The Cat Shifter (Book 1 of Shifter Series)

Chapter 64

"Well?" my uncle asked a third time when I didn't say a word, and he raised an eyebrow in question. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Let me go," I said, my voice barely above a whisper, pretending to act like a scared little girl. "Please, I don't want you to keep having your hand on my butt and licking my cheek."

My uncle sneered before he chuckled darkly. "Well, take out the gem from your pockets," he said, "and I will do just that. Where did you hide it now?"

I hesitated before I shook my head, not able to look at him. "I don't know," I said, my voice barely above a whisper. "I would check for you if you want, but I need you to take your hands out of my pockets and tell Amity to let me go."

"Hmph." My uncle kissed my cheek harder before he finally pulled away from me and took his hands from my pockets.

Oh, thank Gods, I thought, making sure to keep my face blank while I stared at him.

"Well?" my uncle asked and raised an eyebrow in question. He gestured his hand toward my pockets, silently indicating that he wanted me to check them and take them out of my pockets. "Check your jeans. Where is your gem?"

I hesitated and pressed my lips into a thin line. "I can't," I said, my voice barely above a whisper. "I am still under Amity's control. I can't move anything except my mouth."

"Hmph." He smirked and narrowed his eyes before he gestured toward me. "Go ahead and release her arms, Amity," he said. "But make sure she is able to stay in the same spot as she is in now."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Amity hummed and did what she was told to do. She muttered something under her breath, and I could move my hands and arms, but I couldn't move the rest of my body.

"Now, go ahead and do what you were told to do," he said.

I hesitated before I did what I was told to do and stuffed my hands into my front pockets, and my heart stopped while panic started to set in when I didn't feel something that I was supposed to feel.

Oh, no...

My mouth went dry, and my heart skipped a beat before it started to pound hard and fast in my chest. I bit the inside of my lip, and my hands shook while I patted my back pockets before I stuffed my hands into them just to make sure that whatever I was "feeling" was correct.

Oh, no, no, no, no...

"What?" my uncle asked with a scowl on his face. He narrowed his eyes before he cocked his head and studied me, baring his teeth in warning. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"The stone," I said, my voice barely above a whisper. "I-I don't know where it is." I shook my head and pressed my lips into a thinner line, and tears started to form in the corner of my eyes. "I-I don't have it."

Romanov scowled and narrowed his eyes further, his whole body growing tense when those were uttered under my breath. "What?" he asked harshly. He narrowed his eyes further and bared his teeth while he took a threatening step toward me. "What do you mean that you don't have it? How can you not have it?"

"I-I-I-It's not in my pockets, Romanov," I said and checked my pockets before I looked at him, my bottom lip shaking while I stared at him with tears still forming in my eyes. "I do not have my stone in my pockets."

Romanov looked at me and before he looked at Amity, who wasn't looking at us but at the three people that were in the room with us. He scowled and narrowed his eyes, biting back a small growl of annoyance. "Is she telling the truth? Does she not have the stone?"

Amity didn't respond while she kept my mother, uncle, and aunt in place. She didn't pay any attention to him while she stared at them, waiting for me.

"Amity," my uncle snapped, and Amity didn't even blink as if she was used to this. He growled threateningly, his whole body growing tense and slowly started to shake with rage. "Is Kathrine telling the truth? Does she have her stone on her or not?"

"Good, good, good," Tigress said. "Everything is going to plan."

"Shhhhh," I said, biting back a small smirk. "I can't smirk and have to act like a scared child, but I can't do that if you are making me feel excited about what's going to happen."

My tiger chuckled but stayed silent. She flicked her tail and then flicked her tail again while she slowly started to become impatient, and I couldn't help but become impatient, too, but I knew that I had to wait for something else until I could act in a way I wanted to so that I could protect my family and bring them "home" again.

Hurry up...

"Amity," Romanov snapped again, and I flinched and closed my eyes while I set my jaw. He snarled and barred his teeth while he backed away from me and took a threatening step toward her. "Is she telling the truth?"

Amity slowly turned her head to look at me without blinking, her red eye slowly turning blue while Romanov's control slowly started to disappear and was being replaced by her being under my control completely as the rightful heir to the throne.

"Well?" Romanov asked and raised an eyebrow in question. He folded his arms across his chest and scowled, narrowing his eyes further. "Is she telling the truth?"

"She is, Your Majesty," Amity replied in a robotic tone that was very cold and sounding very bored about the whole thing. She nodded and turned to look at him. "She does not have the stone on her."

"Then where is it?" Romanov asked. He narrowed his eyes and bared his teeth while he looked at her. "Where is my fucking stone?"

Amity slowly blinked and bowed lower, not looking at him in the eyes. "I do not know," she said and looked at me before she looked at him, and for some reason he didn't seem to notice that her red eye was turning back into its normal color. "I could get her to tell you if you would like, Your Majesty."

"Do it," Romanov said with a small snap in his voice. He gestured to me and set his jaw while he narrowed his eyes and took a threatening step toward me. He turned to look at me, and his eyes turned a darker shade of color while a part of his eyes turned red, and the hair on the back of my neck stood at attention.

Shit...

"Where is my fucking stone, Katherine?" he asked and bared his teeth in anger, and I couldn't help but flinch back, even though I still couldn't move half of my body, and my heart skipped a beat before it started to pound faster and harder in my chest.

Amity cleared her throat, and Romanov instantly looked at her through his narrowed eyes. She didn't look at him and bowed deeper, pressing her lips into a thin line. "You need to back away from her, Your Majesty," she said in the same type of voice she had been using for the past few minutes. "We don't want you to get hurt from this spell if anything goes wrong; do we?"

Romanov growled again but did what he was told to do and took a step back and moved away from me. He turned his gaze toward me and completely ignored Amity, much to my relief.

"He seems to growl a lot; don't you think?" Tigress asked and seemed to flick her tail up and down while she continued to grow impatient, waiting for Amity to tell us that it was time for us to act. "I wonder if there is something in his throat."

I bit back a small snort and continued to wait for Amity to do something to either me or my uncle, not knowing what she was planning on doing because I couldn't read her mind. "Stop because you're going to make me break character, and we don't need them to know just yet."

My tiger spirit bit back an annoyed sigh and flicked her tail again. "Well, I hope that it will be done soon because I am tired of this," she grumbled, and I couldn't help but hum in agreement because I was getting tired of waiting, too.

Amity blinked and blinked again before she fully looked at me with both of her eyes becoming blue and winked, silently telling me that it was time, and I couldn't help but breathe a small sigh of relief while I subtly nodded, silently indicating that I understood and was ready.

It was time...