Oath Sworn

by Kristen Banet

  “I win again! I thought werecats were supposed to be the best supernatural creature! Ha! Humans forever! Got you! Trained by werewolves, you’ll never beat me!” She tossed her head around, brimming with confidence.

  “I’ll never beat you? Are you sure?” I smiled slyly. It was time to cheat then. “Start a new game,” I ordered, pointing at the screen. “I think I can take you down next time.”

  “Really? Are we doing best out of nine now? You would have to win five in a row to beat me!” She hit start anyway, and when the first mini game came up, I took my chance. Instead of playing the mini game, I dropped my controller and pounced on her, going for her ribs. “NO!”

  I was laughing as my fingers danced, tickling her until she screamed, trying to hit me away. She laughed until there were tears in her eyes.

  “Stop cheating! HA AH!”

  I didn’t relent until the full two minute countdown of the mini game was over and she was breathing hard.

  “Well, I didn’t win the game, but neither did you,” I said lightly, going back to my spot on the bed.

  “That’s not fair!” she cried out, kicking a foot at me. I caught it, laughing. “My brothers do that!”

  “Good for your brothers. You should learn to win better.” I held her leg by the ankle and tickled the bottom of her foot until she screamed again, the laughter bouncing off the walls. When I was done, it was my turn in the game and I wasn’t even paying attention. I was just watching the bright-eyed little girl glare at me.

  “My dad says the same thing, but he doesn’t get it either. It’s hard being the winner when all the other players are werewolves. I take my wins where I can get them.” She stuck her tongue out and I kept laughing. Kid had a point, but it was a good time to teach her an important lesson.

  “My sister was better than me at everything, too,” I said gently, forgetting the game. “Our parents wanted us both to be doctors. She made it, I didn’t. They wanted us to get scholarships to college with sports. She got them, I didn’t. I understand trying to be good at one thing no one else is. But…you should be nicer when you win. My sister never rubbed it in my face. She encouraged me to get better.” I ruffled her hair. “Understand?”

  “Yeah…” She might have understood, but she obviously didn’t want a lesson in the morality of being a gracious winner and good sport. “What sports did you play?”

  “Changing the topic on me again. Sneaky.” I pulled her under my arm again and she curled in, giving me that childish, curious look. “I played soccer and softball. I was good, too, but not the best. My parents were proud of me, but I wasn’t her.”

  “Do you like your sister? Sometimes, I don’t like my brothers very much…” She frowned. “They’re older than me. A lot older than me. Sometimes I wish I had a brother or sister my age or younger. Someone who would look up to me and let me be the big one.”

  “She’s my twin, so it was closer than most, and I did love her, but I didn’t always like her. We weren’t very good twins. It was like she got everything. All the talent, all the ease, while I floundered and screwed up a lot. It was my life, though. I loved it all the same.”

  “And now you’re a werecat protecting me. I’m sorry.”

  “That’s not your fault, Carey. Don’t ever think that. Werecats, we made this decision, and it’s an honor to keep you out of harm’s way and protect you.” Though I wished it had never came to this. I wished this had never stumbled on my doorstep or ripped her from her life.

  “But you’re so sad and it’s my fault! It is!” She crossed her arms, pulling away from me. “This would have never happened to you if my dad didn’t have me.”

  “This would have never happened if your father wasn’t betrayed. He sounds like a strong Alpha, and I have full faith that he’s going to fix this and take you home. You just need to relax and wait for that to happen.”

  “But you’re sad…”

  I closed my eyes for a second, letting that statement sink in as she repeated it. “I am sad. My life is a lonely one, but it’s mine, and that’s something. Even better, Carey, I wasn’t sad playing that game with you. You don’t make me sad. I was already sad when you came to my bar and needed help. If anything, right now, I’m pretty happy, even though this has been so bad. Even though those wolves hurt me.” I wasn’t lying. My sadness had nothing to do with her, nothing at all. She was a bright spot that came out of a dark mini-chapter of my life and hers. “I haven’t talked about my human family in…years. Not since before I came to Texas. Thank you for talking to me about them.”

