Cat on the Fence (8 page)

The door to the restroom was a push one, so he was able to
enter it even while still Cat. As soon as he bounced into the bathroom he
skidded on the freshly mopped floor. Alex stopped himself just inches before
crashing into John, who was pissing into the urinal. Alex arched his back and
roared in surprise. John jumped and screamed like a bitch, getting urine all
over himself as he scurried out of the bathroom, nearly tripping over his feet.

Shit
,Alex thought. This meant he had pretty
much no time at all to get out of there before someone came in. He raced to the
last stall, paused just long enough to shift back to human and quickly went
inside and locked the door. His clothes and a lab coat were nestled between the
back of the toilet and the wall as planned. Karabi had placed his shoes on the
floor in front of the toilet, so someone taking a quick glance under the door
might think someone was in there and leave the stall alone.
She’s a clever
one
, Alex thought as he hurriedly got dressed and recalled the next part of
Karabi’s plan.

“Okay, here’s another idea. Put on your clothes, and then
this on over it.” She waved a lab coat. “If anyone asks, I’ll tell them you’re
a vet student doing shadowing today.”

“And if someone recognizes me?”

“Tell them you came in to meet with me to follow up on the
Zoo Ball results.”

“And I’m wearing the same outfit because…”

“You’ve been in the hospital since Friday. You just got
checked out, and so you put back on the only clothes you had there and came
straight here.”

Alex frowned. “I don’t like lying.”

“Hopefully you won’t have to. Besides, without the tie or
mask, would anyone notice?”

Alex picked up his pace even further when he heard the
commotion coming down the hall. He’d barely stuck his feet into his shoes when
the restroom door banged open. They started kicking in each of the bathroom
doors as Alex quickly pulled his pants and underwear down and plopped on the
toilet just as his own door was kicked open.

“Sorry, man—a tiger escaped and passed through here, did you
happen to see?”

Alex covered his face with his hands, his elbows on his
knees, and grunted as if he were pushing hard. He peered at the guy he didn’t
recognize through his splayed fingers and shook his head. The guy looked
disgusted and quickly backed out, at which point Alex leaned forward and closed
and locked the stall door again.

“The tiger must have jumped out of this window,” John said.
“Do you see it?”

“I’m looking. I don’t see anything,” another man said.

“Fuck. Let’s go!”

They all stormed out of the bathroom.

Alex sighed with relief as he waited for the guys to leave
the building. When he was pretty sure they were all outside he quickly left the
bathroom, slipped on the medical mask and casually walked out while everyone
was distracted, looking for the tiger. Pretty much unnoticed, he walked right
out of the zoo. Once he was outside the gates he picked up speed and lightly
jogged across the street to the parking lot where he found Karabi waiting in her
car.

“Anybody see you?”

“Yes, but he didn’t recognize me.”

“Good.” She started the car and peeled out of the parking
lot.

“What do you think is going to happen when they can’t find
the tiger?”

She shrugged. “I have no idea, but they won’t find it. And
you’re free. Good job, by the way, on the shifting.”

“Thanks,” Alex said even as the world was spinning. “That
was crazy!” He ached all over and he felt woozy. “I don’t feel so good.”

“Let’s get you home. Where do you live?”

“I’m in Evanston.” His eyes rolled around in his head as he
rattled off the address.

Karabi slammed on the brakes at the stoplight a little too
hard and he lunged forward, making his headache worse.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“You’re shitting me. You live in the Forest Gardens townhome
complex?”

“Yeah. What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing. It’s just that—my parents own those apartments.”

“That’s great.”

“No, it’s not.”

“Why no—” There was a sharp pain in his chest. He touched
the side of his suit and came away with blood on his hands. “The Werewolf
bite,” he groaned. “It’s bleeding.”

“Shit,” Karabi muttered. “You can’t be alone. I’m taking you
to my place.”

He smiled meekly. “Sweet. I’ve been waiting to hear you say
that,” he said.

Then his world faded to black.

