Cat on the Fence (13 page)

She lifted Alex’s head by his chin and peered into his eyes.
“You seem fine,” she said. “But you’re not. The toxins that convert humans to
Werewolves is in your bloodstream. I won’t pretend to know the full effects of
that, especially since it was a Rabid that bit you. Nor do I know exactly how
to cure you. But your girlfriend knows someone who does. And they’ll need
this.” Cassandra placed a vial of blood in Alex’s hand.

“I don’t understand,” he said. “Is this mine?”

“It’s from the Rabid you killed.”

“The one that bit me?”

Cassandra raised one brow and grinned. “He’s the one that
bit you? Even better. Now get out of here, both of you.” Then she grabbed
Karabi’s hand as she was turning to leave. “Don’t you ever say the Pride hasn’t
done anything for you,” Cassandra said before parting.

Karabi stared after her for a long time, lost in her
thoughts, until Alex took her hand in his. “Let’s go,” he said.

She nodded. “Okay.” She interlaced her fingers with his as
they went to the parking lot together, mostly quiet.

It wasn’t until they got into the car and Karabi was turning
on the engine that he finally asked the question she’d been dreading ever since
Cassandra mentioned it.

“What did the doctor mean by you knowing someone who knows
how to cure me?” Alex asked.

Karabi sighed heavily again. She’d tried to avoid it all
this time. Even potentially put Alex at risk, simply because she’d rather come
here and face the judgment of the Pride she loathed than swallow her own pride
and take Alex where she needed to in the first place.

“My parents,” she answered finally as she backed out of the
spot. Then she shifted the car to drive and peeled out of there.

Alex laid his head back against the car seat and stared up at
the ceiling. “So after all of that, everything somehow comes back to your
parents? Incredible.”

“Incredible isn’t exactly the word I’d use,” Karabi said.
“I’m thinking more like setup.”

“Setup?”

“I think all of this was a setup.” She angrily slapped at the
steering wheel. “I don’t know what I was thinking, staying in Chicago. I should
have packed up a long time ago and moved far, far away. But I was too stubborn
to let them drive me out.”

Alex was listening but what she was saying didn’t make
sense. “Move away? I don’t understand. Why should you have moved away?”

“So that I could have some sort of control over my own life,
don’t you see? But even with me no longer being involved with them they are
still controlling me, apparently.”

“I don’t see how they’re controlling you. Your mother just
made me aware of the position. There’s no way she would have known that I’d
take it, or even apply. Or that we’d fall for each other.”

“Right,” she scoffed, “and so you living there, working at
the zoo and meeting me, us falling for each other, your injury, me bringing you
to the Pride, my parents being the ones who have to help us—
all
of it is
just a coincidence, right?” She snorted and shook her head. “You have no idea
just how manipulative and controlling my parents are.”

Alex shook his head. “Surely you don’t think your parents
had anything to do with the Werewolf attack in the alley. Do you?”

“I don’t know. I do know they want nothing more than for me
to come back home and to the Pride like a good kitty. Settle down with a
mate—they’d prefer I have just one, not two like the Pride does—and produce a
litter of little Weres.” She shrugged. “So I guess I wouldn’t put much of
anything past them in order to get their way.”

“Well, I don’t blame them,” he said. “You’re their family. I
think a family really
should
do almost anything to try to stay
together.”

She paused for a moment, seeming to gather her thoughts.
“Answer this honestly. If the retreat hadn’t ended early, and if they would
have let you become an initiate, would have you considered joining the Pride?”

“Yes. I would have considered it.”

“Why?”

“Because they’re like me,” he said. “It felt like I belonged
there with them. Crazy long list of rules and all.”

“Even though you know how I feel about them?”

He exhaled long and slow. The truth was, he was expecting
her to get over her stubbornness at some point and agree to join the Pride with
him. “I guess I was hoping you would change your mind.”

“What makes you think I would change my mind?”

“Because the Pride is also your family.”

Karabi made a retching sound.

Alex wasn’t sure if it was Karabi’s blatant disregard for
familial ties, if the rabid tiger within him just had a short fuse or if it was
simply the topic itself that pushed several of his buttons—but he was highly
annoyed.

“So let me get this straight,” Alex said. “You would fight
me tooth and nail to keep the lions at the zoo together—even when faced with
injured animals and not enough money to support them—but you’re too stubborn to
even consider giving your own family or Pride a chance? Hypocritical much?”

“It just is what it is.”

“Wrong, is what it is.”

“That’s not my fault.”

“Some things are exactly as you make them.”

