Page 17 of Courted by the Sabertooth (Mori’s Mementos #3)

“I’m not sure,” Raiel said. “I know Crilus called Teal and Morvan as soon as he figured out what was going on. Teal called me to ask me what I knew but besides two of them were dead at the time I didn’t know a whole lot.

He’s Crilus’s friend and likes to kill assholes.

I mean as far as hobbies goes, it’s not the worst I’ve heard of.

I don’t think anyone will come tonight if there are more. ”

“I don’t think there are. You think someone would’ve been there with Tops. He had to know that we’d taken body parts from his friends or flunkies or whatever they were to him,” I said.

“Who knows? I think we just have to stay on guard. I can stay a while if you like. Crilus gives me all the time off that I want because I didn’t quit the bar when it exploded.

I’m not sure if he knows why I’m still there but I’ll take whatever perks while I can.

I think after watching you with Nic I might skip the courtship gifts until I get him home where it’s safe. ”

“Traditions are important, but it is your choice. Perhaps, your true-mate will be boring and no one will want to kill him,” I teased.

“You know what? I wouldn’t be mad at that,” he laughed. “Turn here.”

As soon as we turned the corner, I smelled what we were on the hunt for. Fur and claws filled my head. There had to be at least twenty-five of them. We slowed down, not wanting to spook them.

“This is a small colony,” Raiel explained over our group link. “It’s just getting started. Three mother cats and a tom. Plus whatever kittens they’ve had recently. They were tiny a few weeks ago when I stumbled upon them. I think they’ll be weaned by now. At least, weaned enough.”

In the shadows of trashcans and cardboard boxes hid the four adult cats and their kittens.

The tom, a big black puff ball, was the first to stick his nose out.

Then the mommas peeked out one by one. They didn’t run or arch their backs.

A second later kittens tumbled out of a box and all hell broke loose as they mewled and hissed and their parents tried to gather them up.

They had decided that we weren’t a threat being that we were cats and all.

The tom stopped and locked his big green eyes on me.

The look said it all. Why in the world weren’t we helping them capture the runaway kittens? We were dumb.

After all the kittens were gathered back into their boxes, I shifted back to my human form while Raiel stayed in his cat form. The tom jumped up on his back using him as a watch tower as he stood guard.

“So many needy kittens,” my cat said as I squatted down to look inside the box. “How do we choose?”

“Don’t think too hard about it. The rest of them will go back to the clan. Raiel’s going to take them.”

“How do you know?” my cat asked. “I didn’t hear him say that.”

“He and the tom are talking about it. The tom is quite keen to live on a world ran by cats. I can’t imagine living with all these dragons is very fun for them,” I said.

The kittens came in all colors creating a furry melting pot as they crawled over each other and mewed. A few stood up at the edge of the box as if they thought maybe I brought food, and they wanted to be the closest to it when I brought it out. None of them looked skinny or malnourished.

“Who wants to come home with me and be treated like a baby?” I asked when all logic failed me.

For a second, the kittens all fell quiet.

One that hung onto the edge of the box fell over.

Then they all fell down. They all gathered in the center of the box.

Perhaps the answer was none of them wanted to venture away from their families and I couldn’t blame them if that was the case.

A little kitten would make a great companion for Nic but I wasn’t literally going to kidnap one that didn’t want to come home with me.

Maybe other shifters who didn’t speak cat could work like that but I couldn’t imagine hearing about how I kidnapped them every day for as long as the cat lived.

“Imagine if Nic learned to speak cat from our claiming vows and found out we kidnapped a kitten against their will. He wouldn’t like that very much,” my cat said, shifting my eyes to his so that he could look out and get a clearer picture.

The kittens peeked little looks at us and soon it was clear they were having a meeting about who, if anyone, should go.

The mother cats had their heads together too.

I prayed they wouldn’t veto the idea. Then a little orange kitten with a white splotch on his chest, tail that curved into a question mark, and the same big green eyes as the tom stepped apart from the huddle.

He waddled over to the side of the box and hopped up to grab the top.

I held out my hand for him to sniff. He did so, fell down, and went back to the huddle.

One by one each of the kittens came to sniff me.

If anything they might’ve been more thorough than I was.

When everyone had finished and they huddled together one more time, the first kitten with the question mark tail came back over. It was clear that he’d made his choice because as soon as he came to the edge he ran back to bite the ear of one of his littermates one last time.

He let out a mewl that was clearly a ‘help me out.’ So, I did.

He waddled over to one of the calico mollies and nuzzled her.

That was his mother. My heart broke a little watching them say goodbye but I was almost positive that they’d see each other again someday.

After all, eventually I’d take Nic to meet my family and we’d never leave our small companion at home.

When all the goodbyes were said, Raiel promised to come back for the others once the sun was up and I shifted back into my cat form.

The kitten’s eyes grew to saucers as he took in my curved teeth.

A second later, his claws dug into my leg as he climbed up to ride on my back.

We made quite the trio on the way home and if anyone spotted us in the shadows the reputation of the ghost cat as a sadistic killer was surely ruined.