“Everything alright?” Lennox asks.
I’m not sure if Mr Moon is aware of the situation, so I just nod. “Everything’s under control. And here?”
Mr Moon puts down his mug. Lennox has made tea for them, but the distinct smell of hot whisky betrays the wolf. Tea and whisky? Not the combination I’d choose, but each to their own.
“I’m glad you came back, I was just about to leave.”
“Have you made any progress on your wolf problem?” I ask.
“Not yet, but I have been given information suggesting that the Hypnotisse has left town and is operating from somewhere else. That would explain why we’ve not come across any of these mutant wolves before. I’ve got my best people on it, so hopefully, we’ll know where she’s hiding soon. Once we do, will you join us in fighting her?”
I smile in what I hope is a non-committal way. “Let us know once you have more information. But now, I think it’s time you hold up your end of the bargain.”
He nods, his expression going grave. “Do you have something to write?”
Ryker hands him a piece of paper and a pencil. Mr Moon scribbles down a few words. An address.
“This is where you’ll find them. And I’m sorry.”
I tense up. “Sorry for what?”
“I’m sorry,” he repeats and gets up. “For your loss.”
The address is a warehouse in the North of town. We reach it in record time, even though we circled town to avoid being spotted. I shifted as soon as Mr Moon said those words, with Ryker and Lennox doing the same. We left Gryphon behind, but I’m sure he understands that I couldn’t wait. He’s slow, he’d hold us back, and I need to know what happened to my siblings.
Gravel crunches beneath my paws as I approach the warehouse. It’s a fairly new building but it looks abandoned.
“Can you sense anyone?” I ask Ryker.
“No, I don’t think there’s anyone here. Maybe they left when the Pack leaders were killed. My cats say the Pack is disbanding; their headquarters are almost empty.”
The news that we’ve finally managed to destroy the Pack should make me happy, but a sense of dread has taken hold of me. Mr Moon’s words echo in my head. I’m sorry.
No signs of life. That means that either this building only contains a clue to my sisters’ whereabouts or… no, I’m not going to continue that thought. I need to focus on the present. One step at a time.
The warehouse has two large double doors big enough for carts to fit through, with a smaller door to the side. I press down the handle with my large paw. It’s locked.
I exchange a look with Lennox and without a word, he shifts back to human. It makes sense for him to do it; I can communicate with Ryker while shifted but not with the wolf. Now that he’s human, we’ll be able to understand his words.
He takes forever to pick the lock. I have to stop myself from shouting at him to hurry up. He’s doing his best, I know that. It’s just so hard to stay patient.
Finally, the door opens with a click. I storm inside, pushing past Lennox and Ryker. The warehouse is one large hall with a small office on one side, separated from the rest with tall glass windows. The shelves in the office are empty and the desk is bare. Dust plays in the light streaming in from skylights.
A few old wooden crates are stacked at the other end of the warehouse, with some of them looking close to falling apart. I doubt they’re storing anything valuable in there. Probably just stuff they couldn’t be bothered to remove. Opposite are strange metal lockers with square doors. That’s all that remains in the otherwise empty hall. No sign or any people, least of all my sisters.
Mr Moon’s information must be out of date. The trail has gone cold.
Deflated, I head to the little office and shift. I stretch, arching my back, before starting to look through drawers, hoping they forgot some important documents that might tell me where my siblings are. I know I’m deluding myself, but I can’t give up hope just yet.
The guys are exploring the rest of the warehouse. Ryker has shifted as well and is taking apart the wooden crates, spilling their contents on the dusty floor. Batteries, tins of food, blank paper, strange metal tools. Lennox inspects the metal lockers.
I turn away from them. They’ll call me if they find anything interesting.
A few staples and pins are all I find in the drawers. The bin hasn’t been emptied, but it’s just boring bills for the rent and electricity of this place. Nothing that helps me. I kick the desk in frustration.
This is useless. The trail has grown cold and we’re back where we started.
“Kat!”
Lennox’s voice is strange. Detached. Without emotion.
I walk towards him, slowly. The dread curling in my stomach is getting stronger. He’s opened one of the locker doors. His shoulders are drooped, his expression grave.
Deep inside, I already know what he’s about to say.
Ryker cuts me off before I reach the lockers. He takes me into his arms, stopping me from going any further. His body is a barrier that I can’t accept. I fight against his grip, but he holds me tight, ignoring my struggles.
“I’m so sorry,” he whispers.
I cling to him with one hand while I scratch him with the other. I need to see. Need to know.
Lennox closes the locker door, but the movement shifts the air, bringing the scent I’ve been dreading right into my nose. So familiar. Even in death, they still smell like me.
The wolf joins us and hugs me from behind. I’m sandwiched between their warm bodies, yet all I feel is cold.
“Both of them?” I ask, my voice breaking.
“Yes. I’m sorry.” Lennox’s breath is warm against my neck.
A strange numbness takes over. It’s not just my body that’s cold. It’s my mind too. My thoughts turn sluggish.
“Breathe, Kat.”
I don’t. I scream.