  When she launched herself at me, I opened my arms and accepted the hug, holding her tight. I buried my nose in her hair and inhaled. There was something to be said about Duty and the werecat drive to protect. It forced me to build a deeper bond with Carey than I ever would have. I was willing to take risks and talk to her, make her feel better, and that I never would have done under other circumstances. She belonged to werewolves, but for a moment, my body was her shield and my heart belonged to her.

  Tears pricked my eyes. It was sad that death and destruction were needed to give me something in the world to hold on to. And I had to hold on to her.

  8

  Chapter Eight

  “Lock the door behind me, kiddo,” I ordered, feeling the overbearing call of the full moon. The sun was setting and that meant I had to get going, but I was reluctant to leave Carey by herself all night. We spent all day playing a variety of games on my little Switch, jumping between laughter and tears. It was a roller coaster of emotion, two girls in hiding, each wondering what their life would be like when it was all over. Needless to say, emotions were always high, even when they were good.

  “I will, I will!” she whined, stomping over to me and beginning to push. “Now get out of here. I won’t do anything or contact anyone. I think it’s perfectly clear that that’s a stupid idea. I don’t want to spend another night looking for a new place to hide, so just go!”

  I groaned, turning to walk out of the room. She was right. The lesson about talking to anyone was perfectly clear now. This time yesterday, we were getting ready for dinner in my apartment. Now we were in a run down motel owned by a fae-human family.

  “Be safe and careful. I won’t be more than a five minute run away, I promise.” I didn’t stop walking because she didn’t stop pushing. When I turned around again to look at her, she was in the doorway and I was firmly outside of it.

  “Just come back,” she whispered. “I need you.”

  “I will.” With a smile, I closed the door for her and stayed there until I heard both locks click into place. The sun was dropping fast, but I had to know she was secure, even though my body was beginning to burn with the need to become a monster.

  I stepped back as my brain became more feline and hissed at me, mad that I locked easy prey away. After that, I knew I needed to start running.

  Full moons were rough. The call and pressure to change was irresistible, and no matter how hard I tried, I could never overcome it. And I tried. Every full moon, I tried. This time was more important than the others, and I gasped as the Change began to force itself.

  I barely made it into the woods behind the motel, yanking my clothes off desperately. As pieces of my clothing fell, my hands became more useless, forced into paws. The sick sound of bones breaking marked every Change, and this one was no exception. It was a slow Change for me, too. I was fighting it as I tried to get everything off.

  Once my underwear was on the ground, I dropped to all fours, resisting a scream or snarl as I let the full moon take me away.

  I was panting at the end of it, angry, hungry, and out of place. I was a werecat off my home territory, which made my feline edgier than normal, something I could ignore in human form thanks to the distraction that was Carey, but not now. I hissed as I began to sniff the new woods around me, unsure. Needing to find prey, I picked up the faint scent of a doe and took off, silent and powerful.

  This was why I wasn’t worried
about the werewolves attacking. During a full moon, the animal was mostly in charge and I was pretty much along for the ride, the human part of my soul taking refuge as its partner decided to kill, eat, and run.

  It was a strange detachment. I knew there was a doe in front of me. I knew I was hunting it, but it felt like I had no control over the steering wheel. The control would slowly come back as the cat satisfied itself, but not in the beginning. Not right then.

  I felt my claws sink into the earth. I felt the powerful muscles twitching under my skin tense. I felt my body crouch. Stalking in the underbrush, I approached, already considering what sort of meal I was about to have. I had skipped having a human dinner because I knew this was coming and the feline was going to gorge herself on the wild raw meat.

