“What sort of someone is he that decided I should die?” He moved toward the door and turned to look at her. “This isn’t finished. I’m not going to be your slave, Major Bishop. You might well have found a Deb to mate with rather than me. I got nothing. I have no career, no money, and I certainly don’t have time to try and figure out something so fucking lame as being a cat. What sort of cat am I, anyway?”
“White Bengal tiger.” He moved. It was so quick she didn’t see him do it, even though she was looking right at him. Gunner was so close to her that she could almost taste his mouth. “I don’t want a slave as a mate. I don’t care what you have or don’t have either. But as of the moment you took your last breath as a human, you became the one person in this world that I would gladly die for.”
“I’m not worthy of you, Gunner.” He looked at her, deep into her eyes, and she felt so exposed she wanted to cover up. There wasn’t any way for her to cover herself deep into her soul. “I don’t know why I’m still alive.”
“Because you were meant to be mine.” He stood up then, and the two men were gone. The only people left were Raven and Gunner. “This is Raven, my sister-in-law. She’s going to make sure you’re taken care of while you’re here. Which won’t be all that much longer.”
“I don’t need you to go around making things better for me. I’m fine to do that all by myself.” Gunner just grunted, and Raven reminded her that she’d been near death when they had arrived. “Perhaps that is precisely what I wanted to happen.”
Gunner threw back his head and laughed. Glancing at Raven, she looked as shocked with his reaction as Hodge was. For some reason, she had a feeling he didn’t laugh all that much. Or at least this hard. When he was finished with his mirth, he leaned down and kissed her on the mouth. After that, he walked out the door, leaving the two of them alone. She looked at Raven.
“You’ve made him happy.” Hodge told her she didn’t know what she was talking about. “Perhaps you don’t. But you have. I’ve never seen him laugh like that, much less kiss someone. Well, that’s probably a good thing. But you’ve made him happy, and as far as I’m concerned, you can have anything you want from now on.”
“If I were to tell you I don’t want to be here, to be his mate, could you fix that?” Raven just laughed and went to the door. The two men out there, dressed in their blues, came in and told her they were going to ask her a few questions. She looked at Raven again. “Why are you doing this?”
“I’m not. Gunner did. He did it mostly for you, but there were four other soldiers there at the center that were not being treated either. You were one of the lucky ones. One of the other men died, and the other two might not make it. Doc Fletcher is in prison for crimes against the government. You, I hope, are going to be able to make it so he stays there.”
Hodge answered the questions put to her. Raven never left her. It took her a few minutes to understand why. Two men in the room with a mated cat would spell their deaths. So, she put up with the questions and the men in order to have some quiet time. She needed to think about what the hell was going on.
~*~
Gunner found his dad just where he thought he would, down in the cafeteria talking. It didn’t matter that the people he was talking to had jobs. Dad would talk to anyone if he was given half a chance. Gunner sat down at one of the tables and waited for him to get whatever he’d gotten paid for.
“They sure do have some good food here, don’t they? I’ve never had such an array of things to eat before. How’s that pretty mate of yours?” He told him she was pissed. “I don’t usually care for that sort of description, but I’m thinking it’s about perfect for her. What she the most upset about? The changing, or that you and she are mates?”
“I’d say it’s about even across the board.” Dad laughed, and Gunner smiled. “They’re talking to her about the center and the doctor there. Also, they’re going to see if they can work in a couple of questions about what happened over there that got her so shot up.”
“You do know that isn’t going to make her any happier with you than she is now, don’t you, son?” He nodded and took the bowl of grapes from his dad’s tray when they were offered to him. “You told me yesterday that you read over her file. I’m assuming you aren’t supposed to be able to do that. Not the way you did it.”
“Not really. I could request it, but that would take too long. I knew the doctor would have a copy of it in his office, so I made a copy of it and left it there. His was redacted, but I got what I needed out of it.” Dad asked him what that meant. “Someone blacked out what they didn’t want him to know, which was quite a lot of information. But I’ve read these kinds of reports before and know how to get what I want out of them. She was one of six people that were attacked that night. The other five men in her team were murdered, their throats slit. She was lucky enough to have been able to wake up and fight her attacker off before she killed him.”
“You said she was a good leader. Can you tell me what she might have been doing over there that would have had her with a team?” Gunner didn’t answer his dad. “I thought that is what you’d tell me. From all accounts at that center, that doctor had her targeted for some reason. Do you know the answer to why he’d do that?”
“I don’t know. But I’m going to find out. Hodge has no family left. She was in an orphanage since she was about a year old. I have a couple of men looking into what happened to have her end up there.” Dad asked him if he wanted to wait on her to tell him. “She might not know either. According to her enlistment paperwork, she doesn’t even know who her parents are, much less what happened to them.”
“Well, that’s sad.” Gunner didn’t know if it was sad or fortuitous for the woman. “We gonna have to call her Hodge? Your mom told me she said her first name is Andrew. With what you said about her family being dead, I have a feeling Hodge made that part up.”
