Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

SIMON

If I was in my cat form, I would be manically licking my fur off about now. I'd never been so uncomfortable at a family breakfast before. Cleaning myself was the only soothing thing I could think of that might calm my nerves.

I wasn't sure what was worse: Warren and Clive collecting Ogden from my apartment, Mama talking about a strip club, or discovering Ogden owned that strip club. Now that I'd had a few minutes to replay the conversation, I realized I had heard of The Drunken Drake . I'd never been, but the rest of my brothers had—even the twins, who were three years younger than me.

But hadn't I heard it'd closed?

Of course, that's what Ogden had suggested, right? He said he was the new owner. But I still wanted to know what his role was there. Did he just own it and let others run it? Or was he more hands on—or clothes off, rather?

Claws pushed through the tips of my toes, ruining another pair of socks, at the thought of my pretty dragon taking his clothing off in front of strangers. Okay , okay. It was Ogden's body; he could do what he liked with it. But … I still wanted to rip all those strangers apart for ogling him, getting aroused by him, getting off on memories of him. I might be the size of a house cat in my shifted form, but I grew up in a house with lots of aggressive siblings. When we were teenagers, with bodies suddenly pumped full of testosterone, the house had been the backdrop to our own personal Hunger Games . I might prefer to run and hide, but I knew how to fight dirty when I had to.

Being territorial was part of being a cat shifter, but people weren't property. I really needed to suffocate those asshole impulses and bury them in the back garden.

Warren and Clive were still snickering when Ogden and I made it to the table. As soon as we sat, everyone slipped into their usual roles. Mama scanned the table to make sure nothing was missing, like she did every morning. Clive and Warren fought over the cream for their porridge, spilling half of it on the table. The twins, Eli and Theo , were stuffing their faces and didn't look up to acknowledge us. And Pops merely passed a plate of bacon to Ogden before reaching for the syrup.

My parents, brothers, and I were all sitting in our usual spots, but it was strange to see Ogden sitting in Justin's place. Justin hadn't attended family breakfast in years and, apparently, I'd gotten used to seeing his spot sit empty. Mama always set a plate for him, though, just in case. None of us questioned her about it.

I wondered if she'd start adding another place setting after today or whether Mama would assign Justin's place to Ogden from here on out. Last I heard, our brother didn't have any plans to return to Willow Lake . Mama said every generation in her family had a tomcat like Justin , but that didn't mean he wouldn't find his way home again. None of us tried to change her mind about that either.

Mama was very much the ruler of our family.

That thought had my mind circling back to what'd happened when Ogden arrived. I hadn't known what to do when he had essentially told her off. Sure , he'd been polite, but we all knew that's what he was doing. And the weird thing was, she let him.

I didn't understand any of this.

Had I made a mistake in making a bond between us?

I didn't think so. Honestly , I'd kind of liked him trying to stand up for me, even if it was to my mama, who loved all of us kittens with an unwavering ferocity I had never once questioned. I didn't question her love now, either. She was worried about me and this stranger I'd invited into my life—well, not so much invited as summoned like an evil wizard.

I sighed. I wished I could see myself as Ogden's savior, like he suggested, but I didn't deserve the title. It'd been pure chance that I'd blown the whistle when I had. Dumb luck wasn't heroic. Another sharp urge to shift and clean myself swept over me. Since Mama would skin me alive if I did that at the breakfast table, I forced myself to eat instead.

This was the weirdest breakfast ever, even worse than when the power had gone out and Mama served us anchovies from a can. It wouldn't have been so bad if she'd left the fish alone, but occasionally Mama decided she was a culinary genius and did terrible things to food. Most of her creations weren't genius; they were diabolical.

That breakfast was the worst. She'd tried dressing up the anchovies with syrup—saying something about balancing the salty flavor with something sweet—except she'd grabbed the strawberry syrup instead of the maple syrup by mistake. It was awful, although I don't think it would have been much better with maple syrup. She'd been so upset when my brothers and I tried to make excuses to leave the table without eating a bite. Then Pops had given us a look , and we'd all done our best to choke down the fruity fish. I still gagged at the memory. The only good that'd come of that was Pops investing in an outdoor cooking station fueled by propane the following week.

As cutlery scraped and clinked against plates, Mama began her daily interrogations.

" Warren , why are you bleeding at the table?" Mama eyed his bloody forearm. It looked like he'd gone skidding along a gravel road. He must have gotten into a scuffle with Clive . The injury looked familiar. Ask me how I knew.

Clive shot a warning glance at Warren . Mama frowned.

" Clive , what did you do?"

