7. Chapter Seven

Iwoke up to the sun coming through the window. Carey was still asleep next to me, and I was thankful for it. It was safer that way, really. It would give me a chance to check my injuries, find some real breakfast, and get us ready for the day.

Not that there was anything to get ready for.

My plan was to stay low here at the motel until everything blew over. Over an hour away from home and out of my territory, there was no reason to think the wolves would have a way to track me or Carey here. It was concerning to know that they had abused Carey's trust, something that really stuck a bone in my teeth. She had trusted that werewolf to respect her father's plan to keep her out of harm's way. He'd betrayed not only her father, but her, and I was the only line of defense she could probably trust now. Even that was tentative, unsure. I could smell it on her and see it the night before.

I stumbled into the bathroom with my first aid kit, did my business, then got busy looking over my shoulder. When I pulled off my shirt, it tore something, making me wince as I felt a small line of blood flow down my chest. Once I could see it, I sighed. It was angry red and scabbed over, but not healing, just like I knew it wouldn't. I grabbed the kit and tore it open, frustrated. I couldn't be injured while I was protecting her. It wasn't fair. No one should have challenged my Duty the way those fucking wolves did last night.

After cleaning up my shoulder, I checked my thighs and calves. They weren't healing well either, but the stitches were holding and that was something. I cleaned them up with peroxide, hissing at the sting, but didn't let it deter me from the job. I had to keep them clean if I didn't want to get an infection before the silver left my system.

Once I was done, I jumped into the shower for a quick clean, making sure I didn't get shampoo or conditioner on them. It was tricky business.

When I was done, Carey was blessedly still asleep, so I left the room and went to the main office. Maybe I could catch the fae and finally grab his name and learn where breakfast might be. I was nearly there when he walked out of the main office, juggling a tray.

"Hi…" I slowed down, confused until I realized he was having a hard time. My manners kicked in and I grabbed the door so he had an easier time leaving the main office with whatever he was carrying. I was able to catch the scent of it on the air and frowned. "Food? Where did you get it?"

"My wife made it for you, and before you ask, she's human and this isn't fae food. You can eat it safely." He looked up at me, lifting the tray to me. I didn't take it, puzzled. I hadn't realized I was taller than him the night before. Distraction at its best, which had to stop. There was another problem.

"Does your wife talk to werewolves?" I asked softly, dangerously.

"No, no!" That made him go stiff, the accusation sitting between us still. "She knows a lot about the supernatural world, but she doesn't talk to anyone, not even her own human family. We have a nice quiet life here and don't want any trouble."

"Did you tell her who or what I was?"

"I told her some, but only because she already knows about the Law of the supernatural species and the Duty of the werecats. It's why she made you both breakfast."

I raised an eyebrow. I hadn't told him who I was with.

"She's the one who put it together. You asked for me to keep an eye out for werewolves. Dallas-Fort Worth area is having issues with their werewolves. Human daughter of a council Alpha goes missing, then is said to be safe, but her location isn't publicly announced…" He frowned now, sniffing around. "Are you bleeding?"

"Fuck," I muttered, touching my shoulder. "I didn't know your nose was that sharp. What are you? Fair trade, considering you know so much about me it seems."

"I'm aes sidhe," he said casually.

"Yes, which is just another general term for fae," I retorted, narrowing my eyes.

His brown hair fluidly shifted before my eyes to a bright red. Freckles began to appear on his face. I knew it had bad been an illusion, a glamour to appear human. Then his ears became pointed. "No, lass. It's Irish fae. Get it right." He chuckled, finally pushing the tray at me. I grabbed it before he let go, but neither of us moved. He looked me over, calculating. "You could also say I'm one of the Daoine maithe. We're known for being…human-like with supernatural abilities."

"Yes, and you're divided into Clans that give people an idea of what you are and what you can do." He was beating around the bush, and I knew it was because he probably wanted his privacy. Or he was fucking with me. I didn't know much about fae—never really cared for them or about them— but I knew some basics. I didn't, however, know any of the Clans or what they meant, just that there were Clans and a Clan passed on their abilities like humans passed on hair colors.