  I was not even five yards away when its head came up, looking out into the darkness directly at me, but not seeing me. I was downwind, so my scent couldn’t have carried to the doe. It was dark except the light of the moon, barely able to get through the thick canopy over my head. I must have made a heavy step then that drew its attention.

  It didn’t matter. It was too late for the doe.

  I pounced, silent and fast, taking it down in that single move, I clamped my mouth over its throat, sinking my long saber fangs through the windpipe and jugular, maybe even the carotid artery. It was the perfect kill, something the cat was pleased with as blood filled its mouth and the struggle of the doe ended before it ever really began.

  Eating wasn’t pleasant, not for my human side, but necessary. I never begrudged the big cat for taking what it needed and leaving the carcass for the rest of the wild.

  Once full, my girl was content to let us wander the woods, soaking up the new atmosphere. It looked, to my human perception, just like any other piece of East Texas forest, pine trees. Well, those were the standout, anyway.

  She took me further from the motel than I wanted to go and even picked up speed when a new scent hit our nose. I was just along for the ride until she wanted to give it back, so I didn’t bother to fight with it. It would have done me no good.

  We stopped on the edge of a pond and she took a long drink before lying out under the moonlight, finally letting us relax and digest the meal.

  “Ah, good evening, cat,” a male voice said politely. Both sides of my soul jumped at that, hissing as we spun to see the intrusion. Brin walked slowly towards us, smiling gently as he drew near. “It’s a wonderful evening, isn’t it? Not too hot, not too cold. Perfect August night.”

  I bared my teeth, but the cat also bobbed our head. Fantastic. She liked that a fae walked in on our full moon nap. Full moons. It was the worst time for me to be a werecat. Normally when I Changed, I retained a majority of the control and blended nicely with my feline half, but not tonight. Tonight we were on opposite pages. Not a good place to be and not safe for Brin, who could make easy prey or a serious threat.

  “You know the fae love cats, right? I’m not going to harm you. This is my pond, I’ll remind you, and this is pretty far from your territory. Show respect where respect is due.” He folded his arms behind his back, patient with me.

  I lowered my head in what was supposed to be a bow.

  “Very good. I actually wanted to talk to you both. You’re protecting Carey Everson, human daughter of that werewolf Alpha. Sad business, that. It got me thinking.”

  Oh hell. Fae thinking was never good. My cat didn’t seem disturbed though, completely at ease with him and his presence. For once, I wanted the more defensive and aggressive cat and I didn’t get it. Perfect.

  “You are going against wolves. Have they attacked you? You got those injuries from somewhere. Normally werecats on Duty find strength and protect their territory at the same time. You must have been driven away.”

  I just nodded my large head. He had the right of it.

  “That’s not good. While it’s happened before, generally once a human is under the protection of a werecat, it’s a safer bet to just leave it alone. The werecat is as much of a deterrent as it is a warrior.” He hummed thoughtfully before continuing. “I have a human wife. I don’t like that. I don’t like that some wolves have decided to pick a fight to take the charge of a werecat. That’s not good.”

  I could relate to that. It didn’t make much sense on the wolves’ part. There was no way five werewolves could have taken Carey from me, but the fact that they tried? That was bad business for everyone, which was why I took her and put both of us into hiding.

  “They would have attacked you in wolf form as well. I could smell the blood from you, along with a touch of silver. That’s foul play in my books. I’ll have to contact my own. If they’re willing to use silver on a werecat, who knows if they might use iron on a fae…” He growled and it sounded feral. Not like my deep, wild growl, but a rabid animal that was barely held back by its leash. “I’m probably paranoid, but it says something that I’m as old as I am and just a little paranoid. Well, fae problems aside, I wanted to offer you a gift.”

  That had my hackles rising. I should have noticed he was fae and moved on. Fairy gifts weren’t trustworthy. My cat lay down, fighting my urge to leave. Damn girl thought this was perfectly normal.