" We'd agreed I was driving. I was just getting the keys back," Clive said. I knew exactly what that meant, and apparently, so did Mama .

" What have I told you about fighting with your brother? You aren't kittens anymore."

Clive's shoulders slumped under Mama's reprimand. But I knew he would do the same thing the next time he wanted something. He was a scrapper. I always wondered how he could be my littermate when we were so different. Then again, I wasn't like any of my brothers.

Then Mama interrogated Eli and Theo before going back to Warren and Clive . She skipped me—and well, Ogden too. That unnerved me more than if she'd tied me to a metal chair and shone a spotlight in my eyes until I spilled every single secret I had.

As soon as the plates were cleared and all the washing up was done, Mama sent my brothers out of the house. Ogden and I were told to wait in the living room. The dragon appeared amused by this. I was mortified.

Did I have enough time to shift and get in a few comforting licks before Mama and Pops joined us?

We sat on the couch, across from my parents' favorite chairs, and waited. Ogden settled right beside me. I suppressed the urge to lean into him. Canoodling with boyfriends wasn't the kind of thing you did in Mama's house. There were rules, and I was the epitome of a rule-follower. Although … was Ogden my boyfriend? And what exactly was canoodling anyway?

" It's going to be fine," Ogden whispered as he set his hand on the back of my neck and squeezed lightly.

Tingles cascaded over my body from where he touched me. Oh . That was nice. Yeah . That was almost as soothing as licking my fur.

" There you go, kitty cat," he soothed in my ear, and I relaxed a little more, well, at least until my parents walked in. Mama's face twitched like she was about to sprout her whiskers. Her irritation was building stronger and faster than a thunderstorm in July . Under her narrowed gaze, I pulled away from Ogden's touch .

I regretted it immediately.

" Alright ." Pops leaned back in his chair and folded his hands over his paunchy stomach. " Here's what's going to happen. Your mama wants to know what's going on. So that's what you're going to tell her."

" Peter ," Mama huffed as her fingers batted nervously at the fringe on one of her pillows. The pillow was new; those fringes would never have survived a house full of kittens. Although I wasn't sure they'd survive Mama's fidgeting now, either. " You want to know too."

He rolled his eyes at me but didn't disagree with her.

From the corner of my eye, I could see Ogden nod. " That is understandable. You are concerned about Simon ."

Then he told my parents what he knew. The story hadn't changed from when I'd heard him give his statement to the police. When he got to the part about me and the whistle, Mama hissed out my name. I recognized the look on her face. She was ready to march across the room and swat me on the head again. Ogden leaned forward, like he was ready to jump between us if she made a move in my direction. I swallowed hard. Weird emotions bubbled up inside me.

Was I ashamed of what I'd done? Yes . Was I thrilled with how Ogden looked ready to protect me? Yes to that too. Was I happy that I'd ended up saving Ogden ? Of course. Was I uncomfortable with how Ogden came to be trapped at my side? Absolutely .

My emotions were like a tangled ball of yarn.

Pops rested his hand on Mama's leg, effectively holding her down with the barest of touches. Ogden's body lost some of its tension. Then he continued with the story. When he finished, both my parents turned their attention to me.

" Where did you get such a thing?" Mama pursed her lips and gripped the arms of her chair, like she needed to anchor herself in place. " You've had that whistle for a while, haven't you? I knew something was going on. Didn't I say so, Peter ?"

My shoulders dropped. " I found it. I was out west of town, just doing my thing when I heard some wolves."

Mama gasped.

" It was back before the robbery at the inn." I wrung my hands together. I'd known Mama wouldn't be happy to hear I'd kept secrets from her for so long, but I couldn't do much about that now. " There were three of them, and they were talking about stealing from the inn." I shrugged. " I saw something drop out of their bags and when they left, I went to see what it was. That's when I found the whistle. I told the police about the wolves the next day."

" But you stole the whistle?" Mama's fingers twitched, like she was itching to pinch my ear and haul me over to the inn to give it back right now. " And what about the wolves? Who were they? Not Hayden , I'll bet."

I shook my head. " Nah . They were from up in the hills."

Mama's eyes bulged. " Did they scent you? Do they know you were there?" She grasped my father's hand and squeezed hard enough that he winced. " Oh , Peter … our baby…"

I grimaced. I wasn't a baby— I wasn't even the youngest in my family. In fact, I was the third oldest, according to our birth records. Just because I wanted to protect my nine lives didn't mean that I couldn't take care of myself.

Although perhaps no one would suspect that if they met me.