“I’m assuming so as well. But on her birth certificate she used to enlist, it does have her first name as Andrew. Her middle name is Graceland. Andrew Graceland Hodge. I’m sure Hodge came about when she became a soldier. It would have been something she adopted while coming up through the ranks.” Dad said she didn’t look like any of those names. “No. She doesn’t look like an Andrew at all.”
“You sweet on her?” Gunner looked at his dad and asked him what he meant. “I don’t know, son. You like her? She seems a little rough around the edges. Nothing that you’re not used to, I guess, but she sure has a way with words.”
He laughed. Gunner had laughed more in the last few days than he had since forever, he thought. Just as he was going to tell his dad that, he felt a tentative touch to his mind.
I’m assuming since you changed me into a cat that I can contact you, correct? He said she could, then asked her what people called her when she wasn’t in the service. I have no idea since that’s all I’ve been called since I can remember. One of the men here wants to know where I’m going after this. Since I don’t have a pot to piss in, I’m assuming you might have someplace for me to stay until we get this settled between us.
The only way I can think of to settle this between us is to have a night of passionate lovemaking. Or we could do something else if you’re into that. She told him to fuck off, and he laughed again. Yes, I have an address for you to use. Since Raven is there, tell her to give them mine. I don’t own a cell phone; they’ll get you into trouble when you’re out—
I heard one—that night. A cell phone went off while we were resting. He didn’t interrupt her thoughts. We had all just bedded down except for Becks. He had first watch. I heard a twittering sound, like a cellphone going off, and it woke me.
It more than likely is what saved your life. I’m assuming you’ve not been questioned about that night overly much. She told him how she’d not been bothered that she knew of. I found in your records that Doc Fucktard sent them away whenever the army came to question you. Perhap
s that has a little to do with it.
That sounds like something he’d do. He thought I was just making it up. The fact that five other men lost their lives wasn’t figured into his picture, I guess. She didn’t speak, and Gunner wondered if she was thinking about something else. Raven said to tell you that you need to get some furniture in your house set up. While I don’t have any idea why she would know about your living arrangements, perhaps she can fuck off too.
Gunner told his dad what was going on. He told him he could contact the leap and see if they could help him out by getting things set up. Gunner told him he didn’t even have any sheets or the knowledge of how to go about getting any.
“I guess you would sort of get into the habit of shopping for things like that. I’ll tell you what. When your mom gets here, we’ll take a little shopping trip to the stores here in town and get some. Somebody at the house can figure out what sizes we need.”
They both looked up when they heard someone yelling for them.
Molly, Raven’s daughter, hugged them both and sat next to him at the table. She was going on about how she’d yet to meet his mate, that the men in there were taking her time up. Dad went to get her a Danish when she said she was starving.
Molly looked at Gunner. “I have a question for you. You don’t have to answer me, but you do know that not answering a question is really answering it.” Gunner told her that answering questions could also give her nightmares. “I bet coming from you, they would. But it’s nothing like that. I was wondering if you could help me with a school project. It’s about veterans and how they’re treated. It’s for my social interaction class. Not social studies, but interaction.”
“Perhaps you should talk to Hodge.” She asked him if that was what he was going to call his mate. “That’s all I know of that she goes by.”
“I’m going to call her Aunt Andi. Whoever named her Andrew is a dummy head.” Gunner laughed, and Molly looked up at him. She was the oldest nine-year-old he knew. “You need to laugh more often, Uncle Gunner. It makes you look so much younger.”
“So, are you saying I look like an old man?” Molly touched her small hand to his cheek. She studied him intently until she turned away. “Do you see something you’re afraid of, Molly?”
“No. I see something you’re afraid of. You’re afraid of Aunt Andi, and what her being your mate means, I think. You’re also happy, but mostly afraid.” Gunner didn’t know what to say. She was right on both accounts. “See? I told you not answering was the same as answering. Can I tell you something? You should treat her the same way you might want someone to treat you. Don’t treat her like a pretty thing. She doesn’t need that. No flowers either. It will make her sad to know they’ll eventually die.”
“How do you know this? You’ve not even met her.” Molly said she could figure things out on her own sometimes. “I think you might be right about her. She’s had a very difficult life.”
“That’s what Grandma Sippy told me. She told me that Aunt Andi is hurting too, where no one can see it. I think you have that same kind of pain, don’t you?” He nodded at her. “Yes. I thought so. Maybe the two of you can figure each other out and have a better life by it. I know I’d like to hear you laugh more than you do. I’m betting she doesn’t laugh all that much either.”
When Dad came back with a carton of white milk for him and the Danish for Molly, he told them about the lunch menu that was coming up in a couple of hours. As Dad went on about having a meatball sub, Gunner touched Hodge’s mind to see how she was doing. Her anger was like a blast of heat tossed at him. He carefully asked her what he could do for her.
These people need to get their heads out of their asses. Do you suppose either of these men here has ever stepped onto a battlefield? Have ever had anyone shoot at them? Fuckers are questioning my bunking down in an empty building. Where the hell else did they expect us to go? To a nice bed and breakfast that would have wake up call for us? Mother fuckers. She growled low. I need a new word for idiots. Mother fucker is used to death. What do you use when you’re pissed off at someone?