  “The human and the feline, warring for control. Jacky Leon, how much do you know about fae? You know enough to not get caught up saying thank you and you know how to barter. I caught that earlier, don’t think I didn’t. Well, your cat knows more instinctively than you do, so trust her for a moment.” He smirked, kneeling in front of me. “See, cats and the fae get along. We always have. Dogs became man’s best friend, but the cats and their fickle natures appealed to us. Cait sidhe are more common than Cu sidhe, even. Ah…cat fae and dog fae, respectively.” He reached out slowly. I tried my best to jerk my head away, but my cat thought a scratch was a great idea, lowering my head further and letting him get his fingers behind my ears. For a moment, I was positive he must have spelled us, removing my ability to leave, but the feline half disagreed.

  “I’ll keep explaining. I can feel you fight, but there’s no reason to. This gift isn’t for you, Jacky, it’s for your charming feline half. I would never give a gift to a cat and expect repayment for it in the future. I just hope that maybe one day you will consider my family and I, and this gift. Maybe one day, I’ll need you to protect my wonderful wife and this will help you.” His smirk turned into a large grin. “There’s a lot you don’t know, but one day you might need to know. For now, I just want you to accept this gift and stick it to the werewolves who have decided to try and harm a human girl. Unacceptable on their part, and against the Law.”

  Something burned in my mind, even making my cat uncomfortable. Finally, the smart thing happened, and I snarled, swiping a paw at the fae for whatever he was doing.

  But as quickly as it started, it was over. He wasn’t in front of me either. I jumped to look behind me and found him, his arms once again folded behind his back.

  “Werecats. Strong, smart, territorial, and beautiful. You take the form of a beast that no longer walks this earth and you hold on to life with all your fangs and claws, fighting against the tide that would see you wiped out. A shame, since wolves are smaller and weaker than you. They have one advantage, though. Pack magic.”

  I bared my teeth. I knew what pack magic was. The ability for wolves to talk telepathically with each other, among other things. It made their hunting strategies the best in the world, and even though I could defeat a small group, the pack magic helped them to the bitter end. They were able to change plans and react while I fought alone and against the very tide he spoke of. It was the direct counterpart of a werecat’s territory magic, our ability to connect with our land and know damn near everything we needed to know about it, like if there were other predators entering it.

  “You do know,” he said softly. “I should have expected that, really. Well, I gave you a boon that will even the playing fields, kitten. Now you can talk to anyone while in your werecat form. That means you can still communicate.
Isn’t that nice?”

  The puzzlement must have been clear even on my feline face because he laughed.

  “Focus on me and think. Speak to me.”

  I did as he asked, narrowing my eyes on him. “Like this?”

  “Very good!” He clapped excitedly. “Perfect. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m done for the evening and—”

  “Why? Why did you do this for me?” I needed answers. He’d just forced a fairy gift on me, god damn it. I had to know why.

  “Because they broke the rules, the wolves. Their own and the Law. Don’t think I don’t follow the news and can’t put it all together. Keep Miss Carey safe, please. Just remember that I have human family. This sort of thing could encourage others to play badly. They must understand that there are consequences to it. If you fall to the wolves, there won’t be any repercussions for them. No one would dare try, including your own kind. But it would make your kind vulnerable to it happening again. This was a selfless, and yet selfish, gift. I ask nothing in return for it and cede the right to it. I would ask you to just remember. That’s all.”

  Meddling. He was meddling in the affairs of werecats and werewolves for his own personal reasons. I had given him the opportunity and his reasons were, in a sense, sound. He had a point, a strong one. Werecats were only allowed to exist at this point because of the Duty. It was something I had been repeating to myself since Carey showed up. Failure wasn’t an option. Apparently, I wasn’t the only person who thought so, and his gift was a good one. A very good one.

  “Thank you,” I said softly. His gift, freely given, deserved a thanks. He wiped the debt, but I gave it back to him. I would remember tonight. Forgetting it could prove deadly.

  He waved once, then disappeared.