Heart of the Cat

by S. E. Smith

  “My house is already located on the Grove property, so he will still technically be on the ranch,” Trescina pointed out.

  Walkyr’s ears perked up when he heard the name Grove. Paul Grove was the father of Kelan Reykill’s mate, Trisha, who was now mated to Morian Reykill, the mother of the Dragon Lords, but his residence on Earth, the Grove Ranch, was the primary contact for peaceful visitors to this planet.

  How and why had this sect of The Enlightenment landed here? Did they know about the base and the connection to the Valdier? Once again his thoughts went back to Arrow Ha’darra. Adalard Ha’darra had been here before. In fact, he had just recently left the planet. Walkyr knew that long ago the Valdier and Curizan had worked with the traitor Ben’qumain and Lord Raffvin Reykill. Was it possible that another member of the royal Ha’darra family was working with The Enlightenment? He wouldn’t be the first member of three royal houses to do so.

  Was it possible that the Heart of the Cat had been hidden here by one of the Valdier or Curizan, and they had notified the Sarafin traitors who had then come to retrieve it? Walkyr sorted through different scenarios. He tried to remember who had been to the planet within the last year. He had just scanned a report of that information a few months ago. He knew the Valdier maintained a presence at the ranch, but he also knew that several members of the Curizan had been here, including Adalard and Bahadur, the most infamous Curizan general.

  It was difficult for him to believe that any of them were a part of this, but he had learned that true deceit could be well hidden. He had to assume there were both genuine allies and traitors currently on the Grove property. His cat was absolutely sure which one his curly-haired vixen was.

  “But… Trescina,” Heather protested, “he might be a completely new species. His teeth, his body structure, his coloring—there is nothing like him on any Internet site that I’ve found.”

  Walkyr bit back a groan. Now there were four humans who knew too much, though two of them probably didn’t count if they were already involved with Grove Ranch—and if this sect of The Enlightenment had come to Earth to meet with someone from his star system, there could be more threats than he had originally expected. This mission was getting more complicated by the moment. He would need to contact his brothers and hope they had followed him. It looked like he was going to need some assistance.

  Of course, all his cat cared about was that they now knew his so-called mate’s name: Trescina.

  Trescina shook her head. “He is a rare cat found in the remote regions of Siberia. He was probably illegally purchased as a cub and brought here as a pet. They are endangered, so I know he couldn’t have been legally obtained. The few that have been found outside of the remote sanctuary were all illegally taken, often at the cost of their mother’s life,” she explained.

  ”But…. Are you sure? I searched the images I could find on large cats, and I swear there wasn’t any mention of a feline that looked like him,” Heather repeated.

  “You can’t find anything about them for a reason, Heather. His kind has been hunted almost to extinction. The organization that I work with has done everything they can to keep his species alive and unknown. It is imperative that I move him to an undisclosed location. Do you know if Terry or anyone else has taken any photographs of him?” Trescina asked.

  Mate good. I no even smell lie, his cat sighed.

  Well, that is a great skill to have! The ability to lie and not get caught, Walkyr sarcastically responded.

  “No. Terry was in such a panic that he didn’t take any. Like I told you earlier, he was terrified he’d killed the poor animal and then he was worried that he’d be blamed for the damage to the truck,” Heather said, lifting her hands and running them through her hair. “I swear between Terry being afraid he is going to be fired and Zeke, I’m going crazy.”

  “What happened with Zeke?” Chad asked.

  Heather shook her head. “Nothing—yet. I caught him on the snowmobile yesterday. He was supposed to be grounded. He’s eleven going on eighteen at the moment. If he isn’t careful, I might not let him make it to twelve,” she replied with a frustrated sigh.

  “Heather, I want you to delete any video you might have of the cat, and ask Terry not to say anything…, please. If word got out… well, it could cause an international incident,” Trescina added, looking over her shoulder at him with a pointed glare when he snorted at her audacity.

