Bad Kitty (3 page)

She couldn't move, she couldn't speak and
now she couldn't see. Finally her knees buckled underneath her and
she gratefully succumbed to the darkness sucking her in. It was all
she had left.

~

Rafe Comyn entered the clearing a second
before the battered and broken woman collapsed. He tempered his
instinct to run to her assistance. The three men from his pack who
surrounded her were not his favorite people and rushing them would
send them on the attack. This was not going to go well.

"What the hell is going on here, Tanner?"
Rafe demanded.

All three men turned his
way and snarled. Their faces were already elongated from a partial
shift, their arms and chests covered in fur. Saliva dripped from
their mouths and for a second Rafe's stomach turned. They looked
more like a rabid group of dirty animals instead of the superior
wolf shifters they were supposed to be. The half beast form wasn't
the most attractive to begin with. On these
three
,
it was
downright nasty.

"This is none of your business, Rafe. We
found her first so back off." The gruff voice of the wolf made the
human hard to understand.

"Yeah, I can see that. You've cornered a
woman and beat her half to death. That's really something to be
proud of."

The largest of the group broke rank and
moved toward Rafe. "We haven't touched her yet. We found her like
this, and she ain't no woman. She's a feline bitch."

Rafe eased forward, making
sure to not make any sudden movements. He could take on Tanner and
his friends if he had to
,
but he might as well try and be diplomatic first.
The Alpha wouldn't take kindly to him starting a fight and right
now pack politics were tense at best. A quick glance at the woman
showed her passed out on the ground, but her chest rose and fell
just enough for him to see she indeed still lived.

"Then why the hell do you look like wild
animals about to attack? Are you planning to eat her?" He knew
exactly what they were going to do with her.

"We're about to claim her."

Great, just what he
thought. They were stupid
and
horny, his favorite combination. Not. Rafe fought
the urge to roll his eyes against the cliché of these men. Not just
men though. They were pack, which offered a whole host of
complications he was about to step into.

"She's in no condition to be claimed. From
what I can see she's barely alive." He brushed past Tanner and
knelt beside the woman, ignoring the warning growls behind him. He
bent down and sniffed her from head to toe. The wolf's keen sense
of smell would tell him everything he needed to know. "She needs
immediate medical attention."

"Nuh huh. What do we care if she's hurt?
She's one of them. All the woman has to do is shift again and
she'll be fine."

Rafe seriously doubted
that was the case. In this condition her body should have already
reverted to the cougar he scented inside her. There was something
seriously wrong here. He pressed his fingers to her neck to check
for a pulse and nearly jumped out of his skin. An electric jolt
fired across his flesh, making the hairs on the back of his neck
stand on end.
Good God.

He peered closer for a
better look. The red streaks in her long blonde hair appeared to be
dried blood and the swelling on her cheek and eye were already
turning colors. Not to mention the vicious cut bisecting half her
face. Someone or someones had certainly given her one hell of a
beating. He turned and glared at the men behind him. If not Tanner
and his ugly friends
,
then who? She was too far into their territory to simply be
lost. He ground his back teeth, knowing these idiots had found her
first
,
giving
them rights to claim her.

His wolf growled inside him, a low but
distinct warning. He did not like that idea one bit.

Reluctantly he turned his back to the woman
and faced the three men. It wouldn't work well to appear overly
interested in her. One whiff of his interest and this situation
would turn violent in a heartbeat.

"Her pulse is faint, I don't think there's
going to be a claiming here tonight. She can't shift if she isn't
conscious. I'm taking her to doc for medical attention, although
I'm not even sure she'll live. She smells like death.

"Now wait just a minute." Tanner moved
forward.

Rafe held up his hand to halt the other man
and growled deep and loud, making sure to thread the noise with the
full strength of his dominance. All three men looked up at him in
shock. "You ready to challenge me, Tanner? I know you've been dying
to do something, but I doubt this is what you had in mind."

"But we found
her
,
so we've got
rights. You can't stop us. It's the law!" The three men took a
tentative step in Rafe's direction.

"I'm not kidding here. One
more step and I'll take it as a personal challenge. It's been a
while since I've ripped out anyone's throat
,
so I'm due."

They froze, each looking
back at the other. Finally Tanner shrugged and stepped from in
front of Rafe's path. "This ain't over. We aren't just giving up
our rights to her. You can have her for now
,
but we'll be coming for her
soon."

The menace in Tanner's
voice wasn't lost on Rafe. What he'd really meant was that after he
gathered a few more people to his side
,
he'd be ready for the challenge.
This was what an alpha wolf on the rise had to deal with on a
regular basis. If you couldn't prove your
dominance
,
then
you had no business becoming a leader.

"Anytime, Tanner, anytime."

Rafe turned and scooped the woman from the
dirt. She barely stirred. He seriously wondered if she'd live. The
cuts on her skin looked like slashes from claws and they were ugly,
but turning darker way too fast. Those were no ordinary wounds.

Despite her battered
condition
,
he
sensed an inner strength that appealed to his wolf. It left him
with an almost uncontrollable urge to lay her out and nestle his
nose against her unmarred flesh. The underlying fragrant scent of a
woman managed to get in his head through the harsher smell of
whatever had been done to her. To his horror, his body hardened as
her scent imprinted on his brain. It was time to get them both out
of here.

He brushed past the men
before any of them changed their mind. He knew the woman in his
arms needed more urgent care than they realized.
Fortunately
,
he
wasn't far from his cabin and his cell phone. How she made it this
far in without setting off any alarms surprised the hell out of
him. Not that he doubted for a second Tanner and his crew would
spread the word faster than wildfire. If Rafe was
lucky
,
he'd make
it to nightfall before the Alpha came calling.