They never stop holding me. Even when I sink to the floor, unable to keep standing. Even when I rock back and forth. Their hands stroke my back, my hair, whispering words that never reach me. I’m empty inside. Something has been ripped from me, something so precious it can never be returned.
Gryphon joins us. He sings to me, but this time, his song does nothing. It’s just a hollow melody. Just as hollow as I am.
“I need to see them.”
I’ve said that before.
“No,” Lennox whispers. He’s done that before, too.
We’re going in circles of pain. I want to cry, but I can’t. No tears reach my eyes. My chest hurts. My heart is breaking, shattering into pieces. Eight of them. Eight versions of me. Three of them gone. Four found. One far away.
A cat snuggles against my legs. Black with a golden stripe on her forehead. Shara. Mila’s girlfriend. Mila was killed by the Pack. As were my sisters.
I reach out to her and run my fingers through her soft fur. She understands my pain. Shara meows softly and rubs her head against my hand. She meows softly. I know. I can almost hear her voice in my head. I feel it too.
That’s what breaks me. Finally, the tears come. Wet and salty, hot and painful.
The guys hold me even closer. A whimper escapes my lips. And another.
“It’s okay, just let go,” Ryker whispers. “We’re here.”
More tears. They run down my face and drip onto my shirt, creating a wet patch. Usually, that happens with blood. Did my sisters bleed? Did they suffer?
“How?” I ask, choking on the question.
Lennox strokes my hair. “They look peaceful. No injuries. As if they’re sleeping.” His voice breaks.
“We need to get them home. Somewhere warm. It’s so cold here.”
“Of course. We’ll give them a proper burial,” Lennox promises. “Let’s get you home first.”
I shake my head. “I can’t. I need to see them.”
“No.”
“He’s right,” Ryker whispers. “It won’t help.”
A sob breaks over me like an icy wav
e. I can’t do this. Can’t sit here being surrounded by my men while they’re over there, alone and cold in a locker.
I push them away as hard as I can and scramble to my feet.
I need to see.
Chapter Twenty-One
Two weeks later
Little Kat squeals in delight as Aunt Rose puts the cake in front of her. Seven candles. In between, tiny cream roses. I’m tempted to reach out and swipe one of them up. I can’t wait to start eating. Hurry up.
My sister takes a deep breath and blows out the candles. One of them flickers, fighting hard, but then it expires. Little Kat grins widely and wipes away the smoke with her hands.
“Happy birthday,” Aunt Rose cheers. “Many happy returns.”
“Happy birthday,” I echo, as do the others.
It’s the first time we’re all together. Caitlin, the twins, Little Kat and me. Five sisters, united at last. Behind me are the guys, watching with amused smiles on their faces, while Lily, Bethany and Benjamin are outside, preparing the barbecue.
Gryphon's sister is in the kitchen with her boyfriend. The two of them are adorable, but they keep to themselves. Young love and all that. I'm going to have to have a word with them later though. Little Kat told me of how she was curious about the sounds coming from their room at night, and how she's planning to investigate. It almost made me choke on my punch. Little Kat may not have had the best childhood, but I'm definitely going to try and preserve her innocence for as long as possible.
She proudly cuts the cake into massive pieces - ignoring the advice of Aunt Rose - and takes the biggest piece for herself. Good girl. She no longer looks as starved as when I first found her and she's grown quite a bit. Her hair is glossy now and her skin radiant. I can't thank Gryphon's aunt enough for what she's done for my little sister.
Little Kat is young enough to still have a future. She's started going to school and while she has trouble interacting with the other children, I'm sure she'll get there eventually. The one thing that she's still not changed is her name. The kids at school call her LK, Rose has told me, which I guess isn't too bad. Maybe she'll come up with her own name eventually. Like Caitlin.
The oldest of my siblings stands a little removed from the rest of us, watching with a smile. I take two plates of cake and join her, handing her one of them.
"Thanks. It looks delicious."
"Trust me, everything that Aunt Rose makes is amazing," I tell her, remembering the homemade ice cream she gave us the first time I visited. "Little Kat has been raving about her pancakes. I was kind of hoping we might get them for dessert today."
"I've never had pancakes."
And just like that, my mood drops. She's sixteen and has never had pancakes. In all her life. How I hate the Pack. Not that I ever got any when I was living with them, but I had the freedom to go to street stalls and get some there. Lennox and I would sneak off and either steal or buy sweets with the few coins we sometimes managed to hold back. Of course, our Pack handlers would have beaten us blue and black if they'd found out that we didn't give them all the money we had, but it was worth it. My mouth waters as I remember the warm cinnamon buns we once stole by climbing through a bakery window. They were totally worth having the baker running after us, shouting and cursing.
"If we don't get any today, I'll make some for you," I promise. "Or even better, go to a cafe and have proper ones. I might set the kitchen on fire if I try it."
She laughs softly. "I've been told that it wouldn't be your first time."
"Hey, that wasn't entirely my fault. Well, maybe it was, but people should really stop gossiping about my culinary skills."
"Or absence of skills." Lily joins us, smelling of smoke. "How's the cake?"
Before I can tell her that I've not had a chance to try it yet, she steals my fork.
