The Kitten Has Claws

The Kitten Has Claws [Chapter 5]

Alright, I hope this chapter answers some questions for you  

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Enjoy!

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Chapter 5 

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Noelle stormed out of Finn’s room angrily. She was pissed that there was something wrong with Violet. Violet had been her friend for over half her life and it irked her to no end that she was hiding a huge secret. She was also pissed that Raine and his men had kidnapped her and her friends. Noelle wanted to know why they were here. But what made her the angriest was that she was attracted to Raine, the dirty bastard. Somehow he had wormed his way under her skin and wouldn’t leave her alone. For God’s sakes she had just met him! It didn’t help that he was as attractive as a Greek god, but it was irrational and stupid to have feelings for her captor. Some stupid Stockholm Syndrome, no doubt.

Whirling around abruptly, she looked around for Raine who was staring at her with an amused look on his face. “We need to talk,” she said firmly. “Now.”

“Of course,” he replied reasonably, as if he knew she was going to say that all along. He turned and walked away from her, heading for a door down the hallway. Clearly he expected her just to follow him around like a puppy. Noelle growled, but grudgingly followed him, allowing Raine to have control of the situation for the moment.

“What can I do for you, kitten?” he asked once they’d entered the room. He sat on the bed and patted the area next to him, grinning when Noelle shook her head.

“Why did you kidnap us?” she asked bluntly, without any preamble. “And why, can none of us stay angry at you for it? It’s not rational that suddenly we aren’t fighting you…did you poison us or something?”

“You don’t beat around the bush, do you?” Raine chuckled. “If you’ll sit, I’ll gladly tell you everything.”

Noelle shook her head again and glared, “I’m perfectly fine standing, thank you. Start explaining, buddy.”

Raine sighed dramatically and pushed his fingers through his thick black hair, giving him a roguish look. He thought about where to start and figured he’d just dive straight into it. “I guess I’ll answer your last question first. We give off certain…pheromes that make it nearly impossible for females to resist, it’s just part of our nature, and helps us find mates. I’m the alpha of this pack, Finn is the beta and second in command. Usually panthers don’t travel in large groups, but lately we’ve been forced to band together. In the past year or so the Hunters have started growing in numbers and are more aggressive. They have made it their life goal to hunt us down and kill us all. To them, we are abominations of life, creatures that shouldn’t exist.”

Raine paused to control his anger. The Hunters had done so much damage in so little time. They had no right to discriminate against him and his pack. They hadn’t chosen to be panthers; it was something they were all born with.

“Raine,” Noelle said soothingly, understanding that this was hard to talk about.

He looked up at her and smiled apologetically. “I’m sorry, this is a touchy subject around here. Lately the Hunters have gotten smarter and have decided to start killing off our women. Their theory is: if we don’t have women, we can’t reproduce.” He laughed bitterly and pounded a fist on the bed. “Over twenty women have been killed because of the Hunters. My sisters were two of them. Now there are only a few left in this area.”