At Sixes and Sevens

by M. A. Church

  “It is what it is, huh?”

  “Yup. We’re mated, and that’s all that matters to me.”

  I fell silent, thinking about what he said. Maybe we would never understand the significance of it, but Carter was right: we were bonded, and that was all that mattered. “When I was in the bathroom, I noticed your mark was still present. Even though we heal quickly, it looks like it’s going to scar.”

  “Good.” There was a wealth of satisfaction in Carter’s voice.

  I yawned. I really needed to get up and go eat something, since I’d shifted, but I was too comfortable.

  “Sleepy?”

  “No, not really. Just comfortable.” Warm and dozy was more like it.

  Pressed together, we stayed like that—quiet and alone—with nothing and nobody bothering us. I also knew it couldn’t last.

  “I, um, didn’t freak you out, did I?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Taking you in front of the window.”

  I rose up on my elbow and smirked at him. “You are an exhibitionist, aren’t you? No, you didn’t freak me out, although I wasn’t expecting it. I’m not sure I want to be on display every time, but I did find it hot.” Wasn’t that a surprise. Staid old Aidric stepped out of the box for once. Having people below watch me get fucked by their Alpha as we mated was… electrifying. Which reminded me we needed to clean that window.

  “Having the pack see, firsthand, that you are mine had nothing to do with that, right?”

  “I’ll never tell.” Okay, so maybe it did. Still, I didn’t want to make a habit of it. But speaking of his pack brought something else to mind. “Can I ask you something?”

  “Sure.”

  “When you found me in that tree and Evan made the comment he did…. Is that something that happens often?”

  “Is what something that happens often?”

  Looked like I was going to have to spell it out to him. “What I’m concerned about was the fact you hit Evan.”

  Carter obviously hadn’t been expecting that, and he frowned. “Oh. Do you have a problem with it?”

  “Is violence the automatic response when things go wrong?”

  “Wait a minute. Wasn’t it you who said how impressed you were with how I handled the situation with Meme?”

  “Yes, but this was different.”

  Carter shook his head. “Okay, I’m lost. How so?”

  Not only was I going to have to spell it out, I was going to have to draw him a picture. “Because you hit him in anger.”

  Carter scooted up into the bed, taking me with him. He grabbed a couple of pillows to stuff behind our backs and pulled me close again. “Before I answer that, let me ask you something first. I take it that’s something Dolf doesn’t do?”

  I snorted. “Smack us around? That would be a definite no and something none of us would’ve put up with.”

  Carter pinched the bridge of his nose. “Give me a second here. I’m trying to sort out exactly what it is I want to say and how to best describe this.”

  I sat silently as he worked through whatever it was he was trying to work through.

  Finally Carter sighed. “Werewolves and werecats are totally different. You and I have already seen several of those differences. Look, I’m not trying to come across as uncaring in regards to your concerns, but we’re just more… aggressive.”

  “So violence is the answer?”

  “You’ve already seen that it isn’t. But sometimes, yes, it has to be. Here’s the thing. If I hadn’t responded like I had with Evan, it would’ve been seen as a weakness. A perceived weakness can lead to questions, which can lead to challenges. Have you ever seen a natural wolf discipline a pack member?” Carter asked. “It isn’t done with words.”

  “But unlike the wolves, we do have the capability of words.”

  “I’m not disagreeing. I’m just saying our culture is different than yours. I didn’t hurt him. Okay, hitting Evan in the mouth probably did hurt, but I purposely didn’t hit him hard enough to break his jaw. Or knock him out. The hit hurt his pride more than anything. If I hadn’t defended you and also punished Evan for his disrespect, it would’ve left me wide open to more of the same.”

  I pinched Carter’s nipple, and he jumped. Smirking, I soothed the small hurt. I was trying to lighten the situation. Carter was frowning mightily, and his heart was pounding under my hand.

  “I just don’t understand it.”

  “Because you’re not a werewolf. I understand it makes you uncomfortable, but my culture is not the same as yours. If I hadn’t retaliated with a show of strength, Evan would’ve continued to run his mouth and disrespect you.”

  I scowled.

