To Love a Stray Ch. 06

"How's that?" Pete asks softly as he rubs his chin against the side of my head.

"Hmm," I sigh softly.

"That good?" Pete laughs and I feel the vibrations pass through his body. After a few minutes I move away almost reluctantly and pick up my cup, I sniff and start laughing.

"What?" Pete asks with a grin.

"Can I have a shower? I smell like you." I say with a laugh.

"Sure, help yourself to whatever you need." Pete says with a grin as he reaches for my cup. Pete is sitting back on his lounge when I get out of the shower and he glances towards me with a grin when he sees me in one of his t-shirts from his clean clothes hamper.

"You got a spare bed around here I can use for a few hours?" I ask.

"There's the spare room, the other lounge is a pull out bed or you can use half of my bed if you want the company as long as you don't try to take advantage of me," Pete tells me with a grin.

"Keep all the covers between us and I'll be fine," I grin back.

"Sounds like a plan," Pete says. "So you want to kill some more time or sleep?"

"Sleep would be good," I admit.

"You promise not to shift?" Pete asks and I realise he is nervous about being in such close proximity with me while he is asleep and defenceless.

"I've learned how to control my shifting," I tell him quietly. "But we have the covers and a layer of pillows between us."

"I'm fine with that," Pete agrees and heads towards his room. I go to the far side of his bed and pull the top blanket off, sit down and wrap myself in it before lying down with my back to the centre of the bed.

"I get the top of the covers so I can get out of the room quick if I need to," I tell him. I can feel the tension in the room as Pete gets ready for bed, he turns the light out and after a few moments hesitation I feel the bed move as he climbs beneath the covers.

"Good night," Pete says softly.

"Hmm, 'night," I murmur already half asleep. I wake during the night crying and Pete talking to me quietly, I can't remember the nightmare but it's not that unusual for me. I sniff loudly and free one arm to brush at the tears on my face.

"You ok Tawny?" Pete asks his voice tight with concern.

"I'll survive... hell I have survived," I mutter and bury my face in the pillow beneath me and cry. I am vaguely aware of Pete talking to me and patting my shoulder awkwardly until my crying jag subsides, I sniff loudly and take several deep breaths.

"Tawny?" Pete asks softly, "Do you need a drink or anything?" he asks.

"No, I just needed to be able to cry. I got the right to cry," I say almost defensively.

"Yeah," Pete mutters obviously not sure how to deal with me.

"Let's go to sleep, I should sleep till morning," I mutter and snuggle against the pillow.

The next time I wake it's to the smell of cooking sausages and I climb out of the bed groggily, I glance at the bedside clock and am surprised to see it is past midday.

"Pete?" I call as I wonder out of the bedroom.

"Hey Tawny, you were asleep when I got back so I didn't wake you," Pete says with a grin.

"You went somewhere?" I ask in confusion.

"Yeah, it's Saturday and I got until Wednesday off from work," Pete says as he puts cooked sausages on a plate.

"So what are you doing in your spare time?" I ask as I grab a hot sausage and take a bite of it.

"I was going to go do some hunting at the compound but I'll stay here as long as you want to stay," Pete tells me earnestly. I stare at the sausage I'm holding and try to find the words I want to say.

"Do you think Wade would let me come and hunt too if he was asked?" I ask nervously.

"Of course he would!" Pete tells me with a grin, "We can eat, get ready and leave in about an hour!"

"I can't just go, if there is one thing I know for sure is strays don't run around trespassing. It'll get us killed faster than a bullet," I say with a rush. Pete frowns at me for a minute before pulling his mobile from his pocket. I watch nervously as he presses a button and holds the phone to his ear, I can hear the phone ringing on the other end and swallow nervously.

"Hallo," I recognise Wade's voice and glance around in near panic.

"Yes hallo Wade, Rosy wants me to ask if she is allowed to come to the compound for a visit." Pete asks.

"Is she still there with you?" Wade asks sounding surprised.

"Yes," Pete answers as he nods.

"Pass her the phone would you,"

I take a step backwards and swallow nervously as Pete holds the phone out to me, I hesitate a moment before taking the phone and holding it to my ear.

"Mr Williamson," I say barely above a whisper and lick my lips nervously.

"Hallo Rosy, it's good to hear from you. And please call me Wade. You are most certainly welcome to come and visit here, and thank you for bothering to ask it is most courteous of you. May I speak to Pete again?"

