The Cat Vents Her Fury

How dare they? How fucking dare they?

I'm so furious that I'm vibrating with rage. My beast is howling inside, slamming against her cage to get out and take care of our threat. I can't let her, even though the betrayal and rage are coursing through my veins like venom.

Sari's last den of inequity got blown to smithereens. She had nowhere to go and no one to play with. After the strings I pulled to get her in my community, after allowing her asshole friends in, she does this?

Fuck them. No, they'd like that too much. Unfuck them.

Sari and the twittering bint from the boonies not only built a business in my community without so much as a by-your-leave to Lily or me, but they released a nasty blog post about the ‘rules' for visiting their stupid bar. Rules they know that violate our community charter. Rules that are geared toward Belle being able to bully and abuse anyone she likes if she or Sari feel they have been wronged.

I am livid in ways mere human words cannot describe. The world should bleed from my anger. Mountains should shake and thunder should clap down from the sky in a rain of fire—because I have been betrayed again.

None of that will happen.

I can't rip, shred, and tear through the world to mete out my justice because I am a leader. Lily and I are not a council of despots like the Cabal; we do not rule with fear and anger. We have a town charter, a set of rules that all members must abide by or face justice from the will of the people. Their violations will be dealt with, but we must deal with them with through fairness, grace, and reasonable restrictions.

That's all moot, though, because the goddamned place opens tonight.

Poor Hex must have drawn the short straw because he stayed far away as he relayed the news yesterday. He's behaved much less aggressively than was his norm when he took me to the site of the bar. He tried to keep me from busting through the door and tearing the place apart by reasoning with me. He was successful, but when I returned home, the first thing I did was beam myself out. I have to find my center, so I can handle Sari and her erstwhile pet with aplomb and diplomacy.

My sacred space would help me do that if I weren't filled with a need for blood vengeance. I don't need the calm tranquility of nature right now; I need a partner in blood and pain. Taurus has been away for a week and I was already going insane before this stunt. We decided on the mating question and he immediately gets called away for a long mission.

Of course, all this shit happened while he was gone.

Pacing back and forth, I look around. He's done some work again. There's another door way between the wall with the closet and the one with the bathroom that leads to what looks like a staircase. I keep waiting for him to take me on a tour, but it hasn't come up. I may have to take it upon myself.

I feel the hairs on the back of my neck raise and turn my head to look at the doorway to the hall. He's leaning against the doorjamb, watching me pace. A warm smile reflects happiness at seeing me here after our separation. I push everything away inside, not wanting to cheat myself of a lovely moment with him. "Hi, baby."

He grins wider. "Hello, beautiful." Pushing off the wall, he walks up behind me and drops a kiss on the back of my neck. "How was your week, love?"

"Best left undiscussed," I mutter. "How was work?"

Arching a brow, he senses that I'm not in the mood and shrugs. "Not bad. It was like running at ninety miles an hour when everyone around you was driving beaters, though. It gets like that for me when I have to work in a team. I'm used to just eat—er, dealing with those who annoy me in a different way, but I can't when it's agents. I almost snatched a vile bint in admin bald today. That was a good time."

I ponder that, thinking about the usefulness of his ability to dispatch with his enemies. I could use a few hedges pruned right now.

"Are you lining up victims in your head, pet?"

Wrinkling my nose, I shake my head. "They would violate your rules. It wouldn't help to line them up."

"Then put your pointies away because I've brought someone with me, kitty. He might take offense to your wild side when you turn around and meet him."

I blink, putting a hand to my face; I didn't realize that I had fanged out. I close my eyes, soothing her with reassuring words until I can feel the cat fade. "Okay, I'm ready."

As if by magick, he leans over and picks up a wee little cage. Inside is a very tiny, remarkably irritated looking peacock.

Putting my hand over my mouth to cover the giggles, I gape at it. All my anger melts away in child-like glee. "Is that a Damien creation?"

"It is. Imagine my surprise when he hung this little screamer from my bedpost this morning in Havana." Holding up the cage—which was roughly a three inches by three inches—he peers inside at the indignant fowl.

"He is hysterical." My lips quirk as I imagine that scene.

"Damien definitely has a sense of humor you want to stick a stake in."

