Cat's Choice: The Chosen's War

by Jana Leigh

  Cassandra nodded her head emphatically and hugged her around the neck squeezing tightly. “All better now, just like new! No more sad, ‘kay?”

  “No more sad, very happy now, Cassandra,” a nd she laughed. Cassandra, happy that she helped, leaned her head against Caterina’s bosom and fell asleep. Tey stepped up to the couch. “I’ll take her. It must have been difficult for her to heal him if she fell asleep this quickly.”

  “Will she be okay?” asked Caterina.

  “She’ll be good as new and up to mischief first thing in the morning, don’t worry. And to get even, I’ll have Tripp give us some babysitting, so I can have a date night with my wife,” s aid Tey.

  “Thank you, Tey, I’ll be glad to babysit anytime too,” s he said softly so as not to wake Cassandra, though it looked like she could sleep through an earthquake. Like most small children, she went from running around a t sixty miles an hour to a full stop, totally boneless sleep in seconds.

  Then she heard Sofia announce, “Now Orfeo, you can be the horse! Cami, Caterina , Isabella! We go now to the kitchen to finish the nice Italian dinner for everyone. Attilio ! A glass of vino por favore!” Sofia tugged Cami and Caterina from the room with Isabella following behind .

  Cami tried to mention that she didn’t know how to cook, but Sofia just said she’d teach her. So she shrugged and went along. Soon, more of the other women wandered into the kitchen. As well as bringing along her handmade special sauce, Sofia started bread while on the plane. She also brought fresh vegetables picked that very day from the kitchen gardens at the Castillo. She halved the huge mound of dough and made loaves out of one-half for garlic bread. She had Isabella put them in an oven.

  She looked at Cami. “Now we will make small pizzas to have with the meal. You know what your mates like? You make them for your family; fill them up with amore and whatever else you see here.” While they had been visiting in the living room, her helpers had chopped and sliced all the vegetables. They had also brought aged Florentine prosciutto, homemade Italian sausage, calamari, and anchovies. For the cheeses, she brought all homemade fresh mozzarella and ricotta, and aged parmesan and Romano ; all shredded into bowls. “It is unfortunate you do not have a brick oven, but we will make do , “ s he said.

  Cami felt as if she had been chastised for not having a brick oven. Sofia seems like a nice lady, but she can be really exhausting , she thought.

  The ladies that had found their way into the kitchen had a blast making the mini pizzas and drinking some fabulous wine. None of them were exactly round, which according to Sofia was just fine. Meanwhile, Sofia bustled around in her element, orchestrating a meal for a large number of people was something she did every day. The Elders sat at the high table with the Sire and the rest of the clan, and all the servants ate at tables laid out in the great hall. It had been this way at the Castillo since it had been built in the thirteenth century. Attilio had it built when he found out Sofia was having a baby.

  An hour later, all the cooks were highly praised for their efforts. At one point, a few of the ladies were tossing out ideas on how to celebrate their joint wedding anniversary that was coming up in two weeks . After much discussion, it was decided that in honor of their guests, they would have a block party at night. They’d close off the three blocks in the center of town where most of the stores were located. Put up some outdoor grills, popcorn stands, and tables in the street. There would be room for a bandstand and a dance floor. Then they’d talk as many store owners as they could into having a midnight sale, opening up from eleven in the evening until one in the morning .

  The men thought that so-so, it wasn’t enough action for them. So Kira proposed a laser tag tournament. Teams of six would compete against each other, and the winning team would get a prize. There were many suggestions on what the prize should be, and they finally agreed on everything else. The prizes would be decided later.

  Caterina’s favorite moment though was when she gave Orfeo and Tripp their gifts. “You told me to buy something silly, and so I thought this was the perfect thing. They’re accessories for your cars, every time you see them; you’ll think of each other and remember this moment.”

  Orfeo turned to Caterina. “Grazie, cara, I’m sure I will treasure it because you bought it. And I promise to put it in my car.” Tripp looked over, holding the small wrapped box and said the same. Then they looked at each other and together ripped open the Sunday comics, she had used to wrap the packages in. Very soon they could see the writing on the boxes and the item behind the cellophane.

  “What is it?” Cami said, “I’m dying to know. She wouldn’t let us see. Only Isabella knows, and she was laughing so hard she almost collapsed.” Now everyone was curious and all eyes turned towards the men.

  They looked at each other grinned then opened the boxes and pulled out their gifts for all to see. She had given them bobble head dolls for their dashboards. Orfeo got a werewolf, and Tripp got a Vampire . The hokey cartoon dolls had been leftovers from the previous Halloween. All around the table people started laughing.

  Shea laughed so hard that her water broke. Then the contractions, that she’d actually been having all evening, and she thought was just a little back ache, came on with a vengeance. They rushed her upstairs to the medical room, and forty minutes later gave birth to two beautiful little girls. The first weighed in at five pounds eleven ounces, and the second was five pounds six ounces. Which Cloe was quite happy with when she saw the little bumps on either side of their spines, even with their shoulder blades —t wo new fairies were born.