"Yummy," she moans, "we have to come here again. Or make Aunt Rose our official M.E.O.W. cook. I'd donate ten percent of my salary to employ her."
I snicker. "How very generous of you. But Rose might like to stay here. She's got her daughters and Gryphon's sister living with her. And Little Kat, of course."
I watch the youngest member of our family as she munches on her cake, her face covered in icing. She's so adorable that I'm having a hard time not running across the room to give her a long, hard cuddle. It's not going to be easy leaving her here. Who knows when we'll be able to visit.
"Have you told her yet?" Lily asks.
I shake my head. "No, but Rose knows. She's okay with keeping Little Kat. In fact, she threatened to use her siren powers on me if I had any intentions of taking the girl from her." I laugh at the memory. "She's quite formidable. I think Little Kat will be safe here, now that the Pack is dispersed."
Ryker's cats have combed the town to look for remaining shifters, but found none. The Pack members who weren't killed by us must have left. We set their headquarters alight after making sure that nobody was still there. Lennox says that Mr Moon has rescued several younger Pack shifters and taken them in. They'll be part of the Pride now. We're going to have to keep an eye on Moon. I wouldn't want his Pride to evolve into a new Pack. Lennox trusts him, but I don't, not a bit.
When he told me where to find K9 and K10, he knew they were dead, but never said anything. He tricked me and I hate him for it.
We said goodbye to my two youngest sisters last week. After some debate, we gave them a traditional river cremation. Cats don't bury their dead and in the Pack, bodies disappeared and were never seen again. Sirens have some kind of strange song ritual that requires at least ten of them, so we couldn't do that either. In the end, we did what the humans do.
It was beautiful, in a way. We laid them on small floats covered in phoenix flowers. Their bodies were wrapped in colourful fabric - and no, my men forbade me to ever look at them. It was hard not to, and I still regret that I didn't, but at the same time, I know that they'd haunt my nightmares even more if I'd looked.
When the floats were halfway down the river, I shot flaming arrows into them, alighting the phoenix flowers. Golden flames engulfed the floats, rising high up into the sky like the feathers of a bird.
The others left once the floats had disappeared in the waves of the rivers, but my sisters and I stayed there, looking out over the water. Caitlin, Ivy, Four and me. After the weird dance incident, the twins had decided to trust their older sister. She still takes Bethany's drug every day, just in case, and Gryphon monitors her vulnerability to his siren influence. I guess we'll never be a hundred percent sure that she won't be able to fall prey to the sirens again, but it would surprise me. Caitlin is strong, even though she's soft-spoken and a little timid. The killer persona she was forced to take on has nothing to do with the real Caitlin who is now peeling back the layers of years of torture and conditioning. She's beautiful inside. So much more innocent than me and the twins. I have no idea how she managed to stay this way, but I kind of envy her. With a bit of help, she might be able to start a new life, one without violence.
The twins are quite the opposite. They crave action and revenge. They want me to let them be part of M.E.O.W., but I'm not sure about that. They're too young to become assassins. I want them to get an education, have a childhood, learn to play. They wouldn't be able to do that if they stay with me.
"I've decided to come with you," Caitlin says, as if she's read my mind. "I don't want to stay in this town. Too many bad memories, even though I was mostly just in the one building. I want to be with you, help you find a new home, and then I will think about whether I'll stay or travel a bit. I want to see the world."
I take her hand, completely going against my usual way of dealing with emotions. I don't hug her though, I'm not that changed yet.
"You're welcome to stay for as long as you want."
"Thank you." She gives me a genuine smile. "I'm glad you found me. And that you didn't kill me."
"Yeah, me too." I laugh. "And I'm glad you didn't kill me either."
"We're a strange family. B
eing grateful for not killing each other. I wonder if other people have those conversations too."
Lily snickers. "Not my family, and we are all a little crazy. We do fight occasionally, but there are never any weapons involved."
I gape at her. "Not even a small blade? Like a kitchen knife?"
"Nope."
"Poisons?"
She shakes her head.
"Then what do you do for fun?"
Lily sighs. "Kat, you've got a lot to learn. I'm going to show you the joys of going out at night and playing seduction bingo."
"What's that?" Caitlin asks curiously.
"You make a list of what kind of people you seduce, like someone really hairy, someone wearing green shoes, someone exactly the same height as yourself. Then you have one night to tick off as many as you can."
Caitlin's eyes widen. She's so cute and innocent. "Do you sleep with them all?"
Lily shrugs. "If you want to, but it's not necessary. Proper seduction isn't all about sex."
"Don't talk to my little sister about sex," I groan. "I'm already going to have to have a word with Ryker's sister about that."
"You want to have sex with Ryker's sister?" Lily laughs loudly.
Urgh. Family can be so annoying.
I'm in love with Aunt Rose. True, hot, passionate love.
This potato salad is amazing and I'm not even a big fan of potatoes.
"You're amazing," I tell her while chewing on a piece of crispy bacon. Yes, she puts bacon in her salad. Did I say that I love her?
"People keep telling me that," she says with a satisfied smile. "It's why my daughters still come over for dinner even though they're all grown up now. Although one of them has just moved to Attenburgh, so she won't be here for a while."
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