"Well, I've given you an answer, werecat who hasn't announced her lineage," he said softly, his smile turning sharp.

I shrugged as best I could while holding the food. Answers for a different day, then. I walked away from him but stopped after only five feet.

"Then give me your name at least," I ordered, turning back to him.

"You can call me Brin," he answered. "I would give you my wife's name, but I don't plan on letting you meet her. My sons are Eamon, Fergus, and Rian. They work the gas station."

"I'm Jacky." I inclined my head after I offered him my name. I left him there, thinking about what I knew about the fae, but I had no conclusions about him by the time I made it back to the room. I knocked, hoping Carey was awake by now, and thankfully, she unlocked the door and opened it for me.

"I bring food," I declared, holding up the tray. "Sit down and we'll eat." I gestured to the small table next to the window AC unit and she did as directed. I put the food down and revealed it. Pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, and even a couple of muffins. There were two clean plates and silverware too. It was a good setup. I made her a plate before making my own, sitting down to quietly eat.

This time, it was her turn to interrupt the silence. "When do you think this is going to end?"

"I don't know, but I'm with you for the entire ride."

"Don't you have a life, though? You own that bar. Don't you need to get back to it?"

"The bar will be fine," I told her, taking a bite of the eggs first. Protein was perfect. "It would have been closed tonight anyway."

"Why?"

"Full moon, and it's Sunday. I'm always closed on full moons and Sundays." I chuckled, shaking my head. "You know that. I'm going to have to shift tonight, from sunset to sunrise. It's going to make protection a bit sticky, but we'll make it work."

I could smell her worry now. "Will it be safe?"

"I'll probably shift and run out in the woods, but I won't go far. I expect you to be in bed when I leave for the night. It'll be easier for both of us if I'm not cooped up in here." I didn't want her to fear me or the feline that lived under my skin, but she had reason to be worried. If I shifted while locked in the motel room, there was a chance I could get hungry and lose control. Hunting was important on the full moon, to give the predator an outlet that was safe. "Don't worry about it, please. I've got it covered. The good thing is, the werewolves won't come tonight, even if they find us. If they want you alive, it'll be too dangerous, so there won't be anymore running for you, at least not for the next twenty-four hours." I had to be practical. There was a chance running still needed to be done, but not on the full moon.

"And what about tomorrow night? Will you have to go back to your bar—"

"My bar is not the concern here," I said forcefully. "I could close its doors indefinitely and not be worried about it. I could pick up somewhere else and it's not a problem. Don't worry about me, Carey, please."

"I think my dad would describe you as practical." A shy smirk formed on her face, daring and precious, even if it was a little sad. The sadness wasn't in the smirk; it was in her eyes.

I hope so, but it's only because I won't get snarky with a child who's scared. "What would your mom say?" All I had heard so far was about her dad and brothers. There was a key person in the family missing that I knew nothing about.

"I…I don't know. Dad said she was a human, and she must have been since I'm one. She gave me to him after I was born and left." There wasn't anything sad about those words, just an acceptance that made my heart clench. "It's fine, really. Lots of people feel bad for me, but I have Dad and he's great. My brothers are super-cool and teach me all sorts of things, and I have great friends in school."

"I mean…" I missed my human parents more than life itself sometimes. I couldn't imagine just never knowing one of them. It was beyond me to consider. "Don't you ever want her? To teach you…mom things like how to bake, or…" I was at a loss. My mom had never really taught me a lot of those things either, but there were moments when she was the person I needed most, the rock by which I could anchor my life.

"Can't miss something I've never had. The female werewolves do all those things with me. I have a big family." Her weak smile assuaged my worries for her just a tiny bit. I figured if it weren't for the war going on that her father and ‘family' was in the middle of, it would be huge. "Like Emma? She's great. She's half-witch too. She teaches me a lot. She has a werewolf son my age who's really cute too. He's a quarter-witch. We're all wondering if his powers are going to come in or not."

