Two of a Kind Ch. 06

"It's not a favor and yes, I know where he is. He lives in my territory," Velaku said shortly.

"I apologize. I didn't think that you would allow a Snake nearby because of..." Cavel trailed off before he could finish that sentence.

Cavel heard a sharp cracking noise and then some static over the line. "Just a moment," Velaku said. There was the slam of a drawer and then a click of a new phone turning on before the line was again free of static. His voice was flat when he spoke again. "I won't speak of that."

Cavel swallowed hard. "I understand."

"It's enough to say that no matter what is said about him I trust Davis' competence and skills for this job more than anyone else. I'm not asking him for a favor on my behalf or yours so you don't have to worry about being in debt to either of us. This matter is now for the safety of all the clans. Besides, I already spoke to him and he's agreed."

"Is there anything we can do?" Cavel's ears were flat to his skull in frustration, making the phone call all the more difficult. He understood the reasons why he couldn't search out the men behind the doll making its way to his clan's doorstep but that didn't make it easier to rely on someone else. Even if Velaku said there would be no debt to be paid Cavel would owe the Snake; it was a debt he would be glad to hold if it meant his people were safe.

"I need your mate to tell Davis as much about the area he lived in as possible; also, provide him with a map to the clan's village. Other than that, get your people well. I spoke with your doctors earlier as well; your clan still has a long road ahead of them."

"Yes, sir. Is there any timeframe for The Snake to contact us?" Cavel was still tired and he knew Bashta was worn dangerously thin. They needed more rest and some time to live normally within the clan, let the bond do its work.

"He doesn't work like that, with time frames and deadlines. He is the best at what he does though and out of anyone I know he is the one I'd trust with this. He will most likely call you and your mate sometime today. However, you might want to prepare for him to arrive in person.

"I know Snakes aren't exactly comfortable around the cat clans but he won't go near the kitlings or your sick women." Velaku assured him. "You can trust him, in many ways he is not the man his reputation makes him out to be. If you answer his questions he will be able to track down who gave that doll to that poor little girl. We will find out who hurt your clan no matter what it takes, I swear it.

"Thank you, sir for taking the time to call out the best already. I know you said that this wasn't a favor but it means a lot to my mate. He lost his entire clan and the thought that someone is disturbing the dead is too much for him on top of everything else he has had to endure lately."

"You clan is under my protection and you are also my friend. What harms you harms me. I do not believe that this attack was deliberate, rather than a serious of unfortunate events but I could be wrong. Davis will get us the answers we need."

Cavel couldn't help but shiver at little at the thought of talking to the powerful Carthera known to most only as the Snake. "We shall await his call."

Cavel wasn't too surprised when The Snake called the next day. Even Bashta could hear the pounding music in the background. He briefly spoke to Cavel who appeared to reluctantly agree to something. Then Cavel held the phone out; apparently he wanted to speak to Bashta.

"Yes?" Bashta held the phone gingerly to his ear. He still wasn't used to the modern technology but he was adapting faster to it than Cavel would have thought for someone who grew up in the primitive world of the Amazon jungle.

"I need more history on your clan and this sickness; it would be helpful if we could meet and talk in person. I would also like to see the actual object in question." The snake had a deep voice, a little sibilant on the word see made a shiver go up Bashta's back. Cavel pulled him into his arms and hugged him from behind, soothing him as he spoke.

"He can't come here and handle that doll. It could still have the contagion on it. The houses have already been sanitized and the bodies burned."

Bashta took a breath to repeat what Cavel said but The Snake cut him off. "I heard him. Damn it," he cursed. "I can get by without seeing the scenes, I guess. Alright, I'm definitely going to have to meet with you in person. I'll need your scent and whatever you can tell me about where you are from and your clan."

"My scent?" Bashta's eyes were huge. "Why?"

"I never know who I'm going to be coming up against. According to Velaku you've been in the jungle most of your life. Even being here for a few weeks I'll be able to smell scents from your rainforest. Please let me speak to your mate."

Bashta handed him the phone. Cavel was frowning as he listened to the Snake talk. "We'll meet you in Fresno." There was a pause and Cavel's expression darkened. "Of course I would trust you around my clan, I trust Velaku's judgment; but we just had every kitling in my clan almost die. The men and women of my clan are understandably nervous right now, I'd hate for there to be an incident if it could be prevented, of course, but I meant what I said. I won't risk this plague hurting my clan again. I won't expose them to anything that's holds even a minute risk."

