Chapter Sixteen
Mars wanted to kill Stellan.
Whatever he’d said to cause that pain to Ren, he wanted to kill him.
Mars paced the small guest house and ran his hand through his hair roughly. He could hear her crying.
A Half-Cat. A Half-Cat! He would’ve never guessed.
They were so rare. It had never even crossed his mind, but now so many things made sense.
Her steady glowing eye color, her avoidance anytime he mentioned her Cat.
The way she smelled like a Cat but not like he and his Ambush. It was…different. She was different.
Another soft sob ripped his heart wide open.
He couldn’t do this. He couldn’t physically stay away from her for a second longer.
He pushed the bathroom open and said her name softly.
She was in the bathtub with the curtain drawn. Fuck, his heart had never felt like this. His chest was on fire.
Gently, slowly so as not to scare her, he pushed the curtain aside. She was lying inside with all her clothes on.
“Babyyy,” he drawled in a whisper as he knelt down beside the tub.
“I…I…I…” she stammered in a sob.
“Shhh,” he told her, scooping her out of the tub. “Stand.”
She nodded and stood there, swaying. He kept his grip on her arm, steadying her as he turned on the warm water to run a bath for her.
“Does it hurt?” he asked. He wanted to know everything.
“N-n-not anymore.” Her breath hitched and her eyes were swollen from crying.
“Hey,” he murmured, cupping her cheeks. “You’re okay. I’m here. You’re safe.”
“I’m sorry,” she said again.
He hated it. She had nothing in the world to apologize about. He couldn’t even imagine what she’d been through in her life. “Okay, those two words seem really important to you. Is this something you do after a Change? You just need to say you’re sorry a lot? I want to understand.”
“A-almost-Change. It’s an Almost-Change. I don’t Change. I don’t have a Cat. She’s not there. I can’t reach her ever. She’s not there.”
“Okay, and you’re apologizing for not having a Cat?” he asked, trying to understand.
“No, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”
“Ren,” he said softly, aching over the hurt in her bright gold eyes. “It’s a big thing you go through. I’m not mad at all. You don’t owe me or anyone else an explanation.”
“I didn’t want you to see me like that,” she said hoarsely.
He leaned over and tested the water temperature with his fingertips and turned up the cold water so it wouldn’t be too hot for her. “You didn’t want me to see you in an Almost-Change?” he asked.
She shook her head. “It’s my secret. I only do those alone.”
“Okay.” He nodded and repeated, “Okay. Is that what almost happened yesterday? When we were talking about Changes?”
She nodded. “I haven’t done it in a while, and it was already built up, and sometimes when I can feel the tension, or start imagining what it would be like to Change all the way, it’ll happen. It’s like my body wants to Change but I get stuck. I always get stuck.”
He nodded. He was starting to get it now. “But you’re okay with talking about it now? It’s not too much on you? I don’t want you to have another Almost-Change too soon. It looks painful.”
“It’s awful,” she admitted in an emotional whisper.
“Okay. But we can talk about it right now? You’re okay right now?”
“Yeah.” The word came out little more than a squeak. “I have a few days before it’ll be able to happen again.
“So, you get breaks?” he asked.
“Yeah.” And then there was a tear-filled smile that flashed across her face and disappeared, but it had existed for a split second. There she was. “I call it the honeymoon phase. I feel better for a little bit.”
“Hell yeah. Then you know what we’ll do?”
“What?” she asked in a shaky whisper.
“Plan date nights after you have an Almost-Change. We’ll get you through them and then will take the honeymoon phase serious.”
She blinked twice. “W-what?”
“We’ll get you through it. I’ll bring coasters, or whatever works best for keeping you from biting down too hard. I’ll ask Misty about supplies tomorrow, and then we will get through it and celebrate afterward.”
“Celebrate,” she murmured.
“Yeah. You’re still kickin’ woman. You’re still here. You’re a motherfucking Half-Cat. Do you know how rare you are?”
She shook her head.
“I don’t even know any Cats who have personally ever met a Half-Cat, and here you are, perfect body, eating s’mores and making me laugh, and drinking with my brother’s mate, and telling off my least favorite brother, and being awesome.
I had no clue what you were. None.” He tipped his head toward the bathtub.