"Your pack has werewolf witches?" I chuckled, considering that. Werecats didn't change anyone with witch blood in them, considering it too high a risk, too much power. There was no reason to give mortal witches the near-immortality of the werecats.

"Well, her dad was a werewolf and her mom was a witch. She came out both. Then she fell in love with Dean, who's one of my dad's inner circle. Dean is cool." Now she was rocking in her seat, grinning. It faded quickly. "I hope they're okay."

"I'm sure a half-witch is just fine during all of this," I promised softly. It wasn't a promise I had any right to give, but I didn't want Carey's mind wandering off to think about what could possibly happen to the people she loved.

The reality was different than what I was promising, which hurt the worst as the words came out of my mouth and brought some light to Carey's eyes. If this Emma was loyal to Heath, then she was a target. She would be harassed at every turn as people would see her as a threat that needed to be eliminated. If she wasn't already dead, there was a chance she would be soon. If she was with the coup or neutral, that was a betrayal Heath wouldn't be able to stand for, if he was like any Alpha I had ever heard of.

"Jacky…" Carey pushed her plate away now, all of the food half eaten. I was pleased by that, though I wished she would eat more at the same time. At least there was something in her stomach that wasn't junk food, and that was what kept me from pushing the plate back in front of her. "Tell me about your family."

Looking for a distraction, little human?"My dad, my human one, is a real Texas gentleman with all the flaws that come with it. He's a good man, though. I'll love him dearly for the rest of my life. My mom is…Well, she's unique. She can be selfish and ridiculous, or she can be the most loving woman in the world. She's great at her job, but terrible with money. What do you want to know?"

"Do you ever see them? Do they know you're in danger?"

"No. No, Carey, I don't see my family. Werecats…we're not like werewolves. We keep things separate for our own secrecy, our privacy. My human family knows I'm alive, but I left them no way of finding me or getting ahold of me. They know there was a terrible car accident and that I'm an adult that doesn't want anything to do with them."

"So you're alone. You left your werecat dad and your human family. I'm alone too now." She blinked those blasted big grey-blue eyes at me. "We can be family. While we have none, we can be family together, right?"

I was flabbergasted for a moment before smiling brightly. "Yeah, we can be family. So what does your family do together?"

"We play video games…" She smirked.

"I do think I told you to bring the Switch along, right? Go get it while I clean up. Can you set it up on the TV?"

"Yeah!" She jumped up and ran for her bags. I resisted chuckling as I cleaned up our breakfast and left the room with it, taking it back to the main office for Brin. He was behind his counter and nodded to the place I should put it down. I left without saying anything to him, not wanting to disrupt his reading or cause more of a problem for him than I already was.

Once back in the room, I chuckled louder as I watched Carey plug in cords and turn on the Switch on the big screen. She pulled up some weird board game-looking thing with that red plumber. I really hated that guy, but I wasn't going to dampen her good mood, so I took the second controller and sat down next to her on the bed.

"You ready?" she asked, flying through menus to get the game started.

"Let's do this!" I grinned down at her, glad to finally be able to distract her for longer than a few moments. That was the thing about kids, human ones especially. If you were willing to lie, to give them hope, they bounced back; they acclimated and adapted. Did I despise lying to her about her friends Emma and Dean? Yeah, but it was better than having a broken-hearted little girl, so much better.

We played four rounds and to my disappointment, I lost every single one of them. I had been playing video games since I was young, born in the Eighties. I remembered the NES and SEGA better than most, small fragments of the dead zone in my memory. Yet Carey stomped me, and hard. My pride took a beating, and each time I lost and she won, she would cheer, jump up and down on the bed, and rub it in.

"I win again! I thought werecats were supposed to be the best supernatural creature! Ha! Humans forever! Got you! Trained by werewolves, you'll never beat me!" She tossed her head around, brimming with confidence.

"I'll never beat you? Are you sure?" I smiled slyly. It was time to cheat then. "Start a new game," I ordered, pointing at the screen. "I think I can take you down next time."

