Cat's Wolf (A Shifter Romance Novella) (13 page)

Locking her gaze on her father she
didn’t miss the way he straightened as his gaze zeroed in on the sheet of
paper. His eyes narrowed.

“
This
is the proof. It’s a
transcript of the phone conversation between you and the rogues who killed
him.” Her tone was hard.

A ripple went through the men at
her father’s back at that titbit of information. “It’s fake! My
daughter
,”
his glare turned on Kaitlin, “has obviously got it in for me and has fabricated
that document.”

“So you never said, ‘
I want you
to make it slow and painful. Make him suffer.
’?”

Paul swallowed and suddenly glanced
across at his wife, a coldness in his eyes that Kaitlin had never seen before.
Worry for her mum suddenly rushed through her; she didn’t understand the look
but she knew it couldn't be good news.

Her mother paled but raised her
chin defiantly and like a switch it clicked. Ruth Mahone—her mum—was the
reliable source. She’d been keeping Malachi informed of every move her husband
made since…she didn’t know when. Was it that she hadn't agreed with him kicking
Malachi out of the clan or the reason behind it? Whichever it was, she didn’t
want anything happening to the one parent who’d ever treated her well.

“Mum?” She held her hand out,
hoping her mother would join her.

“Don’t!” Her father barked, his
eyes turning murderous.

He’d figured the truth out too and
was not going to let his wife get away with it but Kaitlin knew he wouldn’t
dare hurt her in front of so many witnesses.

Taking another step closer, she
held her hand out further. “Mum? Come on. We won't let him hurt you. If he
tries, he’ll cause a war right here, right now.”

Her mum cast her a quick glance and
took a step closer.

“Ruth,” Paul warned.

Seeming to come to a decision, she
walked calmly away from him and grabbed hold of her daughters hand and
squeezed. “I’m not going to stand by you any longer, Paul. Messing with Kaitlin
was the last straw. Your own daughter? Really?”

“Enough!” Li shouted.

His lip curled back in a snarl and
for a second the veneer he normally presented to the world slipped, revealing
the menacing man who lay beneath.

The sound of swords being removed
from their scabbards echoed amongst the crowd behind Kaitlin and her mum as
everyone caught sight of that look. It foretold trouble.

“I don’t have to listen to this
rubbish, Li, so why don’t you run on home like a good girl,” he said
patronisingly. “I’d like a word with my wife and daughter.”

An affronted growl had their
attention returning to Li. She looked seriously pissed off.

As Kaitlin watched, she reached
back and withdrew her sword. The blade was engraved with symbols she couldn't
understand, and they caught the light as she twirled it impressively in her
hand; the soft whoosh of air the only sound on the field.

“You choose to challenge me?” Paul
asked haughtily.

“I just want you to admit you had
my father murdered,” Li countered, widening her stance.

He laughed. “And why would I admit
to that?”

“Because it’s the truth! I don’t
need your answer though; this is proof enough.” With a battle cry, she twirled,
the blade extended, heading straight for the council leaders chest.

Paul stumbled back just in time and
received only a slice to his shirt. He glanced up quickly, his eyes narrowing
in anger. “You’re going to regret that.” With that, he aimed his fist at her
face and swung—it was almost a blur, he moved that fast—but Li was smaller and
more agile; she ducked the arm and elbowed him in the ribs.

Just like that, with both parties
having attacked, it was war. Cries came from both sides as then they ran at
each other, weapons drawn.

Someone jumped at Rhys and Kaitlin
shot him a quick glance before she had to duck to avoid the knife slicing
towards her head. One hand on the floor, she struck her foot out and it landed
in the centre of her attacker’s chest, sending him flying backwards. His weapon
clattered to the floor but she paid it no heed as she scrambled to her feet and
tackled the man before he could get fully back to his and punched him in the
face. Blood spurted from his nose as she heard the crunch of bone breaking.
With a snarl, he used his build to roll them and punched her in the face. Pain
exploded across her lower face and anger and adrenaline surged through her.

