Chapter 36: Chapter Thirty-Six--Neither A Blessing Or A Curse

punched his chest. “Cocky much?”

He smirked. “Much. I am sorry she is a problem for you.”

“She isn’t the only obstacle we’re facing. Like my mom running around hunting jaguars. Or Lola, who is no doubt, lost her mind.”

“As for Lola, Syber is watching her, keeping her entertained. As for the other, the hunters will be dealt with,” he said carefully. “Unfortunately, her presence will change my previous tactics.”

I didn’t need to ask who her was.

“Which would’ve been kill first, ask questions later.”

“Precisely. When the lives of those I care about are endangered, I do not tolerate halfway.”

“Yet now you are?”

“At the moment, you are angry with her. How will you feel tomorrow, Katrina? Best to ride the line of caution, then hurtle over it, only to have you hate me. A solution will come to me. At the moment, they have no idea where our homes are located. They haven’t come near that area.”

“What if…”

“What would you have me do, Katrina?” he whispered, voice hoarse. “Go after them now that I know the general direction of their camp? Is that what you want me to do?”

“You’ve noticed that, huh?”

“I notice everything, especially when it concerns you. Which brings up another subject, I do not care to allow you anymore of this alone time. Every time I permit you to wander off, you get threatened or hurt. Every time.”

“Permit me?” I blazed. “You might be Alpha to a lot of people, but I am not one of them.”

“With every encounter with danger, you come closer to dying. Is that what you want?”

Hello, déjà vu! Hadn’t someone else asked me that question?

“Of course not,” I replied. “But I won’t be controlled either. You want to talk to me on the same level, fine. I may or may not agree with you. But, if you order me around like you’re your bitch, I’m gone. You got that?”

“You will not budge on this, will you?”

“Place your bet on another horse, because you’re going to lose this one.”

“Fine. Then I request that you pack up Lola and your belongings and have her drive you both back to your house this afternoon.”

I sat up. The world swam around me. My head didn’t hurt, but I hadn’t been vertical in a few days. “I am not.”

“It’s the full moon tonight,” he said.

“So?” I snapped. “I promised to stay in my campsite. You thought that perfectly safe the other day.”

“It’s not as safe now. If the hunters for some reason figure out my identity, they might remember you. I wasn’t thinking when I jumped into that boat. I saw red, and that is a mistake an Alpha cannot make.”

“Now, you’re saying I’m distraction.”

“Yes.” He sat up much slower than I had. “I cannot worry about your safety. I’m sorry, beautiful, but in a crisis, I will focus on you and no one else. Not my people, not the hunters. No one. But. You. Now add in all my people running the woods.”

“I’m not going to abandon you,” I said. “I have a responsibility to protect you from her.”

He could’ve laughed in my face. Could’ve demanded I tell him just how I could protect a bunch of shifters.

Kalvyn kissed me. “I figured I wasn’t going to talk you into leaving, but it was worth a shot.” He reached behind the bed. “I could force you.” He paused for effect, grinning when I glared. “But I won’t, since you’re so adamant. You will take this.”

I stared at the long object in his hand. “A shotgun?”

“Yes. I have quite the collection of firearms. I will not be caught unaware as my parents were. Nor will I compromise on your safety. If you’re going to stay, then you need to be protected best I can provide. The full moon interferes with our psyche under normal conditions. And we can agree this is anything but.”

“What do you expect me to shoot, the hunters or werecreatures?”

“Anything that enters the line of your campsite. I will order my people to stay out, which they must obey. However, I chose the side of caution.”

“Even you?” I joked.

“Yes.” He looked me dead in the eye. “And you will not hesitate. I’m not saying this to scare you. I do not believe I would hurt you, even then. If you feel threatened for any reason, shoot. Worry about the repercussions later.”

I tugged on the ends of my hair. “I don’t know if I can shoot anyone.”

“Then I’ll go get Lola, pack you two up and send you home.”

Heat flooded my cheeks. “Not a snowball’s chance in hell!”

“Then accustom yourself to the fact that you must do what you have to. And know there is only one reason I’m being so easy about this. If I ever expect you to live with what I am, then I can’t very well ask you to run from me in my darkest moments. You need to know it all, as it is. I cannot change what I am. But your opinions of me can.”

“I’m not going to have a magic epiphany if I spot you as a cat. Been there, done that,” I said.

“Do not be so flippant. The end of the moon’s cycle can reduce those with a weakness, to our basic instincts.” He drew his knee to his chest and rested his chin. “Which is why you will be sleeping in my truck. The glass is bullet proof, and the doors are reinforced with thick sheets of steel, plus the rollbars.”

“Fine.”

He kissed my forehead. “Then we have come to an agreement and should prepare. Twilight has come.”

Carmen poked her head in again, glared at Kalvyn, who sighed. “Finally! You two babble nonstop.” She flipped the tent door and crawled in as if she owned the place. “I need to check my patient.”

“Then be quick about it,” his order came with a liberal dose of good humor.

Carmen jerked in surprise. “If you hadn’t taken so long, this would already be done.” With gentle hands she turned my head, fiddling with the multiple hair bands that kept my hair from the bandage.

“Did you shave my head?” I asked, suddenly self-conscious.

“No. We didn’t have time,” she said distantly as she worked the tape free, the gauze following the strips. “Ahh. Good.”

Kalvyn visually stalked every move she made, his gaze the only part of him moving.

“Good?”

“Yes the…ahh, wound has healed clean.”

My brow rose. “You punctured my skull, and it’s healed in forty-eight hours?

“Kalvyn, you said you didn’t want her to know!”

“And yet she does,” he said.

“How did you do it?” I felt the back of my head, expecting a hole, or my head oozing grey matter, any number of horrific stuff. Nothing. A small bump at the base of my skull. “Voodoo, or something?”

Carmen laughed. “I know a thing or two. I’ve been around a long time now.”

“What, are you as old as Kalvyn?”

The cats shared an amused look.

Carmen pushed my bangs from my face. “I am much, much older than he is.”