"Yes Mr ... Wade. And thank you," I say and pass the phone back to Pete.

"Yes Boss?" Pete says as he holds the phone to his ear.

"When do you expect to get here?" Wade asks.

"About an hour after dark," Pete answers as he takes eggs from the fridge.

"Everyone should be back from hunting by then. I think I'll leave it as a bit of a surprise," Wade announces and Pete looks at me with a grin, "I'll see yous when you get here and make sure you stop by the house first. I'll come out to the car," I watch nervously as Pete ends the call and reaches for a sausage.

"Ok, we'd better eat up and get going." Pete says with a wide grin. I force myself to eat knowing it will be a long time until I next eat and that I will be couped up in a car for several hours probably with no food. I groan as I realise I smell like Pete and grimace to myself as I pull at the neck of the t-shirt I'm wearing.

"Want to have a shower before we go?" Pete asks.

"Yeah, if I got to smell I'd prefer to smell like myself." I say with a grimace.

"Anything to get out of washing up!" Pete laughs, "Grab your backpack you might prefer to wear your own clothes," he tells me when I am about to head for the bathroom.

All too soon and yet not soon enough we are in the car and on the road. I am relieved that Pete has a large bag of snacks and an esky of cold drinks he sits on the back seat within easy reach. It is after dark when Pete slows the car and turned into a long driveway that I recognised from the trees reaching over the road forming an avenue and I move uncomfortably in the seat.

"All but there," Pete says from behind the wheel and glances at me with a smile, "How you holding up?"

"Aside from butterflies the size of wedge-tailed eagles? Okay as long as I don't think about where I'm going," I mutter.

"Do you want me to stop and turn around?" Pete asks slowing the car.

"If you do I don't think I'll have the courage to face them after that," I say and swallow uneasily.

"Ok," Pete says sounding unconvinced.

I can see the lights in the buildings now and a growing sense of excitement starts to compete for room with the butterflies. Pete steers the car towards the main house and parks not far from the back door, we only have to wait a few seconds and then the large form of Wade is crossing towards the car.

"Hallo Pete, Hallo Rosy glad you made it. I hope you don't mind if I insist you stay at the quarters with the warriors but I need to ensure the safety of my youngest children," Wade tells me and I can hear the apology in his voice.

"Actually I can understand why you feel that way Wade and I don't mind at all. I'm sure I'll feel much more comfortable over there then under the same roof as an Alpha, no disrespect intended Sir." I say levelly managing to control my fear of him.

"None taken Rosy. I'll let you go over and say hallo, they don't know for sure that you'd make it here. We expected you might try to sneak a little time for Rosy," Wade says with a smile.

I am tense as Pete drives over to the quarters and I have to take several deep breaths before I get out of the car. Pete grabs his bag and heads for the door leaving me to follow behind him with my backpack; I automatically fall into a silent stalk as I reach the door and catch it before it can slam closed behind Pete.

"There any food left over from supper?" Pete asks as he walks into the lounge room and I nervously hang back as I try to gauge the general mood.

"You made it!" Sam says in surprise, "Wade said Rosy dropped by your place last night,"

"Yeah how is the Stray?" Malcolm asks.

"How is Rosy? She isn't acting crazy is she?" Mitchell asks and I hear the sadness in his voice. Pete turns and looks back at me and I hear the room go silent except for the sounds of some x-box game.

"Is she here?" Mitchell demands and I hear one of the lounge chairs hit the floor and then he appears around the doorway. "Rosy!"

I smile nervously and glance towards the doorway behind him before I am able to speak, "Hallo Mitchell, it's good to see you." I say quietly.

"Don't keep her standing out there in the breeze way, let her come into the lounge room!" Sam calls and Mitchell smiles.

"Want to come in?" Mitchell asks.

"Might as well since I'm here," I say with a nervous glance towards the doorway.

My main memories are of being forced to stay when all I wanted was to flee a situation that had become too much for me to bear. I walk to the doorway and catch hold of his hand as I look in, everyone seems to be there but I look carefully to be sure.

Sam, Edwin, Chris, Dwayne, Timny, Steven, Malcolm, Pete and Mitchell, the only one seeming to be missing was Micah.

"He's just in the shower," Edwin says with a grin when I glance towards the kitchen nervously.

"Now we know why Dad made Donovan and Justin stay at the main house tonight," Dwayne says lightly.

"Dwayne..." Mitchell growls a warning at him with a frown.