A few minutes later Cavel hung up the phone. "Looks like we're headed to Fresno."

Cavel called Saulle and let him know where they were going. He wasn't happy about it but agreed that meeting The Snake in Fresno was better than bringing him to the Jaguar clan's lands. The car ride there was actually relaxing; Cavel pointed out the scenery for Bashta. They went through a lot of small towns and some stretches of desolate wild areas. Bashta had the window down, enjoying the warm air moving through the car and playing with the breeze with his fingers out the window. It made Cavel smile to see his mate so relaxed and he treasured the time they had alone.

That didn't last through the meeting with the Snake. They met in a park, avoiding the screaming human children clustered on the red and yellow play structure by starting along the walking path that led into a small wooded area. The whipcord lean man led the way, leaving Cavel and Bashta to follow.

"I appreciate you doing this for my clan." Cavel glanced at the snake Carthera. He wasn't nearly as impressive looking as his reputation would make him seem but Cavel had seen him stare down a Lion, just once. It was enough.

"I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing it for Velaku," he smirked, "and the paycheck."

Bashta was walking on the other side of Cavel. He made sure to stay between the pair, protecting his mate from this Carthera with a reputation so volatile and dangerous other Snake Clan members wouldn't go near him.

Bashta shook his head. "Whatever. As long as you find out who is doing this and we can stop them. My family does not deserve to have their final rest disturbed and that doll almost killed Cavel's entire clan." Bashta's hand clenched on Cavel's and he saw him push back the tears. Cavel had warned him not to appear weak in front of the Snake.

Oddly enough, Cavel couldn't sense that Bashta didn't feel afraid; he seemed almost fascinated with first Carthera he'd me that wasn't a Jaguar.

The Snake stopped and stared at Bashta. The young cat stood his ground and held his stare; The Snake's slit pupils expanding then contracting. His tongue flicked out; Cavel's eyes narrowed as he watched him taste the air near his mate. He could feel Bashta's anger and knew Davis could taste it.

Davis seemed to consider Bashta's words and then gave a concise nod. "I can do that."

Spending the next hour in a secluded area of the park, the Snake pumped Bashta and Cavel for everything they knew about the jungle around Bashta's home, the family that came asking to join Cavel's clan, and the doll Bashta had recognized. Cavel handed over a memory stick with a copy of all the pictures Bashta had taken.

Stopping at the jeep, Bashta held out his hand. "Thank you. Even if you aren't doing this for me, you will be helping our clan. If ever I can help you or yours, please call on me."

The Snake looked at the outstretched hand and then over at Cavel.

"He speaks for both of us," said Cavel simply. "Paycheck or not, we will owe you. I was nervous about that before I met you but as Velaku said; your reputation is not deserved. I trust you to do this right."

"Not wholly deserved maybe," the Snake said. He still hesitated but finally grasped Bashta's hand and gave it a firm shake. "I'll call you when I know something or I will let Velaku know any progress."

"Thank you."

***

There wasn't a lot that Bashta didn't try to do over the next few weeks while they waited anxiously for news. It was better than sitting around the house for the phone to ring. The clan had absorbed him and made him one of their own after his tireless dedication to the sick kitlings. As the families received the antiserum shot and started to get better they left the Community Center in groups. Grateful for all he had done, they all offered to teach the alpha's mate everything they could about the wonders of the modern world.

Cavel spent a lot of time with him during the day, but when he was busy the different clan members would take Bashta with them to their jobs so that he could get a good idea of what he might like to do now that he was living in their world. He spent time mowing lawns in the parks with Serel.

He tried waiting on customers in the town cafe, worked maintaining the trails in the clan hunting lands, and the crew kept telling him he was a real asset while working on a house being built for the Mastersons.

He had scaled up the ladder behind Mackent and walked easily along the narrow boards already making up the basic shell of the house skeleton. His fearless nature and natural agility prompted the crew to keep him on the roof nailing up supports most of the day. He enjoyed working with his hands and the hours passed quickly. He was having fun but was glad to stop at noon when he smelled food... and his mate. Cavel had come with the women who brought lunch for the work crew.

