The Bane of My Existence

Chapter 49

The forbidden castle was teeming with guards having stormed in from every direction.  Still more stormed away, leading off what appeared to be a helter-skelter directonless chase after my pesky brother. I walked on past. Undetected and mostly ignored. It was the sole benefits of being a shifter amongst the Weres. They continued, despite my best efforts, to regard me as not a threath. And I was beginning to learn to just live with it.

"You're going after him?"

I stopped to look up at my other pesky brother and nodded my head. Then I looked around for my sister Kate and saw that she was busy helping out with search parties. Handing out food and other amenities.  A task that should have been mine to undertake.  But she knew me as I did her.

As if sensing my eyes on her, Kate turned her head to catch my gaze and narrowed her own in warning. The glance across the distance was clear, as was the meaning within it. Find our recalcitrant brother and bring him to heel. My jaw dropped in an oddly wolfish grin. Lolling my tongue out in sheer anticipation I turned back to face Mark at his chuckle. Why wasn't he joining me in the search?

But Mark seemed to have sensed my train of thought for he was swift to respond.

"The Alpha is expecting an emissary from the visiting Alpha's pack. He wanted me to be on stand by to receive them."

You?

Emissary?

My pointed stare once again had him answering both obvious questions.

"I am the least lethal looking ambassador he could find at such short notice.  The visiting pack will not take my greeting them in adversary light, especially as we are holding their Alpha and very likely the visitor's mate."

Aashra's mate!

I gulped down hard at that.

Yes, he would be out hunting for her. Alpha Bax made a wrong move in having her locked up. Her mate wouldn't tolerate such disrespect. He would be hot on his heels after her and finding her here under guards will only have explosive results.

That Were would be looking to skin a cat on his arrival. Perhaps having Mark meet and greet the arriving emissaries was the wrong move. Not only was Mark the cat's brother but he was a weak shifter too. By no means able to take on a full fledged enraged Were.

Worry furrowed my brows as I turned up my nose to stare concernedly at him.

But Mark looked unperturbed by death ariving swift on his heels to pound on his very door. Instead he looked eager and excited over the confrontations to come. I could only shake my shaggy head at that. Before I turned to look desparately at the dense forest that shielded my cat King brother.

"You better hurry and find him first.  You're the best bet of locating him. Just don't forget to knock some sense into him before you haul him home," ordered Mark, arrogantly.

I tossed my head at that. Finding him was one thing but dragging the cat back home was another.  Not only would he throw a hissy fit that would no doubt land me scarred and in tethers but what if he decided to turn King on me? What then? What do I do to haul his scrawny ass home, then? Nipping him about the neck won't work. It wouldn't be the best way to go about it either. There was no knowing what having my jaws about his neck would tempt me to do. I wouldn't be opposed to tossing my head from side to side and wrangling his neck while at it. Nope, sinking my teeth anywhere near his throat was nota good idea. It may be a great idea- in the long run, but not a good idea, for now.

I shook my head and turned heel then before abruptly blowing off at a speed. It was better to get this done sooner rather than later. Not only would his scent be harder to track as time went by but my bravado will likely fade as well. An angry cat I can deal with but Lions are rather out of my league.

I took a flying leap over the hedge and dissappeared out of sight, letting instincts guide me. This would be just like one of the many hide and seek chases, Cal and I have played in the past. No different.  I would concentrate on the finding first and worry about the confrontations later.

I sniffed the air for faint traces of my brother's scent and allowed my nose to guide me. I was deep in the woods, among other searching Weres when a change in the scent tantalised me. I came to a sudden stop.

My nose lifted in the air. Raising my head as high as it would go I inhaled sharply then toss my head back with a disgruntled snort. The stench that met my shiny black nose was disgustingly familiar and horrid besides. It would seem that brother dear was back to his true nature. An alley cat!

I shook my head again and this time dropped my nose low to rub a paw onto it. But the stench once there was hard to be rid of. With a mournful yip, I set off at a trott and swiftly picked up speed as I went. Trashing ungracefully through the woods and smashing through wild growth and shrubbery as I went.

Chasing after Calvin was not how I wanted to spend my day. Especially when Alpha Bax and I had decided to have a little impromptu romp before bedtime.  The romp didn't happen.  The Alpha had sent his best trackers out in search for Cal. But I stuck off on my own. I knew I would find him. I always did. But did I want to land in hot soup with the Alpha when I did?

His scent grew stronger as I ran past ploughing restlessly through yet more foilege and shrubbery.  It was just my luck that the bounder would set out to lose himself and me in the darn woods. I flew past more trees and realized they all looked the same. The only way back for me was the same way I ventured out in the first place. Using my keen scenting nose.

Rolene?

The call of my name had me grinding to a halt. My paws dug in to the earth and sent dirt and turf up in the air and scattering.  I flicked my tail and raised my flopping ear to full alert. The voice was familiar and yet vague.  Its thin sound barely discernable. 

Its me.

Me who?

Idiot!

Cal?