The Cat Shifter (Book 1 of Shifter Series)

Chapter 23

I kept my eyes closed, but I was awake and enjoying the comfort that my mate brought me from behind. I was aware that we were not alone in the room, and they were the cause of the disturbance in the room.

"Should we wake her up?" a voice asked. "I mean, Carver did say wait until tomorrow, but this is too important."

There was a pause, and a sigh as the person thought about waking me. "I don't know," another person said. "I am surprised that you don't want to wake her up, Ro. You would have woken her up when we were younger."

There was another pause, and I could tell that they were looking at me before looking at each other. "I know, Ray," Ro said, softly. "But she looks so..."

"Comfortable?" I asked, making sure that my voice was soft. "I am; thank you for noticing." I opened my eyes and blinked back the grogginess that I felt to scowl at my best friends.

Ro smiled apologetically and gestured to the door. He wanted to talk to me out of the room, not wanting to disturb the other two sleeping beings in my room.

I hesitated but nodded my head. Gently, I moved out of the grasps of Katie and Brody to the edge of the bed. With Ro's help, I stood, clinging onto his arm as the world sped around.

"Here," Ro whispered and picked me up. He gently walked me out of the room with Ray leading us. "Carver is awake," he said, his voice still soft as he made his way to a room where Carver had taken refuge away from Isabel.

"He had heard us come in and tried to stop us from going into your room," Ray added.

"We didn't listen. Obviously."

I rolled my eyes at the twins but let a small smile appear on my face. I was glad that they were alive because I knew that I would need them and the other Kings and Queens if I wanted to take back my throne.

"We'll help any way that we can," Ro said, reading my mind. "You are our High Queen and our friend."

I nodded my head. "I trust you," I replied. I glanced at Ray and noticed that she was silent and looking away from me. "Both of you. I have grown up more with the two of you than the other Princesses and Princes."

Ray finally looked my way and grinned, her teeth flashing. "Well, we are closer in age than the others."

I rolled my eyes but nodded, knowing that she was right. We were closer in age than the others, with them being only two years older than me. "I still don't understand why you two decided to attack him," I mused. "And not run like you were told to do."

"Simple, Princess," Ro said, going into the room that Ray had opened. "No one was near you, and he was about to kill you. Carver was close, but we had beaten him to you."

"And that helped save your life. Way to go, you two," Caver said, sitting up. He scowled when Ray flicked on the light to the room and blinked at the sudden brightness. "Did you have to turn on the light?" he asked.

"Yes," Ray replied. She pointed at me when Ro set me on the bed beside Carver. "Kat isn't complaining."

"Because I had been in the light when we were walking over here," I replied. I leaned my head on Carver's shoulder and closed my eyes, still feeling exhausted. "Now, what is this meeting about?" I asked, forcing my eyes open. "I want to get it done so that I can go back to sleep."

Carver tucked me closer to his side and made sure that I was comfortable. "Are you sure that you don't want to wait until morning?"

I shook my head, no. "It'd be better to just get on with it." I could feel Carver scowling down at me and looked up at him. "What?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I disapprove," he said. "I think that you should wait until morning. You are still tired and are recovering from being sick."

"And, I will go back to bed once this is done," I replied. I shifted a bit more, trying to get comfortable. "Not before."

Carver scowled but stayed silent. He knew that I wasn't going to listen to him because this was more important right now than falling asleep. He knew that they had to have something bad because they wouldn't have come here just yet.

"Awww, look at Carver trying to be your advisor," Ro teased, and we looked at him, unamused. He blinked and furrowed his brows. "Wait, so he is going to be your advisor too? I thought that you would get someone your age."

"I don't have an apprentice, Ronan," Carver said, tiredly. He moved a hand across his face, and I could tell that he was as exhausted as I was.

"And, since there is a war going to be going on, I am going to be needing his help," I added. I glanced at him. "Do you want me just to tell you what has been discussed in the morning?" I asked. "You're the one that needs the sleep."

Carver scowled and shook his head. "No," he said. "I want to hear what has to be said and advise you on what to do." He offered me a tired smirk, and I smiled and shook my head.

I nodded my head and looked at the twins that were staring at us. I shifted one last time, knowing that tonight would be a long night, but I didn't care. I had a job to do, and my job was to free my family from a man that had caused us pain for years. "Ok," I said, "then let us get down to business. What information do you have for me?"