Enter the Cat Ch. 07

"It appears to be healing well. Take it easy and it should be completely healed within the week. How is your shoulder and hip," Doc asks.

"My hip is still a bit tender but my shoulder is fine," Rosy says as she moves her arm in a big circle to prove the point.

"Good and you did a first rate job stitching up the toms yesterday. Both Steven's neck and Edwin's side look like they were tricky jobs," Doc tells her.

"Hopefully I won't have to do it again," Rosy mutters.

I feel proud of Rosy and Doc's praise for her work. I notice the slight signs of strain in her face, the last few days have been hard on her but she is managing to hold herself together. Maybe later she would enjoy going for a run in her cat form to help distress.

"Well I'll go and let you lot get back to whatever you have to do," Doc says before heading out of the quarters.

I am sure Wade has ordered him to report back to him with the results of his visit here this morning.

I retrieve a pair of tweezers and a small sharp knife I prefer for removing stitches. As I glance around I spot Rosy still standing off by herself and looking slightly lost as to what to do.

"Since you stitched me up you can remove your handy work," I say with a grin as I approach her holding up the tweezers and knife.

"Wait a moment, I got something better than that knife," Rosy says as she heads for the sink. She washes something at the sink before turning with some extra fine tweezers and a small curved blade in her hands.

I move to stand beside the kitchen table and I watch her as she approaches me. Her eyes are on the healed wounds on my ribs. She glances up at me with an almost detached look on her face before setting to work.

When the last stitch is removed Rosy runs her hand over the injury lightly, her fingers move back and forth on the faint marks left behind and I feel my body stir to life at her touch. I catch her hand stilling her gentle touch and she looks up to meet my gaze.

Her lips part softly and I can't seem to pull my eyes away from them as the tip of her tongue darts out to flick across her bottom lip. I hear the slight hitch in her breathing and then she almost pants softly, breathlessly.

I feel movement under my hand and glance towards it. I have caught hold of her hand and moved it from the marks over my ribs to my stomach. Her fingers stroke my skin and I keep my hand over hers. I am not sure if she moves her hand higher, if I do or it is a combination of the two. I only know I can feel her fingers lightly stroking my skin as her hand moves higher.

My stomach lurches and my heart starts pounding, her eyes are wide and dark with arousal as she looks up once again.

Will her lips be as soft and sweet as I remember?

"I'm ready to get my stitches ..." Sam's voice breaks into the moment between us and Rosy jerks away with a startled gasp putting several steps between us.

"Rosy ..." I say taking a step towards her but she is already turning towards the door. It seems like my voice just lends speed to her flight as she rushes for the front door.

"Did I interrupt something?" Sam asks after a few tense moments.

"What do you think?" I ask tightly, and then give my head a shake. "Yeah, maybe,"

I take a deep breath and glance at the tweezers and blade Rosy had left on the table.

"Okay, taking stitches out it is." I say as I take the blade to the sink to rinse it under hot water.

I take out the stitches checking how well the wound has healed as I go. With the job done we head into the lounge room and I frown as see Malcolm playing cards with his brother. It annoys me I had been forced to keep Edwin's partner here but we couldn't afford to lose half of a work team.

"How long had Edwin been planning that little surprise?" I ask Malcolm coldly.

Malcolm stops playing cards to glance at me cautiously. He puts his cards down and turns to face me fully before speaking.

"I don't know how long he's been planning what happened or if he had been planning it. I think he thought he saw an opportunity and took it. If he had been smart he wouldn't have tried anything while he was in the same district as you." Malcolm says carefully.

"He never mentioned going after my job?" I scoff.

"Your job? When an extra she-kitt might be up for grabs?" Malcolm asks dryly. "Edwin has never considered Mitchell his equal or Sam his better. Why would he worry they might object if he could convince Rosy to get to know him better?"

"Edwin has a hell of a shock coming if he thinks I would let Rosy have anything to do with him!" Mitchell snarls.

"I think he knows that now," Sam says.

I glance his way to see a grin on his face as he exchanges glances with Mitchell, clearly he is proud of his brother's rise in status.

"And would you have a problem with me if I started asking Rosy out on dates?" I challenge Mitchell. I already know Sam has no objections to me becoming seriously involved with his sister.

"If I had thought you were only interested in having Rosy in your bed I would have told you to leave her alone before this," Mitchell tells me levelly.

The faint sound of Rosy calling out catches my attention and I look towards Sam, it sounds as if it is important.

"Mitchell, you and Steven need to change. Micah can come while I see what Rosy is up to now," Sam says. Sam follows as I head outside without bothering to wait for a reply.

