Taken in the Night

by Tara Fox Hall

As he showered, I got into bed and dozed, thinking about Elle. There had been so much relief in Theo’s voice when he’d told Danial the plans were settled, so much love for Elle. I decided then to do my best to love Theo’s child, even though it was Tawny’s child and not mine. That wasn’t Elle’s fault. Besides, she did have part of me, my name.

  A half hour later, Theo crawled in beside me, his hair still damp. He pulled me into his arms. “Danial is right,” he said, kissing my cheek. “You are not going to be coming with us again.”

  “I agree.” Being around Danial was constant stimulation, temptation, and sensation. It was easier when we didn’t see each other. “So, tell me your plan for when we get your daughter home.”

  Theo seemed to be trying to find the right words.

  “Theo,” I said gently. “I’m just asking for pointers on what she’ll need, so we can think of what to pick up on our way home.”

  “This is my last job for Danial,” he tentatively said.

  “What?” I exclaimed.

  “I’m going to tell him on the way home. I’m quitting the business. It’s too dangerous. I should have quit when I met you, when we found each other.” His eyes were boring into me, deadly serious. “I have too much to live for to keep risking my life. I’m were, but I’m not indestructible. It didn’t matter when I was alone, when I only had to worry about myself. I want to be around to see Elle grow up, to spend my life with you.”

  “What about being fifth?” I asked.

  “I’m going to sign a paper, relinquishing my ranking completely,” he replied. “I’ll post it to the internet when we get home. No one should care. I’m not in the top four, and I’ve only been ranked six months. You won’t have to worry about me anymore.”

  There were tears in my eyes now. I blinked them back.

  Theo took a deep breath. “Tawny died tonight, Sar.”

  “What? How?” I pulled back from him.

  “She had a heart attack, at least that’s what they think. Having the baby was too much for her. There was something wrong with how big Elle grew inside her, and they still have no explanation for why she wasn’t in human form. Tawny’s doctor has called a bunch of his colleagues who routinely deliver babies of wereanimals, and no one has heard of this before.”

  “I’m sorry, Theo,” I lied, hugging him. I wasn’t sorry; I was hugely relieved to know she was dead.

  “I don’t want you to worry, Sarelle,” Theo continued. “I have enough money to float us for a few years easily. I’m thinking about being a carpenter. I’ve also thought about working for Danial or someone else just training other people for security, but it would be a nine-to-five kind of job, no more nights or weekends. No more killing. No more blood.”

  That would be so much safer, for all of us. I took a long deep breath.

  “Sar, you’re supposed to say something,” Theo said impatiently. “What do you think?”

  “I am happy you’ve decided to quit. I worried about you every night when you were working and I was home alone. I worried when I saw blood on your clothes. I know you can take care of yourself, but I didn’t want to lose you.”

  Theo knew what I’d meant to say and hadn’t. I’d lost my husband almost two years ago in an accident, and the shock had messed me up for a year afterward. He kissed me tentatively, then drew back from me.

  “Are you sure you want this? That you want this with me?”

  “Yes,” I assured, giving him a big smile. “I told you that. I want a life with you, Theo.”

  He kissed me, then quickly rolled on top of me, his hard body moving against mine insistently. “Show me,” he said, with a touch of a leer in his eager smile.

  * * * *

  The next night, Theo woke me. “Come with me to the hospital, Sar. I want you to meet Elle. Hurry.”

  “Okay,” I said, apprehensive. We quickly got dressed and left. Danial was nowhere to be seen, though Lander was back guarding the door.

  Theo and I grabbed a cab to the hospital, and we walked to the newborn area of the maternity ward. Theo took me to a private room and checked in with a security guard outside. I wasn’t surprised; I knew Theo. It wasn’t too out of the ordinary he was already protecting Elle, even if no one knew she was even here or she was his child to protect.

  I walked through the door and into a regular room. It was carpeted and had a window high up so the stars of the night sky were visible. There was a rocking chair, a playpen, and a crate, along with toys here and there. Some of them had been torn apart, and stuffing was scattered in tufts around the room.

