Page 7 of Purrfectly Outfoxed
‘What the fuck? How are you talking in my head?’
The cat jumps down from her perch on the arm of the couch and approaches me, tail in the air as she stalks close. ‘Magic, fuckface. Now, get out.’
‘Whoa. Hostile much?’
‘You have no idea. Now, leave.’
‘Whoa, whoa. Wait up a minute.’I shoot back.‘You’re saying this is magic. The only magic I know of that allows shifters to communicate telepathically is through a mate bond or a pack bond. And you and I are no pack.’
The cat hisses, her hackles rising.‘You think you and I are mates?’She actually chuckles in my mind.‘Don’t be ridiculous.’
‘Do you have another explanation, Whiskers?’
She hisses again. ‘Don’t call me that. That name is not for you.’
‘Fine. Do you have another explanation, princess?’
Her pupils narrow.‘It’s Halloween week, genius. Magic gets amplified this time of year. Everyone knows that.’
‘Not everyone. I didn’t know it was a thing.’
I can practically feel her rolling her eyes.
‘Clearly your pack didn’t bother with your education. Regardless, a cat and a fox would never be fated mates. We’re not even the same species.’
‘Interspecies mate bonds exist,’I counter.‘They’re rare. But they happen.’
‘Well, one isn’t happening right now, because I happen to find you repugnant. And I don’t think that’s how mate bonds work. Now, GET OUT. Bea is my human. I claimed her first.’
‘Bea? That’s her name, is it? What’s that short for? Beatrice?’
The cat straightens up. ‘Her name is none of your business. You aren’t staying.’
I look over my shoulder to find this ‘Bea’ bustling around the kitchen, completely oblivious to the mental warfare happening in her living room. She’s putting away groceries, humming that tune again, occasionally glancing over at us with a fond smile.
“Isn’t this nice?” she says. “All three of us under one roof. I always worry that Whiskers is lonely when I’m out. But now I won’t have to. Oh, you’re going to be such good friends!”
‘Over my dead body,’the cat snarls in my head.
‘Look,’I try, going for reasonable. ‘I don’t want to cause problems. I just need a place to stay for a little while?—’
‘A little while? You think you’re STAYING?’
Her tail is lashing now, her ears flat against her head. To Bea, it probably looks like normal cat wariness. But I can feel the rage rolling off her in waves.
‘Yes. Until I get back on my feet. A week, maybe two?—’
‘Absolutely not. This is MY house. MY Bea. I’ve been here for two years. TWO YEARS. And you think you can just waltz in here and?—’
‘I didn’t know you were here!I snap back. ‘You think I wanted to run into another shifter? This was supposed to be simple!’
‘Oh, I’m SO sorry my existence complicated your little con.’
‘It’s not a con, it’s—’I pause. This is definitely a con.‘OK, it’s a con. But it’s a survival con. There’s a difference.’
‘No, there isn’t.’
We’re circling each other. She’s looking like she’s about to launch herself at my face. I’m in a low crouch, my teeth bared.