Bad Kitty (7 page)

No home, nowhere to run. The desolation
engulfed her.

Despite the feeling of
being trapped, Kitty's instincts forced her to think about this
room. She ached to prowl through the space and search for clues
about what she'd gotten herself into, but the energy to move had
escaped her. So instead
,
she closed her eyes and concentrated on the
healing magic she needed so desperately. The familiar tingle washed
over her without causing the change. She'd discovered as a teenager
that she could manipulate the power in small degrees without taking
it all the way to a shift. This allowed her to heal wounds, move
faster in her human form and enhanced her senses equal to the cat.
Something no one else in her pride could manage
,
that she knew of. Another anomaly
she'd yet to solve.

The power sizzled at the site of her wounds
and a yowl of protest filled her head. Sweat beaded on her forehead
and her limbs began to tremble.

"What are you doing?"

Kitty jerked at the voice right next to the
bed. She hissed in response.

He'd snuck up on her without a sound.
Goosebumps rose along her arms and her fingers curled defensively.
The nagging sensation she got every time he got close plagued her
mind. She shrugged it off as a side effect of her weakened
condition. Obviously the poison had multiple affects she wasn't
aware of.

"No need to be pissy. I'm only trying to
help you."

Despite Rafe's words, and her diminished
strength, her muscles coiled rigidly and her fingers curled, ready
for claws. "Don't want your help," she murmured.

"Oh, okay then. Does that mean you'd like me
to deliver you back into the woods so those idiots I found you with
can finish what they started?"

Heat pumped through her.
The urge to knock the smirk from his face rode her hard.
Unfortunately she didn't possess the control to shut her own
mouth
,
let alone
his. "Is that why you brought me here? So you could taunt me? I
mean, what's the point of bringing me here if you only want to send
me back? Or were you hoping to fuck me first, because I'm not about
to become someone's fuck toy. So go ahead and get that shit out of
your pretty little head right now." She didn't bother to hide the
distaste from her voice. He was a damned wolf and likely to kill
her or worse once she healed. It was the worse that gave her pause.
It didn't take much imagination at all to know what the other men
from the woods would do to her. It was this one who confused her.
She couldn't get a bead on his motives yet and that fact exhausted
her.

Then there was her body's reaction...

Rafe pulled the chair she'd failed to notice
close to the bed and sat down, bringing him closer in view. Dark
hair framed a unique face with angular planes. Even darker eyes
stared down at her, mesmerizing her. They reminded her of melted
chocolate on a hot sunny day. She loved chocolate.

"I brought you here because you were a
bloody, beat up mess and I didn't like the look in Tanner's eyes
when he stared down at you."

His direct and seemingly honest answer threw
her off guard and her expression softened for a split second before
the suspicions grew stronger. "That's a nice story. But you're wolf
and I'm not. I don't believe for a second you want to help me. You
hate our kind."

He sat back and sighed, his gaze never
wavering from her face. "I don't blame you for not trusting me, but
you're going to have to find a way past that if you want to come up
with a solution. I don't hate a whole species unilaterally. My
decision to like or not like someone is based on the
individual."

"But you're—"

He held up his hand and
stopped her protest. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Feline and wolves are
enemies and have been for decades. Don't you ever get tired of
hearing that? Saying it? Living it?" he pushed his fingers through
his hair. "We have a lot in common
,
you know."

Kitty scoffed. She couldn't imagine a single
thing she'd have in common with his kind.

"No, seriously. We may not
share the same animal DNA
,
but we do have our human traits in common. We
eat, sleep, go to work and socialize the same. Who's to say we
can't find more."

"You're even crazier than I thought," she
whispered. "Are you going to break out in song and sing about how
we should all just get along? Cause if so, I'm getting the hell out
of here before you do." She started to struggle into a sitting
position and failed.

The wolf growled, a dark shadow crossing his
face. That single look made her stomach quiver and her pulse
ratchet up a notch or two. As usual she'd let her mouth get the
best of her and she'd pissed off the lone man who now held her life
in his hands.

Smooth move, Kitty.

"I bet that smart mouth gets you into a lot
of trouble. It at least gives me some insight into your current
condition. What happened? Did you push someone too far and get into
a fight?"

Kitty recoiled at his assessment. Renewed
anger sparked through her, setting off the fire in her wounds to an
even higher level. The gasp of pain slipped from her lips before
she could stop it.

Rafe jumped to his feet. "What happened? Is
it worse?"

When she didn't
immediately respond
,
he leaned forward into her personal space. "Tell
me."

"Hurts," she managed through gritted
teeth.

"I should get Doc. You need something for
the pain."

Without thought she reached for his arm and
stopped him before he could spin and walk out the door. "Not yet. I
just need some time to get myself straight." Kitty watched his
brows draw together as he considered which route to take. After
what felt like forever, he finally backed off and assumed the seat
next to her bed.

While her mind still demanded answers, her
body was again at the point of no return. She wanted nothing more
than to roll over and sleep for a week.

"Why don't we start over with something
easy. My name's Rafe. What's yours?" He held out his hand and
waited for her to take it.

Her right arm didn't hurt as much as her
left so she grasped his palm and answered, "Kitty."

A wide smile transformed his face and took
her breath away. He went from dark and devilish to boyishly
handsome in a matter of seconds. "Seriously?"

Kitty rolled her eyes and lifted her head to
stare at the ceiling. "Yes, seriously." As if she hadn't heard that
sarcasm before. A feline named Kitty. Ha. Ha. Ha.

"Is Kitty short for something else?"