  “What? Oh, no worries on the cameras. The system died a couple of days ago. I have a call in for the technician to come out. He’s scheduled for next week. Trescina, I think his back leg is broken. I’d still like to check him over. He could have suffered additional injuries. From the damage to the truck, I have to agree with Terry about being shocked he didn’t die,” Heather said.

  Walkyr coughed. Once he had the three humans’ attention, he sniffed loudly, shook his head, and looked at the human woman who had threatened him.

  Mate, not human woman, his cat disdainfully reminded him.

  Whatever. As long as she understands that I will not abide the human healer’s barbaric procedures, he replied, using another one of Riley’s favorite sayings when Vox was on a roll about something.

  “I… don’t think that is necessary. I’m sure he’ll be fine in a few days,” Trescina reassured the other woman with a hesitant smile.

  Heather looked shocked, then doubtful, and she shook her head.

  “Are you sure? I swear when I called you last night he looked half dead. I can’t believe he isn’t in worse shape. I only had time to do a brief exam before he woke up and I couldn’t knock him out again. That’s when I thought of you and called. I’d still feel better if I gave him a more thorough exam before you took him,” Heather insisted.

  “I’ll see what we can do,” Trescina replied, looking at him with a calculating expression, “but I worry that his owner might try to steal him back. He is bound to know he’ll be in trouble and might become violent. I’m sure the first place he will check is the rescue center. I believe I have a better chance of concealing him at the house. Once he has a chance to recover, I can make arrangements to have him returned to the sanctuary back home. I know they would love to have another male cat to help diversify the gene pool. Besides, this specific species of feline is known to be aggressive and unpredictable, and I know Heather has a full plate at the moment. He will do better in an isolated location,” she added.

  Chad looked cautiously relieved, and Heather nodded. “It’s true that the center is full. This room is the only free space at the moment. There is also a group of high school students attending the pre-vet program tomorrow. It will be impossible to keep him hidden from them, and I know that every single one of those kids will have a cell phone on them,” she reluctantly agreed.

  Walkyr listened with a mixture of amusement and impatience as Trescina spun her outrageous lies. Her comments about adding him to the gene pool had almost been too much. First, she threatens to slit his throat and now she says she is going to use him for breeding purposes. As far as he was concerned, she was the only one who would be participating with his breeding purposes!

  Told you she our mate, his cat purred.

  He hated to admit it, but he was afraid his cat might be right. He had been horny before, but not with this much intensity. He had never experienced an attraction this strong or swift to any female—all while he was dealing with a fractured leg and chained as well!

  Mate better than empty hole, his cat stated in a dismissive tone that held just a touch of superiority and sarcasm.

  Walkyr grimaced and visualized curling his fingers around his cat’s throat. For a brief moment, he wished it were possible to strangle his arrogant half—especially when his cat looked up at Trescina with that shit-eating goofy grin. She must have noticed his reaction to her comment because she shot him another pointed look of exasperation. If it weren’t for the fact that he was in pain, in the middle of a dangerous mission, and not supposed to reveal his identity, he would have shap
e-shifted right then and there just to see her try to explain it away. Once he was healed, he would teach her not to hold a knife to his throat and threaten to use him as a breeding tool!

  You feel too now. Mate worth wait, his cat gleefully informed him as he stretched his front paws out and extended his claws.

  It’s been a while since I’ve been with a woman! he protested. We’ve been a little busy trying to save our people! Just because I find her attractive doesn’t mean I agree that she is our mate. You’ve been wrong before. Now behave before we get in a bigger mess than we are already in, Walkyr growled.

  I not wrong, his cat retorted with a pout.

