Page 2 of Archie

“I’m afraid that it won’t do you any good. I have your scent, and since I gave you a bit of my blood, actually quite a bit of it, you can’t hide your feelings from me either. And because I had to give you a bit of my blood to save you, I’ll have a firsthand look at your emotions, too. I know you really wanted to die, Carrie. But I couldn’t allow that. I’m so very sorry. But I need you around. By the way, I never got your last name.” Glaring at the man had him laughing. “You’re not having a good time? I believe that I am. You’re also going to love my family.” And why could she suddenly talk to the loony cake this way? He told her. She no more believed that than she did that he’d given her his blood. That was just…it was gross. She didn’t even want to think about how he’d done that either.

“Are they as nutty as you are? He laughed harder when she told him she hated him. And while she’d only just met the man, she had a feeling that his life up until recently hadn’t been the best. “What’s happened to you? Did someone shit in your oats or something? No, that can’t be right. You’re a cat. It’s doubtful that you’ve ever eaten anything as cheap as oatmeal.”

“As a matter of fact, I love oats. As for something shitting in them, no, it’s not happening anymore. You see, my mother recently passed on along with her father. I’m happy about that. Now, while I know that sounds like I’m a bastard of a son, it’s not true. I’m actually just figuring out that I’m a nice enough sort of person. I have lived a sheltered life, thanks to my mother controlling every aspect of my life, but myself and my brothers are working things out.” She asked him if he meant LouCinda Sheppard. “Yes. I’m sure that you read about it in the paper. It was written about all over the world, I was told. Her father wasn’t all that much better than his daughter. But while it hurts me that I didn’t have a good relationship with her, I am glad that they’re both gone. The two of them killed a lot of people before they were killed.”

“I’m sorry about that. I read about the trial not ending well. And a lot of people are left to wonder if their missing family members were part of her killing spree.” He said that the attorneys were taking care that everyone they had records of have been notified. “Good.”

They were just pulling up in front of the hospital when she was told to please keep her head down. There were reporters all over the entrance, and they were going to bring her in through the emergency department. Not around back where ambulances usually did their drop-offs.

With the blanket over her head, she could hear everything that was going on. There must have been a couple of reporters in the ED because she heard someone telling them to leave or be arrested. Not paying attention to whether or not they left, she was amazed at how wonderful it felt to have her hand held by Mr. Sheppard. Trying to pull away from him didn’t work, so she made herself leave her hand limp in his much larger one. His laughter pissed her off.

“You are going to be a handful, aren’t you? All right, you can remove the covering. We’re in a room.” She wanted to know why she was even in here when she looked down at her blouse as they sat her up on the other bed. There was a great deal of blood, too, and she had to put her head back when it occurred to her that it was all hers. “Steady now. You don’t want to pass out on me now. Breathe in and—”

“I know how to breathe.” But she did listen to his instructions so that she wouldn’t pass out. “There is no telling what you’d have them do to me if I were to faint. Why are you even following me around? Don’t you have widows to toss out of their homes or something?”

“Why do people think that first thing? I mean, sure, I have some money, but I’ve never once even been tempted to toss anyone out on their ass. That’s not true. I did toss my mother and grandfather out before they were killed. I might toss you around just to see if your bosom bounces as well as I think they might. Will they?” She could only stare at him, not sure what to say. “Close your mouth, dear. The doctor wants to talk to you.”

She didn’t hear a single word that the doctor said to her. Carrie was still trying to figure out why he’d brought up her breasts right now. When the doctor left her, she looked around the room and wondered yet again why she was there.

“You have a broken collar bone as well as some contusions along your cheeks, lovely as they are, that need to be stitched up. And just so you know, you’ve single-handedly stopped the restaurant from being robbed by taking out the three men who came there to do the job.” She asked them how he had come to that conclusion. “Oh, that’s not what happened. It’s just what the police and the reporters think happened. Lily broke your collarbone when she slapped the gun out of your hand. The rest is what they saw when they got there.”

“Who is Lily?” He told her something about a queen and earth. “I’m sorry. What? I mean, did you just tell me that Lily is the queen of the earth who kept me alive and that she’s been keeping an eye on me for you? I don’t know that I’m all that happy with that. I mean, she could have kept a better eye on me than she had, don’t you think? I’ve been beaten nearly to death, stabbed, shot—not by me those times, and I’ve been thrown—why are you looking all fuzzy?”

“My cat doesn’t care for the fact that you’ve been hurt. He’s showing you how upset he is. And I want to find these men and teach them a lesson in treating my mate.” She turned her head away so that he would not see her pain. “Carrie? I’m sorry, honey. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“Okay, first of all. I’m not upset. Hurt? Yes. But not upset. Also, I can’t be your mate. Well, I suppose that I could be, but I don’t want to be. You do not want to saddle yourself with a woman who is in debt for thousands upon thousands of dollars because her brother is a fucking deadbeat that…did you tell me that your cat was upset?” He nodded and told her that he was a jaguar. “A jaguar. You’re a jaguar.”

