BK 2 - Chapter 47 - Watching Cat
Thatcher sat at his desk, deep in thought. He had been researching the pride that Trey Galloway was from. It didn't appear that Trey was close to his family as he lived in Sacramento while the pride stayed in Monterey. He wondered why they were estranged.
He had some people look into it, and it seemed that the werelions didn't like that their son had mated with a human. Thatcher laughed at that. If only they knew what Caterina was, they would be begging for her to come to their pride. He wondered if he could use the family to help get his hands on her.
As he thought about how he could use Trey's family against him, he received an email that made him smile. Caterina was preganant. If the child had some of her abilities, it would strengthen the mother. He knew now that he had to get her right after she gave birth. He picked up the phone with a smirk.
"May I speak with Gina, please?" Thatcher asked when someone answered. He knew Trey's mother would be the best one to go to. Despite Thomas being the head of the pride, Gina was the one who ran things behind the scenes.
"This is Gina." He heard a feminine voice say on the other line.
"My name is Thatcher, and I have a request I'm hoping you can help me with. I have an interest in your son Trey's mate, and I understand that you may not be a fan of hers." Thatcher waited to see how Gina answered.
"Who are you to know about my family's affairs?" Gina asked cautiously. She hated that her son mated with a human and would do anything to separate them, but she wasn't going to fall into a trap that would hurt her or one of her children.
"I'm a vampire and have been looking for a young woman such as Caterina for a long time. Would you be willing to help me obtain her?" Thatcher could almost hear Gina purring in approval.
"What exactly do you want me to do?" She was excited to see what this vampire wanted. If she could get the human away from Trey, she was sure she would be able to force him to mate with a lioness so he could take over the pride.
"Now that I know you're willing to help, I'll be in touch. I'll call you when I have a plan in place. Trust me. It won't be long before you have your son free of the human." Thatcher was trying to hold back his laughter. Lions were even more ruthless than he was. If Gina knew Caterina was a caladrius, she would want to use her gifts for her personal use. He had to make sure she continued to think that Trey's mate was nothing more than a human.
"I will do whatever it takes. I don't want her to poison this family with her worthlessness." Gina spat into the phone. When Thatcher hung up, she turned toward her mate with a smile.
"Who was that?" Thomas asked questionably. It had been a while since he saw Gina smile, and it scared him a little.
"Our little problem may get fixed for us. A vampire wants Trey's mate, and he wants our help in getting her. If we can get that trash from him, we can force him to mate with an appropriate lioness. He wouldn't dare to disappoint me twice." Thomas frowned at her.
"Do you think that's a good idea? Trey has always been his own man. He won't do what you want even if you take his mate. You'll most likely push him further away." He was tired of having this conversation with Gina. Thomas was ready to put the whole matter to rest.
"It all depends on how she disappears. If we make it look like she left on her own, it won't seem like we had anything to do with it. The bloodsucker will call me back with more details. He better not wait too long, or I'll take matters into my own hands." Gina laughed evilly, and it gave Thomas chills. He didn't like this side of her. He decided not to say anything else to her, but he was sure things wouldn't go as planned. They never do.
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After breakfast, Kitty went to the house for her first official session with Valerie while Cat, Trey, and Aiden went to the group home. The construction was beginning today on the guest house to prepare it for Trey and Cat before the cub's arrival. Aiden didn't want to leave Kitty, but she told him that this was something she needed to do alone.
As they arrived at the group home, Cat couldn't contain her excitement. They had already cleaned the guest house and pulled out the things they didn't want. Today Aiden was going to oversee the walls that would be taken down to give the house more of an open feel. After that, they would put in the new kitchen and bathrooms before repairing the hardwood floors.
Aiden was excited to be doing the work he loved again, especially for a good cause. Trey was happy being wherever Cat was. He rarely let her out of sight with all the drama they had been through. He was terrified of anyone getting their hands on her as Caleb and Sonya had. Now that she was pregnant, he was even more clingy, but Cat didn't mind. She often sought his comforting embrace when she was feeling apprehensive or nervous.
Cat was still uncomfortable around strangers or many people, but she played it off well as long as Trey was near. He knew this about her and often held her hand wherever they were. How she had looked that day in Caleb's house haunted him, and he wanted to touch her as often as possible to ensure she was with him.
"Can you believe this house is ours? I can't wait until it's done and Kitty completes the nursery's mural. We don't have much longer until our little one is here." Cat rubbed her growing bump with a smile.
Trey smiled down at her and kissed her lips passionately. He didn't care if the men working on the house were staring. He wanted them to know that she was his. When he pulled away, Cat giggled.
"Mr. Lion, you're as possessive as ever. I'm going to go outside and see about the flower beds." Trey leaned down and gave her another kiss.
"Don't go far." She smiled gently at him knowing how much he disliked being away from her, even for a few minutes.
"I'll be a mindlink away." She squeezed his hand before going out to the backyard. They had already set up raised flower beds, and Cat got busy planting her flowers. She hummed as she worked. Saira was keeping her senses alert for anything out of the ordinary.
Cat occasionally chuckled as Trey mindlinked her every few minutes to make sure she was still at the flower beds. As she continued planting, Saira felt another presence near them. She didn't alert Cat right away. She wanted to get a read on what it was first. After a few minutes, Saira realized a vampire was watching them. She decided to mindlink Atlas and Trey so Cat wouldn't let the vampire know they were on to him.
*"I need you to come outside. A vampire is watching Cat. I haven't told her yet, because I don't want to spook him."* When Trey got Saira's mindlink, he wanted to run outside and find him, but Atlas stopped him.
*"We don't know what the vampire's intention is. Let's go outside and pretend we're helping Cat. We'll see if he approaches us or if he's just curious. With Cat being a caladrius, we have to be careful. I don't have to tell you there will be many coming after her if the secret is revealed."*
Trey calmed down and casually walked outside, letting Atlas be the one to locate the vampire. He knelt next to Cat and kissed her head.
"It looks beautiful out here." She smiled at his compliment but noticed something else in his voice that made her look up at him in concern.
"What's wrong?" Cat asked, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he kissed her forehead and mindlinked her.
*"I need you to stay calm. We have someone watching us. Let's go into the house so we can talk freely."* Cat nodded and kept her face free of any worry. She packed her remaining flowers and sat them to the side before cleaning up her things. After she was done, they went into the house. Trey pulled Aiden aside, and they all went into the nursery where no one could hear them.
"What's going on?" Aiden asked with concern.
"There was a vampire outside watching Cat. Atlas said he took off once we came into the house. Saira had noticed him and mindlinked Atlas and me." Cat looked at him in shock.
"What? Why would a vampire be watching me?" She put her hand over her belly and squeezed Trey's hand.
"I don't know, but from now on, you are not to go anywhere without me. I don't care if it's just to go from the pool house to Roger and Valerie's. We have to be careful. Vampires can be sneaky and fast. We don't know what he wants, but I promise you, whatever it is, he's not going to touch you." She nodded.
Trey looked at Aiden as he wrapped his arms around Cat. He would do whatever was necessary to protect his mate. He didn't care if it brought hell on earth. No one was going to hurt Cat again.
