A Forgotten Kitten (Sea-anan Saga Book 2) (10 page)

“Areo,” Sev muttered.

“While you slept peacefully, I searched for a reason to go on, clinging to the hope—the dream—of having something to look forward to. While you slept, I fought in battles that no one my age should have been involved in. I have taken more lives than I care to count.” She briefly lowered her eyelids. “I see their faces each time I close my eyes.” She lifted her palms. “I will forever have their blood on my hands. So don’t tell me I need to be protected. The truth is, there are those who should be protected from me!”

“Areo, listen—”

“No, you listen! You are not my husband. You are not my lover. You are not my soul…” Her eyes snapped shut. Areo tried to hide
the tears that sprung forth at the mention of that one word. When she regained control, she continued in a much quieter tone. “You are not my father or my brother, so don’t try to tell me what to do. You can’t keep me from doing my duty.” She about-faced and stomped back toward the castle.

Sev was left speechless. Areo’s behavior. Her story. Her words. They shook him to the core.
Areo had taken a life. How? She’s so small, so fragile looking.
He replayed her story.
My poor kitten. How I wish I could’ve been there to protect you, to keep you from witnessing all the gruesome sights your beautiful eyes have seen.

He headed back to the castle with a look of sheer determination on his face.
I don’t care how adamant you are about leaving me behind, Areo. I’m not letting you go back without me. And I will not be refused, either.

Tuesday, the 25th of May, Year 2021

Oceanica

For the last five months, Sev had done nothing but argue with Areo each time the topic arose. He refused to accept what he considered a suicidal plan. And Areo was not about to take the man she loved into the lion’s den.

Frustrated after yet another confrontation with Areo, Sev followed her from a distance to the main entrance. He saw how she nearly collided with a Feron as she was about to exit the massive double doors.

“Whoa! That was a close one.” Areo grinned at the small furry creature. She reached inside her pouch and pulled out her
translator. She hooked it around her right ear, activated it with a tap, then spoke. “I’m sorry. I never saw you. Are you OK?”

The little Feron’s black-and-white head bobbed up and down. “I Erra.” She held out the basket she was carrying so Areo could have a look inside. “Call Seon.”

“Oooh, he’s
so
cute. Is he or she your baby?”

Erra’s head bobbed up and down in understanding and confirmation.

Areo admired the tiny fur ball. “Is your baby a boy or a girl?”

“Seon male.”

Areo smiled in response.

“Sev. Big gathering. Feron village. Seacats come. Yes?”

“Thank you, Erra,” spoke Sev into his translator. “Fern has invited us, too. Please tell the others that we Seacats will come.”

Erra nodded and smiled. Sev and Areo watched Erra teeter-totter down the steps and head to her village with her offspring.

Areo turned off her translator. “She looks like a chubby, tailless, four-foot ferret,” she whispered to Sev. She removed her communicator and placed it inside the pouch.

“A ferret?” Sev deactivated his communicator. “I’m not sure I’m familiar with the appearance of that creature.”

She smiled. “It’s a furry little weasel found on my father’s planet. Her features remind me of one.”

Suddenly, the mist that had resided in Sev’s head since Areo’s arrival shifted. “Your father’s planet,” he carefully repeated. “Don’t you mean your
parents’ planet,
or perhaps
your homeworld?”

Areo immediately sobered and fearfully regarded him. “Uh…no.”

“Then your mother
isn’t
of the same race as your father?”

“Uh…no.” Areo’s fight-or-flight reaction kicked in, and she chose flight.

Sev viciously growled. He’d had enough of Jugar’s and Areo’s cozy behavior and secret meetings, enough of Areo’s withdrawness after what had transpired in the control room between them, enough of their unwillingness to answer specific questions. Today, Areo would answer his questions whether she liked it or not. He hurried down the long flight of stairs.

Areo ran into the woods, hoping that Sev would not follow her with any more of his questions. Then again, a part of her yearned for him to remember the love they had once shared. In her heart, nothing had changed. The course of time had only served to strengthen her dreams of marrying Sev and having his baby. Meeting the man Sev had become intensified her need for him. She wanted him, but in her lonely heart, she knew she could never have him. Thanks to the law.

Arriving at Katt Falls, Areo stopped at the water’s edge. Mist rose from where the water hit the rocks. Her eyes followed it to the blue skies above. She was about to pull on her blouse’s drawstring when her preternatural senses alerted her.

She crouched into a ready combat position and spoke loud and clear. “All right, I know you’re…” She paused. Sniffing the air, Areo detected a woody, forest scent. She swallowed.

A few feet ahead of her, the bushes parted. Sev slowly materialized wearing a royal-blue, silk shirt trimmed with gold and formfitting, black pants over polished black boots.

“Thank you for clearing that up for me. My next question is, when were you going to tell me?” His eyes glittered in anger.

She swallowed. “I—”

“Don’t try to lie to me. I wondered about it a while back, but I wasn’t positive until now. So let’s hear it.”

“I…” Areo shook her head. “Don’t know what to say.”

“How about telling me the truth.”

Areo folded her arms defensively. “I never lied to you.”

Sev’s eyebrow rose in a skeptical fashion. “Really? And not telling me you are part Oceanan is not lying?”

“I never told you I was
not
part Oceanan. Nor did I ever tell you where I was born. If you recall, that topic never came up.”

“You never disclosed it, either.”

“No, I didn’t, but keeping a secret isn’t lying. So technically, I never lied to you. In truth, I’ve never lied to you. And I never will.”