"Hey babe." Cavel shaded his eyes and called up to Bashta who was squatting on a beam, his bare toes gripping either side. Bashta looked down and saw him and grinned around a mouthful of nails. Cavel couldn't help but feel a surge of lust when he saw his mate bent over and got to ogle the curve of his ass from a whole new angle.

"Hey!" he said. Bashta carefully spit the nails out into his hand and put them in a small bag hanging off his belt. He slipped the hammer he was using in a loop on the other side of his belt and then in one smooth move swung down and hung from the rafter with his arms. Cavel watched the muscles in his stomach flex where Bashta's shirt stretched up. He was so fixated on the lean muscles rippling that he was startled when his lithe mate dropped to the plywood floor with a light thud.

Bashta laughed and then leaned against Cavel, wrapping his arms around him and pulling him in for a kiss. "I didn't think I'd see you today."

Cavel pulled him in tight, grinding his instant erection against him. He knew his clan would only use it for more jokes about how randy his handsome mate made him but he didn't care. He plundered Bashta's mouth, tasting the metal of the nails and the warm flavor that was all his mate. He imagined he could still taste the bitter remnants of his orgasm that Bashta sucked out of him very early that morning.

It took them both a moment to stop panting when Cavel finally pulled back.

"Wow, that was as unexpected as you being here," Bashta growled a little as Cavel's hands squeezed his ass, "but I am happy to see you too."

"I can feel that." Cavel chuckled, his eyes crinkling. "I need to take a break sometimes too. Owning a gym isn't exactly lazy man's work. I opened at 5:00 AM and taught a kickboxing class this morning and then had to deal with calls to suppliers and pay bills before I could make my escape."

"What's kickboxing?" Bashta asked as he followed Cavel over to the makeshift table set up from a strip of plywood balanced on two sawhorses. They both grabbed some roast beef sandwiches and cold pasta salad.

"It's a way of fighting, like martial arts." Cavel did his best to explain on the way to sit under a tree in the corner of the property.

"But you teach it to people for a class? Fighting is fun?" Bashta frowned; he didn't really understand, struggling with the concept of violence as anything other than a necessary skill for survival. "I don't think I'd like fighting or hurting someone for fun."

"Well, I teach it more for protection. I don't exactly agree with sport fighting either but Carthera have a lot of power, we're often stronger than humans. Without knowing what we are doing we could seriously hurt them in hand to hand confrontations. In the past humans claimed that we were vicious, using our strength as an excuse to say that we were dangerous animals that shouldn't be allowed to mingle with real people back when it first became illegal to hunt our kind down. They would use their laws instead."

Cavel leaned his back against the tree. The bite of sandwich in his mouth was a small lump that he had a hard time swallowing. It sat uneasily in his stomach as he tried not to show how much he hated the struggle their kind had to live through just to be acknowledged as equal to humanity. He didn't want to scare Bashta who was just getting used to the modern world. He'd had very little interaction with humans other than the doctors and townsfolk who most often were related by marriage to some of their clan.

"Back then mobs of humans would attack a lone Carthera and then if they were stopped from killing them right then and there the poor male or female would be tried in court, in front of a judge and their peers," he rolled his eyes, "which in reality, were just a bunch of hateful humans. Most of the time the Carthera would end up dead anyway."

Bashta's mouth was wide open in shock. He stared at Cavel in horror."That's awful! It's not like that now, right? Humans and Carthera so... separate? I've seen humans who live here in town. Some of them helped when the kitlings were sick. That doesn't happen around here does it?" He had put his plate down and now his hands were twisting in his lap in his stress.

"Mostly, not around here, but places where it's not as common for our two kinds to mingle, like your jungle or in cut off rural areas it's still not completely changed. There will always be some people out there who just don't think we belong living side by side, some Carthera believe that too." Cavel leaned over and kissed his mate softly this time, trying to comfort him.

"Eat your lunch Bashta, you need the food. "

"I am almost glad that we can't have kitlings, even though we need an heir. This world you live in is so scary sometimes and I'm an adult. The idea of being responsible to protect an innocent life from the dangers is more than I can imagine." Bashta picked up his half-eaten sandwich, tearing off pieces and putting them on the plate but not eating them. Cavel didn't say anything for a minute and then sighed. Bashta had been a little distant at times lately and now he knew why.

