Page 15 of Pretty Kitten

Knowing she could feel the beat of his heart underneath her, Rye did his best to control it and stay calm, wishing very hard that he was alone in the room, so he could yell every variation of fuck that came to mind, and throw something.

“Sweet pea,” Ace said softly, still caressing her head, although her amber eyes shone bright gold, “you should have told us, because Clarissa might be in trouble now. But you know that.”

Good, she’d managed to say it without yelling. Sometimes, he loved being able to share his responsibilities.

“I know, but Clari was happy in my vision. We all were. Everyone, even Zack was all grown up, and we were dancing under a big gazebo, before we all shifted. Niamh was there, dressed like a princess, all in gold. It was a good vision.”

That didn’t sound all that bad…

“But?” Ace asked, interrupting him just as he was about to tell Hsu that it didn’t matter.

“But I can’t see it now. I ignored my visions for a few days, and now, whenever I try, they’re blocked. I can’t see the party. I can’t see anything, except them.”

Realizing she made no sense, the child lifted her hand and placed her fingers near Rye’s temple, before sharing what she’d seen.

At first, she sent an image of the living room, where most of the members of the pride were standing in a wary stance that made Rye think they expected an attack. The children, in the centre of the room, were protected by most of them; a few amongst them were missing - presumably stationed elsewhere. What surprised him was that he saw a handful of unfamiliar faces. But at each image she sent after that one, he became more somber.

First, the Vergas Pack - an enemy who’d long waited for the chance to get back at them. Rye could see the glee emanating from their psychotic Alpha as he paced around the border of their territory. Secondly, the Royal Pride, headed by one of the Enforcers - his father’s man. That was already over a hundred enemies, and it was only the start. Right after, he saw the skies clouded by gigantic eagles, gorillas running through their woods, arctic bears coming from the lake, and worst of all: a dozen severe, clean-cut officers wearing black and green.

The birds, the gorillas, the bears- all those were rare, and directly protected by the Shifter Council, so long as they swore their allegiance, but Rye could have believed it a coincidence, if it hadn’t been for the last group.

Those military trained shifters in green were the members of the Council.

Which meant that their entire race had declared war against them.

And they wouldn’t survive it. They couldn’t.

He wasn’t sure he wanted to see more of Hsu’s premonition this time, but, just when he was about to tell her he’d had enough, something pushed him back, hard, and his mind returned to Zack’s sunny room.

“What was that?” he asked, confused, a headache rapidly forming.

And shifters practically never got headaches.

He’d seen red; actually, black and red. A slow, cloudy, tainted mist covering the entire vision- and then, nothing.

“I don’t know,” Hsu whispered. “But I can’t see past that. I can’t see.”

Chapter 11

A delightful View

The knocking on her door was insistent, unforgiving, and she was pretty certain she growled. Someone giggled outside her door before opening it. Dammit. She should have locked herself in.

“You’ll thank me for waking you up, and never question my judgement again, trust me on this.”

She had serious doubts, on both accounts, especially when the intruder pulled her blackout curtains open, making her groan and hide under her pillow.

The traitor then went after her comforter. She yelled and kicked out, delighted when her feet hit something. She hoped it hurt.

“Dude, it’s one in the afternoon.”

“I was up until five in the morning.”

Drinking Brandy. With Daunte.

As she was a lightweight, Clari never drank enough to pass out or be confused by what had happened; she remembered it clearly. For once, though, she wondered if her mind had played tricks on her. Because last night had been… nice. They’d talk about everything and nothing, like old friends. Daunte supported the Jaguars, while she preferred the Arctic Bears - because there was something poetic about seeing super-duper hot grizzly shifters in tight sports gear. He liked to listen to jazz, while she had a thing for pop. They both liked stupid movies featuring super heroes, rather than serious stuff. And when he was growing up, his sole purpose had been annoying the shit out of his big sister, because he loved when she was grumpy. He’d also been fiercely protective of her, getting into a fair amount of fights with those who talked shit about her for what she was.

“Then,” he’d said, “when I was ten and hated by every kid in the pride, I met Rye at a Gathering. The Prince. I know you don’t get our culture, but as far as we were concerned, he walked on water. He didn’t have a lot of friends, even in his pride, and he rarely spoke to anyone; but he spoke to me. He friended me on social media and included me in his group. When we came back home, I was the cool kid, and they finally left Ace alone. I couldn’t stand the hypocrisy of it all, but at the end of the day, no one bothered her.”

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