“Come on, Alex, wake up.” Karabi shoved at the shifter until
he stirred in the passenger seat. There was no way she could get him upstairs
on her own and she couldn’t exactly ask someone to help her take a bleeding man
up to her apartment without encountering a lot of questions. For the first time
in a long while she really wished she had more friends. By leaning on Karabi
for support, he was able to get himself out of the car and up into her
apartment.

Now Alex sat on the lid of her toilet seat, looking weak. She
unbuttoned his shirt and slid it off him. She’d seen him naked plenty by now
yet it still gave her a rush to undress him. The fact that he was in her
bathroom, inside the place she lived, added a new layer of intimacy between
them that made her pulse race with excitement. He was watching her with sleepy
yet acutely aware eyes. He seemed both fragile and predatory at the same time.

Karabi looked at the wound on his chest. There was an
oozing, angry black, blue and orange swirl where one of the Werewolves had
chewed into him. She’d never seen anything like it. “Does it hurt?”

“It stings. Itches a bit. It’s more irritating than it is
painful. I was fine earlier. Why do you think it started bleeding again?”

Karabi shook her head. “I don’t know. It looks more like pus
than blood. Maybe there was something poisonous in the Werewolf’s saliva. I
think your body is trying to rid itself of an invasive substance.”

“Is it infected?”

She touched her hand to his forehead. “You don’t have a
fever. If so, it’s unlike any infection I’ve ever seen. I may have to see if I
can find some information about Werewolf bites online. I’m just going to
disinfect and dress the wound for now.”

“Isn’t there someone you can call for advice on this?”

“Not really,” Karabi said quickly.

Alex raised his brows. “Where are all of your Werecat
friends?”

“I don’t have any.”

“You don’t know any other Werecats?”

“I know of plenty of others,” she replied haughtily. “I’m
just not friends with them.”

“Why not? You seem to play well with others.”

“I just don’t want any. They’re Werecats, and so it’s
complicated.”

That seemed to give him pause. “What about family? Do we Werecats
have shape-shifter relatives?”

“I don’t talk to my family.”

“Not often?”

Karabi grunted. “Not at all.” She finished bandaging Alex
and put away her supplies. “I’ll wash your shirt. My ex left a t-shirt here
that you might be able to wear in the meantime. Let me go get it.”

He followed her to the bedroom, not willing to let the
subject go. “Are your parents Werecats?”

“Yes. Both of them are.”

“Why don’t you talk to them?”

She opened the drawer, pulled out a t-shirt and tossed it at
Alex. “Because I don’t want to.”

“Why not? Because they are Werecats, and so it’s
complicated?”

“Yes, that’s exactly why,” Karabi replied angrily. “You sure
do have a lot questions!”

“Karabi, I just found out that I am a goddamn shape-shifter
with an infected Werewolf bite, and you’re the only clue I have as to what is
going on right now. Hell yeah I have a lot of questions. So please, humor me
and clue me in on some answers.”

She sat down hard on the bed and sighed heavily. “I wouldn’t
talk to my parents even if they weren’t Werecats. My father is just so strict
and so… ‘Traditional Indian’. Growing up, there were all of these rules and
restrictions and ridiculous customs enforced upon me. And on my mother too,
because she’s female. ‘It’s a woman’s place to cook and tend to the kitchen. A
woman doesn’t get loud. A woman doesn’t defy her father or husband.’ Lots of
patriarchal, gender-biased bullshit like that. Mum obeyed because she loves him
and doesn’t have a choice, but I saw every day how broken she was in spirit.
She was always only happy on the surface. ‘Fake happy’, I call it. I don’t want
fake happy, I want real happy. I want to be me.”

“It sounds like it’s your father you’re upset with,” Alex
said. “Why don’t you talk to your mother?”

“I’m upset with her too. She didn’t defend me enough. Didn’t
defend herself enough. All my life, Papa tried to force me to be someone I’m
not. When Papa discovered my bisexuality and shunned me for it and started
treating me differently, she just pretended not to notice. Not once did she put
him in his place, not once did she stand up to him and tell him how wrong he
was!”

Alex sat on the bed next to her with Rao’s shirt still in
his hand. “Did your father hurt you?”