"I knew you heard the clan talking about that." Cavel put his plate down too and tugged on Bashta until he got the younger man sitting between his legs. "Have you been worrying about us not being able to have kitlings?"

Bashta bit his lip and rested his head against Cavel's shoulder. "A little. I understand more about why Saulle was so hostile in the beginning. If we don't have any kitlings then the clan is in danger because we have no one to take over after us." His voice was pained at the thought but Cavel knew he had to get this out.

Bashta had been having bad dreams lately about one them being hurt or sick. They were very vivid and he woke up from each one with uncontrollable tears streaming down his face as he clutched his mate. He'd been waiting patiently for Bashta to finally tell him what was troubling him.

"You shouldn't have to give up you clan because I couldn't make an heir with you. If one of us dies the other will go feral and the clan will suffer almost as much. What if you had died from this damn plague? The clan would have fallen apart at the worst possible time. People could still die if that were to happen."

Cavel rubbed Bashta's arms. "We'll figure something out. I'm sure things will work out in the end. Right now we have enough to focus on." He leaned his head down and nibbled on the side of Bashta's neck. "Besides, I'm not ready to give up my alone time with you yet to make a family."

Bashta's breathing sped up and he moaned quietly. "Oh, distracting me like that isn't fair."

"Oh, I don't recall ever agreeing to play fair." He trailed his lips up to Bashta's wide, soft ears and began using the rough tip of his tongue to tease the edges, chuckling when Bashta squeaked. "Besides, I think you like it when I tease you."

"I do..." Bashta ran the very tips of his claws up Cavel's legs and down the sensitive insides of his thighs. It was Cavel's turn to moan and his muscles flexed and quivered. "I think you like it too."

"Do you need to stay all day?" Cavel asked him urgently.

"I promised Mackent I'd help. Ooooh..." Bashta arched a little when Cavel nibbled right on the base of his sensitive ear.

"Hey Mackent!" Cavel yelled.

A head popped up from the group of men lying with their mates under a tree close by. "Yeah boss?"

"You don't need Bashta this afternoon do you? We have some... things to discuss." Cavel's hands made their way under Bashta's shirt and were playing with his stomach as the muscles tightened and jumped.

Mackent laughed. "Sure thing. He can finish up those joists for the second floor tomorrow." He grinned at Cavel. "He's all yours. Have fun with your, ahhh, discussion."

Bashta blushed furiously. His claws dug in to Cavel's thighs just a little. In return Cavel reached up and pinched one nipple. Bashta jerked and hissed. He moaned when Cavel gently rubbed it to take the sting away in a wave of pleasure.

"Alright you two, get out of here before you get us all horny!" Mackent's mate, Belindi, scolded them.

"We're going, we're going," Cavel laughed. Bashta stood up and offered his hand to Cavel. They headed back to the vehicles hand in hand. Belindi sat next to where Mackent was laying down and watched them go, smiling softly.

"What's with that look?" Mackent asked. She looked down at him and rested her hand on his chest.

"Just remembering how exciting being newly mated is, that's all."

He sat up and kissed her. "We could do more than that tonight," he promised.

Cavel looked back and winked at Mackent who waved at him. He got in the driver seat of the Jeep and headed home, calling the gym on the way to tell them he wouldn't be coming back in that afternoon. Then he spent the rest of the time teasing his mate, dragging his claws along the straining bulge in his jeans and kneading his thigh as Bashta whimpered and moaned.

"Mphm," Cavel grunted when Bashta pressed him against the wall. His mate attacked his mouth, nipping at him as his hands pulled at his clothes. He barely let him go long enough to get his shirt off before he was back sucking on his lip and thrusting into Cavel's mouth with his tongue.

"God you taste good." Bashta licked his lips and looked down at the tent in Cavel's pants. He pushed at the track pants Cavel wore, groaning when he realized his mate was in a jock strap.

"Spirits, you're hot. No time to taste you again, need you in me." Bashta stepped back and toes off his shoes and then ripped off his shirt and jeans. He sighed in relief when his cock sprang free and slapped against his stomach. Cavel hurried to get the rest of his clothes off, panting when his mate dropped to his knees and looked at him over his shoulder and then lowered until his head rested on his hands.