Enter the Cat Ch. 06

"I thought for sure she'd be gone when we came back tonight," Mitchell says quietly as he fusses with the blanket at Rosy's feet.

I can't tell if he is relieved she is still here or wants her gone. I am only sure of the strain in his voice.

"You weren't the only one bud. But Micah couldn't let her get away with what she'd done, and you heard her back here when he called her on her behaviour," Dwayne says quietly sounding very sad. "You saw how mad he was when we walked in. She's real lucky he didn't show her exactly who is boss in one hell of nasty way."

"As much as we want her to stay, if she doesn't conform to our rules we might as well not have her here," I explain quietly. "She'll be a danger to herself and everyone around here."

"She sure is a feisty little thing," Steven says with a laugh.

I am relieved some have started talking. Maybe it will help the others who are having a harder time dealing with the situation.

"It's going to get cold before morning," Sam says. "I'd better get another blanket or two for Rosy."

"Leave it. She can ask if she wakes up cold," I say decisively. "She needs to start communicating; you can't just rush to work out whatever she needs." We need Rosy to start working with us on our attempts to help her adapt.

"She is starting to communicate; we had a good talk this morning. But as she pointed out, she's had nine or so years as a stray and under a month here," Sam sounds angry.

I see heads turn my way; I don't have the answers we need here and look at Rosy where she is huddled beneath the blanket on the lounge.

Slowly everyone begins to settle into their chosen sleeping spots for the night. I am not pleased to notice both Sam and Mitchell settle down well back from the lounge. In fact everyone has given the lounge a wide clearance. Several get up to use the toilet I am nearly asleep when Chris heads for the door, stumbling against the lounge on his way. There is a startled gasp from Rosy and she scrambles to one end of the lounge.

"Mitchell? Sam?" She sounds like a scared kitt wanting comfort.

I look at her brothers; Sam seems to be asleep but Mitchell is awake with his back towards her and clearly has no intention of comforting her. I catch him watching me but he closes his eyes, his defensively hunched shoulders suddenly make me realise he has no idea what he should do.

"What do you want Rosy? Your brothers are asleep. You're not to wake them," I say in a no nonsense tone.

I'm not sure what I could do for her, not sure I would want to but I realise someone has to step up and be willing to help her. Left to face everyone's seeming disapproval by herself she could easily give in and leave. I find myself wanting to prevent that.

"He scared me," her voice is thick with misery.

"What do you want?" I insist.

"Can I cuddle up next to you?" Rosy asks, and then hurries to add, "I'm lonely."

"Ok, but you got to behave. No wriggling and squirming," I say firmly, just like I would to Jazzy or Donny.

"Ok," Rosy says sounding relieved. She is quick to slip beneath the blanket beside me and stretches out facing me, close but not touching.

When Chris returns he hesitates before he lies down behind her. There is no movement or sound from her for several minutes, and then I hear a faint sound. I glance at her face to see she appears to be asleep. One hand rests against her mouth and I realise she is sucking her thumb intermittently.

I know Jazzy reverts to thumb sucking in times of severe distress -- when Alex died and then later when I was whipped.

I reach out and gently ease her hand away from her mouth; her eyelashes flicker but her eyes remain closed. Something drives me to close my fingers around her hand; she makes a soft sound in her sleep and grasps my hand in return.

Something stirs deep within me. To her it must seem like her brothers have virtually abandoned her; I have treated her harshly and ruthlessly. Yet when I offered comfort no one else was willing to give she accepted it. Something told her she could still trust me. Gently I ease my hand from her grasp and get to my feet. I make sure I have my mobile phone as I glance down at Rosy, and then turn my attention to Chris.

"Keep an eye on her in case she wakes up," I order tightly.

"Yes Boss," Chris says, his tone tells me he isn't happy with the situation.

I head outside and stop not far from the doorway before making a call. I look up at the sky as I listen to the sound of my call ringing. Dark heavy clouds hang low and sheet lightning dances between clouds out to the north.

"Yeah hallo Boyo. What has you ringing this time of night?" Baxter asks sounding slightly sleepy.

"Sorry if I woke you Baxter but I need some advice," I say quietly. "I don't know of anyone else I could ask about this ..."

I explain the situation to Baxter - Rosy's disobeying of my direct order, her out right defiance of my authority. Once I start talking it all comes tumbling out -- including the rapidly escalating trouble between Edwin and myself, my own feeling of being forced to deal with Rosy without any back up or advice from Wade. When I am finished he lets out a soft whistle.

I had known the situation with Rosy was bothering me but the rest surprised me. I guess with all the other stuff going on, the trouble with Rosy was the straw that threatened to break my back.