  Chad seemed to waver between wariness and hope when he looked at Walkyr’s cat. “If you’re sure,” he finally said. “When I first saw him after he was brought in, I thought… well, we are lucky to have your expertise with exotic cats from around the world. It’s good to know that he is just an unusual leopard!” he laughed uneasily, and Walkyr decided this man must be one of the genuine human allies involved with Grove Ranch. That was good to know. He wondered if all the lies were just for Heather’s benefit or if there was another reason why they weren’t being honest with each other. “If you are sure you can control him, then it might be best to take him to your place. I’ve seen the way you handle your tigers, but I think this cat should be caged—for your safety and my peace of mind. If you need help with anything, let me know,” he insisted.

  “I will, and I’ll take you up on your offer of the cage. You’re right. It might come in handy,” Trescina replied with a slight smirk before her voice faded when the front door chime sounded.

  “Hey, Mom, are you in here?” a young male voice called out. It was the boy from yesterday. Walkyr recognized his voice.

  Heather grimaced. “I’ll be right back,” she sighed.

  This must be Zeke. From what he could tell, the boy had not mentioned what he’d seen to his mother or Chad—yet. Once again, he wished he had been more careful. The boy’s sullen tone carried from the next room as they talked. It brought back memories of his own youth. He and his brothers had given their parents more than a few reasons to growl at them.

  That sense of rebellion may be why Zeke hadn’t told his mother what he had seen. It was also possible that the boy thought he might have imagined what he’d seen. Their encounter had been very brief and it had happened during a period of extreme danger. As long as Trescina insisted he was some rare creature from her world, and the traitors’ ship was buried, there would be no evidence to support a wild claim of aliens and shape-shifters.

  “Trescina,” Chad quietly said, drawing Walkyr’s attention back to the man.

  Walkyr growled in warning when the man touched Trescina’s arm. Chad looked at him with a guarded expression. Walkyr rose to his feet, favoring his injured leg, bared his teeth, and moved his gaze from the man’s face to the hand touching Trescina and then back to his face. Chad nodded warily and immediately pulled away.

  “I’ll be alright. I told you, this type of cat is notorious for its temperament around people. A few days of healing in a quiet place and he’ll be feeling better. I’ll make sure I keep him secure,” she said.

  Chad shook his head. “It’s not that. Are you sure this… cat is what you say it is?” he asked.

  Trescina turned and locked her eyes with his. She nodded. Walkyr frowned when he saw a look of fear flash through her eyes before it was gone.

  “You don’t need to worry, Chad. I know exactly what he is,” she quietly replied.

  Chapter Ten

  “Back off, you two. No, you can’t sniff his you-know-what, Cinnamon. That is just gross. Spice, will you quit growling? He’s in a cage and not going to hurt anyone,” Trescina scolded.

  Chad chuckled uneasily as he watched the two white tigers curiously circle the cage. He had followed Trescina from the rescue center to the quaint yellow cottage. He was glad the house couldn’t talk. If it could, he was sure that Trescina’s unusual pets would be the least surprising things it would share.

  Sometimes Chad felt like he was lost in Alice’s Wonderland. All he needed was the Queen of Hearts to come thundering out of the woods shouting ‘Off with her head!’ at the top of her voice. Instead, he was helping Trescina gingerly move the cage from the back of his truck and into the attached garage.

  He stood back and watched as she tenderly scolded the white tigers who were trying to assess their new visitor. Instinctively, he swept his gaze over the house that had formerly belonged to Carmen Walker and her husband, Scott. For a moment, he felt a sense of regret when he remembered the beautiful young woman who had known both love and profound tragedy during her time here. In some ways, those memories seemed as if they were from a lifetime ago instead of a few short years. It was hard to believe that Carmen—and his sister, Sandy, who had resided in the house after Carmen left—now lived on Valdier, an alien world that he could only imagine with its dragon-shifting warriors and their gold symbiot companions.

  He had debated if he should mention the unusual visitors that came to the Grove Ranch to Trescina before he silently shook his head. He would if it became absolutely necessary—and he had her signature on a non-disclosure. The last thing he wanted to do was frighten her with tales of shape-shifting aliens.

