. “He’s gone.”

“Who’s gone?”

Her eyes went over the faces in the
room but she couldn't find him. “The guy,” she answered, her gaze roaming
frantically from face to face.

“What guy, Cat? You could be
talking about anyone; only the guys followed me from Darren’s.”

She frantically tried to recall
what he looked like. “He was tall, dark hair, dark eyes. Kinda creepy looking.
You’ve introduced me to him before, the first night I came here. You told me
his name!” The night came back to her suddenly, “Raoul!”

He frowned. “Raoul? You’re sure it
was him?”

“Yes!”

Rhys whistled sharply and Brent
appeared at his side in the next moment. “Try and find Raoul in the suite.”

“He won't be here. He’ll be long
gone by now.” Kaitlin crossed her arms over her chest, unimpressed at not being
trusted on this.

Reaching out he brushed his thumb
across her cheek. “I can't go jumping to conclusions; it wouldn’t make me a
good Alpha. That doesn’t mean I don’t believe you, though, I do.”

Brent reappeared at their side,
shaking his head. “He’s not here. Why did you want him?”

“He’s working with someone else,”
Kaitlin cut in before Rhys could answer. “I saw him talking heatedly to someone
on the phone. When he saw me watching he gave me this cold, evil look and I
just knew something was wrong. I told Rhys and when I turned back he was gone.”