  “Even you made the comment about scratching his eyes out,” Carter pointed out.

  “But I was just joking.”

  “Would Dolf have allowed such blatant disrespect to one of his mates? Are you telling me werecats never tie up and scrap?”

  Dolf might take lip off of Kirk, but he’d never allow anybody else to disrespect either him or Tal. “Ah… okay. No.”

  “From my understanding, Dolf also just assumed leadership, and some of his clowder members aren’t happy with the changes he’s making. If he didn’t appear strong, what would happen?”

  Now I was the one pinching the bridge of my nose. “He’d get challenged.”

  “Exactly. I cannot allow others to think I’m not strong enough to enforce my rules. If I appear weak, that, my mate, can lead me to getting challenged and possibly killed, and maybe you too. I’m more than willing to show compassion when it’s the best answer. Sometimes it’s not.”

  I petted his chest. “I guess you’re right. I shouldn’t compare werecats to werewolves. It’s just that… you were angry and—”

  “I was angry, yes, but I didn’t hit him because I was angry. I hit him because he disrespected my mate, not once, but twice, and the second time, he did it in front of me. If I honestly thought talking to him would’ve gotten me anywhere, I would’ve gone that route. Please note I didn’t hit Shea, whom I tasked with your safety.”

  He had a point. “No, no, you didn’t.”

  “Neither will I hit Temple. Sometimes those words you mentioned earlier? They simply aren’t enough, especially dealing with werewolves. If I couldn’t control my anger at Evan, I never would’ve laid a hand on him. A dead werewolf cannot learn from his mistakes.”

  “That helps.” I noticed Carter’s heart wasn’t pounding quite so hard under my hand. He hadn’t said it out loud, but this discussion disturbed him. It was yet more proof he cared about me and was willing to listen to my concerns.

  “I’m not a violent man, Aidric. If there’s a resolution to a situation where violence isn’t needed, you can damn well bet that’s the route I’ll take. But if violence is needed, I’m not afraid to use it either.”

  “I guess I’ll have to adjust to that.” My stomach let out a sound that would rival a werewolf growling, and I blushed.

  Carter patted my thighs as he rolled from the bed. “Damn, I’m sorry. You shifted earlier and really needed to eat, didn’t you?”

  I placed my hand over my stomach, like that was going to hide the sound, as I left the bed too. “We had other things on our minds, and it wasn’t like I was starving.”

  “Why don’t you take a few minutes to gather yourself and maybe shift one more time to help that wound? I’ll have something ready by the time you get downstairs.”

  “Okay, thanks.” I watched Carter dress. After he left I made a quick trip to the bathroom and cleaned up. I also wiped down the window.

  I shifted. Of course, being the curious cat that I was, I had to do some investigating. The room overwhelmingly smelled like a wolf, but it wasn’t a bad smell. It certainly didn’t smell like wet dog. No, it was a combination of Carter’s natural scent in human form and the woody notes of oak and sandalwood I’d come to associate with him and his desires. It was rather nice.

  I crawled under the bed an
d nosed around. After couple of sneezes from the amount of dust bunnies under there, I eased out from underneath and explored the room, checking out all the nooks and crannies. I jumped up on the dresser so I could see for myself in the attached mirror just how dusty I was and how I’d healed.

  The wound was gone, and my fur had grown in nicely. There was still a slight ache from where the werewolf bit me, but it was fine. Once I cleaned my fur, I preened in front of the mirror, my tail held high and curled at the end.

  A pen on the dresser seized my attention, and, unable to help myself, I batted at it. It skidded across the dresser and hit the floor. Fun! Crouching, I watched it roll. I leaped from the dresser and landed next to it… and across the floor the pen and I raced, me swiping at it and it rolling away from me. Under the bed it went.

  My nose twitched. I thought about going underneath there, but first Carter and I were going to have to have a discussion about cleaning underneath things. I started to jump up on the bed, because it really needed my cat’s scent there too, but a beam of sunlight caught my notice. Slinking across the floor, I admired the little motes of dust floating in the sunlight.

