Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

Butcher

" T hink she'll mind if I use her shower?" Toxic asked as he looked around the hallway of the hotel. "That last guy was a bleeder."

"I doubt it," I replied, swiping the key card over the door. "But then you're stuck putting that bloody shirt back on."

He had his hands stuffed in his pockets, holding his cut closed so no one spotted the blood. We'd made our way quickly through the lobby of the hotel and the attendant had barely looked up.

Finding Isla's bag in the car, I rummaged around until I found the hotel keycard. I figured I may as well stop by and get her shit while we were out. The less I let her off the compound, the less likely she'd be to run. Her agreeing to work with us had settled the unease twisting inside my chest, but it didn't mean I could let my guard down. She wasn't going to try to kill me anymore, probably, but I didn't want her doing something stupid, like trying to lure the danger away from us. As a group we could handle damn near anything. But alone? Separated? We were vulnerable.

None of us would allow anything to happen to our families. We'd do whatever it took to keep them safe. And Isla was a part of that now. Lock seemed to understand that without me needing to vocalize it.

I hadn't bothered to tell her we were coming here. It would have created more protests and arguments. Better to just gather her shit and make her comfortable at our compound.

"What...is that?" Toxic asked, stopping short in the doorway. He'd pushed his way into the room before me and now was blocking my view.

"How would I know? Your fucking head is in the way." I stepped to the side and stilled as I saw why he'd frozen in place. "Is that a..."

A furry head lifted from the bed, intelligent golden eyes watching every move we made. The animal stood up slowly, head lowered as it stood at its full height, watching us like we were prey.

"Is that a cat?" I asked.

"Are you fucking kidding me. That ain't no cat. It's a Bobcat," he said, trying to back up through me. I held my ground, not allowing him to run.

"You sure? Why would she have a bobcat?"

"Why in the fuck are you asking me about your killer girlfriend's pet?" he said, tilting his head. "And why won't you move? It's getting angry."

He was right about it being a bobcat. There was no real tail to speak of. Just a nub that was wagging back and forth in agitation as we stood there discussing the animal. A deep hiss that turned into a yowl split the air, letting us know that the cat wasn't thrilled we were there.

"Well...shit." I looked around to see if there was some kind of carrier we could stuff it into. I'd learned enough from Seek's relationship with her dogs to know my Terror wasn't going to leave her...pet...behind. There was nothing in sight.

The cat started pacing on the bed, watching us, making low growling noises in its throat .

"You sure it's not a demon?" I muttered.

Toxic chuckled. "Not completely. What do you want to do?"

"We have to bring it with us."

"Her."

"What?" I asked, looking over at him.

He shrugged and pointed. "Collar has pink rhinestones on it. Pretty sure it's a female bobcat."

I studied the collar around the cat's neck. "She couldn't just have a normal fucking tabby cat. Maybe we stuff it in a pillowcase?" I suggested.

"You're a match made in freak heaven," Toxic said as he stepped into the bathroom. He wasn't paying attention enough to notice when I flipped him off. He held up a towel. "We can wrap it up in this."

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," I muttered, crossing my arms over my chest. "It's going to rip us to shit if we try that."

Toxic shot me a grim look. "Yeah, she probably will, but you're the one who wants to bring her with us. Just wait and bring Isla back to get her."

"No," I sighed. "I don't want to make her come back. Then I'll have to fight both of them."

Toxic snorted. "Afraid to let her out of your sight is more like it."

"Fuck off."

"So… What do you want to do then?"

"You're the ladies man," I told him. "Go charm her."

Toxic's laugh was strained. "Not my type of lady, Bro." He tilted his head, studying the angry cat. "Okay. I'll catch her in the towel, you use the bedspread to contain her. We'll use the side exit so no one sees us."

"Better get the rest of her shit packed up first then," I said with a nod.

We quickly, and carefully, moved around the room, throwing everything into the bags Isla had there. I checked under the bed and let out a whistle as I pulled a third bag stacked with cash out from under it. "No wonder she had that Do Not Disturb on the door."

"Pretty sure that was so the maids didn't get mauled by this wild animal," Toxic said with a grunt as he took a quick step back to avoid sharp claws as the bobcat swatted at him.

"Stop fucking with her."

"I'm not fucking with her. I was trying to get the damn phone charger on the nightstand. Your girl is going to have to go without one if this damn cat doesn't calm down, though." He darted in and snagged the charger, then let out a howl of pain as the bobcat's claws made contact with his forearm. "Dammit! Knock it off, asshole," he growled at her. She returned the sound, but hers was deeper and infinitely more pissed off. "We're trying to take you to your mom." I shot him a look. "Owner," he muttered.

Toxic and animals were like peanut butter and jelly. I was surprised he didn't have this cat eating from the palm of his hands already. Then again, she'd been locked up in here for days without Isla, thanks to me. Not many people knew Toxic's background. I was sure it was just me and Lock, and of course the Berserkers from the Wyoming club, since he'd grown up there. Most of our guys would probably be shocked to find out all of Toxic's secrets. He didn't like to share about himself.

"Think she's hungry?" I asked.

He pointed to a machine over near the window. "That's an automatic feeder. She should be good."

I was grateful for that. It was probably the only reason Isla hadn't mentioned her pet. She'd made sure that if something delayed her, the bobcat would have food.

"You ready?" Toxic asked, sounding resigned.