"Rosy," Sam yells once we are outside the building. I turn my head as I glance around looking for her.

"I'm here Sam! Go away Edwin! I don't want to talk to you!" Rosy's yell has both Sam and I heading towards the brick shed at a jog.

As we round the corner I see Edwin backing away from Rosy, she looks both scared and angry. Edwin keeps glancing towards Sam and I uneasily and has moved well away from Rosy when we reach her.

"You okay?" Sam asks worriedly as he reaches Rosy. She steps into his arms moving close as if for comfort as he holds her.

"Edwin surprised me is all. It scared me," Rosy's voice is soft and she is clearly shaken.

"He didn't hurt you did he?" I ask.

I can smell the stress coming from her but it has been for the last two days. Something is niggling in the back of my mind, I am missing something but I don't know what it is I am supposed to be looking for.

"No, no I'm right," Rosy answers as she snuggles against her brother.

"You did the right thing calling us like that," I tell her gently.

Some instinct insists there is more to it than she said. An uneasy feeling keeps prickling at me making me eye Edwin suspiciously.

"Can we go back to the quarters or something? I don't want to be out here until he's gone," Rosy tells Sam reinforcing my belief Edwin has done or said something that has upset her.

"Ok, come on then," Sam says and I catch the concerned glance he sends my way. It only serves to reinforce my feeling something has happened we don't know about.

I follow behind Sam as he walks Rosy back to the quarters. Sam keeps an arm around her as if she needs the support. I keep glancing back at Edwin where he watches Rosy as Sam guides her back towards the quarters. I begin to get the feeling Edwin has been trying to manipulate Rosy in someway.

Steven and Mitchell are in cat form when we enter the building and I watch as Sam gets Rosy to sit down on the lounge. Both Steven and Mitchell crowd around her trying to offer comfort.

I can only watch uselessly as Rosy slides from the lounge to kneel beside Mitchell and hug him to her as she dissolves into tears. Both Mitchell and Sam are deeply concerned, Mitchell making soft cat sounds while Sam sits with them on the floor.

When it appears like Rosy is about to strangle Mitchell with her tight hold on him Sam takes her in his arms hugging her against his chest.

"Hey, come on now. It's alright, you're safe," Sam murmurs softly to her.

"What's wrong with Rosy?" Justin asks beside me.

"I'm not exactly sure," I say, hating to admit the truth.

Rosy seems oblivious to everyone else as she eases away from Sam wiping the tears from her face and sniffing noisily. She leans against Mitchell resting her cheek on his shoulder seeming to take comfort in the presence of his cat.

Her eyes are red rimmed from crying and her bottom lip slightly puffy as if she had been chewing on it. The sound of someone entering the building has her clinging to Mitchell once again and I look towards the hallway door as the uneasy feeling intensifies.

"It would appear we have a problem," Wade announces as he walks into the room.

"What do you mean?" I ask guardedly.

"I have just been informed by Edwin that Rosy told him she wants him here when she comes into heat. She denied it before because she thought it was what her brothers wanted her to say," Wade says in the bland even tone that warns me he is far from happy.

"I don't believe it," Sam says angrily.

"Edwin will be notified when Rosy comes into heat because from what I witnessed outside, he may have a valid point. Rosy didn't protest when he kissed her," Wade says coolly.

"He what?" I roar in anger.

Suddenly all the little things I had noticed but paid no heed to fall into place giving me the entire picture. Rosy staring at Edwin as if half stunned, the way she kept hiding her face as if others might see the truth written there, in her softly swollen lips.

"No!" My anger and disbelief comes out in a roar of denial.

Edwin has no right kissing my Rosy!

"Remember, it is Rosy's prerogative to have as many toms present as she chooses," Wade says firmly as he stares hard at me before turning sharply on his heel and stalking from the room.

I want to rush after him and tell him Edwin will not be here when Rosy comes into heat. A small but strong part of me warns not to do it, I would be forcing Wade to take a stand against me.

"Did you tell Edwin you want him here when you come into heat," Sam asks Rosy calmly pulling my mind back into the room.

"No I didn't! He told me he knew I only said what I did because it was what you want. It was him who said it not me," Rosy says turning her face up to his.

I have seen that same look on Jazzy's face before. When she has been trying to tell me something she believes very important, but leaving parts out she thought it best not to mention at the time.

"It's okay, I believe you," Sam says gently.

"And you let him kiss you?" I ask tightly. Even though somehow I know the answer.