"Mitchell, take a spoon full of cement and harden the fuck up." I tell him lightly.

Mitchell glances at me surprised and I smile, "I'm a big girl I can look after myself."

"Come on in and sit down ... or help yourselves to a feed from the fridge. I'm sure there's something to eat." Steven says as he gets to his feet.

"Or we could throw a couple of steaks on the grill, hallo Rosy." Micah says from behind me making me start nervously.

"How do you like your steak Rosy?" Edwin asks as he heads for the kitchen.

"Medium rare and slightly charred," Steven tells him.

I start laughing and shake my head. I notice everyone has stopped to look at me and I grin widely, "Actually, the correct answer and the one I very nearly blurted out at Pete's is freshly killed and still running blood,"

Steven looks at me for a moment and then begins laughing as well, "Hell we would have known you were a cat for sure if you had said that, as it was we were wondering pretty hard."

"I was petrified you would guess as much," I admit as I head for the kitchen.

"You want one of us to take your backpack for you?" Mitchell asks as he walks alongside me.

"What? Oh, no don't bother," I say and shrug out of it and drop it by the wall out of the way.

"Did you make it to that college lecture you headed off to?" Pete asks curiously.

I grimace and glance back at him with a slight frown, "Isn't anything sacred in werecat society?" I ask.

"No, we can smell who's getting a bit off the local girls. Hear who has to do the jerk and tug of a night, heck we even hear when one of the others fart when we're asleep," Edwin tells me with a laugh, I glance his way and he grins.

"It's a matter of TMI Edwin," I tell him dryly.

"What you don't want to know when someone else farts?" Dwayne asks with a laugh.

"So did you make the lecture?" Pete asks again.

"Only thing that is TMI is childbirth stories, we don't need to hear them until after our she-kitt has her first child. Sometimes TMI is what we need," Edwin says seriously and I look his way hurriedly, he gives me a faint nod.

"Too much knowledge can be a bad thing ... too little could be disastrous," his voice has dropped low and I look away hurriedly as I become certain he knows.

"There wasn't any lecture," I mutter as my face burns with humiliation.

"Well why the hell did you clear out like that?" Pete demands angrily.

"Because I realised I was coming into heat and I knew I wouldn't be able to hide that smell and Kendal Darnel had caught me the only other time it happened and there was no way I was letting any tom near me again if I could help it." I tell him angrily.

"Shit! No wonder I was ready to chance Micah wanting to rip my head off if you weren't interested in him!" Steven says his voice thick with shock.

"Did you know you were coming in when you came over that night?" Micah asks in a hard voice.

"No! Because I would have run a hundred miles if I had known it!" I snap with my back to him.

"You'll need to talk to Doc so you can work out when it's going to happen otherwise any tom that comes near you will be ready to rip anyone and everyone apart for a chance," Micah warns evenly.

"How old are you Rosy?" Pete asks and I glance his way to see him frowning slightly.

"Nearly twenty-one and a half," I answer.

"I'll get Doc to come by tomorrow," Micah mutters.

"You've reached the age that most young she-kitts start getting married," Sam tells me with a raised eyebrow. I look away hurriedly as his meaning sinks in, coming into season must be a regular thing and the obvious result was pregnancy.

"There must be a way to stop it," I mutter as I push my hair back distractedly.

"Yeah - get yourself a boyfriend and let him knock you up, problem solved." Micah tells me bluntly.

"Don't you want a chance to get an invitation into the cage?" Edwin asks with a laugh.

"I sure as fuck do!" Micah exclaims and there is muted laughter from the others.

"It'd be worth it all right," Steven laughs and I turn towards them confused.

"Ditto," Edwin says, shots a look my way and turns away with a grin. I cross my arms over my chest and start tapping my foot on the floor in irritation. The three of them have smirks on their faces and I long to throw something at them.

"Steven, Edwin, Micah now would be a good time to go take a moonlight run." Sam orders as he moves to stand beside Mitchell who is glaring at them in outrage.

"Yeah," Chris adds pushing past them with Malcolm at his side.

"Idiots," Dwayne mutters turning to face them.

"You going too Pete?" Timny asks in a hard voice.

"I'm staying but you three are leaving," Pete directs his remark at Micah, Edwin and Steven. I watch in stunned silence as the three toms leave laughing softly, once they are outside I hear the sounds that tell me they are shifting and then after a few minutes I hear them racing away on four feet.