"Good thing I didn't bring my baby today. I thought about bringing her."

That much is true. My tiger familiar, Aradia, can sometimes soothe the ragged edges of my anger. My beast understands her, and since the transformation, we can communicate via the Beast. It feels like a fairy tale, but her growls sound like words in my head. She's going to make a fantastic hunting partner once I'm comfortable enough to really get out.

"Your… baby?"

His confused expression makes me smile. Though my household is used to Aradia—who Preston kindly rescued from an abusive home-brewed zoo belonging to hillbillies—Taurus is not. She was a birthday present I would have never asked for—because she's endangered—but love with all my heart. Aradia lives in a pampered, loving home, so I feel like I've made a difference. I haven't introduced her before because she was tied into my relationship with Alistair, so it felt wrong. Now that Alistair is all but gone, it feels okay to do so.

"Pick up the cage and hold it high above your head. Trust me."

-He eyes me warily, but lays the tiny birdcage in his palm and lifts his arm up. "Tell me no one's around the corner with a bloody cell, waiting to post a picture of Taurus the git."

"Nope." I push the button on the bird phone and a piercing whistle echoes through the mic.

His hypersensitive hearing must have hated that noise because he shouts, "Bugger, woman! Ever heard of a concept called warning?"

I watch as my ten-month-old ‘baby' bounds in, dragging her blanket in her teeth as she leaps onto the couch. I scratch behind her ears, knowing that Aradia doesn't know that she's not a five-pound cub anymore but the size of a Great Dane. "Aradia, darling, Uncle Leo's putting you on a diet. No more Omaha filets for snacks." I ruffle her fur again and look over at him. "This is my baby. I forgot to mention her when we discussed family."

His mouth drops open and a shriek of fury—a wee little shriek from a wee little bird—comes from the cage above his head. "It's a bloody tiger. It's a white bloody tiger." He frowns, as if ready to give me a lecture on owning endangered wild animals, and I cut him off.

"Preston—that's Michaela's droid—found her in a half-assed hillbilly zoo as a cub. He decided she was the best birthday present I'd ever get. I know she's endangered, but they were treating her badly. Once I met her, I wasn't sending her back until she was healed and…well, she's safe now that she's mine."

"We could always dye her, I suppose."

"Dye her? She's beautiful!" I give him a peeved look, scratching the head of my regal looking familiar, as if he insulted me personally.

His brow arches. "Do you know how much fun it is to hunt with a real predator?"

I nod. "We ran together a little after you and I met. I haven't had time lately, but we're very in sync because she's my familiar. I thought you'd like to meet her. I forgot her the last time I came here, and I felt bad."

His eyes gleam. "Why am I not surprised that she's the size of an SUV?"

"Because everyone in my house spoils the bloody bejesus out of her?" I snort. "She's the baby of the house in every sense of the word."

He eyes her for a moment. "She's beautiful, right enough—like her mamma." His hand stretches out, but he pulls it back, eyeing her teeth as she yawns. "Can I touch her? She won't rip my arm off or anything, will she?"

"Keep that up, buster, and I'll think you have a crush on me." I look up at him and shake my head. "Of course not. She's a hunter, but she's a lady. Hold your hand out first; she'll smell me on you. She's friendly as long as she knows people."

"Do you think I've forgotten how to properly meet a lady?" His hand goes out to the enormous cat, knuckles up as he waits for the tiger to initiate interest.

"Given our introduction…" I chuckle. "Her claws are trimmed. Not so that she can't use them, only enough to keep her from shredding everyone unintentionally."

Taurus stands perfectly still for her, though his eyes glow. He reaches out to speak into my mind quietly so he doesn't startle Aradia. ~ It's a good bit more than a crush, love. ~

I watch as my baby sniffs and pokes at his hand, her powder blue eyes looking up at him shrewdly. After a minute, she butts her head against his hand and a soft rumbling sound escapes her throat. "There you go. She doesn't think you are food."

Grinning mischievously, he bobs his head at me. His hand scratches behind the tiger's ears as he talks to her. "What's your name, beauty? What did your mama call you?"