  He half-wondered who he was kidding as he watched Trescina scratch one Siberian tiger under the chin while pressing a kiss to the nose of the other one. Given the way she handled these wild cats, Trescina would fit right in with their alien visitors. Her ability to communicate with them was right in line with the strange things the alien warriors did. He would never forget the day he’d pulled up to the ranch and found a bunch of baby dragonlings slipping into the house and devouring the breakfast Ann Marie had made.

  Lately, the alien visitors were beginning to seem more like visiting tourists and a lot less alien to him. Fortunately, there were currently none visiting the ranch. For the last couple of years, it seemed like there were almost always a handful of aliens from different worlds at the ranch.

  Last month, it had reached the point that Ann Marie grumbled it was a full-time job trying to keep up with their arrivals. It was becoming harder and harder to keep their activities a secret. He and Mason were waiting for the day when the government suddenly descended on the ranch wearing radiation suits and brandishing big guns.

  “I really need to retire,” he muttered under his breath.

  “What?” Trescina asked, turning to look at him.

  Chad shook his head. “Nothing. Where do you want him?” he asked, nodding toward the sleeping leopard in the cage.

  “I’ve got it from here. The cage is on wheels. I’ll close the garage door. He’ll be fine,” she reassured him.

  “Trescina…,” he started to say, looking at the leopard with a frown.

  “Is there something wrong?” she asked.

  Chad shook his head again and sighed. “I hope not. I really, really hope not,” he murmured. “If you need anything, let me know. I’ll come by tomorrow and check on you.”

  Trescina hesitated a moment before she nodded and smiled at him. He sensed that she didn’t really want him around. Once again, he felt a nagging suspicion that he was missing something. Perhaps it was time to pull the background check he had completed when Trescina applied to rent the house. He had read through it, but everything appeared to check out. Even Heather had vouched for Trescina, stating that when the rescue center was first opened, she had read many of the behavioral articles that Trescina had written over the years.

  He waved his hand to her when she stepped into the garage and pressed the remote to close it. Only when the door was sealed did he turn back to his truck. Opening the door, he climbed into the driver’s seat. He started the engine, thankful that it was still warm enough that the heat quickly filled the interior. He glanced in the rear-view mirror before he shifted the truck into drive. If he ever had any reservations that Trescina would be able to handle the huge cat, they had dissipated when
he watched her through the clear glass just before they left. He hadn’t been able to hear what she was saying to the massive feline, but whatever it was, the cat appeared to understand. The cat had taken the sedative tablets that Heather had given Trescina out of the palm of her hand without any resistance before he calmly did a three legged hobble down the hall behind her and into the transport cage. Five minutes later, he was sound asleep. Chad snorted as he remembered the cat’s glare before his eyes closed.

  “I’m glad he wasn’t an alien,” he chuckled, thinking that Trescina would have been in for a shock to discover her Siberian leopard could change into a man. “I bet she’s never seen a cat who could do that before!”

  Pain shot through Walkyr when he rolled onto his side. His eyes popped open and he moaned before he closed his eyes again and gritted his teeth. He felt like he’d been hit by a full-grown dragon.

  He slowly opened his eyes again. His head felt like it was filled with fluff, and his leg was throbbing, reminding him that he had yet to heal the fracture. He turned his head when he heard a loud yawn. Lifting his head an inch off the thick blanket he was lying on, he looked into the wide mouth of a creature that looked a lot like a Sarafin warrior in his cat form.

  “Spice, go in the house, love. I’m sure he doesn’t want to see what you had for lunch. It’s good to see that you’re finally awake. I was worried that you died. It would have been a pain in the ass if you had. Digging a hole when the ground is frozen can be a bitch,” Trescina calmly stated.

  Walkyr focused and his body shimmered as he shape-shifted. Black dots danced in front of his eyes for a moment as the change jarred the break in his leg. He breathed deeply through his nose and waited for the pain to subside.

  “Your… compassion is heartwarming. How long… how long was I out?” he replied in a voice edged with pain.