" They didn't know I was there. I waited until after they were gone to retrieve the whistle. Like I said, I went to the police station right away." Well , soon after, anyway. " Remember ? I told you I'd reported those wolves to the police."

" You just told me you'd overheard something that the police needed to know about, not that you stole from them." Mama shuddered. Her hair looked a little bigger than it had earlier. If she was in her cat form, I was sure her tail would be puffed up. " What were you thinking?"

I winced then. Because , okay, that sounded stupid, even worse than her thinking I'd stolen the whistle from the inn. The wolves in the hills were rumored to be feral, even back before they went really crazy and set off bombs and all that.

" I told the police everything," I said.

" And what about this bond or whatever you call it? Do we need to hire you a lawyer to draw up terms?"

I sucked in a breath. " It's … uh… done."

" What do you mean it's done?" She leaned forward and sniffed in our direction. Her nose wiggled. " You've already bonded?"

I half expected Ogden to jump in and save me, but he didn't. " I … um… When we were talking about it last night, apparently my magic or whatever, yeah, it made Ogden's magic an offer it couldn't refuse."

" This isn't time for joking," Mama reprimanded .

" It isn't a joke, Daph ," Pops said. " Look at them. This isn't just about the summoning. They have all the signs of being mates."

I jolted at that pronouncement. My gaze darted to Ogden , before shifting back to my father. " I don't think so. That's just the magic of the whistle. We haven't…" My cheeks heated to blistering temperatures. Holy Magic , was I going to talk about sex? With my mama in the room? " You know. Um … Done anything like what you do to… You know… Complete a bond like that."

" Oh , honey, are you still a virgin? I thought all my kittens had?—"

" Mama !" I shouted to stop her from speaking. " That's not what I'm talking about."

Mama's forehead crunched in confusion, but at least she quit talking.

" There is more to being mates than sex, son." Pops laughed.

I wanted to die.

Mama stared at us. Her gaze darted over how close we were sitting and how Ogden was still leaning ever so slightly in front of me, like he was ready to protect me from anything that might pop up. Then she glanced at my neck and seemed to remember Ogden's hand had been resting there—a spot Pops had trained us to protect at all costs—when she and Pops had entered the living room. I'd been Pops ' best pupil, and everyone knew I liked my nine. Letting a near stranger touch such a vulnerable spot was not like me at all.

She saw it all, and I knew the moment she came up with entirely the wrong answer. Her mouth dropped open. Then her face lit up, and she clapped her hands. Then , before I knew what was happening, she'd rushed across the room. She yanked me out of my seat.

" Mama … Pops … No . This isn't?—"

She hugged me so tightly I couldn't breathe, cutting off my protests. " My baby… Oh , my baby. He's found a mate. He's the first of my kittens to be blessed with a mate. I bet you've even been blessed my Mother Magic . You simply have to be fated. That's why this has happened so quickly. I always knew Mother Magic would smile on you. Always such a dutiful kitten. I can't wait to tell Vanessa . She went on and on when Alice started dating Buddy . But Buddy is only a mechanic. You've found yourself a successful business owner. She's going to be so jealous."

So suddenly The Drunken Drake was acceptable?

Then she let go of me and did the same with Ogden . " A mate for my baby. I know you'll take care of him. Fate will have chosen you with care for my special boy. I always hoped he would meet a nice older gentleman who could take care of him, and here you are."

" Your son is safe with me, Mrs . Rivers ," Ogden promised. His words did weird things to my stomach. It felt a bit like I was being tickled from the inside. Did he mean it? Would he keep my nine lives safe? I wanted to promise him the same thing, but I didn't know what I could say that would be the equivalent for a dragon.

" Oh , none of this Mr . and Mrs . Rivers nonsense. Call us Daphne and Peter or Mama and Pops . That works too."

Ogden's wide-eyed gaze met mine over my mama's head while Pops patted him on the shoulder and welcomed him to the family. Obviously , any reservations about The Drunken Drake's lingering reputation were long gone now.

It was funny how the word mate seemed to fix everything, at least for my mama. She refused to listen to anything else.

A few minutes later, as Ogden and I were driving away from my parents' place, I caught a movement in the living room window. My parents were waltzing. They had taught us all to dance too, but I didn't think any of us kittens would make it look as easy as Mama and Pops . They might not be fated mates, but their love was right there for anyone to see. They made everything look easy. I'd always secretly wished for a love like theirs.

I wished Ogden and I could be like that someday too. Except it wasn't meant to be like that. Not for us. This bond wasn't real, not like a bond between mates. I gulped down a shaky breath. Besides , a worldly dragon like him would never want to be stuck with a simple homebody cat like me.