"Aradia." I grin as she licks his hand and nuzzles his fingers. "Looky there, she likes you." I stroke the tiger's flank gently, listening to her rumble.

"Aradia, aren't you just the lady?" He gives her a rough caress on the head, and she plays back, pretending to growl playfully.

His expression is boyishly happy as she butts him with her forehead, and he chuckles. "Women fall for me. What can I say?"

I roll my eyes. "You go, Casanova."

His smirk widens at my remark. "Tell it to the judge, baby. You're positively smitten, and this beautiful, amazing girl is just as susceptible to the flattery as you were." A squawk distracts him and he chuckles. "Uh, pet? Do you have somewhere I can put this little guy without him becoming a morsel?"

I look down at Aradia, staring into her eyes for a moment. "Down." The tiger ambles across the room, laying her head on her paws as she curls up on the rug. "Now stay, my darling. Be a good girl." Looking over at him, I grin. "You can put the peahen down."

"I'll have you know that you're the peahen, pet. That's the cock's mate." He tries not to smirk again but fails. I snort and he winks. Putting the birdcage on the table, he comes closer to me. "You're a feisty one today."

"I am at that, my love." That was not true when he came in, but it sure as hell is now. Seeing his acceptance of another major part of my life eased my worry about making the enormous commitment. It also lessened the ache from the loss of my old life. Losing the good parts of life with my other mates has plagued me since everything was upended. His love has a watering can for my soul, slowly nurturing the fragile seed back to life.

"Does that mean you're not in the mood for a cuddle?"

"I am. Are you offering, big bad?"

He opens his arms and smiles tenderly at me. "Always, baby." I crawl into his arms and curl around him, rubbing my cheek on his shoulder. "I saw a blog post from the gnome today and thought I'd ask about it. It seems pointed at a specific person, but it doesn't mention names. It's not about me, is it?"

"No. She's still in the dark about most of this. You must watch threads I'm purposely ignoring. It's probably about me."

"At least she's not waving that flag. I made the mistake of reading that series with Wilde and Amanda on his blog—the ‘bringing you death' rot. I nearly heaved on my tablet. People say that I'm a drama queen, but pulling the ribbon out of his hair and declaring that he wants to take revenge is ridiculous. Then saying that because she wants to die, he'll help her? Pure drivel and an excuse to abuse a woman."

"So you don't want to read about Wilde beating the hell out of Amanda to feed her masochism and his sadism, either? Shocking."

Today was a shit show on multiple levels, which is why the bar hit me like a crowbar. Since I've been MIA, not only has Sari been plotting this idiotic bar and having Wilde beat the crap out of my mate, she's been hanging around Amanda a lot. Apparently, Amanda didn't go through her ‘my life is pain' emo stage in high school. She's apparently questioning her existence through a series of ‘quests' that she's doing with various people.

I'm not joking; she seems to think she's fucking Odysseus.

-After the first post, I tuned out. I have enough actual pain and genuine drama in my life; I don't need to manufacture it, for Christ's sakes. However, it does not surprise me that Wilde's part in this epic load of bullshit is to get physical with her. That seems to be his oeuvre, now.

"Fighting or sparring are different. Beating on a woman for the hell of it makes me want to bash his face in. I can't imagine what's going through all of their minds, using that as an outlet. What if it triggers someone's PTSD? I know I don't know a damned thing about most people's dead life on the other side, and I'll bet they don't, either. It's sick."

I duck my head, pursing my lips together. He doesn't know what kind of silken webs can keep someone in that kind of relationship, despite how strong they are on the outside. I don't think Amanda has nearly the issues that Rafe and I do with Wilde, but I can't comment on her allowing him to hurt her. I'd be a hypocrite.

This bullshit with Amanda and Wilde working out their ‘demons' together started right after I spent the weekend with Taurus. I'm hoping that it's not because of me, but because Sari and Amanda are insane. Wilde lost his mind a long time ago, so he's just in it for the sadism. I've avoided participation in her quests by being unavailable, but I won't be able to avoid it forever. If Taurus thinks that's the worst it will be before it ends, he doesn't know Wilde like I do.

"It's a little dark for the funnies, isn't it? Aren't we supposed to be lighter than the ugly place you ladies hail from?"