  Theo went to the crate and opened it. It was huge, the size I’d had when I had crate trained my German shepherd dogs. A little growl came from the crate, and Theo growled back. Then there was quick movement inside, and a little furry head poked out. I moved and immediately she scooted back in. Theo kneeled down, and I did the same, staying back. He made some more noises, something like growls, but also like the sounds my cats made when they wanted something. Was he asking her to come out?

  There were noises from the crate, but no head peeked back out again. Finally, Theo made a purring/growling sound, and Elle scooted quickly out into his arms. He held her, as she peeked through his arms at me.

  “Theo, she’s beautiful,” I said, overcome. Elle was the same buff color Theo was, but she had darker speckles on her sides. Her eyes were blue, not golden yellow yet, and she did not have the white patches he had in his cougar form on her face.

  Theo closed the crate door softly, so Elle couldn’t retreat inside. I stayed motionless, not wanting to scare her. Soon enough, Elle decided she was more curious about me than she was scared, and she came toward me hesitantly, the black tip of her tail twitching.

  She sniffed and then licked me. I petted her, and she let out a tiny purr. She crawled up on my lap and plopped herself down. She was very heavy, and I picked her up a little as she was hurting my legs. I sat back down cross-legged and petted her some more. She lolled there in my lap, pricking me with her claws, which I gently stopped her from doing. I stroked her head, and she rolled into my hand, purring in that soft tiny sound.

  I fell in love with her, right there. She was so beautiful, so perfect in every way. She bit me gently right then, as if to prove me wrong about her.

  I removed my finger from her mouth, telling her firmly “No.”

  She stopped immediately and looked at me. Then she erupted in a flurry of movement, running around the room, grabbing toys and shaking them. She hid one moment, and pounced forth the next to grab another toy and shake it, growling. I watched her, smiling. Theo came over to me and sat behind me, pulling me into his arms. We watched her playing, growling at toys and rolling over, swatting them. After a while, she came back over to Theo and me and lay down in my lap. Within minutes, she was asleep.

  I stroked her gently as she slept. There weren’t any words for the emotions I was feeling. They were too big, too powerful, and too deep.

  “Come on,” Theo whispered. “We need to go.”

  “How are we going to do this?” I asked him, not moving.

  “The toys, especially the trashed ones, we can throw out. We need to put her in the crate and transport it to the hotel.” Theo flipped open his phone and made a call to a limo service.

  I wasn’t eager to ride in another limo, but it was true a cab would not have enough room.

  “They’ll be here in about ten minutes,” Theo said, disconnecting.

  He put Elle, still sleeping, in the crate and began to gather up the toys. He tossed most of them in the garbage, but I put others into a plastic bag I found in the closet. I shouldered that, and he hefted the crate outside as I held the door for him.

  “Sar,” Theo said, turning to me. “Go to the desk and get her paperwork. They are expecting you. I’ll wait here with her.”

  I left him near the elevator and went to the desk. By some miracle, everything was in order, and I signed for Elle’s paperwork, which they handed to me. I got back to the elevat
or as it was opening, and Theo, Elle, and I rode down together.

  We got to the curb as the limo pulled up. Theo loaded the crate, and we got in. By now, Elle had woken and was screaming her head off. Theo growled at her, and she quieted, looking through the bars at us. I worried she was essentially in a cage, but we were in the middle of a city. If she got loose, she’d be lost and possibly killed. She might be were, but she was tiny.

  We made it back to the hotel without incident. Theo and I got the crate up to our suite. He did most of the work. Lander was again standing guard. He opened the door for us and shut it behind us, not saying a word.

  Theo put the crate down and let out Elle. She ran to me this time, and I picked her up. She had to weigh at least twenty pounds. She wasn’t big, but she was dense.

  She purred for me, and I hugged her. I looked up to see Theo watching me with joy on his face when he saw me holding her. I gave him a smile, and he gave me one back.

  “Danial’s out,” he said, “but he should be back shortly. His meeting should be over by now.”