“I don’t get it, Alex.” Karabi’s voice was shrill. “Why are
you so concerned about my relationships with anyone other than you?”

“Because I love you, and it’s obvious that you have some
serious hang-ups that you still really need to get over. How can I plan a
future with you if you’re still bogged down by your past?”

Oops. He hadn’t quite meant to blurt all of that out. She kept
her focus on the dark road ahead of her. But the conflict was visible on her
face. “I hope that doesn’t scare you,” he said softly. “The fact that I want a
future with you.”

“No, it doesn’t scare me,” she said. “I think about you that
way too. So long as you’re not expecting me to agree that we should be serious
right
now
, it’s fine.”

He winced. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I’m just being honest, Alex. It’s been a hell of a couple
of months since I’ve met you. I’m so confused. I’ve just ended a long-term
relationship—with
disastrous
results, I must add. Got hot and heavily
involved with you, which led to the triggering of your Cat.” She glanced at him
briefly with a severe expression. “And speaking of cats, look at how much I’ve
been shifting lately. I’ve been the cheetah more times in the past five weeks
than I have in the past five years! Also, I’ve never had a romantic
relationship with a male Cat. Honestly, I’d sworn off romance with Werecats of
either gender when I was still in my teens because of all of the dawdling
around everyone tends to do with each other, and the focus on making babies,
babies and more babies. Then I find out that my parents practically arranged
for you and me to meet… I don’t know, Alex. I honestly don’t know what to think
right now.”

He remained quiet for a while after she was done venting.
He’d been so caught up in the whirlwind that was now his complicated life that
he hadn’t really stopped to consider how much of an impact all of it had had on
Karabi too. The difference, however, was despite of all the commotion, he was
certain that he wanted to be with her.

“So what do you want?” he asked.

“I don’t know.”

“Do you want me at all?”

“Yes, but—”

“There’s a ‘but’?”

“I’m not sure that I
want
to want you. Or for you to
want me.”

He frowned. “Can you help me even begin to understand what
that’s supposed to mean?”

“Alex, I’m the first Werecat you ever met, and you think you
are in love with me. How do you know that isn’t just some instinctual
animalistic need to mate, instead of real, true love? Can a Cat even really
fall in love, or do they just sniff out their perfect biological ‘mate’ or what
have you?”

“But I’m not just a Cat. I’m a man too, who wants you for
more than just sex. Does it matter why the Cat and man want you? Isn’t it
enough to know that we both want you?”

“Yes, it matters! Your Cat could just be so desperate for a
mate that he’s clinging to the first available Werecat he ran into, just long
enough until he meets a Queen better suited to him. And you, Alex, the
man—maybe you just want a family so bad, you’d be willing to do whatever it
takes to join and remain in the Pride. Even if that meant sleeping with other
women. Do you not see how this could be a problem?”

“But there wouldn’t be a sleeping-around problem if we
claimed each other.”

Karabi rolled her eyes. “We discussed that already.”

“God dammit, Karabi, I’m not asking you to marry me! I’m not
trying to cage you nor am I asking you to settle down with me for life, not
when it’s obvious you’re not completely ready for that. I want just to be your
number one and only Tom. While you’ll have me.”

“But you’re not getting it, Alex. It’s the principle of it
all. The
why
we’re even considering doing it. Just because the Pride
wouldn’t leave us much choice.”

“I know, I know,” Alex rolled his head from side to side, “it’s
about the rules you’re expected to follow. Rules and expectations that have
been set upon you since you were a child, and you’re Karabi the Rebel. I get
it. But I also know that deep down, you miss them. The Cats. Your parents too.
And I know you care for me as much as I care for you. You’re just scared to
face it all. You don’t want to want what others are telling you that you
should. Even if you
do
want them.”

Karabi laughed. “I don’t know how you can be so certain what
it is that I want when even
I
don’t know what I want.”

“Maybe in some ways, I know you even better than you do.”

She scoffed. “You sound just like my damn parents.”

Alex threw up his hands, his temperature rising. “Fine,” he
said. “I get it. We’ve been moving too fast and now we’re at a crossroads.” His
arms and hands were trembling. How long had they been doing that? Was it
because he was frustrated or because of the bite? “I don’t want to pressure you
into doing anything you don’t want to, or being anyone you’re not. After you
get me home and your parents give me or tell me what I need, you’re not
obligated to stay.”