"I thought so. Amanda's been working through issues with this—or so I hear. Sari jumped on because she loves angst, but I also think she and Wilde are using it to work through their Rhea issues." And maybe me, who knows?

Shaking his head, he shrugs and lets go of me, walking over to the table to look at the bird. "It's not my place to judge. Sorry." He kneels with his back to me and staring into the tiny peacock's cage. The tiny avian is ruffled and angry, twittering at the top of his lungs now. It sounds like he's getting bitched out in pea-cockney.

"That shit's not my bag. I've stayed out of their garbage on purpose this time." His brow arches as I snark and I clear my throat. "I'm sure someone will come to me for some kind of psychobabble eventually, but I want no part of this stage." I have my own problems with that family and maybe, just maybe, it's nice to not be the one getting their ass kicked.

"They'd be coming to the right source, I expect." He pokes a finger at the strutting and puffed fowl. "Hey now, you'll not be going on me until you calm yourself, you little git."

"If you want me to calm it, I will." I tilt my head, giving him an angelic smile. "I've been told I have a way with cantankerous fowl."

The bird spits at him—no mistaking it—causing Taurus to grouse. He looks over his shoulder. "You think a purr might help? This one's in a pisser of a mood."

"Hand it over, darling."

Taurus cocks a brow at the cage, as if deciding it might not be the best idea to throw it. He picks it up by the golden floss at the ring and hands it over gently. "Best of luck; that one's incorrigible."

I smile mysteriously, opening the cage door and holding my hand out. The bird puffs up and gives me a supremely annoyed look. I make a soft, rolling, cooing sound in my throat and its head tilts. Prancing a bit, it finally hops into my hand. I keep cooing softly, one finger smoothing its ruffled feathers gently. Looking up, I shrug. "I'm good with animals."

Taurus watches as we interact with a narrowed gaze. "Especially peacocks, apparently." He looks at the bird wryly and shakes his head. "Brother, don't I know it."

I give him an amused glance, still petting the bird until he seems to calm down. Once calm, I set him up on my shoulder, his tail draping down my back. "It's all in the attitude."

Grumbling under his breath about him having plenty of attitude, he snorts. "Yeah, well. You stroke my feathers just right, so I can relate."

"Admitting you have feathers now?"

He growls low in his throat. "Metaphorically. Minx."

"I love when you talk yourself into losing an argument."

Puffing up himself, he grumbles, "Hussy. I have no idea what you're talking about, I'm sure." He points to the bird. "Are you going to help me place him or what?"

"Don't you have to lose some clothes? I mean, he makes a kick ass shoulder ornament and I look like a multi-cultural Boudicca, but you can't put him on until you're bare."

"You just like seeing me strip for you, admit it," he preens, looking more and more like the smug bird on my shoulder.

"I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about."

His whisper is low and full of mirth. "That doesn't work for you, either." Eyes gleaming, he unbuttons his shirt—button by slow button—as his eyes scorch my skin. Sliding out of it with a ripple of tendon and tight muscle, he drapes it over a nearby chair. "Perhaps lower?" The light in his eyes says he isn't talking about a tattoo, that's for sure.

Licking my lips, I nod. "Couldn't hurt, could it?"

With a feral grin, he reaches for his belt buckle, unhooking it and pulling it from its loops. Moving with liquid grace, he slides the button on his slacks free, then lowers the zipper click by timeless click.

Now he's messing with me. Honestly? I'm fine with it. He's gorgeous to look at—all clones are—but Taurus is built differently. Maybe it's the training, working out, and fighting for work that makes him so much more predatory looking. My primal side finds it imminently delectable. A low rumble forms in my chest, and every nerve in my body tingles.

His pants fall to the floor at his feet and he steps out of them, slowly twisting the muscles in his body to bend down with lithe grace. He picks them up, still eying me intently. With a flick of his wrist, they fall on top of his shirt. Standing naked with his legs parted slightly, he smirks at me as I watch him.

"You uh, um, want to?" I gesture up to the peacock, which nips my finger. "Now?" I can't help the squirming in my seat because he smells amazing, and she's taken notice.

He chuckles low in his throat and drawls, "That caused the strip tease—or did I misinterpret your interest?"