"Yes," Rosy says quietly with an uneasy glance my way. "And he asked me to leave with him today. That's when I started screaming 'cause he wouldn't let go of me. I thought he was going to make me go with him."

"I'll kill the bastard," I hiss beyond angry as I head for the door.

Edwin hadn't just kissed Rosy! He had wanted to separate her from her brothers! And without them, without their support and guidance, she would have turned to him for comfort and familiarity. Rosy wouldn't have come on heat, he would have made sure of that. Edwin would steal Rosy, not only from me but from her brothers as well.

"Micah don't do this!" Dwayne yells at me as he catches me by the upper arm.

Whatever the others are calling out to me is lost in the roaring of my pulse pounding in my ears and my heart thundering in my chest. Justin, Timny and Chris are between the door and me when Sam comes around me to stand firmly in my way.

"Leave it be Micah," Sam urges.

"Get the hell out of my way," I roar at him in my anger. I slam both hands against his chest forcing him backwards several steps and advance on him in my rage. I want to tear something apart and at the moment I am not too worried what or who it is.

"Edwin is trying to jerk your strings," Malcolm yells. "You can be sure he didn't reveal that last part to Wade, and if you go over there after him it will look like Rosy made it up to try to divert attention off her for kissing him. If he can't win fair and square, he'll play dirty."

"Of course you'd try to stop me. You're his best friend," I growl turning towards Malcolm.

"I am not going to stand by and let him make Rosy out to be a manipulative nasty little stray," Malcolm snarls.

Cool cold logic washes over me. Edwin had not only manipulated Rosy, he had taken my interest in her into account and probably planned to make me out in a bad light as well.

"He's right you know," Timny says quietly.

"I know it! Doesn't mean I have to like it," I hiss as I turn away from the doorway and head towards my favourite chair. At the moment I am still too angry to be near Rosy, she doesn't need any more stress.

Slowly the others return to the places they had been. Sam returns to Rosy and Mitchell, while Chris and Malcolm resume their seats at the cards.

I notice the way Malcolm keeps glancing at Rosy and study the expression on his face. It is not the interested look he often gives Jazzy or the over indulgent look he gives his sister. No, it's neither of these I realise. There is respect and admiration that I recognise, and surprisingly fondness. I look around the room and it hits me how everyone is ready to defend Rosy, an outsider, against one of our own.

"Come on Rosy, stop strangling Mitchell and let him go so he can change," Sam tells her.

I watch Sam separate the two and settle Rosy in a chair. He fusses over her brushing the hair back off her face and drying the tears from her cheeks before sitting on the arm of the chair.

When Mitchell has returned to human form he is quick to pull on his jeans and sit beside Rosy. I notice the way she avoids looking my way or at me even when I speak. I try to relax, let go of the anger that still burns deep inside at what Edwin tried to do.

"Steven, Mitchell, think you'll be up for a bit of light exercise later this afternoon?" I ask.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Mitchell says with a nod and a glance my way.

"What you got planned?" Steven asks. "I could do a steady trot around but not interested in hunting for a meal."

"I was thinking of half an hour or so just trotting around the bush. I figured Sam, Mitchell, you and I could take Rosy for an outing so she can relax and unwind." I say evenly.

"Sounds like a great idea," Sam agrees enthusiastically.

"Why not take a jeep out to the paddock?" Dwayne asks. "There are enough of us here to bring down a yearling or two."

"Yeah, Rosy can hide behind the jeep to change," Malcolm says brightly.

"I don't think I'll feel like it," Rosy murmurs quietly.

"You got a problem with me?" I ask deciding on the direct approach.

"No, no," I catch Rosy's alarmed glance my way, a glance that takes me in but doesn't meet my eyes.

"Well give me a good reason for you not to come out to the paddock," I challenge her in a mild tone.

"Because you're mad at me for kissing Edwin and I don't go near cats that are pissed off," Rosy says with a hint of defiance in her voice.

"I've known Edwin all my life," I tell her levelly. "You think I don't know when he's trying to cause trouble between people?"

I raise my eyebrows at her, and then grin as she glances away, only to look back once again.

"Besides," I say on a low, almost purr. "Way I remember it, I kissed you first. When we were at Pete's,"

"Are we all going to start boasting about whose sister's we've kissed?" Sam asks dryly.

He has realised I am trying to get past my anger at Edwin and lighten the tension in the room.

"Do kisses on cheeks count?" Dwayne asks lightly.

"What about when they we little kitts and skinned their knees?" Sam asks with a laugh. "Do bandaids put on in an X count?"