“When Dad came back, he was… different.” Kit swallowed hard and pressed his cheek to the top of his knees, then continued quietly. “He was always different when he came back from the bad ones. But this one….”
“I don’t know what happened to him. He’d come home in the early morning hours and I was so happy to see him the next day after I got off work. He was resting in his room, Kit was at school I think….”
Kit sighed. “I’d been staying at home because Derek was there but I still went to the study sessions because I had that chance again. Schooling isn’t exactly something you can count on when you live like we do, Dad and I, I mean. We moved around a lot.”
“When I got to his room, I saw he was asleep in his bed but in his cat form. That wasn’t common, so I tried to approach him carefully and I don’t know… Next thing that I remember is that he’s attacking me, scratching my eye out, literally, and running away.”
“They took Derek to the hospital. While he was there, the Council moved us from Italy.”
“I… they couldn’t give me my job back after I’d recovered because a human is a liability as it is and a one-eyed one….”
All the shifters, Kit included, let out different discontented sounds. Dallas snorted and ground out something like “bullshit.”
“They would’ve found me another job, as a glorified tech guy basically, but since I’d saved a lot of money, I declined it. I asked where Cal was, but they wouldn’t tell me, so I left and started to look for him and Kit, because….” Derek ducked his head and wondered if he could trust anyone with this secret.
“Because?” Mikael prompted in that gentle tone of his.
What did Derek have to lose at this point? “Somehow, I know he’s my mate.”
Kit lifted his head to look at him. “Wait, but you’re human?”
“I know. It makes absolutely no sense, but I can feel the bond.”
Maxim seemed dubious.
“I’ve never heard of a human feeling a mate bond,” Noah said but there was thoughtfulness, not accusation in his tone.
Dallas’ voice was similar when he said, “Me neither.”
“Doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Could just be incredibly rare,” Mikael pointed out.
“Well, most of humankind don’t know that everyone around this table except you and me can shift into an animal,” Derek said dryly, making Mikael grin.
“Okay, so, let’s say we take this at face value—” Noah started and was stopped by Kit.
“I believe him. It makes sense to me. Dad wouldn’t have changed as much as he has if there wasn’t more of a reason than whatever happened on his last job.”
“Kit is right,” Maxim grunted. “He hurt Mate. The cat would not forgive itself.”
Dallas nodded. “So he’s been in human form since… when?”
“Since the day we were moved from the house we shared with Derek,” Kit said quietly. “Two years.”
Everyone there knew what that meant. Cal shouldn’t have been sane anymore, yet somehow he managed.
“Without morphine and with the shock of seeing you, the cat pushed through,” Mikael murmured.
Derek didn’t ask if they needed to try and find Cal. He’d bolted, but he could find his way back when he wanted to. He had his son here, and his mate. There were enough familial bonds to bring him here when the cat wanted.
If the cat wanted. And if Cal the man did.