Chapter Two

One hundred yards from Rafe's home the woman
in his arms stirred. Her eyes fluttered open and her vivid green
gaze latched on to him.

"Who are you? Am I dead?"

"Doesn't matter and not yet. Save your
energy because I think you're going to need it."

"What happened?" she asked. "Where are we
going?"

Rafe smiled at the
irritation in her weak voice. "I was hoping you could tell
me
what happened." She
slipped in his grip and he tightened his arms around
her.

She briefly squeezed her eyes shut but not
before he saw the flash of pain in her gaze. Her mouth opened on a
pant. "There were three men," she wheezed. "I thought they were
going to kill me."

"If only you'd been that lucky."

Her eyebrows drew together in question.

"They wanted a lot more than your death, at
least at first."

He watched her facial
expression change the moment she understood what he was saying. She
immediately struggled in his arms, which he stifled by tightening
his grip. He hated hurting her further
,
but much more of this and she'd
make things far worse.

"Put me down. You—you—" she cried out at the
pain her writhing had stirred.

Rafe smiled down at her despite the serious
situation. "I don't think you're in any position to fight with me,
cat girl. Relax and let me get you some help."

Narrowing her eyes, she managed a vicious
little glare through the swelling of her face and eye. The edges of
her gash were already black and beginning to fester.

"Down, girl. In a minute we'll be at my
cabin and we can see about getting you patched up." And he could
get her out of his arms where the soft brush of her skin teased him
mercilessly. Her lack of clothing left nothing to the imagination
and that pulled at him much more than it should. He should be shot
for the filthy thoughts running through his head. She was seriously
injured and he was thinking wildly inappropriate ways to get what
he wanted from her.

"Where exactly are we?" She tried to turn
her head to see in front of them and hissed sharply at what he
imagined was a move that must have hurt like fucking hell.

"Deep into where you
aren't supposed to be
,
I'm afraid." He carried her up the steps to his cabin and
held her on one arm so he could open the door. "I'd welcome you to
my home
,
but I
doubt there's going to be much of a welcome for you."

She turned and met his gaze. "What does that
mean?"

"Do you know where you are?" he asked.

Her eyes widened a little as she realized.
"I don't have to know, I can still smell...wolf territory."

Rafe shrugged. "We'll worry about that
later." He carried her straight to the extra bedroom and laid her
on the bed. She cried out when he jostled her.

"Sorry." The scent of her pain filled the
small room and mingled with the strange odor he'd detected on her
earlier. He grabbed the extra blanket from the foot of the bed and
covered her as quickly as he could. Not before he got a good look
at dark, pink nipples atop her generous breasts. He even noticed
the large freckle dotting one of them. To his eternal shame, his
mouth watered as her lush body disappeared behind the bulky
blanket. What the fuck was wrong with him?

"I'm going to ruin your bed," she murmured.
Her face had turned two shades of grey since he'd jostled her onto
the mattress. The last thing on his mind was the ruination of his
furniture.

"Not my bed. And I can get another one easy
enough."

"Need a shower," she whispered.

Rafe leaned in and brushed the hair from her
face, easing the red streaked blonde hairs from the wound on her
left cheek so he could get a better look. "You have bigger things
to worry about besides ruining furniture and a shower. First I'm
calling the doc and then we'll see about getting you cleaned
up."

"But—"

"Don't bother, lady. You're in no position
to argue at this point." Now irritated with his behavior, Rafe left
the bedroom and scooped his cell phone from the kitchen counter. He
didn't like the way the cat woman made him feel or the thoughts
running rampant through his mind. Even more worrisome were her
injuries. Why the hell hadn't she shifted to let the cat heal
her?

He punched in the memorized phone number and
waited for someone to answer. On the third ring he got a gruff
hello.

"Hey
,
Doc. I need your help."

His friend groaned. "Why do you insist on
calling me that? You know I hate it."

Rafe laughed. "I know. That's why I do
it."

"Clearly you don't really need my help. So
if you don't mind I'm going back to—"

Rafe straightened, frustration setting in.
They didn't have time for this. "Look this is serious. I have a
situation that needs immediate medical attention."

He listened while Doc moved around and
whispered to someone that he was sorry but he had to go before he
responded. "Okay I'm up and on my way. I'll be there in ten
minutes. But maybe you should give me a heads up on what I'm
walking into."

Oh boy. "I've got a shifter that's been
shredded to hell and back. There are cuts across half her body that
aren't healing and turning black at the edges. I think she's
dying."

"Her?" Doc asked.

"Yeah, why is that important?"

"The fairer sex is always important," his
friend replied.

"Whatever, dude. Get your head out of your
pants and get the hell over here."

"You take all the fun out of an emergency
situation, Rafe."

Rafe ignored his friend's attempt at drawing
him out. "Well, that's not all." He took a deep breath and blurted
it out. "She's not wolf."

"Jesus, Rafe. What have
you stepped into?" He had his attention now. "Seriously, man. Are
you telling me you have a half dead
cat
shifter
in your possession?"

Rafe pushed his fingers through his hair.
"Well, when you put it that way..."

"Fuck!" A car door slammed. "Make it five
minutes."

Rafe ended the call and tossed the phone to
the couch. During the call he'd paced across the living room and
now found himself outside the bedroom door listening to the
feline's breathing. Shallow breaths followed by a series of
whimpers came from her every minute or so. He ached to go in and
try to comfort her but he sensed he was already too deep with this
one. If he went back in he'd only touch her again and she needed to
be one hundred percent off limits to the likes of him.