Those outrageous ears swiveled towards him, and he swore she grinned, but showed no inclination to move.
"Probably best to just get on with it," Troy advised his friend.
"Yeah. Okay, so the reason we've called this meeting today," Douglas said, then paused, giving his staff a chance to redirect their attention from the cats to Troy and him. The third partner, Suzanne, sat to one side. Already aware of shifters, she gave him an encouraging smile. He took a deep breath, and continued. "We called this meeting today, in light of the recent... er... revelations in the news."
"About the shapeshifters?" Daniel asked eagerly.
Anna looked excited, her eyes wide. "Do you think some of the animals we've treated here have been shifters?"
An excited babble arose, and Douglas held up his hand for silence.
"Not exactly." He looked at his partner and best friend. "Troy?"
Troy looked down at the long-haired tabby nestled in his arms. "Show time."
Cat flowed up his arm to balance precariously, all four mittened paws daintily placed on his broad shoulder. Wide gold eyes blinked at her audience, and Troy grinned proudly. "I married one."
There was a long moment of silence, before everyone burst into exclamations.
"Awesome!" That was Daniel.
"Katerina? That's Katerina?" Barbara demanded.
Beside her, Holly was laughing, pointing at Kit, who'd also leaped onto a table and was preening. "Then Kit has to be Kester, right? They're brother and sister, so...?"
From Troy's shoulder, Cat hissed at her brother, who yawned, showing off an excellent set of white fangs.
Barbara looked at the caracal draped across the table before her. "And this is?"
"That's Tamera," Douglas answered, grinning.
There was another burst of murmurs and the staff crowded round the two tables.
"But none of our patients?" Holly looked disappointed, as did Anna, sitting beside her.
Troy chuckled, as Cat licked his eyebrow. "Nope, sorry!"
Scanning the faces before him, as he was aware Troy and Suzanne also were doing, Douglas saw no signs of trouble. It stood to reason that people working in a veterinary clinic would be animal lovers, and not have a problem with shifters. He hadn't exactly expected a problem, but nonetheless, he was surprised at the surge of relief he felt.
"What made you decide to share this information with us today?" Barbara inquired with keen perception. "You could have kept it to yourself indefinitely."
Cat leaped off Troy's shoulder, trotted across the floor, and disappeared out the door, Kit on her heels.
"Tonight, Katerina and I are going to appear on national television, in a live interview on a talk show, hosted by an acquaintance of Katerina's, from back when she was on the fashion circuit," Troy told them, his deep voice rumbling. "She'll be shifting on camera, and talking about being a shifter. Answering questions, that sort of thing."
Katerina strolled back into the room, casually dressed in jeans and a cotton blouse, her small feet stuffed into sneakers. She grinned at everyone, her eyes gleaming merrily. "Hi."
"Come sit with us," Barbara demanded, standing to pull Katerina into a hug as she came near. "I can't believe it was you, all this time! Oh, my God, and that one time you pushed all my files off onto the floor!"
Katerina assumed an innocent expression, clearly holding back laughter. "Oops?"
Kester returned also, in human form, coming to sit close to his Chosen, Tamera, who was still draped across the table with feline grace. She gave the strange, plaintive cry peculiar to caracals, and nudged her head against his arm.
"So about this talk show?" Holly prompted.
"Yes, right. The journalist is one that I've worked with closely for years when I was a fashion designer," Katerina explained. "I trust her, and we've talked about this at some length over the last week. The idea is to try to be... I'm not sure of the right word," she said, scrunching up her nose. "Relatable?"
"That's as good as any," Kester said, stroking Tamera's ruff.
