Scratch
Page 15
Maybe I should come up with something new, something that hasn't happened yet. And wouldn't happen.
Gryphon. Standing there with his shirt ripped open. Instead of turning away like I did in real life, this time, I pull him closer. Take off my own shirt. Kiss him.
It's so real that I feel his lips on mine, his breath dancing on my skin. It's beautiful.
“You know, I’ve always been more of a dog person,” he whispers, his fingers tangling my hair.
I chuckle and slip a hand between his legs.
“I guess I will have to change your mind.”
If I had a body, I might blush at my own words. Instead, I watch myself on the floor with him, fucking him on the carpet. He holds my breasts as he moves in me, and squeezes them with each thrust. It's making my chest hurt. And his lips are on mine again, but no, his head is nowhere near mine, so who's kissing me?
Rip. Like a curtain being thrown to both sides, exposing the stage, life enters me, and with it, light.
I open my eyes. I'm surrounded by people. This must be hell, specifically designed for someone as antisocial as me.
One person, one man, is closest to me, his hands hovering above my chest. Just where I felt the pain. Did he try to revive me? It feels like he crushed a couple of my ribs in the process.
I blink a couple of times and slowly, things lose their blurriness. Faces come into focus. Benjamin and Bethany are standing furthest away. Are they holding hands? Must be a trick of the light.
Lily is to my right, with a very human Ryker next to her. When did Lily get back? She was supposed to be away for another couple of days. Ryker’s gently rubbing Pumpkin’s head, who’s stretched out near my feet. He’s half asleep, lazily opening his eyes to look at me. He smiles, then goes back to sleep.
On my left is Lennox, his eyes leaking. Oh wolf, get a grip.
And then there's Gryphon, whose lips still seem to be touching mine even though he's standing now, stretching his back. He’s got bruises on his face, but they’re already fading. I must have been out for a while, even though it didn’t feel that way.
My head is full of questions. How did we get out? How am I alive? Are all the bad people dead? But for now, I’m content to just look at the people around me.
"You made it," Lily whispers.
I smile at them all, rather happy to be alive.
“You’re probably wondering what happened to you,” Gryphon says, and I roll my eyes at him. Duh.
“We can do the long version later, but just to give you some peace of mind, the kittens are fine, the Pack building is completely destroyed, a couple of their people died, including that dreadful woman.”
I should feel happy about that, but instead, I’m annoyed. I had so many more questions for her. Now, I’ll need to find other ways to find out what happened. Who I am. What they did to me. Where the other clones are, if they’re still alive. I went in there to get answers, and instead, I’m left with so many more questions than before.
“I’m sorry I had to start the fire before the signal,” Lennox mutters, his eyes still wet. “They had me surrounded and I thought I wasn’t going to be able to fight my way out of there. Setting off the explosives was the only way to distract them enough to get the upper hand. Annoyingly, the fire had everyone swarming around, meaning it took me forever to make my way downstairs. It was worth it though, I found some interesting things in that office, things that will help us in weakening the Pack.”
I try to ask about the kittens, what they were used for, but my throat is too dry to even speak a single word. I point at Pumpkin instead, hoping that someone will understand what I want to ask.
Lily notices my predicament and returns with a glass of water a moment later. She tries to hold it to my mouth, but that would be too much loss of pride. I snatch it out of her hand, spilling most of it on the duvet, and manage to take two sips before my hand loses its strength. Not quite how I wanted this to look. Pathetic. That collar must have damaged my shifter healing somehow. I must have been unconscious for a while, judging from Lily being back and Gryphon’s faded bruises, so I should really be back to full strength by now. I hope this is only temporary.
“Turns out the kittens weren’t stolen to get your attention,” Gryphon says and I smile at him, glad he’s got the message. “I found lab records, hundreds of pages of detailed observations on other kittens. They wanted to make the clones stronger by adding more cat genes. For that, they needed young cats, where the DNA isn’t damaged by time. Of course they only wanted the strongest kittens for that, so they had them do all sorts of tests, strength, intelligence, perseverance. Luckily, they hadn’t processed our kittens yet, or we may not have found them alive.” He sighs. “We need more time to look through all the data I found to see if they succeeded with combining cat with shifter DNA.”
“For now, you rest,” Lily says, interrupting Gryphon’s explanation. “You almost died. Gryphon may be the medical expert, but I’m prescribing you bedrest.”
"Meow," I protest, unwilling to just lie here without doing anything.
They stare at me.
“Meow, meow. Meow.”
“Ehm, Kat,” Lily says, her eyes wide. “You’re meowing.”
I clutch my hands to my throat, willing my voice to return to human.
“Meow.”
Oh fuck.
* * *
~ The End ~
Kat’s story continues in Purrr, the third and perhaps final book in this series. She’s not quite decided yet. Preorder your copy: books2read.com/purrr
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Because reviews are almost as good as catnip, please make Kat happy and leave a review, even if it’s just a few words.
Also By
You can find all of Skye’s books at skyemackinnon.com/books.
Most of them are also available as audiobooks and paperbacks.
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Daughter of Winter Series (Paranormal reverse harem)
Winter Princess
Winter Heiress
Winter Queen
Winter Goddess
>> Box set
Mother of Gods (prequel)
Demon’s Revenge (spin-off)
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Seven Wardens (Paranormal RH co-written with Laura Greenwood)
From the Deeps
Into the Mists
Beneath the Earth
Within the Flames
Above the Waves
Under the Ice
Rule the Dark
Prequel: Beyond the Loch
Spin-off: Through the Storms
* * *
Claiming Her Bears (Dystopian bear shifter RH)
Polar Destiny
Polar Fates
Polar Miracle
>> Box set
* * *
Norsemen Academy (Time Travel Academy RH)
Studying Her Vikings
Finding Her Vikings
Seducing Her Vikings
Defending Her Vikings
Betraying Her Vikings
* * *
The Mars Diaries (Sci-fi RH linked to the Drowning series)
Alone
Hidden
Found
>> Box Set
* * *
Defiance (contemporary dark RH)
Abandoned Heart
Broken Princess
Stolen Soul
* * *
Infernal Descent (paranormal RH based on Dante’s Inferno, co-written with Bea Paige)
Hell’s Calling
Hell’s Weeping
Hell’s Burning
* * *
Catnip Assassins (urban fantasy)
Meow
Scratch
Purrr
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Anthologies and Box Sets
Hungry for More – charity cookbook
Captivated – contains my post-apocalyptic shifter RH Three Arrows
About the Author
Skye MacKinnon is a USA Today Bestselling Author wit
h a slight obsession with bunnies, dried mango and Scotland. And when she says slight... her friends are trying to find ways to trick her into not having a book set in Scotland.
Whether it's set in space (Scottish space, obviously), fantasy worlds (Scottish fantasy worlds, obviously), or Scotland, Skye's tales are full of magic, romance and adventure. Oh, and unicorns. There's a few demons, too.
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Follow her on social media:
Newsletter: skyemackinnon.com/newsletter/
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Website: skyemackinnon.com/
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Twitter: twitter.com/skye_mackinnon/
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Facebook: facebook.com/skyemackinnonauthor/
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