  “What do we feed her?” I said.

  “She’s supposed to have milk, but I’ve been able to feed her mashed up chicken,” Theo said. “She doesn’t have teeth yet. They are just coming in.”

  I didn’t know what to do. Order chicken from room service and tear it up for her? What if she got sick? What if I hurt her? She was so small, so fragile…

  Theo saw the panic on my face. He came over to me and hugged me. “Sar, do the best you can. I’m winging this myself.”

  I threw out an idea. “What we need is a high quality wet cat food, something made almost entirely of meat and ground up. Is there a pet store nearby?”

  Theo nodded. “I’ll go get some right now. I should have thought of that myself.” He kissed me and left immediately.

  I got some water for her, put it in one of the oversize coffee cups in the room, and offered her a drink. Elle was dubious at first, tapping the surface of the water with her paw, dunking her nose in it, and sneezing. Eventually she found the right angle to hold her head and drank some water.

  Seeing that, I had another thought. I borrowed Lander’s phone and called Theo. I cursed myself for not bringing my own, but I hadn’t thought I’d need it.

  Theo picked up on the first ring. “Lander? What’s wrong?”

  “It’s Sar. When you get the food, get a litter box too, the biggest one they have, and some litter. We need two dishes, too, dog sized.”

  “Anything else?”

  “A litter scoop,” I said, kicking myself for forgetting. “A big one.”

  “Okay, Sar. I’ll be back soon.”

  I hung up and returned the phone to Lander. He took it, glaring at me. I thought about telling him it wasn’t my fault he gotten in trouble, but decided his petulance wasn’t worth fighting about.

  I played with Elle for the next twenty minutes. She liked to chase me and for me to chase her. She was clearly more than a cougar. She understood “no” already, and I was working on “come.” I hoped fervently that would translate into her being able to be litter box trained. I knew regular great cats could not be.

  Danial arrived back about eight p.m. He came in the door as I was beneath the end table playing with Elle, so I didn’t see him.

  “Sar, what are you doing?”

  He startled me so much I bonked my head and then cursed loudly. I rolled out from underneath the table, and Elle came to lay on me, purring. Danial came over and kneeled down next to us.

  “She’s Theo’s, all right,” Danial said with a kind of admiration. He reached out to touch her, and she scooted back into her crate, peeking out at him with her blue eyes. His face fell.

  I touched him on the arm as we got to our feet. “Don't worry,” I said, chuckling. “She was shy with me, too, at first.”

  I had him sit with me on the couch. After a few minutes, Elle again came out to investigate. She bounded up onto the couch with me and extended her head toward him, sniffing. He kept still. Slowly, she walked over onto his lap and lay down. He offered his hand to her, and she sniffed it. Then he petted her, and she purred. I watched him with her, the joy on his face as he stroked her.

  “She’s beautiful,” he said, besotted.

  Elle sprawled on his lap, as if saying it was right we all adored her because, after all, she was wonderful.

  “Where is Theo?” Danial said finally, still petting Elle.

  “He’s getting her some food and supplies. He’ll be back soon. How did your meeting go?”

  “Fine. After tomorrow’s we can leave,” he said coolly.

  By his tone, he didn’t want to talk about it, or else just didn’t want to talk to me, period. My happy mood glaciated, and we sat in silence, Danial still petting Elle until she fell asleep on his lap.

  Theo came back about an hour later with two huge bags. I helped him unpack them, set up the litter box, and quickly put Elle in it. She got right back out, as expected. I resolved to watch her closely until she did something.

  Theo had gotten two cases of cat food too, some whole foods brand with pure ingredients. I opened two cans and gave them to her. She ate them both in a few minutes and looked around for more.

  “Should we give her more?” Theo asked, looking at me.

  Danial looked at me.

  “Why are you both looking at me?” I said crossly, walking over to Elle. “You could easily tell if she’s had enough.”

  I picked her up and felt her belly. It was hard and full. “That’s enough for now,” I said. “I don’t want her to get sick. Maybe in another four hours or so.”