"Ok, the birds and the bees or should I say the she-kitt and tom facts quickly and simply," Sam says turning to me, "Expect your heat every six to eight months unless pregnant or breastfeeding. Most parents take measures to ensure their daughter has her choice if she wants to consort with a tom during heat. The Queen/mother will lock her daughter in a secure room with a metal cage in it and if the daughter wants a tom of her choice to visit we call her request -- 'An invitation into the cage'. The mother locks them both in the cage so no other toms can get near by accident because the tom with the she-kitt will try to kill any tom if they try to interfere." Sam pauses to glance at the others as I struggle to take in what he just told me.

"You just had three toms let you know they'd be more than willing to accept any such invitation ..." Chris cuts in to explain.

"No, you got that wrong. Micah hates me, he done his best to make my life miserable and unbearable the first time I was here!" I deny in disbelief.

"Micah didn't like my scent on you, didn't like me touching you. He made that real clear to me," Mitchell tells me levelly. "He likes you just no other male near you,"

"Micah telling you to get a boyfriend and let him knock you up, it's a way a tom tells a she-kitt he's interested. Really interested without leaving himself open to rejection," Dwayne says with a shrug.

I look from one tom to another with shock as I realise they probably have similar thoughts as the other three, I open my mouth to speak but no words come as I take a step backwards.

"We're here explaining this to you so you can take steps to avoid it. If we were interested we wouldn't warn you what will happen. Just stand back and wait the chance ..." Chris is quick to explain.

"Micah has been real interested from the first time he met you ... before he knew you were a cat," Pete reminds me.

"Marissa will probably be happy to look out for you when the time comes," Sam tells me.

"Yeah she was real excited when you came here both times," Dwayne joins in.

"She'd make them stay away?" I ask hopefully.

"It's very rare that the she-kitt in heat doesn't ask for a tom she fancies to spend some time with her. You should know enough about what happens at that time to know why," Sam tells me gently.

I look away as I remember how desperate I had been to have Jasper inside me when I was fully on heat and I shake my head as I turn away.

"And toms lockup inside the she-kitt every time they ... every time when she's on heat and he ..." I break off unable to name the act.

"Actually no. That only happens when the she-kitt trusts the tom enough to hold still for him to get deep enough for long enough." Sam answers softly "What ever tom caught you wasn't gentle about it was he? He locked up with you at least the once for you to know about it,"

"Every time he climbed on no matter how much I begged him not to," I whisper very softly. I hear a choked sound come from Mitchell and jump as he punches the wall putting his fist through the plasterboard.

"No wonder you don't like to be touched," Sam says quietly.

"I don't like people I don't know touching me," I say as I wrap my arms across my stomach.

"I'm going to cook us some supper," Pete announces as he goes to the fridge.

"We'll need to put more meat down for breakfast," Chris chips in.

"You okay?" Dwayne asks when I glance his way nervously as he moves.

"I just need to try to get my head around what I've just been told," I say with a forced smile.

"Rosy, the whole aim of the game for the tom is to make the she-kitt like it so much she's going to let him do it again and again even when she's not on heat," Sam tells me.

"One or two steaks Rosy?" Pete asks as he tosses a large steak onto the grill.

"One that size will do me," I say as I look at the meat.

"What you've been told hasn't freaked you out has it?" Mitchell asks. I glance at him and I can see the worry deep in his eyes even though he is trying to hide it.

"It's freaked me out enough to make me real careful what I do around them three now," I admit "But I've learnt how to handle hard stuff or bad stuff a bit differently."

"Yeah?" Sam queries.

"Rosy was telling me last night she's been getting counselling," Pete explains with a glance at me.

"Good," This comes from Sam.

"That ready yet Pete?" I ask impatiently.

"Rosy. Sit. Stay. Wait," Pete tells me firmly.

"I am a cat not a dog Pete," I pretend to growl then laugh as he grabs a plate and puts my steak on it. I set to work on the meat eating hungrily but take my time eating as I glance at the different toms around the room.

"Sam," I say between mouthfuls.

"Yeah,"

"You sound like you got some ... experience about this whole cage thing," I say delicately.

"I don't want an invitation Rosy. It'd only take one good smell to make me accept but I am telling you now, I don't want an invitation." Sam tells me firmly with a slight edge to his voice.

"No I was thinking it sounds like you've had an invitation from a she-kitt," I say with a slight wave of my fork. "Turn about is fair play. Do tell,"