  Chapter 11

  Diavolo left a few of his clan watching the town of Milliken as he went to Cleveland to speak to Roarke. He arrived just after midnight and was pleased that Roarke was still in his office. From the sound of it, it seemed he’d kept his secretary at work for some overtime. This one didn’t look very much like the last one. He didn’t really care; they were humans, made to be used and then discarded.

  Since he’d left the door between his office and the reception area ajar, he supposed that Roarke didn’t mind if he walked in on him. To the left of his desk, he had expanded on his play area; he said it helped him think. Currently, his secretary was bent over a waist-high bar naked, except for a pair of high heels; she had nipple clamps with dangling weights and a ball gag in her mouth. Her hands were handcuffed through a ring in the wall keeping her back stretched at a slightly downwards angle. He could adjust the bar to present either her pussy or her ass to the perfect height for maximum penetration. Each of her ankles was also cuffed to the sides of the bar.

  To Diavolo’s trained eye, it looked as if he’d gone for the back door, and from the scent, wasn’t using any lube. He leaned against the doorjamb and waited for Roarke to finish; he didn’t think it would take long. He was right, moment s later Roarke shouted his release, then withdrew using his handkerchief to wipe the blood from his dick. Then tucked himself in and walked over to his desk to sit down, slapping her ass along the way. She didn’t even flinch. He didn’t bother to clean her up, allowing his semen and her blood to ooze out and drip down her legs.

  “Would you like to take a turn?” Roarke asked, sitting down and taking out a cigarette. “She messed up my dictation and deserves to suffer. Three errors, three!”

  “I don’t care for sloppy seconds. Though, I may give her a bite before I leave.”

  “Oh well, she needs two more rounds before her punishment is complete. I’m sure one of my Enforcers wouldn’t mind exhibiting his prowess for me. Now, tell me why you’ve come. I’m sure she will enjoy it. I’ve been able to push this one f u rther much faster than the others. Soon I’ll break her.” He chuckled, “Then she can service the men in the barracks until they use her up .”

  “Appease my curiosity. Where do you get this endless supply of human subs?” asked Diavolo.

  “At the local bondage club, of course. At first, they’re quite happy here, until they understand that all the rules are mine and that there are
no ‘safe’ words in my vocabulary,” answered Roarke. “Now, enough about pleasurable pursuits; down to business. Don’t worry about her; she passed out from my efforts, though it’s not nearly as much fun as hearing her moan and whimper.”

  “The senior Ambrosettis arrived nine days ago . My intelligence is that Caterina is against the mating. She has developed a dislike of Vampire s. Or perhaps she realizes she must not risk my wrath by mating with Orfeo , or that puppy. In any event, no mating has taken place. There is a large party scheduled for the end of n ext week. It is to be held out doors in the streets of Milliken. Several of the stores will be open, especially for Vampire customers between eleven and one. There is also to be a tournament of sorts at the gaming facility run by that mongrel bear. A game called laser tag. I understand it’s held primarily in the dark,” Diavolo explained.

  “Well, well, well. And we didn’t get an invitation. I think we should crash their party, don’t you?” asked Roarke. “How large is your force? Have you estimated the numbers against you?”

  “My troops are loyal to me. They are well-trained and will do as I say, even if it means their own death. All the evidence suggests that the Vampire s are still not trusted by the New Council. I instructed one of my men to kill a city resident in an obvious way tonight or tomorrow night. That will increase the divide. The block party is supposed to bring the groups together. If we plan it right, and I always plan things right, we can harass them into fighting each other. We can swoop in and take what we want, they won’t even notice us.”

  “Make no mistake, they may look like bumbling fools, but they have power. They haven’t harnessed it all yet, and we have a small window of opportunity. Do not underestimate them! I’ll send a few of my Pack with you. Hopefully, they’ll be able to kill a Vampire or two and make it look like Enforcers of the New Council Pack are responsible,” admonished Roarke.

  They spent the next four hours going over their plans. It was late into the night when they finished. Diavolo would have to stay and go back the next night. Just before Diavolo left to sleep, Roarke rang for two of his Enforcers to come to the office.

  When they came in, they glanced around and then waited for orders, their eyes straying again and again to the woman. “I have a job for you. I want you to each pick a team of four, and then you’re going to Milliken with Diavolo tomorrow at sunset . He’ll fill you in on the way.”

  The men were getting ready to leave and pick their men, when Roarke stopped them. “Before you leave, I have another little task for you.” He held up a finger to make them wait and turned to his guest. “Diavolo, I just received a new bottle of aged Scotch. Would you care for a glass? To enjoy the show?” At his shrug and nod, he then turned back to the men. “My latest secretary is in need of punishment. Which one of you wants to fuck her while we watch?” He enjoyed it immensely when they both decided they should get to and began to fight over it. He poured the Scotch and offered a cigar while they decided. After a minute, one was baring his throat in submission.