I grinned over at him. The fact that he was willing to do this without bitching much really just proved what a good friend he was. I hoped I fit that role for him, too. I wasn't really sure I had the qualities to be a friend, but I mimicked what I saw the other men doing. And every once in a while there was this urge inside of me that forced me to do things that normally went against my base nature. Like teaching Gwen to fight. As much as I wanted to see her stand up and be able to protect herself—even though I knew Static would do everything in his power to keep her safe—it was more than that. I'd wanted to take that fear and sadness from her eyes and replace it with confidence and violence. I'd wanted her to understand just how strong she could be.

"Shit," I muttered. "Yeah. Go."

Cursing and snarling filled the air as Toxic launched himself at the bobcat. As soon as she was covered with the towel, I grabbed the edges of the bedspread and brought them together, creating a sack in which to detain the ornery little creature. I held the makeshift sack out as the cat yowled and clawed at the bedspread. "You have everything else?"

"Yeah, I got it. You deal with her." Toxic grabbed all the bags, and the food and water dispensers, juggling it all as we left the room.

By the time we got back to the clubhouse we were both covered with scratches and blood and were glowering at our brothers as they circled around us.

"What the fuck happened to you?" Hellfire asked with a laugh.

Smoke reached out and poked at a particularly deep scratch on my forearm. "You get into a fight with a chupacabra or something?"

"Or something," I snarled, shoving him backward. I was holding the squirming sack with one hand, as far away from my body as I could. The fucking cat had to weigh at least thirty pounds, and with it thrashing like that, it was wearing out my arm. "You make me drop this and we're all going to fucking regret it," I warned him. "In fact, I might just drop it anyway, just to spread the love around.

"What is it?" Hush asked, arching a brow.

A growl split the air and I dropped my head back in defeat. "No. Hush get your fucking dogs!" It was too late. A furry missile launched into the back of my knees, crumpling them and sending me to the floor with a grunt. "Goddamn it!"

"Is that a fucking bobcat?" someone else asked before all hell broke loose .

The manic barking from Auron and Jecht was bad enough, but the cat truly sounded demonic now as it hissed and spat at the dogs.

I climbed to my feet, and saw that Hush and Priest were holding Auron and Jecht by the collars. Thank fuck. I wasn't going to endear myself to Isla if I got her pet eaten.

"Ow! Fuck! Get off!" Toxic was dancing around as the bobcat climbed him like a tree, trying to get away from the dogs.

Idaho and Static were too busy laughing to help, so I flipped them off as I strode over to my best friend. "Hold still, asshole."

"You try to hold still when a demon cat is ripping you to- Owww!"

"What in the fuck !" The bellow made us all freeze. Even the dogs stopped barking. Lockout was standing near the back of the room, staring at the scene like he couldn't decide if he wanted to kill us all, or himself.

Pounding on the stairs made me groan as the women all came rushing downstairs.

"Ms. Mittens!"

I looked over at Isla's shocked face with a grimace. "Seriously?"

"What?" she asked, confused.

"Ms. Mittens?"

"More like murder mittens," Toxic said, then cringed when the cat dug her claws deeper into his shoulders.

She hurried over to him and plucked her cat off his shoulders. I winced as his cut and t-shirt lifted as she pulled the clinging bobcat away. "How did you know her name is Murder?" she asked.

He blinked at her. "What? That's actually her name?"

"Yeah," my girl said with a shrug. "Ms. Mittens is just a nickname I use. I...sort of have a lot of them for her."

"But her name is Murder..." Toxic clarified.

"I'm an assassin," she reminded him.

"I have a ton of nicknames for my dogs, too," Seek told her with a smile. "Sorry about them. I'll go put them away." As if dogs chasing a bobcat through the clubhouse was a normal occurrence.

"It's okay," Isla told her with a grin. "We can't really expect dogs and cats to get along. "

Lockout moved forward, glaring at us. "Why do we have a feral wild animal in our clubhouse?"

"You talkin' about the bobcat, or her owner?" Hush asked with a grim smile. Then he looked at me and Toxic. "Or these things. I'm willing to bet the bobcat has all its shots, this one needs penicillin on a weekly basis." He said the last part to Toxic.

"I like her."

We all looked down at where Taylor was reaching up and petting the bobcat.

"Where the hell did you come from?" Ricochet asked with a laugh.

"You're supposed to be in bed," Priest added.

I looked around but none of the other hellions were down here.

"I woke up," Taylor said with a shrug.

We stared in amazement as the cat allowed the girl to pet her without one hiss or growl.

"I was going to talk to you about her tomorrow," Isla admitted, giving Lock a winning smile.

It took all my self-control to keep from swinging on my president. I wanted Isla's smiles to only be aimed in my direction. While I admittedly didn't have much control over my urges, I did have self-preservation and respect, so I kept my fists balled up at my sides.

"Okay, time for you to go back to bed," Jenny announced, putting her arm around Taylor's shoulders and leading the girl back upstairs.

"I can't stay if she can't stay," Isla said. "I can't leave her in a kennel, and I don't have anyone to watch her."

Lockout let out a heavy sigh. "I swear to Christ you're all going to be the death of me." He pointed at Isla. "Keep her in your room. Make sure she behaves."

"Which ‘she' are you referring to?" Toxic asked. Lock's scowl was the only answer.

"Promise," she replied. "Uh… Where is my room?"

"Your room is my room," I told her, wrapping my fingers around the back of her neck. Murder—cause fuck if I was going to call her Ms. Mittens—growled at me, but didn't take a swipe this time. She was content being held in Isla's arms. "Let's go get her settled," I suggested. Glancing over at Toxic, I arched a brow.

"Yeah, yeah," he muttered. "I'll get everything else."

"Upstairs, Terror."

Isla looked up at me, but she didn't argue. I was pretty sure having her pet back with us had made her temporarily docile. I wasn't about to question my luck, so I just led her back upstairs.