“Yes. Not only that but I might be the leap leader. Which would make you the female version of myself. Gives you lots of power, too.” She glared at him. “Honey, I don’t know if you’re aware of this or not but I think you’re just too adorable to be upset with when you get all mean looking at me. It just occurred to me what my brother meant when he said he liked to piss off his mate. Sunny is scary, but she loves us all.”

“You’re insane.” He thanked her. “No, it’s not a compliment. It’s…do you have any idea how that sounds? That you’re a shifter? I mean, don’t get me wrong. If you believe it, then I will, too. But there are—what the fuck did you do?”

“I’ve become my cat for you. I must tell you that he’s happy to be with you.” She backed as far as she could from the gianormace cat that was standing next to her bed. Reaching for the call cord to get someone to come and save her, the furry fuzz ball leaped up on the bed and licked her face. “He loves you too.”

“No one loves me.” He told her that he did, and the big cat licked her face again. She noticed that he’d not touched the side of her face where she was cut up. When he leaped off the bed and became Archie again, she felt disappointment all the way to her toes. Then the door opened. There stood three men that could have been the man that had just been a— “If you tell me that you’re cats, too, then I’m going to have them ship me off to la-la land. Brothers, right?”

“Yes. Archie is the oldest. I’m Nash. My name is Nashville but I decided that I like Nash better. This is our younger brothers Weston and Beau. You’re Carrie Hunter Sheppard.” She said that she knew who she was and she was not Sheppard. “I hate to break it to you, but that’s what the newspapers are calling you. That might be better, to be honest. You’re protected by magic, as well as all of us.”

“Just how many are there of you? And so, you know, you look like you’ve been cut from the same mold.” He thanked her. “Why is it impossible to say something to you guys, and you think it’s a compliment?”

“Because no one has ever been nice to us before.” That hurt her not just in her heart but in her very soul. She told them that she was sorry. “No worries, honey. You’re with us now, so I’m thinking that we’re going to start having a better life. I know that I am. My mate, Sunny, is everything to me. Just as you are to Archie.”

“I’ve only just met him.” The nurse came in and told her that she was going to go to preop. Nervous all of a sudden, she felt herself suddenly relax when Archie took her hand into his. It wasn’t a habit that she wanted to keep, but it was nice to know that he was going to be there for her. Why? She didn’t know, but she knew on some level that he would be forever.

They rolled her down to the preop room, and she was glad again that Archie was with her. He had an effect on her nerves that made her feel like she was going to be all right. Again, she didn’t understand that, but she was glad for it. As soon as they gave her something to relax her, Carrie was drifting off. She was sure that she’d not said anything aloud, but she told Archie that she loved him. She was being silly, she knew. But she really thought that she knew what her heart was telling her.

“Hello there.” She had to take a few minutes to get her eyes to focus and saw that another brother was sitting in the chair next to her bed. She asked him who he was. Or she thought that she did. “You did. However, you didn’t ask it out loud. I’m sorry, but I didn’t want you to hurt when you spoke. You’ve been out for a few days. My name is Wrangler. As you’ve guessed, yes, I am one of the brothers of Archie. I’m the third born. Can I get you anything? They said that you shouldn’t allow the pain to get too much for you. That if you need something, ask for it sooner rather than later.”

“Am I going to be all right?” He told her that she had some stitches that were in her arm and that they’d not known she’d been hurt there until they got her in the operating room. “Why haven’t I healed up? I mean, that’s what is supposed to happen, right? I don’t know if I believe all the stuff I’ve read about shifters. But that is constant in all the books I read.”

“Yes, well, you’ve not said that you accept Archie. He’s claimed you, not in a bad way, but just telling everyone that you’re his mate. In order to heal, and just so you don’t do that immediately, the police have yet to speak to you and you have to make it look good for the public. They get kind of testy when people heal too quickly.” She said she understood. “Good. He just said that he claimed you as his mate. And being that he’s holding off accepting the position of leap leader until he can speak to you about it, he went to Joshia and told him. That’s all you need to do.”

“Sounds too easy.” He said that it wasn’t really. “What’s going to happen when I say those words? I immediately heal or something? And what happens to me when I do? I’m assuming that I’m going to heal from what you’re saying.”

“You will heal completely. Even the things that haven’t been known to you as yet will disappear. I’m only telling you this so you understand what will happen to you. You have several spots of cancer in your left breast. It’s not bad yet, but it would have eventually taken you. I’m sorry. I’m not known for my tact.” She told him that she wouldn’t have it any other way. “Good. There is more, but I think your pain is getting the better of you. Before my brother comes in here and beats me up for keeping you from your pain meds, please call the nurse for something. Please?”

She nodded, just realizing that he was right. She was hurting. He had to help her with the button and the nurse came in immediately to give her meds. Wrangler didn’t leave her, even holding her hand while the meds took her under. She didn’t understand her need for Archie just then, but she closed her eyes and allowed the medication to take her under.

Chapter 2

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