The Cat Shifter (Book 1 of Shifter Series)

Chapter 7

"So, what do you mean by Trevor being your second?" Brody asked, leaning back in his seat. He stared at me, his face not showing any emotion. He didn't act as he wanted me, but maybe that was because he was scared or something.

I looked down at Katie, fiddling with her hair. I did not know why she was sitting in my lap, but I think that she was needing to be reassured after having been attacked by Rogues. "My dad is, or was, the High King for the Cat Kingdom," I said. I took a deep breath and sighed. "That makes me the High Princess, well Queen, now. Trevor's father has been my father's second before he had been killed."

"Like Werewolves, Cats have a second in commands," Trevor said. "They do basically the same thing, but if there are disputes between different clans, then the second will step in to see what is going on."

"Does each clan have their own King and Queen?" Trevor's mate, Arabella asked. She smiled when I looked at her, but I could see some jealousy in her eyes. She was pretty, and I was happy that she didn't care that Trevor was a Half-Breed. "Trevor said that there were."

"There should be," I replied. I looked down and shrugged as I tried to think of lessons that I had been taught at a young age. Most of the time, I had been bored and hadn't been paying attention. Now, I wished that I had... "I do not know. I haven't been in the kingdom for..." I furrowed my brows as I thought about it. It had been a while. I knew that much.

"Eleven years," Trevor said. He shifted in his seat, his face holding the same amount of pain that I was feeling. "Romanov, her uncle, probably had killed them all and their heirs."

"Why?" Brody asked. He cocked his head and furrowed his brows. "Didn't you try to save them?"

"Kat was seven, and the Kings and Queens will fight to keep their people safe, even if it means dying themselves."

"The same goes for the people of the clans," I added. "The clans will fight to protect their King and Queen from harm."

"So, kind of like packs," Kaden said, causing us to nod. He leaned back and had this thoughtful look on his face. There was a question that had been bugging him for a while, and I knew that he did not know if he should be able to say it or not. "Why did your father leave early, Trevor?"

Trevor shifted in his seat and looked down. He cleared his throat, and I could tell that this was a tough situation for him. His face was a bit red, and his heart was starting to pound in his chest.

"I thought he had discussed with you as to why he left," I said. I looked at Kaden and studied him. I made sure that my face was blank, and my heart was leveled to not give off anything. "I mean, wouldn't you have wondered as to why there were two Cats coming onto your property? Cats and Wolves don't normally get along, but they have some sort of alliance."

"Diane was my cousin, Katherine. That is why I am wondering," Kaden said, looking at me. Anger filled his eyes, and this caused the thing within me to growl. His whole body was tense, and I could tell that he was debating if he wanted to attack me or not. "What do you have to say that?"

I shifted until Katie was sitting beside me and watched him, warily. I kept calm and took a deep breath. "Diane was like a second mother to me," I replied, soothingly. My mother had been gifted with the ability to change a certain emotion, and I was trying to see if I could calm him down. "I know that you are still holding grudges because both of them have survived and she hasn't. I know how that feels and will avenge her death."

Kaden got up and looked out the window, placing his arm on it. His whole body was tense, and I could see a bit of him was shaking as he tried not to cry. He was strong, even though he had his weak days. He was still alive with the love of his life dead. "How?" he asked, his voice cracking. "My mate and cousin are dead because of Cat Shifters."

"Not all Cat Shifters are bad," I replied. "Romanov is and has caused both of us pain. He will be the one that will die, but..." I took a deep breath and shook my head. "I need your help. I can not do this alone, Alpha."

He turned to look at me, and I could see this new light in his eyes. He knew that the time was coming for war, and I knew that he prayed that we will not lose anyone. "What do you need me to do?"

***

Five hours have passed from the meeting, and it had been hectic. Not only did we make plans about what we needed to do, but we also had rescued Butch from the shelter.

Unfortunately... we were a bit too late because he had been beaten pretty badly by the same man that I had scratched. However, the doctor had said that he should make a full recovery but it would have to take time.

I had been staying by his side, healing him a small bit. I figured that I was a healer like my mother, but because I didn't have that much training, I wasn't that good. And, that sucked because I did not know if there were any more healers that would be able to teach me.

Tigress, the beast that tried to control me, purred. Our body relaxed because the scent of our mate entered our nose.

"Hey... " Brody said, finally. He cleared his throat, and I knew that he rubbed the back of his neck. "Are you free to talk?" he asked.

I looked at Butch before turning to look at him. A smile was on my face when I saw Katie next to him. "Sure," I said, shifting towards them. I placed my arms around Katie after she came into my arms. "Did you want to talk about us?"

Brody nodded his head and sighed, moving a hand through his hair. He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him before leaning against the wall beside him. "First off... if you accept me, I will accept you. I know that it is weird for..."

"It isn't weird for me," I replied, shrugging my shoulder. I looked down at Katie and lifted her into my lap before playing with her hair. Her hair was so soft, even though it was curly. "I mean, there have been Werewolves that were mated to Cats in my kingdom. I think there were a couple of Vampires as well."

"And they were treated the same way?"

I nodded. "They respected my parents as well as their king and queen. Sometimes, their King and Queen do not like it, but my parents were respected by many, even outside of our kingdom." I pursed my lips and shrugged. "I do not know what damage Ramonov has done and do not know if it is true anymore."

"What will we do about your clan and my pack?"

I shrugged, again. "We combine them, I guess. Because I do not have any siblings, I am in charge of both the Tiger clan and then all of the clans."

"So, Romanov was a King?" Katie asked, causing me to nod. She frowned and furrowed her brows together. Confusion filled her system, and I could understand her confusion. "Then why did he want to be high King?"

"He wanted more power, I guess. He wanted to make it so that Tigers were the most powerful clan and species."

"Did it work?"

"It worked after he killed the King," Trevor said, coming into the room. He leaned against the door and looked at me and Brody. "And we will have to discuss with the others what they think. If they don't like it, then we need to set up different plans so that no one tries to rebel."

I nodded. "The first thing we need to do is mark Ramonov as a traitor. He might be able to find me if we do."

"Then I guess, we are going to have to let people know that you are their Luna and start training. We had a few skirmishes with the clans, but if you said is true, then it might be because there was a different King," Brody said.

I sighed and nodded. I was nervous about meeting the pack and being accepted as their Luna because I did not know how they would react. I just hoped that they would learn to respect me and love me like one of their own. "Then, I guess I have to start training."