“We’re going home,” Aggie says, straightening in her chair. “You’re staying here.”
Dottie looks utterly devastated. “You’d do that to me? Leave me here alone?”
“Not alone,” Rabbit says, and holds Dottie’s hand tightly even as she looks over at me. “I’m staying with you.”
Now I’m the one that’s devastated.
CHAPTER 96
MURR
We return hometo the bookstore after a long day at the fort. I am more than relieved to leave it all behind. The layers of smells, the constant noise, the stares…all of it overwhelmed me. How humans can all live piled atop one another like that makes no sense to me. Perhaps I have been spoiled by being on my own for so long, but I am relieved when we leave the fort behind.
The car I carried there was much lighter on the way home with only Aggie and my mate inside. We made it home quicker than expected, and after I set the car down and shift into my human form, the cats come rushing out to greet us with a chorus of meows.
I scoop one up and glance over at my mate. Dakota goes inside the bookstore with Aggie, turning on a lantern since there is no fire. She is going to fuss over the elderly woman since her daughter is not here. I know my mate well enough to know this about her. Once she has Aggie and the dogs settled, I will talk to her.
The cats rub up against my legs and cry for a meal, and I tilt my head, scenting the air for game. There is nothing in theimmediate area, so I find the container of dried meat scraps and add water to it like Rabbit does, swirling it with my shorn claws to make a meaty soup. I portion it out into the dozens of bowls that Rabbit keeps just for feeding, setting them down on the ground spaced evenly apart so everyone gets a chance to eat.
When the last of the cat soup is tipped into a bowl, I bring the pan back to our cooking area. The firepit is dark, and it would be easy for me to start it again, but there is no point if there is no one to sit around it. I wipe my hands clean on my towel as my mate comes out to find me.
She looks tired, her shoulders sagging and her eyes defeated. Her gaze lands on the bowls and the cats eating out of them, and a bit of relief crosses her face. “Oh, you fed everyone? Good. One less thing to worry about.”
“Stella food?” I ask.
“Aggie got her. Everyone’s fed but you and me.” She pauses. “Well, and Aggie, but she says she’s not hungry.”
No amount of food could be enough to entice me to leave my mate’s side, but I don’t like the thought of her not being taken care of. “Murr hunt for Dakota?”
She shakes her head and moves in close to me. “No, I don’t think I could eat if I tried.”
My poor mate. She sounds so defeated. I curve my fingers under her chin and lift her face. “Sad?”
Her mouth wobbles. “I know I should be worried about both of them, but Dottie’s being cared for by a doctor. Rabbit’s my baby, and forts are too full of people. I want her here with me, even though I know it’s selfish.”
“Dottie watch Rabbit, Rabbit watch Dottie,” I reassure her. “Tomorrow new day.”
Dakota nods, as if trying to reassure herself. Her hand goes to my chest and she taps her fingers over my heart. “And tomorrow we go hunting for antibiotics. I don’t even know where to start,to be honest. Every pharmacy in walking distance is going to be completely picked clean. Every hospital, too. But we have to do something. I’m not about to sign our lives over to a fort for some medication.”
“No fort,” I reassure her. “No live fort.”
“But Dottie needs medication,” she says with a ragged sigh. “I knew something was wrong. At least now we can try to get it taken care of.”
“Tomorrow,” I say, folding her into my arms. “We look tomorrow. No worry until tomorrow.”
“Right.” She doesn’t sound convinced.
I need to fix this. As her mate, I need to make sure I can find whatever it is she needs. Whatever it takes to fix Dottie and get both Dottie and Rabbit home, we will do.
CHAPTER 97
MURR
It isa sleepless night for both myself and my mate. Dakota is restless, waking up constantly and turning over in an effort to get comfortable. Her movements keep me awake, and I worry that she is going to make herself sick with anxiety.
She finally drifts into a deeper sleep just before dawn, so I sneak out of our shared bed to let her sleep late. I head outside to get the day started, building a fire in the firepit and putting on the pot of coffee. My cats approach with plaintive meows, letting me know of their hunger, and I take a few moments to give each one attention before I shift and fly off to find them something to eat. I hunt and swallow a full-sized deer for myself, then bring back another to my strays. As I circle our home, I notice Dakota and Aggie are both by the fire now, seated in the metal chairs they keep next to it. I drop the deer carcass on the ground a short distance away from the fire and eviscerate it with claws and teeth so the cats can eat. I tear off one haunch for my human strays and bring it to the fire, then shift back to human form.
“Morning,” I say in greeting. Dakota hugs her favorite mug in her hands and manages a small smile for me. Aggie is wrappedin a blanket and is not wearing her fake hair, and she looks even more tired than my mate. I move to Dakota’s side and lean in to kiss her, only to realize that I am covered in blood from my hunt. I grimace and eye my hands and chest. “Wash first.”