  “Good, you’ve decided. You…” pointing to the submissive wolf, “get to fuck the woman.” And the wolf grinned while the other one grew angry. “And you get to fuck him while he’s fucking her. You might want to tweak those nipple clamps a little to wake her up first though. And remember, lube is optional!”

  Stephanie Prose, a submissive of long standing, had been investigating where so many of her friends had disappeared to. She had pretended to pass out when the second man had come in and couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She was going to use all her acting skills to make Roarke believe she’d made those three errors on purpose. That tomorrow she might even make four.

  She would do whatever she had to do to convince him that she hadn’t heard a thing, and that she was still enjoying the extra-curricular office activities; anything to convince him that she should return home as usual this evening. She realized now that the others went home and blogged about their great side benefits at work on their social network site . They had all disappeared around three months into their job. She’d only been here for five weeks. This guy was obviously devolving. He was becoming more and more brutal, there was no way she could increase this level of submission without safe words for three months, and she knew her friends couldn’t either. That’s when she knew they were dead. Oh god, here we go again, relax, don’t tense up . They’re watching, they’ll notice.

  ***

  Cami woke up early—on day ten of the Clan Ambrosetti’s visit; her clock showed six-thirty . Thank the goddess it’s only some of them and not all of them . How can they party for most of the night and then still get up in the middle of the day to visit? It’s a good thing we hung those black out curtains in the movie and gaming room s . Feeling a little hung over for the ninth day in a row, she stumbled to the bathroom. Ouch! I’ve gained six pounds on Sofia’s cooking! Pretty soon Attilio will be telling me I’m a ‘nice big girl’ before he hands me another glass of wine instead of ‘mangia, you’re too skinny, try some more of my Sofia’s …fill in the blank’; s he thought as she got off the scale and brushed her teeth. Glancing at the small clock over the sink she smiled. Good, I have an hour and a half before the kids wake up; maybe I’ll surprise my mates. She walked naked back into the bedroom planning some morning nookie.

  “Looks like you started without me!” and she climbed onto the bed to join in on the fun.

  ***

  Caterina woke up in bed and looked over at Tripp. She turned her head again and looked at the clock; it was seven . He’d be waking up soon. She had a few moments of quiet to think about all the changes she’d gone through lately. A big one was sleeping beside her. He had stuck to his promise and never said anything to sway her towards Orfeo. He held her every night now, and though they hadn’t mated, every morning he would bring her to orgasm before showering and going out to fix them breakfast. He said she was his very own amusement park, and he loved riding the roller coaster. She didn’t quite get the analogy until he explained it. Then she’d told him that she was the one riding the roller coaster.

  She didn’t know how to tell him that she was ready for the next step. He still hadn’t tried to remove her clothes. And that was another thing that bothered her. After she’d come upstairs from that first dinner party and changed for bed, she found out that Tripp hadn’t been the only one healed. She was still trying to process it the next morning, so she didn’t say anything. Now it had been so long that she wasn’t sure how to bring it up.

  Tripp rolled over and gave her a smile as his hands began to wander. Time to go for a ride !

  ***

  Sofia and Attilio were lying in bed; as usual, they went to sleep around four in the morning and then slept until noon. Normally, this allowed them to spend the afternoons in the Castillo’s interior rooms taking care of business and having interactions with the human populace of their village. They could stay in touch with their people and what was going on while at the same time preserve the secret of their clan. Nearly all the inhabitants of the older , walled part of Certaldo was inhabited by the clan, human servants and Castillo-related workers who knew of them. During the days, a great many tourists visited, especially in the warm summer months.

  Around eight thirty in the morning, the sounds of the Pack house beginning their day drifted down to them, and they awoke. Attilio turned to smile at Sofia. “You are just as beautiful now as you were the day I married you,” he said as he reached for her. “Come to me; let me take you to the stars once again.” Sofia let out a delightfully girlish giggle as she went into his arms.

  ***

  Isabella lay back in her lover’s arms. They had been putting off the turning because Isabella wanted to spend time with Caterina .

  “How does your plan proceed, bellissima?” Abaven whispered in her ear as he continued to caress her. He’d just finished making love to her, and he wanted to start all over again. His passion built daily and would continue to do so until the night of their turning; having mated w
ith her, his body now craved to turn her, and the feelings would increase until he could no longer hold back.

  “She knows what I’m doing and lets me anyway. I’ve sung Orfeo’s praises to the sky for nearly ten days. I think by the night of celebration; we’ll bring her around, and she will be over her fears,” she told him as she reached over to thumb his nipple. She turned her head to look up into his eyes. Her gentle giant, she loved him so much. “Again?”