Chapter 4
AMbrOSE
Wyndham cared more about that kitten than he did about his own injuries, and not once had he seemed any too concerned about his vehicle. He had such a soft heart. It was one of the many things I already liked about him.
And wasn’t that messed up? Here he was, injured and in need of help and I had a growing crush on him, a desire to scent him deeply, and was sporting a semi every time I touched him.
This human was here for my help, not my ogling.
I had to cross my fingers he didn’t pick up on it, because the last thing the guy needed was to feel uncomfortable around me on top of all the rest of it.
When I overheard him apologizing to the kitten for not looking for his siblings, I knew I had to go find them, or at least try.
They were young. I didn’t really know how young, but it was a good sign that the cat lapped up the milk.
It meant they were past the stage where they needed a bottle or, preferably, their mother to survive, and given I had neither, that was huge.
What little I knew of cats, they were usually born in litters, so it made sense there might be some siblings out there.
But all that depended upon how that kitten came to be there.
He seemed well cared for, so my guess was he hadn’t been born in the wild.
Did he get lost when someone pulled over?
Was he dumped? There were many options, and none of them good.
At least he had Wyndham now. Something told me there was nothing that would stop that man from giving that adorable fur baby a good life.
I grabbed my phone and put it in my pocket, hoping to get a signal when I got closer to the car.
Cow’s milk wasn’t a great food for the kitten, I knew that much.
I’d have wanted to help them no matter what, but seeing how important they were to the man on the couch, I needed to keep him good and healthy.
I had tuna, some salmon in the freezer, those kinds of items, but it was best to find out exactly what was best for him before giving them any more than that bit of milk.
Wyndham had fallen asleep almost instantly.
I knew his mind had to be racing, but his body had been through a lot of stress between the cold, the accident, and the injury.
It made sense that once the situation calmed down, he’d be sound asleep, making it the perfect time for me to leave on my mission.
I jotted a note and left it on the side table next to where his head was resting, hoping he wouldn’t wake long enough to need it, and then trudged down toward the road.
The weather was clearing up, or at least a patch of clear weather was passing through.
Around here, it often cycled back again. Only time would tell.
When I reached the road, I took out the phone and asked Google what to feed kittens when you didn’t have access to cat food or cat formula.
It gave me a lot of ideas, including a formula that was made, all with ingredients I had.
Keeping that kitten filled with nutrients before we were able to get to a vet was the best I was going to be able to do.
That and find their siblings, if any existed.
When I reached the car, I was freezing. My reindeer, who was not too pleased about any of this, surprised me. It didn’t feel like he was upset about being dragged through the snow looking for a possible kitten, as much as he was pissed at me for not protecting the man in the cabin.
Not gonna lie. Wyndham smelled delicious. Of course, my reindeer would want to be near him. I did too, but this was more important.
I looked at the car, so grateful that the only injury was to his ankle.
It was bad, really bad, but with all the swelling, I wasn’t exactly sure of the extent of the injury.
The rule of thumb was, the more it swelled, the less likely it was to be a break, although sometimes a break was better than a sprain. He’d eventually need a doctor.
As soon as this storm passed and the roads cleared, I’d make sure to get him seen. That would be a ways off, unfortunately. From the look of the pavement, no one had been through since he crashed his vehicle. Not a single car in either direction.
“Okay, I can do this.” Getting naked in sub-zero weather always took a pep talk.
I shifted and scented the air in all directions, hoping to find the kitten or two or five—however many there were. Nothing.
I scented again, this time as deeply as possible, and for the first time in my life, I wished I was a cat of any variety. A cat shifter would be able to find the little ones much quicker than I could.
At first, I thought there was nothing, but then I scented it. Faint but present. There was another kitten nearby. Please let them be alive.
I walked the short distance and found the tiny ball of fur, huddled and shaking from the cold. I shifted back to human form and picked them up. “I got you, little one. I got you.” I crossed everything that I wasn’t too late. If I’d waited until morning, I definitely would’ve been.
Every part of me ached by the time I reached the car.
Had I been human, it would be frostbite for sure, but my shifter body healed quicker than humans, and it was just going to be sucky for a little while.
I pulled on my clothes, nestled the kitten under my shirt to give them maximum warmth, zipped up my jacket, and started my journey back to the house, only stopping long enough to grab a bag I saw in the car.
I didn’t even look inside. He’d probably want his things, and this would save a trip.
Once back in the house, I stepped inside as quietly as I could and put the kitten with their sibling. They cuddled up together. They were so adorable, I couldn’t even. Once I had the formula ready, I’d feed them again, but until then, sleep was for the best.
I went to collect the ingredients for the formula, including boxed milk from my pantry. When I came out, the light in the bedroom flicked off. I hadn’t turned it on, which meant my patient had woken up briefly. Thankfully, he was going back to sleep. He needed it.
The recipe was easy and sounded gross. But I wasn’t a kitten, so what did I know? I mixed the ingredients over low heat until it reached the right temperature, then turned it off and covered it like the directions said. It was from a kitten rescue, so I crossed my fingers that it would be good.
Then I snuck out the back and went to the shed, where I had a bag of cat litter.
I used it to sand my porch when things got bad, not wanting to add salt to the environment.
I never thought I’d be using it for actual kittens.
I’d have to show them where the box was in the morning and hope that they had some experience with it.
Training a cat was not in my repertoire.
I felt accomplished, like I was making a difference. That feeling fled as quickly as it came when I heard Wyndham groaning, crying in pain. I raced to his side, wanting to see how I could help, and found him sleeping, but horribly, and then suddenly he wasn’t.
“You were gone,” were the first words out of his mouth.
“Yeah, I went and got the second kitten. There are no others, probably a small litter. I made some formula for them so they’ll get good and strong.
” I info-dumped all the information I knew he would want so I could move onto figuring out how to help him.
“But what about you? You sounded like you were in pain.”
“Yeah, it hurts. Not gonna lie.”
“How about I get you some ibuprofen and maybe a sandwich? And then we can work on getting you a tow.”
“Let’s start with the ibuprofen and go from there,” he said, closing his eyes tightly.
I went to the medicine cabinet and grabbed the bottle, hoping that it would cut the pain enough to allow him to eat and gain his strength back.
Walking through this cold mess had taken more out of his body than most people would realize.
At least he didn’t have to worry about the other kitten anymore. Any little thing I could do to help.