“OK, then.” His voice turned milder. “I will give you that much. Now tell me, Princess, is your mother an Oceanan?”

Areo loved it when he called her princess. It meant so much to her. If only he could remember that he had given her that nickname when he was three.

“Why do you want to know? What does it matter? It doesn’t change who I am or the woman I’ve become.”

“No, but it will paint a clearer picture for me.”

“Is that so important?”

“It’s important for me to understand you better, to understand why and how you have become the woman you are today. Yes.”

The wheels in Areo’s head spun wildly as she tried to think of a way to persuade Sev from proceeding. She did not want to cause him grief. “I don’t see how—”

“Areo, please. I want to know everything about you. Including where you were born and who your parents are.”

With the pleading look Sev sent her way, Areo crumbled. It was clear that Sev had never lost his power over her.

Areo took a fortifying breath. “Yes, my mother is an Oceanan. A pureblood like yourself.”

“Which planet is your father from?”

Taking another deep breath, she pushed her shoulders back and lifted her head high. “My father is an Earthling. A human.”

“A human!” Sev scrutinized her. “How is that possible? They are not capable—”

“They are very much capable. I’m living proof of that. My parents are soulmates, Sev. They bear each other’s soulscar. It didn’t matter to them where the other was from. It didn’t matter to my father’s sister Carol Ann, or to his best friend Lance. Both married Oceanans and bore several litters a piece.”

“Several litters? Your aunt? She married a male Oceanan?”

“That’s correct.”

“What are their names?”

“What?”

“I said, what are the names of the two Oceanans who married your human relatives?”

“Wh…wh…why?” Areo stuttered.

Once again, she had revealed too much. When would she learn to keep her mouth shut? This was why the Council of Elders did the interrogations while she listened carefully and made the final decision. She did not know when to stop talking.

“Because I want to hear the truth from you. In your own voice and in your own words, I want to hear you confirm what I suspect.”

“But…but why? What does it matter?”

“Don’t start that up with me again. You are obviously a Seacat’s offspring. Now I want to know which Seacat she is, and if the Oceanan male is also a Seacat.”

Areo’s eyes grew wider. She knew Sev was smart, but it had never dawned on her how sharp he truly was.
Jugar is going to kill me.
“And…and what on Earth makes you think that…that I’m a Seacat’s offspring?”

“Simple. The Sword of Power saved your life.”

“So?”

Sev’s icy, narrow slits warned her not to dare lie to him. “The sword can
only
save the life of a Seacat. So you, my little kitten, are a Seacat, which leads me to my next question. Who are your Seacat relatives?”

“Blast it!” Areo had not known that bit of information about the sword.

“Yes. I must admit you threw me at first. But as time went by, I watched you
very
closely. I soon realized there was more to you than meets the eye. Now tell me, kitten, or must I go to your old pal, Jugar?”

“Jugar?”

“Of course. Do you honestly think I haven’t noticed how friendly the two of you have become? Or does it stem from the two of you knowing each other in another life? Perhaps…can we say. Oceana?”

Areo’s jaw dropped. “Sev—” Her words froze in her throat at his raised hand.

“Stop right there. I don’t want to hear any excuses or false tales. I want only the truth.”

Try as she might, Areo could not come up with something to save her from this confrontation, or the heat Jugar was sure to give her when he found out.

“Areo!” Sev shouted, startling her.

“All right, all right! I’ll tell you, damn it!” Her eyes filled with tears. “My godfather, Lance Blaisdale, married Seacat Concheetah. My father, Rick McCall, married Seacat Leonora. And the man who married my Aunt Carol Ann was my mother’s brother.”

Sev growled another warning.

“Seacat Challen!”

Sev’s eyeballs nearly fell from their sockets.

“There…are you happy? Now you know. Challen was my uncle, and his beloved sister is my mother. And yes, I did know Jugar back on Oceana. How could I not? He was Challen’s best friend and second in command. The godfather of his litters.” She pounded her chest. “My adoptive uncle!”

Sev remained silent.

“Now that you know the truth, I ask a favor of you. Don’t tell the others who I am and who my relatives are.” At his bewildered expression, she explained. “They don’t need to know. It’s bad enough that they think I’m an alien living within Seacat walls. They don’t need to know that I’m a half-breed and an Earthling to boot. It would only make things worse.” She swiped at the tears forming in her eyes.

“How?”

“There’s a little thing called
prejudice
in this plane of existence. It’s bad enough that I’m an alien, but if they find out I’m part Oceanan, that prejudice will increase tenfold. The thought of an Oceanan taking an alien, let alone a human, as a spouse is considered unacceptable and is sorely looked down upon.”

“But you’re a Seacat.”

Areo gave him a sardonic look and snickered. “Wrong. I’m not a Seacat. Not like you.”

“What?”

Areo grew serious. “To be an Oceanan Seacat, you have to be of noble birthright
and
acknowledged by the King of Oceana … publicly.”

“And?”

She snarled. “I was neither!”

The venom in her voice made Sev blink. “How can that be? Your mother and Challen were both honorable, loyal Seacats. They were of the noble class. Concheetah was the second highestranking warrior on our planet. Challen was the first. He was in charge of all the Seacats.”

Areo raised her right pointer finger and went on to muddle Sev’s mind further.
“Was
being the operative word.”

“What?”

Hatred, the desire for retaliation, and the yearning to unleash all the feelings of betrayal she had kept hidden inside begged for release. Yet Areo remembered that she would hurt her truelove if she answered his question.