  Elle struggled down from my arms suddenly and began looking around the room.

  “What is she looking for?” Danial said curiously.

  I walked quickly to her and scooped her up just in time to plop her in the litter box. “Right here,” I said encouragingly.

  Elle did her business and then covered it up. When she got out, I scooped out the mess and flushed it down the toilet. After, she went back in her crate and curled up to sleep. I shut the door and then sat down on the couch. I was already exhausted from caring for her, and she wouldn’t sleep for long. This is what living with a newborn would mean…

  “Theo, I need to go out to feed, and Lander needs another break,” Danial said, interrupting me. “Can you stay here with Sar?”

  “Yes,” Theo said. “I can go with you tomorrow night to the last meeting too, now Elle is safe here.”

  Danial left quickly.

  I wondered if he really needed to feed. He’d taken a lot of blood last night from Jeannette. More likely, he’d left because of Elle, specifically, seeing me with Elle. Theo and I had a family now, even though Elle was not my daughter. That Danial was hurt saddened me, and I curled up on the couch, dejected.

  Theo ordered room service for us. I got a hamburger, a soda, and some fries, and he got a large steak. We ate, sharing some pieces with Elle. We had to chew them up a little before we gave then to her, but she liked them. Seeing her eat made me feel a little better for some reason, and I latched onto the feeling.

  After, Theo changed form, so he could truly play with her. He chased her around the room, and she knocked over the lamp and a vase trying to get away. He picked her up in his mouth and carried her. Then he lay down, and she gnawed on his tail and bit his ears. He swiped at her, his paw knocking her to the ground, but his claws were sheathed. She struggled to get up and hissed at him. He hissed back at her and then the game started all over again.

  Watching them, I understood now why he’d been so tired coming back every night. He had been tired from playing with Elle, not from worrying over Tawny. Guilt flooded me again, for all the times I’d begrudged him his time away from me. I fell asleep still watching them.

  We fed Elle again right before dawn, and she ate two cans this time. After, I took her to the litter box and she again did her business. I took care of it and then put her in her crate. I wanted to let her sleep with us, but kn
ew I’d worry. What if she chewed a light cord or something? Besides, she should be used to being in the crate since Theo had had to leave her alone, right?

  That proved to be true. Elle curled right up in a ball and went to sleep.

  Theo and I went in to bed, not bothering to turn on the light, pull the shades, or do more than drop our clothes by the side of the bed. I was very tired and so was he, but we were parents now and that was to be expected.

  “You like her, Sar, don’t you?” Theo said hesitantly, as we got into bed.

  Again, the guilt came crashing down on me. Why had I been such a bitch? “I love her,” I said, sighing. “She’s wonderful, Theo. I’m dead tired, but I’m happy.”

  He smiled in relief. It brought home to me how worried he had been I wasn’t going to like her, that I’d tell him I didn’t want to be Elle’s mom. She needed: a mother, one who would love her, protect her, and teach her everything she needed to know.

  He kissed me suddenly, stretching the length of his body to press against mine. I responded, rolling over and straddling him. He groaned, his hands caressing my body as I ran my fingers through his chest hair, watching the blue of his eyes darken as he looked at me. I rubbed my hips against him and kissed his neck. Instantly, he rolled me over, pressing himself to me. I opened my legs for him, and he moved so he lay between them. Theo drew back to look at me beneath him, savoring the sight.

  “Sar, I love you. It scares me sometimes how close we came to not being together.”

  “Don't think about it,” I said, kissing him. “We are together, Theo. The past is past, and it can’t be changed. We have a future, you, me, and Elle.”

  Theo went still at my words. Suddenly he bore down, thrusting hard into me, and I gasped. He held me to him and kept thrusting, kissing me, as he ran his hands over my face and chest, stroking me. I was as eager for him as he was for me, meeting his thrusts with my own. The urgency in his movements increased, as the feeling built between us. I felt him jerk inside me with a loud roar. I came then, crying out wordlessly, clutching his body to mine. We held each other tightly as we finished. Then he rolled over on his side, taking my face in his hands.