The Cat Shifter (Book 1 of Shifter Series)

Chapter 15

"Good, do it again," Carver said. He stood to the side of the training field and watched as I had completed a course that I had made.

I was breathing heavily, my face red from all the work I had been putting in. Sweat beaded on the edge of my bra line, showing the amount of work I had been doing. "No more," I panted out. I placed my hands on my legs and leaned forward, trying to keep the bile from rising. "Please."

"But... you didn't want to get any work done today," he said. "You have only been going at this for three hours."

I gave him an annoyed look. "Three hours?" I asked. "You had been making me do this course for three fucking hours?"

"Yes," he replied. He blinked and raised an eyebrow. "Next time, you will do the work like I had asked you to do. Running off to train will not work."

I huffed and laid down. I closed my eyes and welcomed the cool breeze on my skin. I was sure that Carver would tell me to get up, so I was surprised when he just laid down next to me.

"What?" Carver asked, looking at me. He raised an eyebrow and ignored the scowl that I sent his way. "I did work you really hard."

"No shit," I said, looking up at the sky. "Why?"

"You are the queen, are you not?"

"I do not like you were speaking in riddles, Carver," I said. "Yes, I am the queen. What does that mean anything?"

"It means that you make the rules," he said. "In the end, whatever I say doesn't matter."

"But, you are my advisor," I said. "I have to listen to what you say." I swatted at his hands when he smacked me with a stick. "Hey, what is that for?"

"That is for the wrong answer," he said. "You don't have to listen to what I say. I make suggestions, but even then, they could be the wrong ones."

"Like..?" I asked, looking at him.

He had this thoughtful look on his face. His eyes were filled with pain, and I couldn't help but wonder what was going on through his mind. "The Werewolf King, Paul, sent your father a request for an alliance."

"Ok..?" I asked, furrowing my brows in confusion. "It happened, and Caspian and I grew up some together."

"I had told him not to do it," he said.

I twisted onto my stomach and stared at him with narrowed eyes. "What do you mean you told him not to?" I asked.

"I told him not to. I had told him that it was a trap."

"But it wasn't."

"But, it wasn't," he agreed. "He didn't even take my advice on having a lot of guards around the throne room." He shook his head and chuckled. "Paul was the one that brought a lot of guards. It almost caused panic in the kingdom but didn't when your father welcomed them."

I bit back a smile. I could imagine him giving a teasing remark about the protection, trying to break the ice. "He tried to break the ice between them, but it didn't work."

"No, but what did break the ice was you." He lifted his head and smiled at me, his eyes holding a grave look in them. "You and Trevor ran into the room with you holding a bass."

I chuckled and nodded my head, an image of me chasing Trevor while covered in mud and water and holding a fish. "I was trying to force him to kiss it," I said. "He said that I wouldn't be able to catch one with my hands, but I did."

"And, we made a bet that you wouldn't do it or catch one," someone said from behind me. Trevor stood there, his eyes red from crying. He had a grim smile on his face, and he didn't meet my gaze. "We made a bet on the fish, and you said that one of us would have to kiss a fish."

I sat up and held my hand out to him. I pulled him down next to me when he placed his hand on mine and hugged him. "And, I won," I whispered.

Trevor nodded his head and cleared his throat. He was sorry. He didn't need to say it. He knew that I knew that he was sorry. "And you won," he said. He cleared his throat and chuckled. "Your mother was mortified that you had a fish in your hands. I think she was scared of you letting it go."

I chuckled and nodded my head. "Dad just laughed, and the King looked rather shocked. Dad said that we were going to have some bass that night and asked what possessed me to do it."

"So you said, 'well, Papa, have you heard of the Princess kissing a frog for her prince? Well, Princes kiss fish for their princess, and Trevor is going to kiss a fish for his bride.'" Trevor shook his head and smiled. "You made the whole place laugh, and I was embarrassed."

I snorted and shook my head. "You forgave me, though," I said. "We were trying to see how many fish we could catch for dinner."

"And, you won."

"And I won, but... you never did kiss that fish."

"Drop it, Kat."