The man was dragged off her seconds
later and she saw the glowing amber of Rhys’ eyes before with one sharp twist
he broke the man’s neck. His chest was heaving, whether with anger or exhaustion
she didn’t know. Offering her his hand he pulled her to her feet and quickly
pressed her to his chest and twisted around. A pained sound left him and she
quickly pulled away to see a man with two serrated daggers in his hands
bouncing on the balls of his feet like a boxer. He was grinning like a maniac.

Her eyes narrowed on him, knowing
he’d just stabbed her mate. She’d make him pay for that.

Quickly dropping she swung her
right leg out in a sweeping kick and heard his grunt as she connected and the
thud as he fell onto his back. He quickly regained his feet and threw one of
his knives. Kaitlin moved her body to the left but it still managed to nick her
forearm. His other soon followed, aiming straight for her and she knew she
couldn't avoid it. Steeling herself for the blow, she gasped when Rhys caught
it mid-air less than a foot from her body. How had he managed to move so fast?

With a flick of his wrist, he sent
the blade back towards its owner and it lodged in his throat. The man clutched
at his bleeding throat and made gurgling noises.

Kaitlin turned away from the
gruesome scene. Her gaze was drawn to the other fighters who were still
battling their enemy. Beyond she could see the slinking black form of her
shifted father. Li was still in human form. There was blood on her sword and
claw marks in her leather outfit.

A familiar yowl had her turning to
see her mother, in puma form, swipe at a man who had come up behind her. She
caught his face, leaving deep gauges. He cried out and clutched at the wounds.

“Mum! Behind you!”

The puma turned and noted the woman
charging towards her with the bloody blade of the axe high above her head ready
to strike, and hissed in warning. The woman paid no heed and her mum jumped at
the woman, knocking her to the ground, and snapping at her face—though she
never made contact. Her attacker tried to fight back by grabbing her under her
lower jaw and pushing but it was useless. Right paw lifting, Ruth, slashed at
the other woman’s throat and it was over.

“Admit it! You killed my father!”

Li had somehow managed to pin Paul
to the ground and had the sword at his neck. He was growling low, unhappy at
his current position but unable to do anything about it. The young woman
pressed the blade in deeper and the growl turned to a whine.

“Admit it!” She shouted.

There was a ripple of power and the
jaguar turned back to human. “Alright! I had the rogues kill him! Happy now?!”
He winced suddenly and a steady stream of blood ran down his chest.

The fighting suddenly stopped at
his admission and everyone turned to stare at him, some in confusion, and
others in hatred.

Chapter 19

A murmur started up somewhere in
the back and then it began to part to reveal several of the council members as they
stepped over corpses and injured bodies as they moved towards the centre of the
crowd.

“What’s going on here?” Katherine
asked in her crisp British accent.

Paul growled, “What are they doing
here?”

“I phoned them; asked them to be
here,” Li spoke without taking her eyes off Paul. “He’s just confessed to sending
the rogues to kill my father,” she said to the three other council members.

Katherine gestured minutely and the
older of the two men stepped forward. Kaitlin recognised him as Sanjit. He raised
a palm in front of her dad’s face and closed his eyes for a second as he did
whatever it was he did. “She speaks the truth.”

Katherine frowned down at the
Coucil Head. “You know what this means, don’t you, Paul?”

He sneered. “I lose my position and
spend the rest of my life in
Bau
. Of course I know! I made the law,
Katherine.”

She gave a delicate sniff and
glanced away to gesture to the other man behind her. “Brandon, Sanjit, if you
will, please.” Katherine’s gaze rose to meet Li’s. “We’ll take him to
Bau
personally, Li. He’ll pay for what he did to your father.”

Li nodded once, her eyes hard on
Paul.

The two men grabbed her father
under the arms and yanked him to his feet. He didn’t fight them like Kaitlin
expected; just let them lead him away, back through the crowd and out of sight.

Just like that the tension left her
and she deflated like a balloon, her knees going weak and, if not for Rhys hooking
an arm around her waist, she would have fallen flat on her face.

“You okay?” He asked softly.