  We really needed some balls up here for me to attack. That was something else I needed to talk to Carter about. We were going to have to cat-terize our home. I curled up on the floor, enjoying the sunlight, lazily thumping my tail. It wasn’t as soft as the bed, but… sunlight. My mind drifted over the past couple of hours.

  Busy, busy day. I had been attacked, saved, mated—very visibly too—and now my mate was fixing food for me. I wasn’t sure if I was relieved or more concerned Carter was sure it wasn’t members of his pack. Was the attack prompted because Carter had a new mate? Was an outside force threatening him? Had the attack happened because of his mating with a werecat?

  Or was this something more sinister?

  My stomach growled again, reminded me of my hunger. But first we needed to deal with Keegan. I shifted and dressed. Carter and I walked toward Keegan’s room. Since it’d been nothing but nonstop insanity since I arrived, it was my first time getting to meet Keegan. A little nervous was an understatement. I knew as much about kids as Carter did, which was nothing.

  Carter knocked on the bedroom door at the other end of the hall from us.

  A young voice called out, “Uncle Carter?” There was a rush of movement across the floor to the partially opened door. “Uncle Carter! What happened with—oh. Hello.”

  Carter rested his hand against my back. “Everything is fine now. Keegan Lovelock, this is my mate, Aidric LeClair.”

  “Hey, nice to meet you.” Goddess, how did I greet this pup? Did I offer to shake his hand, open my arms to him? What?

  Keegan straightened up and pulled his shoulders back. “It’s nice to meet you too. Uncle Carter told me you’re his mate,” Keegan said.

  Well, hell, look at him. “Yeah, I am.”

  I hadn’t had a chance to meet Bram, and from what I had gathered, it didn’t look like I would anytime soon. If ever. But this pup in front of me reminded me of Carter in a more youthful and soft sort of way. He was tall, probably taller than the average ten-year-old human. At least I guessed. He was long and lanky like the kittens at the clowder—all knees and elbows, but I could see the male he’d grow up to be.

  Keegan’s hair was a lovely black like Carter’s. And damned if his eyes weren’t the same hazel as Carter’s.

  “Uncle Carter said you’re a werecat.”

  “That’s true,” I said, his voice drawing my attention. I caught myself trying not to awkwardly shift from foot to foot. What was it about kids that was so damn intimidating? Or was it just this one? He definitely had a presence.

  A few moments dragged by as this Keegan looked me up and down. Hopefully I passed inspection.

  “I like cats. Can I see you shift?”

  Startled, a laugh escaped me. So not what I was expecting. “Sure.” Did he mean now?

  “Aidric hasn’t been in shifted form around anybody but me and a few others, really, yet. He just got here and is still adjusting to being part of my pack. Why don’t we give it a little while?” Carter interrupted.

  “He could shift here in the pack house,” Keegan pointed out. “Then it would just be us.”

  Oh man, Carter was going to have his hands full with this one. “That sounds like a plan, just how about not right now? I just shifted earlier and—”

  Keegan scowled. “Because you were attacked, right?”

  How had he known? I glanced at Carter, who shrugged. I wasn’t sure what to say, so I decided to let Carter answer that.

  “We had some wolves who trespassed on our property, yes, as you know. They managed to find Aidric, but Aidric eluded them. He’s okay.”

  “Good. Uncle Carter really likes you.”

  Considering what we had been doing right down the hall from him, I wasn’t surprised. “That’s good to hear, since I really like him too.”

  Carter cleared his throat. “We’re still trying to figure out what exactly happened, so I’m going to ask you stick around the pack house for the time being.”

  Keegan scowled. His thoughts on that subject were clear enough. Finally he just shrugged, looked like he was going to say something, then leaned closer and sniffed me. “You smell like Uncle Carter. Kind of. Huh.”

  Oh boy.

  “Speaking of shifting,” Carter said, redirecting the conversation, “I did promise you and I would work on that. How does that sound?”

  Thank the goddess Carter stepped in and directed Keegan’s attention onto something else. I certainly didn’t want to get into a discussion of why I suddenly smelled like his uncle.

  Keegan bounced on his toes, the mature little adult disappearing under the excitement of a pup. “Perfect! Can we do it right now?”