“No. Not physically. I mean—I know he loves me. Or used to
love me, at least. For a long while, I was his precious angel. But once I began
to develop my own mind and voice, once I discovered who I was, things changed.
His lack of acceptance really hurt.”

“I can understand how that would really get under your
skin,” Alex said. His voice was low as he spoke. “I was raised by an aunt who
hated me from the get-go—and I mean absolutely
hated
me. I think she resented
the fact that my parents died when I was a toddler, leaving her to raise me.
She treated me like an annoyance and her personal slave, and she was the only
living relative I had. I never really felt as if I had a family at all. At
least you can say you were loved.”

Karabi winced inwardly. “I’m sorry to hear you had a rough
upbringing. I find it hard to believe that someone can know you and not love
you,” she said. He turned to look at her, his face full of emotion.
Shit,
did I say the ‘L’ word with this guy? Already?!
Karabi flashed a quick
smile before changing the subject. “So what happened to your parents?”

“My father was a licensed pilot and owned a small
single-engine plane that he and my mother used to fly for pleasure, according
to my aunt. Shortly after take-off one day, they clipped a light pole and
crashed into a parking lot. Both of them died instantly. My mother’s only
sister took me in.”

“Your mother’s sister…” Karabi reflected on that for a
second. “Did she ever tell you any stories about Werecats or Werewolves?”

“Not that I can remember,” Alex said. “She didn’t really
tell me any stories at all. I do remember she hated animals—especially cats.
The house next door had a few cats, and Aunt Rochelle used to vent all the time
about why they were such horrid creatures. Heh, she may be the reason I’ve
never been much of a cat person.”

“Interesting,” Karabi said. “I wonder if your aunt knew you
were a Werecat, and that’s why she disliked you. She possibly feared you
somewhat too.”

Alex bent one of his arms behind his head and looked over at
Karabi with raised brows. “What makes you say that?”

“Werecats are rare, born only to either a Werecat mother and
a human father or a Werecat mother and Werecat father, under the Leo zodiac
sign. So at a minimum, your mother was one. Therefore, so was her mother, at
least. Which means your aunt likely knew her sister and mother were Weres, and
that chances were high you would be born one too.”

“But if that were the case, why would Rochelle dislike me so
much? And cats?”

“Well, it sounds as if your aunt Rochelle isn’t a Werecat,”
Karabi said. “I imagine growing up with a Werecat sister and one or both
parents being Werecats when you’re just a regular human would have its
challenges. Because, I mean, most Werecats are
really
into being Cats.”

“Not you,” Alex said.

“I’m not like other Cats.”

Alex chuckled. “I bet you’re not. So what’s the deal with
the other Werecats? What are they like?” he asked.

“Well, for the most part they live the same way normal
people do. Have a house or apartment, go to school or work, have friends and
family, et cetera. Except that they tend to go to private schools with other
Werecat children, and they work at businesses owned and run by mostly other
Werecats. Like lions form prides, Werecats of all kinds—whether tiger, cheetah,
lion, cougar or whatever—all network together to form a very large group, also
called a Pride. About four times a year the entire Pride gets together for a
week or two of wild partying and heavy petting.”

“Are you in one?”

“I was brought up in the one my parents belong to. It’s been
so long since I’ve had any interaction with the Pride that I’m pretty sure they
consider me a Stray, now.”

Alex raised a brow and cocked his head. “You already know
what I’m going to ask. What’s your issue with the Pride?”

Karabi scoffed. “The Pride has all of these rules and
restrictions and ridiculous customs,” she said, rolling her head in circles to
emphasize that she was repeating herself.

Alex laughed. “I see a trend. Miss Karabi Minstry doesn’t
like rules and restrictions and customs.”

She shook her head in earnest. “No, I don’t. I’m a
free-spirit type. And the Pride has
many
rules, restrictions and
customs. Ugh, and hierarchies. Between the Pride and Papa, I had no idea how to
just be
me
until I left all of it behind when I turned eighteen.”

“Ah,” Alex said. He lay back on the bed and rested on his
elbows. “Give me some examples of these rules.”

Karabi opened the drawer of her nightstand and pulled out a
trade paperback and handed it to him. “Here. See for yourself.”