Her gaze raked over the field.
Everyone was just stood there, staring at each other wondering what to do now
the battle had come to an abrupt end.

“I can't believe it’s over,” she
whispered. Turning she wrapped her arms around his waist, her fingers knocking
something on his back. It elicited a pained breath from him and she remembered
the knife. “Oh, God, Rhys I’m so sorry!”

Kaitlin turned him around and
inspected the knife and the wound. “It looks like a clean cut. I’ll remove it
and then you should shift, okay? This is going to hurt,” she warned. Wrapping
her fingers around the handle, she tugged it out quickly and winced at the wet
sound it made. Then cringed at the wounded animal cry he gave as he dropped to
all fours and started the change into werewolf.

She’d missed his change last time
when they were in the woods together but she watched it all this time as fur
sprouted from his pores and his face elongated into a snout. It was magical to
watch but from the noises he was making, very painful too.

A minute or so later he stood
before her, a beautiful black wolf. He must have easily reached her waist with
the top of his head. Kaitlin held out her hand for him to sniff and he did for
several seconds before he started rubbing against her fingers and leg, nearly
knocking her over. She could see the knife wound on his back and breathed a
sigh of relief to see it wasn’t half as bad as it had been in human form, the
skin already knitting together. Rhys rubbed his head against her leg again and
she lost her balance, falling onto her butt. Laughing, she put her hands up,
“Alright, you know it’s me! You can change back now.”

He did and it didn’t seem to take
as long this time. Then he was standing in front of her stark naked with a
naughty twinkle in his amber eyes. “Oh, no,” she said, shaking her head.

Rhys grabbed her around the waist
and pulled her into his chest, “You turned me down yesterday too, you’re going
to start denting this ego of mine if you’re not careful.”

Chuckling she shook her head and spun
him around to check the wound had healed. All that remained was an angry
looking pink line, a definite improvement on what it had been five minutes
earlier. “I think that would be impossible,” she teased.

A voice rang out in the silence and
they both glanced across to see Li addressing everyone. “As you most likely
heard Paul Mahone has been removed from his position as head of the council
following several incidents that cannot be overlooked, including the death of
my father amongst many others including the emotional and psychological abuse
of his daughter, Kaitlin. We will be electing a new head and council member as
soon as it is possible for us to get together. In the meantime, Ruth Mahone
will be head of the Cat Clan. I suggest you all go home, take your injured with
you and forget this fight happened. It wasn’t your fault you fell for his lies…
Thank you.”

Kaitlin blinked slowly and watched
as the young Chinese woman left the field, followed by her men and marvelled at
the authority she had over others.

Her attention then moved to her mum
who was stood a little to the side, wide eyed. A lot of cat shifters were
watching her expectantly and as she watched, her mother snapped to attention
and started ordering them about and they obeyed without question. A slight
smile curled Kaitlin’s lips. Her mum would be a great leader.

As people started walking past them
she turned and started heading back towards Rhys’ car which waited at the edge
of the trees. A handful of women cast him appreciative looks as they passed. Giving
him a sideways appraisal, she added, “I think we need to get you some clothes.”

He stopped and ran a hand down his
chest and stomach, “You’re kidding, right?”

Biting her lip she pulled open the
door and glanced over her shoulder at him, “Of course. You know how much I love
making love inside this car.”

With a growl, he climbed inside and
began showing her how much he loved making love inside his car too.

Epilogue

Kaitlin
ran her hand through Rhys’ tousled hair as he ran a finger over her stomach
drawing little shapes. His head was cushioned on her chest after a fervent bout
of lovemaking.

It
had been three days since the showdown between Li and her father and he had
been publically denounced and locked up in
Bau
, the shifter equivalent
of
Alcatraz
. She knew he wouldn’t be leaving for a long time yet and she
was glad.

It
was a pity they hadn't found that traitor Raoul as well; he could have joined
him behind bars. He appeared to have vanished off the face of the earth.

She
stared up at the pristine white painted ceiling of the master bedroom, her mind
full of these thoughts, as she continued to run her fingers through his hair.