Chapter 6
2287 Words
Nick had to agree with Zoe. For an adult, he certainly didn’t know many things. He knew there were shifters, people who could change their forms into various animals
“But shifters don’t refer to their form by a name and they certainly don’t talk to it. It’s still them, just in a different shape,” Adira pointed out. “The girl acted more like a werewolf, as if she was talking to a second being inside of her mind.”
“Yes, but what does that make her?” Werebears existed, Nick remembered his father mentioning some northern packs waging wars against them. But he wasn’t aware of any other creatures similar to werewolves and werebears. “Is she a… werecat? Is that a thing?” Even the word sounded ridiculous.
Adira rolled her eyes at him. “Why are you asking me? I've literally been in this world for like three days. I might know some things by instinct but weren’t you the one who has been trained to be an Alpha your entire life?”
Oh yes, Nick had a ton of information about pack structure, warfare and battle tactics, wolf ceremonies, or his Alpha bloodline and its meaning. Information that was absolutely useless to him now that he was a rogue. But somehow Alpha Christopher forgot to mention the existence of other were-creatures. Or perhaps he just had no idea either.
“If it is true, then it will only be harder for us to escape from here,” Adira pondered over their situation. “If Zoe is a werecat, then the others are as well.”
Nick nodded. “The cat that led me into a trap.” Damn, he knew she was acting way too weird to be a regular cat.
“Yes, and the woman who treated your wounds said that she was a lot stronger and faster than she looked.” The wolf huffed. “Even in their human form, they will have stronger reflexes and sharper senses.”
Yes, that could definitely prove problematic. But it was not like Nick had figured out a way out of there yet. “How does Zoe have a cat already? She’s so young.”
“Perhaps the eighteen years is just a wolf thing?” Adira didn’t seem to be that much interested in that part. “Does it matter?”
It didn’t really matter. But it was a useful mental exercise Nick could use to occupy his brain while waiting for something to happen. Hours spent in the cage on his own were long and boring. Adira couldn’t do much to distract him, she was still trying to get her own fears under control. Nick had no idea where her panic attacks were coming from, it felt way stronger than just an instinctive reaction to being locked up. Perhaps she really was remembering some ugly events from her past lives.
Zoe came back a few hours later, looking adorable in a blue summer dress, two long braids falling down her back. “Hi Nick, hi Adira,” she waved excitedly, hopping closer and pulling a sandwich out of her backpack.
“Hi, Zoe. And Leila.” Whatever. Nick just decided to go with it. “You look pretty today.” No woman, no matter how young, would get angry over such a compliment, would she?
Indeed, the girl blushed a bit and twirled around. “Kate wants me to wear the nice things to school. Did you know it’s winter in Australia now? I wonder if the kangaroos need to wear hats when it snows.” She tossed him a bag with a sandwich and sat cross-legged on the ground, playing with the end of her braid.
“I did know that, yes. But I don’t think it snows much down there.” Back in the pack, Nick always liked spending time with young pups. They were so pure and innocent, no prejudice or discrimination, that came a bit later. But kids were so much fun to be around. “So, is Kate a cat too?”
Zoe nodded. “Sure. She is my aunt. That means… That means my mommy was her sister. Mommy was a cat too. Before the birds killed her. Now she’s a cat in heaven. At least Grams says so.” The girl shrugged, looking so sad and lonely, Nick wished he could reach for her and hug her.
“I’m so sorry, kitten.” And he truly was. Whatever was going on here, children shouldn’t have to suffer like that. “You don’t have to talk about it.”
The girl put the end of her braid into her mouth, rolling it over her tongue for a few moments, her brows furrowing. “Really? They always say I should. Always say, Zoe, you need to talk about your mama. I run away from Kate when she says that. She’s sad too, over mom, like me.”
“Well, I think sometimes talking helps. And sometimes it doesn’t. I’m sure your aunt loves you and wants the best for you.” Nick didn’t know s**t about dealing with grief and he certainly wasn’t some youth guidance counselor, he just tried to talk from the heart.
“You know,” Zoe chuckled, “you are quite okay for a grownup.”
“Oh, wow,” Nick grinned back at her, “such a compliment. It’s probably because I’ve officially been a grownup for like three days so I didn’t have time to pick up all that boring and annoying adulty things.”
Zoe tilted her head to the side, watching him finish the sandwich. Damn, he hoped it wasn’t her lunch or something, she looked so thin. “Kate is cool too,” she sighed. Nick didn’t see how that was a bad thing but he waited quietly for her to continue. “I like her. She’s fun, she doesn’t boss me around. Oh, and she can’t cook so we always have pizza,” a sad smile brightened her face for a moment. “She’s a strong warrior, just like my mom. And she fights against the birds too, like mom. And…” The girl trailed off, shaking her head and shifting her position to hug her knees.
“And you are afraid that you are going to lose her too.” Poor kid, getting caught up in this. What could possibly be so important about fighting these ‘birds’ Zoe kept talking about? What were they even? Some rival cat pack? Or a bunch of actual birds?
“You don’t really believe that there are some sort of werebirds, do you?” Adira raised an eyebrow at him.
Nick shrugged. “I don’t know. I mean, just a few hours ago I didn’t believe there was such a thing as werecats, and look where that got us.”
