Page 116 of Psycho Shifters
Realistically, it was the cutest thing I had ever seen in my life.
“Can I hold him?” I asked.
“Of course.” Aran proceeded to dump the little poof on my lap. Immediately, it started to purr and curled up against my warmth.
“Aw, she likes me.” I petted her silky fur, and the little angel flipped over, showing me her tiny belly.
“I figured he would enjoy hanging out with a much bigger cat. Maybe he can sense your cat vibes?” Aran flopped down on the end of my bed and wrapped himself in my fur blanket. “It’s cold in this bed by the window. How do you sleep here?”
“I don’t mind it. Also, he definitely loves my cat energy. Maybe I’ll show him how to roar?” The little fluff ball proceeded to crawl up my sweatshirt and lick my nose.
My heart melted. With everything I had been through lately, I really needed the support.
“That would be cute. Can you believe I found him wandering the halls by himself, meowing? There are some mousers in the fortress, but his mom must have abandoned him, so I decided to take him in. I know what it feels like, little guy. Mom’s suck.”
I remembered Aran had scoffed when he’d talked about his parents.
I held the kitty up and cradled him to my chest. “Who needs parents? What are they good for anyway? Emotional support? It’s much healthier to repress emotions and ignore red flags.”
The kitty looked up at me with big purple eyes. It felt like he was sympathizing with me and offering me comfort. Clearly, I had been needing an emotional support pet for a while. Holding the kitten made me realize that.
“I’m so jealous you found him. I’m going to come to your room all the time to play with him.”
“Actually, as a beta, we aren’t technically allowed to have pets on the compound. Since Jax makes the rules, I was hoping you could convince him to let you keep it, and I would visit you.”
Joy swelled through my chest, and I cradled the kitty closer to me. “What makes you so sure Jax will let me keep him if it’s against the rules?”
“Hm, maybe because he stares at you twenty-four seven and literally growls like a wild bear whenever I touch you.” Aran rolled his eyes like I was being dumb. “Especially after the attack. Sadie, the man stopped training the other day to give you a fucking bread roll because he said you looked hungry.”
I made a childish face back at him while inside, a repressed, girly part of me squealed and flopped around.
When Jax had stopped me mid-run to give me the buttery roll, it had been like the moon goddess herself had reached down and kissed me. Seriously, I had been dying and needed the fuel.
It was the single sweetest thing anyone had ever done for me. Ascher’s annoying comments and Cobra’s scoffs couldn’t distract me from it.
Still, that was just Jax. Aran seemed to think I had some sort of power over all the alphas. If he saw the way they constantly berated me, he would lose that assumption real quick.
Some people loved each other, like Jax and Cobra, and some people hated each other, like Dick and me.
In contrast, some people low-key did not like someone, so they spent every waking minute tormenting that person and letting them know they did not like them. That was how Ascher and Cobra felt about me.
I sighed heavily and kissed the little kitty’s tiny, perfect head. “I’ll try my best.”
“Yay.” Aran clapped his hands and jumped off my bed. “Now get your sleepy ass out of bed. We’re hitting the town and going shopping for the party!”
Hitting the town sounded glamorous, exciting, and fast-paced.
A few minutes later, my tired ass was on the back of a horse, shivering, as we trudged slowly through the snow.
“Giddyap!” Aran shouted at his horse and bucked his feet. The large, furry beast whinnied and started walking slower.
“I’m pretty sure we could walk faster than this!” I shouted above the freezing wind. There was a reason we stayed inside all day and trained. The shifter realm was fucking cold.
“It’s all about the experience!” Aran yelled from behind me. His horse was mutinying against him and was falling behind mine. Which was impressive because my horse was barely moving.
Thankfully, it really did take no skill to ride a Yukata horse to the nearest town. The massive furry horses from the stables were extremely well trained and knew the path by heart. I just sat and shivered as it led the way.
Slowly.