"Really? Are we doing best out of nine now? You would have to win five in a row to beat me!" She hit start anyway, and when the first mini game came up, I took my chance. Instead of playing the mini game, I dropped my controller and pounced on her, going for her ribs. "NO!"

I was laughing as my fingers danced, tickling her until she screamed, trying to hit me away. She laughed until there were tears in her eyes.

"Stop cheating! HA AH!"

I didn't relent until the full two minute countdown of the mini game was over and she was breathing hard.

"Well, I didn't win the game, but neither did you," I said lightly, going back to my spot on the bed.

"That's not fair!" she cried out, kicking a foot at me. I caught it, laughing. "My brothers do that!"

"Good for your brothers. You should learn to win better." I held her leg by the ankle and tickled the bottom of her foot until she screamed again, the laughter bouncing off the walls. When I was done, it was my turn in the game and I wasn't even paying attention. I was just watching the bright-eyed little girl glare at me.

"My dad says the same thing, but he doesn't get it either. It's hard being the winner when all the other players are werewolves. I take my wins where I can get them." She stuck her tongue out and I kept laughing. Kid had a point, but it was a good time to teach her an important lesson.

"My sister was better than me at everything, too," I said gently, forgetting the game. "Our parents wanted us both to be doctors. She made it, I didn't. They wanted us to get scholarships to college with sports. She got them, I didn't. I understand trying to be good at one thing no one else is. But…you should be nicer when you win. My sister never rubbed it in my face. She encouraged me to get better." I ruffled her hair. "Understand?"

"Yeah…" She might have understood, but she obviously didn't want a lesson in the morality of being a gracious winner and good sport. "What sports did you play?"

"Changing the topic on me again. Sneaky." I pulled her under my arm again and she curled in, giving me that childish, curious look. "I played soccer and softball. I was good, too, but not the best. My parents were proud of me, but I wasn't her."

"Do you like your sister? Sometimes, I don't like my brothers very much…" She frowned. "They're older than me. A lot older than me. Sometimes I wish I had a brother or sister my age or younger. Someone who would look up to me and let me be the big one."

"She's my twin, so it was closer than most, and I did love her, but I didn't always like her. We weren't very good twins. It was like she got everything. All the talent, all the ease, while I floundered and screwed up a lot. It was my life, though. I loved it all the same."

"And now you're a werecat protecting me. I'm sorry."

"That's not your fault, Carey. Don't ever think that. Werecats, we made this decision, and it's an honor to keep you out of harm's way and protect you." Though I wished it had never came to this. I wished this had never stumbled on my doorstep or ripped her from her life.

"But you're so sad and it's my fault! It is!" She crossed her arms, pulling away from me. "This would have never happened to you if my dad didn't have me."

"This would have never happened if your father wasn't betrayed. He sounds like a strong Alpha, and I have full faith that he's going to fix this and take you home. You just need to relax and wait for that to happen."

"But you're sad…"

I closed my eyes for a second, letting that statement sink in as she repeated it. "I am sad. My life is a lonely one, but it's mine, and that's something. Even better, Carey, I wasn't sad playing that game with you. You don't make me sad. I was already sad when you came to my bar and needed help. If anything, right now, I'm pretty happy, even though this has been so bad. Even though those wolves hurt me." I wasn't lying. My sadness had nothing to do with her, nothing at all. She was a bright spot that came out of a dark mini-chapter of my life and hers. "I haven't talked about my human family in…years. Not since before I came to Texas. Thank you for talking to me about them."

When she launched herself at me, I opened my arms and accepted the hug, holding her tight. I buried my nose in her hair and inhaled. There was something to be said about Duty and the werecat drive to protect. It forced me to build a deeper bond with Carey than I ever would have. I was willing to take risks and talk to her, make her feel better, and that I never would have done under other circumstances. She belonged to werewolves, but for a moment, my body was her shield and my heart belonged to her.

Tears pricked my eyes. It was sad that death and destruction were needed to give me something in the world to hold on to. And I had to hold on to her.