“Want to get in? Let’s get your muscles loosened up before bed. ”
Another two blinks from her wide eyes. “Yeah.”
He turned off the water now that the tub was nearly full and helped her get out of her dress. He did his best to pull her hair back into a messy bun with a hairband from her wrist, but he didn’t do the best job at it. A few curls escaped. She looked pretty like that.
And then that gorgeous Half-Cat…his Half-Cat, she slipped her petite hand against his palm and stepped into the warm water, then sighed a long, shuddering breath as she sank into the warmth.
She pulled her knees to her chest and rested her cheek there, pretty gold eyes on him.
The tears were gone, and relief had replaced the sadness in her face.
He put soap on a washcloth and washed her back and arms gently, and as he did, he felt every muscle in her body relax.
They didn’t say anything for minutes, just let her have some peace, and then when she was washed and rinsed and the water was cooling, he asked, “What do you want to do for our first honeymoon phase date?”
The smile that curved her full lips was the prettiest thing he’d ever seen. “I like surprises.”
“You want me to plan them?”
She nodded, her cheek still resting against her forearms folded over her knees.
“You got it,” he said around a chuckle. God, he loved her. This…seeing how strong she really was…what she dealt with in her normal everyday life…how she didn’t complain or act like a victim of her circumstances…how she was just this badass Half-Cat who had retained her kindness…oh she was his.
“I thought this would be a deal breaker,” she admitted low. “I didn’t ever want you to see me like that.”
“Well,” he said reaching for a towel, “All you did was make me even more interested, so it’s going to be hard to shake me now.”
“Do you know the fertility rate of a Half-Cat?” she asked suddenly.
He blew out a breath and shook his head.
“No, I’m really asking. I don’t know anything. I don’t even know what kind of Cat I would’ve been. I didn’t ever meet my dad. He was a one-night stand date for my mom, and she didn’t know what he was.”
“I don’t know the fertility rate for a Half-Cat, but I’m going to research. I’m going to find out as much as I can,” he promised. “I know the mortality rate of Half-Cats though.”
Ren frowned. “What?”
“Eighty percent mortality before they’re even born.” He pulled her out of the tub and wrapped the towel around her, then cupped her cheeks. “You’re kind of a miracle.”
She was searching his eyes in such an intense way. “I didn’t know that.”
“It’s insane that you’re even here. Dame and Misty have decided to maybe someday adopt, but they aren’t trying on their own because of the awful mortality rate, and then if they do have a baby survive, he or she would be a Half-Cat.
There are so many rumors around Half-Cats that people avoid trying.
You really are special. You were meant to be here. ”
“I thought…” She swallowed hard. “I thought I was a mistake.”
“Nah. Look at your life. Record store co-owner, brand new sexy-girl red Bronco, cute-as-hell house, a whole wedding that loved you, family, friends. Football Sundays and awesome music taste. Some guy who can’t stay away from you and thinks about your smile and your body twenty-four-seven.”
She giggled and pressed her hands over his to keep him cupping her cheeks.
“We have to go through some Almost-Changes,” he said softly.
“It sucks, but it’s life. We’re going to appreciate the honeymoon phase because you know how painful things can be.
Whatever questions you have about Half-Cats, we are going to find them out.
Shit, Misty is a whiz at finding stuff out on the internet, I’m about to sic her on this like a dog on a bone. Give her three days,” he teased.
She was grinning in earnest now and nodded, her eyes filled with hope. “I thought you wouldn’t like me anymore.”
“You know that text I mentioned yesterday?”
“Yeah?”
“Well, I was working my way up to saying I love you, but you cut the conversation off.”
“Oh.” She laughed. “Wait, really? Whoops.”
“It’s good. This is the moment right here that was supposed to happen, after the Almost-Change, after things make sense to me. Ren?”
“Yeah?” she whispered, her heart in her pretty eyes.
“I love you.”
Her face crumpled and she looked down. He saw a tear hit the tile floor between them, and he hooked a finger under her chin and dragged her gaze back to his.
“I love you,” he whispered again, allowing her to hear the truth in his voice twice so she didn’t have to question it.
And that beautiful woman, that gorgeous Half-Cat, that stunning badass…she melted against him and hugged him so tightly.
And then he heard it in her voice—the words he had never cared about until he met her.
The words that meant everything.
“I love you too.”