Her breath clogged in her throat. The way
her name rolled from his tongue sent a slight tremor down the
length of her spine. How he'd managed to make such a simple
question sound so sensuous was beyond her comprehension. Not to
mention the slight crack in her self-preservation his voice
created. For a moment she wanted to think they were friends. That
her visit here was both temporary and voluntary and when she healed
she'd simply get up and walk out.

Fat chance. She admonished her thoughts.

"Nope. Just Kitty." As far as she was
concerned, the woman her father called Katherine was long gone.

"Okay
,
just Kitty. Do you remember why or
how you wandered from clan land onto wolf territory?"

Kitty strained to remember the events of the
day before. The council had banished her from her home and
magically branded her as an outcast, effectively leaving her
nowhere to go except the neutral zone. This wasn't exactly the kind
of information she wanted to pass on to her captor. If she held
nothing useful for him there would be no reason for him to keep her
alive. She needed to think fast. Sooner or later he'd notice the
brand and then he'd know the truth.

"Let's just say I pissed off some women in
the clan and yesterday they decided to get back at me."

He quirked his right brow. "I'd say they
were pretty angry to bring poison to a fight. What exactly did you
do?"

Panic quivered through her. She wasn't about
to give her life story to this... this... stranger.

Another small smile crept over his face.
"Don't want to tell me all your secrets, huh?"

Kitty kept her mouth closed for once.

"Fine, although you might be surprised by
how much I already know. If my memory serves me there is a feline
named Kitty from your clan who is the daughter of former council
member Bran, who happens to be the one who died recently after
causing a shitload of trouble for your guardians. Am I right?"

In fact, I believe he was obsessed with
their power and for years went back and forth between revenge and
some pretty crazy experiments. That's how you ended up with a
hybrid half sister isn't it?

Her insides froze and her stomach roiled,
threatening to revolt. How in the hell did he know private clan
business? Was there a wolf spy in their midst?

Rafe sat back in his chair
and weaved his fingers over his chest. "I like that wild eyed look
you get when I surprise you." He suddenly leaned forward and
brought his face perilously close to hers. "I'm
right
,
aren't I?
I know all about the Guardian trouble going on between the felines
and you've been right in the middle of it thanks to your father.
All kinds of people gossip, both wolf and feline."

Kitty could only whimper her distress as all
the vile things she'd done came rushing forward. The more she
thought over what brought her here the more she realized the apple
did not fall far from the tree. Blood was thicker than water and
she truly was Bran's daughter.

"I'm not here to judge
you
,
nor do I
really care to know all the sordid details. What I am looking for
is something I can use when Tanner takes his case to the pack."
Rafe's breath caressed her heated skin. The scent of pine and man
came on so strong it overtook her senses.

A new warmth crept through
her. She no longer cared about the past. Instead
,
she focused on the fact every word
out of his mouth seemed to make her tingle from head to
toe.

"Tanner?" With all the cohesive thoughts
abandoning ship, she couldn't remember who anyone was except the
man in front of her.

At least until her head kicked in and she
reminded herself what she faced. A very large, very dangerous wolf
who'd plucked her from the brink of death for no good reason.
Before she could respond, his beefy hand touched the side of her
face. A spark sizzled along her skin and made her recoil from the
connection.

"Don't worry. I'm just checking for fever."
A slight smile followed his words and she noticed the
transformation of his face instantly. He managed to go from big
scary wolf to a man who gave her thoughts she definitely wasn't
supposed to be having. The big, sweaty, sexy kind. As if on cue her
breasts tingled and her stomach tightened.

"Your eyes changed color. Why is that?" He
voiced the question on a heavy sigh, eliciting another buzz of
reaction from her.

"Don't know," she lied.

For a few long seconds he stared at her as
if he saw straight through her. The vulnerability that look created
threatened to overwhelm her. She wanted to blink or look away but
found it impossible to break eye contact. For a moment she forgot
about the pain, the differences of their species and the fact she
needed to get away. She focused only on the foreign sensation of
being mesmerized. Her head and body betrayed her with a sharp
longing for more of the man sitting in front of her who'd awakened
something inside her with a simple touch to her cheek.

Did fate send her here to find her mate? Why
would her mate be a wolf who'd rather kill her than keep her?

Before the question sank into the logical
part of her brain a sudden prick of pain erupted in the fleshy part
of her upper arm. She jerked from Rafe's touch and bared her teeth
on a vicious hiss.

"What did you do?" Already the edges of her
vision were beginning to blacken and she knew it was only a matter
of seconds before she would be gone.

The wolf in front of her held up a small
syringe. "It's for the best..."

Whatever else he'd said faded in her memory
faster than her brain could process as she fell limp to the
mattress and closed her eyes.

Betrayed again.
It was her last thought before she succumbed to
the darkness.

Chapter Four

"Is she awake?"

"No. It's going to be a while before she's
conscious again. Thank God."

Kitty heard the voices but again couldn't
see who was speaking. She desperately wanted to open her eyes but
no matter how hard she tried they wouldn't cooperate. Both male
voices were so familiar but her brain couldn't or wouldn't identify
either one.

"Her wounds are finally starting to
heal."

"I take it the last of the poison is gone
now?"

Poison? What poison? What was wrong with
her? Why couldn't she wake up?

"Looks like
it
,
but she's not
healing like she should. See this? This is serious scar tissue
beginning to form."

"You mean all of these injuries are going to
stay like that?" Whoever belonged to that dark silky voice needed
to keep talking.

"I'm afraid so. Such a shame to see such a
beautiful woman marred like that. She must have some serious
enemies."

Who the hell was he
talking about?
Frustration beat at her
skull as she struggled to comprehend what she'd
overhead.