Karabi responded but he couldn’t quite make out what she
said. Suddenly the tires rolling against the concrete, the heater blowing, the
wind resistance against the car, the whole world was much too loud. Alex held
his head in his hands to try to stop it from spinning. Within seconds his skin
began to crawl all over as he felt the rabid tiger begin to claw its way out.
Horrible timing too—his concentration was completely shot, his emotions were
out of whack and it’d been nearly a day since he’d had a sexual release. There
was no stopping the tiger from coming.

Alex unsnapped his seatbelt and quickly tore off his
clothes. Karabi was saying something and starting to slow down. But the only
words he made out were ‘middle of the highway’ before his body parts morphed
from a man’s to a tiger’s. But something was wrong with this tiger. This tiger
had made a kill, had tasted blood and desperately wanted more. The small part
of Alex that remain lucid and human feared that Karabi was in serious danger,
whether she stopped the car or not.

He couldn’t let himself hurt her.

He saw that she was wearing her seatbelt, and so he swatted
at the steering wheel and pushed his paw against her right foot, forcing her to
accelerate. Once they closed in on the SUV ahead of them, he removed his heavy
paw and waited for her to slam on the brakes. He saw Karabi’s airbag deploy
just as he went crashing through the windshield, flying over the hood of the
car and hitting the back of the vehicle ahead of them before slamming into the
ground. He felt himself turning back into a harmless man, just before he closed
his eyes.

* * * * *

Karabi stood outside the bedroom door of her parents’
apartment at Forest Gardens, keeping her distance as she watched her father
work on the sleeping Alex. He was hooked up to IVs, kept on anesthesia and
being given the much-needed fluids his body hadn’t been getting. So many
conflicting emotions ran through Karabi. She wanted to run in and be by Alex’s
side. But did she deserve him? Look at him. All of this was pretty much her
fault.
All
of it. His discovery of his tiger. Getting bitten by
Werewolves that were after
her
. Not getting the proper care he needed
until she’d managed to swallow her pride and take him to other Werecats for
help.

At least if she hadn’t been so obstinate about going to the
Pride in the first place, things wouldn’t have progressed to the point where he
felt he needed to eject himself from a speeding vehicle.

Even now her stubbornness couldn’t bring allow her to enter
the room with her father there.

“Are you sure you’re feeling okay?”

Karabi nearly jumped at her mother’s voice. Rohini had
always been light on her feet and had to be the only person in existence who
could consistently sneak up on Karabi. “Yeah, I’m fine. The seatbelt and the
airbag saved me from getting a single scratch.”

“Good. It’s good to see you too,” the older woman said. She
wore her hair in a long, single braid that fell down toward her waist. She kept
staring and smiling at Karabi as if assessing how she’d been doing all these
years. It made Karabi feel painfully exposed and she refrained from looking her
mother in the eye for too long.

“It’s not so good, considering the circumstances.”

“Alex is a little bruised, but it’s nothing your father
can’t patch up. Your friend will be back on his feet in no time.”

Karabi sighed. “What’s wrong with him? What’s wrong with his
Cat?”

“The Werewolf that bit him was rabid. He’s got the toxins
from the Werewolf’s bite still inside him.”

“How does a Werewolf turn rabid?”

“We don’t really know how,” Rohini said. “Apparently it’s a
new development that has popped up in recent months. The Rabids seem even more
volatile than normal Werewolves. They shift every single night, full moon or
not, and not fully into wolves, either. They become this creature that is
neither a man nor a wolf.”

“I hear they are taking Queens. What for?”

“We are still trying to learn more about them. Information
doesn’t come easy—Cats and Wolves aren’t exactly friendly. Sree has dedicated
himself to trying to figure it out, however.”

“Oh,” Karabi said. She glanced at her father as he tended to
the cuts on Alex’s face. “So what’s happening to Alex?”

“It’s almost as if he’s turning into a Werewolf. But he was
already a Were, so his body has been trying to fight it off. In the meantime,
however, he is semi-rabid.”

“Is there a cure?”

“Sree believes the blood sample from the Rabid Dr. Cassandra
Kennedy gave you can be used to create one.”

“That’s it?” Karabi scoffed. “You just need to give him some
blood from the same creature that made him sick? And that will make him
better?”

“No, no, it’s not that simple,” Rohini said. “He will also
need the blood from a fertile female Werecat. Which makes it a good thing that
you’re here.”

Karabi turned to look at her mother then. “No one said
anything about needing my blood.”

“I just did.”

“How long will it take to make? And can we wake Alex up?”

“The treatment should only take a few hours to make and
administer. As far as when Alex will be well enough for us to wake, who can say
for sure?” Rohini shrugged. “We’ve never actually encountered a Werecat with
this ailment before. But I’d give it at least twenty-four hours.”