“It doesn’t matter. Just get the girl to unlock these chains, we’ll get out of here, and not come near another f*****g cat ever again.”
It sounded like a reasonable thing to do. But after seeing Zoe’s sad face, he wondered whether there was something he could actually do to help her. Adira clearly thought he was insane but fortunately kept her comments to herself. It would be nice to get more information about this war on birds but Nick didn’t want to push on Zoe, he already felt bad about planning to use her to escape.
She pulled a folded dress out of her backpack and pushed it through the bars. “Hold this for me, I’ll stop by for it later.” Her mischievous wink gave Nick a little bit of hope. If Zoe managed to get the keys, perhaps he really could get out of this hellhole in one piece.
The woman from earlier stopped by a while after Zoe left and brought a couple of sandwiches and another can of soda for him. Nick wasn’t starving anymore but was smart enough not to point it out to her and ate everything she brought. Now that he had met the girl, he could clearly see the resemblance between them. Yes, this must have been the aunt Zoe kept talking about, Kate.
She definitely did look cool, wearing ripped jeans and a new tank top, a couple of bracelets on her wrist jingling quietly as she was passing him the food through the bars. The chain attached to the silver ‘bracelet’ on Nick’s wrist jingled as well when he reached for it and Kate giggled, a cheerful sound that for some reason made Nick’s heart flutter. She didn’t say anything this time, only nodded when he thanked her and left him alone again.
By the time that had passed since Zoe visited him on her way home from school, Nick guessed it was around midnight, give or take a few hours, when the black kitten appeared at the door, carrying a keyring in her mouth. Some genius Nick was, he didn’t even realize that the cat who slept on his lap was the girl in her animal form. He was touched by the trust Zoe had in him before she had even spoken to him.
“Hi, uh, Leila, right?” The keys rattled slightly as the kitten nodded and slipped through the bars, setting the keyring in front of Nick. He reached for it but the cat bumped his hand and rubbed herself against it, clearly asking him to pet her, which Nick gladly did. “You two are quite a resourceful duo, aren’t you?” It was getting harder to tame Adira’s excitement and eagerness but Nick didn’t want to scare Zoe off by being mean or reckless towards her now.
When Leila got her fair share of neck scratches, Nick tossed Zoe’s dress into a corner of the cage and reached for the keys, making sure to look the other way as she shifted. Not that he wasn’t curious but it felt incredibly inappropriate for him as an adult man to be watching a naked little girl. He focused on the task at hand instead, unlocking the shackles on his wrists and reaching for the padlock on his neck.
“Kate said you were a vogue and dangerous.” Zoe, dressed in a simple white dress with tiny flowers, moved to sit in front of him, watching him struggle with the lock. “I thought vogue was some lady magazine.”
Nick sighed, lowering his hands into his lap for a moment, ignoring Adira’s irritated growls. “A rogue,” he explained, waiting for Zoe to quietly repeat the new word. “It means a lot of bad things when humans say it, but werewolves use it to describe a wolf that doesn’t have a pack.” Not to mention that it also had a very negative connotation in the werewolf world. But Kate had no doubt already painted Nick in a bad light in front of the girl, he didn’t need to add to it.
“A pack?” Zoe giggled, covering her mouth with her hand. “Like a pack of chips?”
Kids were seriously incredible, Nick had to laugh over her associations. “No. Although I don’t really have a pack of chips either. A pack is a group of wolves that live together. Like a… big family.”
“Ah!” Understanding brightened her expression. “Like our gang.” She noticed Nick’s raised eyebrow and continued to explain, clearly excited that she knew something the grownup didn’t. “That’s our family. Grams, Kate, me, some other aunts. But those aren’t my real aunts like Kate. My mom was in our gang too.”
Nick pondered over her words while his fingers finally managed to open the lock holding the chain around his neck. It made sense that cats didn’t live in packs, they weren’t exactly pack animals, definitely not to such extent as the wolves. He did notice the girl didn’t mention any males but before he could inquire about it further, the silver chain slid off his neck and a sudden influx of strength caught him unprepared, erasing all thoughts out of his mind. Adira roared in satisfaction. “FINALLY!”
“Are you alright, Nick?” Zoe sounded worried and leaned forward to touch his hand and Nick had to fight against Adira’s reflexes to not flinch.
“Unlock the damn door and let’s get out of here!” She was pacing his mind restlessly again, eager to finally leave the cage.
Nick tried to collect his thoughts. “Just give me a moment,” he told her before turning his attention to the girl. “I am. Thank you, Zoe.”
“Good,” she nodded, her brows furrowing. “Wait, if you are a… rogue without a pack, does that mean you have no family like me? Did they die too?”
The last thing the girl needed was for him to add his own problems to her already suffering soul. But he didn’t want to lie to her either. “No,” he shook his head softly. “They just… didn’t like me anymore.”
“What?!” Zoe frowned furiously, her eyes turning yellow for a few moments before returning to their usual brown. “Those…” it took her a moment to go through her limited vocabulary and find a proper swear word, “... morons!” Nick was completely taken aback when she suddenly lunged forward and hugged him, burying her face into his T-shirt. “I like you, Nick,” she whispered. “If you want, Leila and I can be your family.”
- Writer