"You sure you can't go to Wade with this?" Baxter asks in concern.

"No. He'll either want her gone or tell me to deal with her," I say with a worried sigh.

"Well I got to say this -- Wade has been leaving too much of his work for you to shoulder for some time now," Baxter says firmly. "You should never feel the slightest doubt you can turn to your Alpha. Wade has become too occupied with Jazzy's health as well as his business ventures."

"He should have seen the problem Edwin has playing second best to a younger brother. Edwin isn't bad Micah; he's just not a follower. He is Alpha material in is own right, and Wade knows this but he doesn't look closely enough to see that Edwin is unable to admit one of his brothers is the better individual."

"Edwin has been about the only other one able to act slightly normal, oh other than Steven. Steven's been more of a steadying or calming influence when he can," I say flatly.

I hear Baxter give a deep sigh and sounds as if he is moving around.

"I'm listening," I tell him.

"You say her brothers are not stepping up to help their sister?" Baxter asks. "And how do you treat her? Stand offish since she messed up?"

"Yeah I keep my distance," I admit. "At the moment I am still real pissed with her but I am scared if I punish her any further I'll loose control to my inner cat and we'll really hurt her or ... I don't want to cross that line making her feel she has to leave to keep herself safe."

"Yet you stepped up when she needed you to," Baxter says quietly.

"She had no one else. Someone had to take that first step," I say tightly, hating that I feel I am defending my actions.

"Damn, Wade's bought this down on his own head," Baxter mutters under his breath. He swears for a few moments then takes a deep breath.

"Wade has made you assume an Alpha's role; that's why you stepped forward. You are protecting a member of your clan - it is instinct. You will have to watch yourself closely from here on out Boyo. Don't go Alpha in front of Wade or he'll come after you. He'll have no choice if he wants to remain in control," Baxter says quietly.

"You show the rest of the warriors how you expect this Rosy to be treated," Baxter says evenly. "They'll follow your lead. You stop being mad at her and they will too."

We chat for several more minutes before ending the call. As I head inside all that Baxter said whirls in my mind. I see the times Wade's actions left me in charge of the warriors, pushing me into making decisions without him.

The nearly constant struggle for dominance with Edwin - the way the presence of an unrelated she-kitt drives his need for dominance.

I reach the lounge room and frown as I see Steven sitting where I had been lying earlier. He gets to his feet as I approach and I catch sight of his smile as he moves aside.

"She was whimpering in her sleep so I came over here and spoke to her for a few moments," Steven tells me.

I glance around noticing several of the warriors are awake and the atmosphere seems less strained.

"Ok, we need to get some sleep," I say as I stretch out behind her once again.

I close my eyes to go to sleep but the brightness that comes from the window now and then keeps me from dozing off. The heavy humid air begins to stir with a breeze and the smell of rain comes in with the breeze.

Roughly half an hour later a bright flash of lightning and loud roll of thunder brings the heavy rain as well as total silence as the appliances in the kitchen stop running. The clock on the DVD player, the x-box light as well as the hallway light fade away into darkness heralding a blackout.

Rosy rolls over turning her back to me before she lifts her head slightly for a few moments. She rests it back down on the pillow and sighs softly as lightning flashes down towards the ground; a loud roll of thunder follows.

I reach out and place a hand on her hip lightly; I don't want to startle her.

"Not scared of storms are you?" I ask quietly as I move closer. I know Jazzy will be at the house curled up in bed with Donovan hiding beneath the covers from the storm.

"No, I like watching them," Rosy says softly.

"The electricity is out," I say as I move closer and slip an arm over her waist. I can feel her stomach move with each breath.

"I thought it was too dark," Edwin says. Several flashes of light follow each other closely and thunder rumbles.

I hear others begin to stir as lightning flashes and thunder rolls. Several sit up but I don't take much notice. I am content to lay here with Rosy's warmth against my chest.

"Rosy's gone," Sam says, his voice is laced with sadness and pain.

"What?" There is a note of panic in Mitchell's voice.

Rosy pushes against my hold and I move my arm. She immediately crawls towards her brothers, avoiding sprawled figures as she goes.

In the bright light from a flash of lightning I see her sprawled across Sam, her arms around Mitchell's neck. I hear a loud slap over the rumble of thunder and in the next flash of light I see that Sam and Mitchell now have Rosy tucked safely between them.

"Your hair smells like Micah," Mitchell says and I catch the glance he sends my way. I grin widely and watch as he lowers his head to sniff his sister.

"I don't like getting sniffed," Rosy warns.

"Tough," Sam says and I see his arm move slightly.

"Go to sleep," Mitchell orders.

I want to protest the loss of her warmth against me but I remain silent as I look towards the window once more.