Jennifer Ashley - 07.25 Lion Eyes by Jennifer Ashley

Author:Jennifer Ashley [Ashley, Jennifer]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Seamus rocked a little as the cub slammed into his legs, then he paused to let himself feel vast relief. Katie was all right.

Bree, behind him, stopped in astonishment. Seamus felt the waves of her confusion and wonder roll off her.

“And who is this?” Bree asked with eager interest.

The little bear was clinging to Seamus’s leg, claws coming through his jeans, as Bree’s cat’s had done this morning.

“This is Katie,” Seamus said, his voice a low rumble. “I’m looking after her.”

Katie looked up at her name. The cub was about two years old in human terms, which was barely born in Shifter. She needed constant care.

“But what is she doing here?” Bree asked, amazed. “She’s Shifter, right? What happened to her parents? Or are you ...?” She broke off, looking at Francesca. Cross species mating did happen.

Francesca unbent enough to bark a laugh. “Not mine. Seamus found her.”

“Found her?” Bree swung her focus to Seamus.

“More or less,” Seamus said.

He didn’t want to describe how he’d come across Katie’s bear Shifter mother, dead from bringing Katie in. He’d found them all alone in the wilds in northern Manitoba, near Hudson Bay. Katie’s mother had been Collared—all Seamus could figure was that she had escaped her Shiftertown for whatever reason to have her child alone.

Seamus had fetched Kendrick, who’d sent the mother to dust with his Sword of the Guardian then taken the cub to foster with others. Kendrick’s Shifters had many foster cubs, rescued from similar situations. The cubs were split up among the Shifters who had the ability to take care of them.

Seamus wasn’t fostering Katie—Francesca was. When Kendrick’s compound had been raided and destroyed, the protocol was that certain trackers were put in charge of making sure cubs and their mothers, natural and foster, were taken care of. Seamus was one of those trackers, his assignment, Katie and Francesca.

“Any trouble?” Seamus asked.

Francesca shook her head. “Not a peep. Katie’s getting restless, though. She wants to run.”

Bree crouched down, and Katie gamboled over to her. She sniffed Bree over, while Bree watched, enraptured, then Bree put out a tentative hand to pet her. Katie gave a baby growl and rubbed her head against Bree’s hand.

Then Katie reached up one paw and plucked the cat’s ears, forgotten by Bree, from her head. The cub adjusted the headband on her own head with great dexterity, then returned to four paws and started loping around the room. Bree sat back, a stunned look on her face.

“If you take her out running in Zilker Park, people will notice,” she said, her voice faint. “You’ll be inundated with questions. And possibly arrested.”

Francesca broke in. “All right, Seamus, who is this woman, and why did you bring a human to a safe house?”

Seamus returned Francesca’s look with a calm one. “This is Bree Fayette. She saved my life last night. Bree, Francesca.”

“Mmm.” Francesca didn’t look happy, but she gave Bree a nod. “Now that she knows about us, you know you can’t let her go.”

“I won’t keep her prisoner,” Seamus said.

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