  “Did you eat lunch?” Carter asked.

  “No.”

  “Then let’s eat first. Then we can shift.” Carter took my hand. “Sound good to you?”

  I was pleased he remembered his promise. Keegan was part of Carter’s life, and I wanted him to be part of mine too. “I’d love to.”

  The three of us ate, we grabbed a couple of coats, and left the pack house. It looked like I was going to get my first lesson on the shifting of werewolves. Unsurprisingly Carter stayed close to the pack house.

  With wolves on the prowl through his territory, I didn’t blame him. Even though it was late February, the sun was out, and the temperature was decent. I found a nearby tree and settled down next to it.

  I scanned the area while Carter and Keegan spoke quietly. Of course I heard every word and was impressed with the patience Carter showed Keegan as they talked. The sun beat down on my face, something I’d missed lately. Eventually the two stripped down, and moments later, an enormous black wolf stood in the small clearing.

  “Wow, Uncle Carter, you’re huge!” Keegan stood with his mouth hanging open, staring.

  Frankly I agreed.

  Keegan took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “Okay, here goes.”

  Carter barked at Keegan. I assumed he was encouraging him.

  My gaze lingered on Carter. His speed in shifting was impressive too. I wondered if Keegan picked up on that. Speaking as a shifter myself, I knew such speed was unusual. Maybe it was a werewolf thing, or maybe it had to do with Carter being an Alpha werewolf.

  A moment later there was another werewolf next to Carter. But what surprised me was the smaller black wolf Keegan became. That I wasn’t expecting. Going by what Carter had told me, Keegan was obviously an Alpha. Interesting.

  The afternoon quickly passed as the two of them worked on shifting back and forth. I dozed, even though my senses were still on high alert. Listening to their softly spoken words when they were in human form was relaxing.

  I heard a twig snap and, grinning, listened to the soft pad of footsteps coming near me, but didn’t open my eyes, wondering what the two of them were up to. A cold nose poked me in the cheek and I jumped. Damn, that’s wh
at I got for letting them sneak up on me.

  Opening my eyes, I saw a gorgeous black wolf standing over me, his tongue hanging out. Once upon a time, having a werewolf in my face would’ve completely freaked me out, but not now. I patted his muzzle, and he curled his long pink tongue around my fingers.

  “Nothing like opening my eyes to find a huge werewolf staring down at me.”

  Apparently that was the signal for playtime. Carter dropped his chest to the ground, his tail waving madly behind him, and barked. Next thing I knew, a streak of black came from off to the side, and I found myself with an armful of adolescent werewolf. Keegan yipped, all wiggling body and wagging tail as he licked my face.

  Carter bounced around us, kicking up the dead leaves and dirt clods, barking excitedly. Great gods above, I sincerely hoped he didn’t try to sit in my lap too, or we were going to have a serious problem. Keegan clambered to get down, so I let go of him.

  Wow, these two sure were making a racket. Carter darted toward me, then at the last moment shot off in another direction. He ran in a circle—I would have sworn he was chasing his tail—then suddenly stopped, his nose going to the ground.

  Tail finally still, he sniffed the dead grass… then dropped and started rolling in whatever he smelled, kicking his back legs. Hopping up, he ran back to me, turned at the last minute again, and swatted me in the face with that massive tail. Sputtering, I glared at my mate. Carter pranced around, tongue hanging out.

  I didn’t know if werewolves could smile, but I would’ve sworn this one just did. A tug near the end of my foot caught my attention, and I glanced down. Keegan lay on the ground, both of his large paws wrapped around one of my shoes, and gnawed on my shoestring.

  “Hey now!” I tried to yank my foot away, but all that netted me was playful growling from Keegan and him tightening his hold. “I see how it is. You two were in cahoots, weren’t you?”

  In response Carter tried to sit on me.

  “Good grief, get off me, you big lug!”

  Carter yipped and took off again. Keegan let go of my shoe and latched on to the bottom of my jeans. Holy cow, this kid had some strength. He actually managed to pull me away from the tree. I let out a yelp as there was another streak of black and my insane mate was doing his best to sit on me again.