The Cat Shifter (Book 1 of Shifter Series)

Chapter 76

"How are you feeling, Kat?" Brody asked while he grabbed my hand tighter in his hands, he brushed up against me, silently telling himself that I was alive and well. He looked at me from the corner of his eye and bit back a small smile, and a look of worry flashed through his eyes. "Are you ok?" he asked and raised an eyebrow in question. "Are you in pain?"

I bit back a small chuckle while I slowly nodded. "I am ok, Brody," I said and leaned against him while I closed my eyes, biting back a tired sigh and slowly started to relax. I cleared my throat and licked my lips, opening my eyes while I glanced at him from the corner of my eye and bit back a tired smile. "I am not in pain any longer if that is what you are worried about, Brody."

"But you are tired, correct?" Ro asked and raised an eyebrow in question, looking at me from the corner of his eye. He pressed his lips into a thin line, and a look of worry and annoyance flashed through his eyes while he stared at me.

I bit back a small chuckle and slowly nodded. "Yes," I said. I bit back a tired sigh and moved a hand through my hair and across my face while I shook my head and pursed my lips in annoyance. "I am tired, and I need some sleep after everything that I, well, we have been through and done." I gestured to Ray and then back toward myself.

Ro set his jaw and narrowed his eyes while he stared at me and then looked at his sister. He walked closer to his sister and grabbed her hand tighter. His whole body was tense, and a look of worry and sadness filled his eyes.

Ray glanced at him from the corner of her eye. She didn't say a word while her whole body was tense, and she looked nervous and worried about him doing something to her, even though I knew that he wouldn't do anything to her.

Or to me...

'Nothing else will happen to her,' I said and looked at Ro, and he pressed his lips into a thin line while he slowly blinked, setting his jaw. 'She won't go back to the kingdom until it is safe for us all to go back.'

'Then why did you have her go back now, Kat?' he asked and set his jaw tighter until it started to quiver. 'You could have gotten her killed because of what you had done. Then what would you have done?'

I shrugged and grimaced, pressing my lips into a thin line. 'I don't know,' I said honestly before I cleared my throat and licked my lips, hesitating ever so slightly. 'I don't know what I would have done if something bad had happened to her. However I would have done everything in my power to make sure that nothing happened worse than that.'

Ro set his jaw tighter, and his bottom lip quivered while a look of pain and sadness flashed across his face. He moved closer to his sister and pulled her closer to him, and Ray grew tense and looked between the two of us as if she knew that we were talking to each other about her and about what had happened to us when we were at the kingdom and under Romanov's control.

'I had a few other plans put in place to make sure that nothing goes wrong and that no one dies just yet,' I said with a small hum in my voice, tucking my head closer to my chest while I stared at his back. 'Some of the plans were to put me in the line of fire instead of her.'

Ro turned to look at me and bit back a small growl, earning a curious look from Brody and Derrick while we continued down the path toward the entrance. 'What happened?' he asked and set his jaw while he narrowed his eyes. 'What do you mean, Kat?'

I pressed my lips into a thin line and subtly shook my head. 'We will talk about that later when we do not have someone waiting on us,' I replied coldly, pressing my lips into a thin line. 'That is a lot of stuff that I do not want out in the open, and I know damn well that you do not want us to talk like this when we talk about everything.'