Cock sucker. Douche canoe. It depends on the moment. Sometimes I can mix it up a little, and that usually helps. I’m here in the cafeteria with my dad. Can I bring you up anything—from the menu—that you’d like to eat? She asked if he was hinting she couldn’t hit people with it. That’s exactly what I was saying. They have a nice Danish here if you want. My niece thinks it’s good.
I don’t like sugary things. Donuts are the rave, but I can’t stand them. Cake or pie either. I like fruit. He filed that information in his mind for later. Can you see if they have a gallon of white milk for me? Not that much, but a nice carton or two would be fantastic.
He told his dad what he was going to get for Hodge. When he stood up to go get them, he heard Molly telling his dad that she was going to call her Aunt Andi. They were agreeing it sounded better than Hodge.
Gunner snagged her a few bowls of fresh fruit that were laid out, as well as the milk. There was bottled water, what he preferred over most drinks, as well as some sandwiches. Getting three roast beef ones, he stacked them up on his tray to take to her room. Paying for what he had, he watched as Dad picked up two hot teas, as well as some slices of pizza. Dad could eat his weight in snack food every meal.
Taking the food up in the elevator, as soon as the doors opened to her floor, Gunner knew Hodge was pissed. He was reasonably sure everyone on the floor knew it too. Walking into the room without knocking, he saw her standing toe to toe with Raven, and neither of them noticed him coming in.
Sitting down, he arranged the food on her tray as he thought about what she was saying to Raven. Gunner wasn’t going to get in the middle of it. He wasn’t stupid. Women, he knew, could fight dirtier than men. They were also unforgiving of men who tried to break up their arguing. When Hodge noticed him, she came right to him.
“You.” He nodded, waving his hand over the food he’d brought to her. “Don’t you dare try and butter me up. She just told me that your house is a mansion. And that I didn’t have to work anymore.”
Raven slipped out and left him there to deal with her “help.” He didn’t think that was the only reason the two of them had been arguing, but that had been part of it. Gunner asked her to have a seat.
“I got you some milk. I drink it too. Yes, we have a very large house with staff. I’ve not utilized either the house or the staff all that much, but they’ll be there for us.” He gave her the second carton of milk when she drank down the first one. “The house was simply too cheap for me to turn down. It belonged to Raven’s parents. It was redone by having it painted as well as all the carpets taken out. I don’t like carpet either. We can have some put back if you want. Do you like grapes?”
“Yes. All fruit. Why isn’t Raven living in her parents’ home?” He told her she owned her own home and that she was wealthy. “I suppose you are as well. I don’t have anything. I have my retirement from the army, but that’s all.”
“I am. Here, have half of this sandwich. I wasn’t sure you’d care for horseradish sauce, so I got them without.” She said she didn’t like it. “Neither do I. We have a great deal in common, don’t you think?”
“What do you mean, you are? You are what? Wealthy?” He nodded as he opened up the bottle of water and set it by her food. “How wealthy? And why are you telling me this?”
“You asked.” She nodded as she took a bite of the sandwich. “How wealthy? Well, very, I guess you could say. Even before I was given the house I’m living in for about fifty cents, I had made some good investments and used my sign-up bonuses as more investments came up. You really don’t have to work again if you don’t want to. I wouldn’t either, but I’m good at what I do, and it pays well. Here, have some of these grapes, or I’ll eat them all.”
“Raven knows.” He said she knew a great deal about everyone. “I get that. She’s more than likely havi
ng me investigated too. I don’t have much of a past. I don’t know shit about me either.”
The knock at the door had them both looking in that direction. Gunner was armed, but he knew Hodge wasn’t. It didn’t stop her from reaching for something to protect herself with, but he didn’t comment. His dad, mother, and Molly walked in bearing gifts when the door opened.
“You’re beautiful.” He laughed when Hodge turned red at Molly’s comment. “My goodness, you’re like model beautiful. Anyway, I’m Molly Bishop. My mom is Raven, the loudmouth you were dealing with earlier. I know you were because the nurses are talking about how you two were evenly matched when it comes to cursing. I’d like to call you Aunt Andi if that’s all right.”
“Sure, kid. Whatever you want.” Hodge looked at him. “Is that what you’re going to call me too? It’s fine with me.”
“All right. Aunt Andi, it is.”
She turned red again, and Gunner laughed. He didn’t think having a mate like Andi was going to be all that bad. Gunner handed her another carton of milk and laughed when she asked him if it was because they were all cats now. “I never thought about that. I just like the clean taste of milk. The colder, the better.”
She said she liked it that way too. Gunner had another thing to put on his list of things about her he was learning. He decided he’d have a special refrigerator put into their house that would be colder than the fridge, just for milk. Yes, this mate business was just fine with him.
Before You Go…
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Wesley: Bishop’s Snowy Leap – Paranormal Tiger Shifter Romance (Bishop's Snowy Leap Book 3) Page 14