The Cat Shifter (Book 1 of Shifter Series)

Chapter 48

Brody was the first to move and cleared his throat. He shifted in his seat while he looked at me, his eyes searching my face for any answers that I may have hidden from him. "Are you ok?" he asked finally, his voice filled with concern.

I took a deep, shuddering breath and shrugged while I grimaced. "I will be," I said and cleared my throat. "I'm nervous, though."

Brody pulled me into a hug, and I closed my eyes while I held onto his shirt and took in his comforting scent. He didn't say a word and rubbed my back while I composed myself.

After a few minutes, I cleared my throat and rubbed my eyes while I pulled away from him. "I think that it is time to let Carver in," I said, and my mate nodded in agreement.

Again, I cleared my throat and looked at the door, knowing full well that he was on the other side. 'Come in,' I said through our mind link, and the door instantly opened to reveal the older male, my advisor.

Carver stayed silent and dipped his head in greeting. He walked in and closed the door behind him, making sure that no one would interrupt us from our meeting before he made his way to the seats in front of the desk.

Once he was settled, he dipped his head in greeting again. "Your Majestys," he said, his voice calm and collected. "How are you?"

I shrugged and grimaced, not even fighting him for calling us "Your Majesty" when he didn't have to. "I've been better," I said, letting him hear the tiredness in my voice, "but I am glad that I got to speak with Cornelius."

He nodded and stayed silent. Worry filled his eyes, and I could tell that he didn't like it that I wasn't feeling well. He wanted to tell me to go take a break, but he knew better than to say something because he knew that I would go against what he wished and continue until I was done.

I cleared my throat and leaned against my mate while I closed my eyes, debating on whether or not to listen to my advisor's silent urgings and go to bed. "Where are the half-breeds of the Jaguar clan?" I asked, talking about Dominic's clan. I decided to go against Carver's silent urgings and instead opened my eyes to look at him. "Are they safe, or is Cornelius lying to me?"

"Cornelius is not lying to you," Carver said while he leaned back in his seat. He cleared his throat and rested his arms on his legs, clasping his hands together. "The half-breeds of the Jaguar clan are safe."

I slowly nodded and furrowed my brows while I studied him. "How do you know?" I asked. I believed him, but I was curious. I had no idea what happened or who contacted whom or anything like that, so I wanted to figure that out and where peoples' loyalties lied.

"Because Stephen, the oldest, contacted me," Carver replied. "Amity has made it so that those who swear their loyalty to the throne, and to you, will be able to contact me and enter the safe place that we have set up."

I grew still, and my face grew pale when I heard that Amity was the one that had created the safe place. My heart stopped in my chest before it started to pound at a faster rate.

Worry for my people filled my body, and I shuddered while my heart started to pound hard in my chest. "Bu-" I stopped talking when Carver raised his hand and closed my mouth with lips pressed into a thin line.

"Amity had the Warlock king put a spell on her so that she would forget where the place was and that she did the spell," Carver said. "The Dark Witch isn't that powerful, or so it seems, so he wasn't able to break the spell."

"Then do you know who the dark witch is?" I asked, and Carver smiled sadly and shook his head, no. My heart sank, but I slowly nodded and sighed.

"I do not," he said apologetically. "I am only relaying information that was given to me," he said.

I frowned and slowly nodded, silently wondering who had given him that information. "Who gave you that information?" I asked. "Was it King Philip?"

Carver shook his head, no. "Unfortunately, it wasn't the Warlock king," he said. "The Warlock king has decided not to partake in anything besides doing what Amity had asked. Neither will the Vampire king."

I wrinkled my nose in disgust, and disappointment filled my body. I knew that it would be a lot to ask of them, but I had hoped that I would have support from them and their warriors if I asked.

"Why is it that King Paul will help but not them?" Brody asked. "I thought that they, especially the Witches and Warlocks, had a stronger relationship with the cats than with Werewolves."

"They did," Carver replied. "All because of Kat's father and mother. However, due to Kat's young age..." He trailed off and looked at me with a pointed look, silently waiting for me to catch on.

I frowned and cocked my head while I studied my advisor, who wasn't doing his damn job. I had no idea what me being a young age meant and wondered if they wanted to see if I would come to them and see if we still had a treaty.

Brody looked between Carver and me, and realization dawned in his eyes. He squeezed my side softly, but that didn't stop the sadness I felt. "Do they want to see if she'll honor the treaty and ask for herself?" Brody asked. He looked at me. "Have you contacted them at all yet?"

I puffed out my cheeks and shook my head, no because I hadn't contacted them. I knew that I should have, but it had been on the bottom of my list, especially since I had to worry about getting my kingdom back again from two men that thought that they would be a better fit to the throne than me.

Brody frowned and studied me. "Why not?" he asked. He wasn't trying to be rude or anything, but it did rub me the wrong way because a part of me knew that I should have contacted them once I was able to remember who I was and the people that my father had made friends with.

"Because it didn't cross my mind," I said, getting a little snippy with him. I scowled and didn't apologize like I should have, but I couldn't help it. I was stressed already, and this added more stress to me, especially since I had to rework the contracts between the clans to make sure that everything was in order.

My mate didn't even flinch when I became snippy. He simply placed a kiss to the side of my head before he pulled me closer to him until he was able to rest his chin on the top of my head.

I closed my eyes and huffed while I listened to the sound of his heartbeat, the beat soothing me more than anything else he could have done. "I'm sorry for being snippy," I mumbled and buried my face closer to his chest. "I am just annoyed, is all."

"I know," Brody said and moved a finger across my arm, leaving a trail of sparks in its wake. "I am sorry for annoying you and making you be so snippy with me."

I didn't respond and buried myself further into his embrace. I knew that there were still items that we had to discuss, but for right now, at this second, all I needed to do was listen to my mate's heartbeat and calm myself before I got too riled up to listen to what Carver had to suggest.

Goddess, please let me be able to get their help with this battle between my uncle and maybe Dominic. Please. Because I have no idea what would happen if I didn't.