Alex took the book and flipped through it. At the top of
each page was a rule, followed by paragraphs of explanations. Some of the rules
only had a paragraph or two, others had up to several pages. He read out loud
just the titles of the first ten.

“Neither the identity nor the whereabouts of any Werecat, or
of the Pride itself, should be revealed to a non-Werecat or non-relative.

“A Werecat should not intentionally harm another Werecat who
is a member of or a guest of the Pride.

“Due to the declining birthrate of Werecats, every fertile
member of the Pride, regardless of sexual preference, should attempt to
procreate by mating with other Werecats.

“Only the Pride Council Members have the authority to
determine punishment for rule breakers.

“All members of the Pride are expected to be dedicated and
active participants of all the Pride events and customs, and to obey and uphold
Pride rules.

“Fertile Werecats not in monogamous relationships are expected
to participate in the Mating Ritual every quarter.

“Queens (fertile, female Werecats) have the right to choose
which Toms (fertile, male Werecats) they will mate with.

“A.H.F.A. (available, highly fertile and of age) Queens are
expected to mate with at least two sexual partners during the Mating Ritual.

“All newly identified single Strays must be introduced to the
Pride—no hogging Toms or Queens all to oneself!

“Sexual activity must only occur between bodies all in Cat
form or bodies all in human form. There is to be no sexual activity between
bodies in mismatched forms! (Feline species need not be the same.)”

Alex stopped reading after rule number ten. “Wow,” he said.
“There are almost two hundred pages in this book. These are a lot of rules. And
they’re very specific and, um, personal.”

Karabi crossed her arms. “Exactly!”

“How many are in this Pride?”

“Two hundred.”

“Are those all the Werecats in the world?”

“No, there are other Prides,” Karabi said.

“Can’t you just join some other Pride, then?”

Karabi shook her head. “Although we know there are other Prides,
it isn’t open knowledge who or where they are. Prides tend to keep to
themselves, and stay hidden. I don’t know much about them, nor them about us,
likely, but from what I do understand about Werecats, I suspect they all have
very similar rules.”

“Why wouldn’t all of the Werecats in the world just band
together? Form one big Pride?”

“Language barriers. Regional and cultural barriers. Conflict
over who gets to sit at the top—there can only be one king, right? Plus, just like
with cats, the bigger the Pride, the harder to ensure that all members are
taken care of.”

“Still,” Alex said. “It’s like a family?”

Karabi tilted her head. “What?”

“So, this Pride is like an extended family?”

“Of sorts, kinda,” Karabi said. Then she snorted. “More like
a big, nosy, rule-enforcing, freaky, orgy-having extended family, I guess.”

“Hmm,” Alex said. “Well, that’s way more family than I’ve
ever had the fortune of having.” The look on his face was an odd mixture of
sadness and intrigue.

“Take it from someone who’s had an overbearing,
dysfunctional family—having no family at all is better than having a shitty
one,” Karabi said.

Alex shook his head. “As someone who has had no family at
all, let me tell you that you’re absolutely wrong,” he said as he plopped down
on the bed.

For a long moment Karabi wasn’t quite sure what to say. It
felt very odd to her that he would seem to long for the very thing she’d
loathed all her life.

* * * * *

Lying upon Karabi’s bed, Alex stared quietly up at the
ceiling. There were so many things he wanted to say to her right then. Such as
how he felt as though she and he were kindred spirits at the moment. Even
though they’d had very different family experiences, they were both hurting for
the want of a close family unit. How good it felt to talk to and lie next to
Karabi. How easily they could solve both of their problems by just starting a
family of their own together someday, free of harsh judgment and full of love
and laughter.

But now wasn’t the right time for all of that. For one, he
sensed that it was way too soon for him to get all sentimental with Karabi. For
two, he was feeling a little distracted, frustrated. In the past three days
he’d had three different sexual encounters with Karabi and in not a single one
of them had he gotten to come. Even Karabi had orgasmed twice. His balls felt
heavy and ached for a release of their contents. He wanted to flip Karabi’s
pretty little self over on the bed, take her from behind and bang her silly but
he found that his entire body was racked with pain.