Here Kitty, Kitty - 56. Chapter 22.1

Their peace was soon shattered by someone knocking on the door.

“Meeting in thirty…and for the sanity of those of us who are still unmated and have sensitive noses, please shower.”

Carl rolled his eyes while Tristan chuckled into Carl’s shoulder.

They hauled themselves out of bed and Carl allowed Tristan to beat him to the shower. After all, who was he to say no to watching his mate strip and wash while water fell over him in a sexy waterfall?

“You could join me, you know?”

Carl smirked. “Then we would be late for the meeting. Better to get the meeting out of the way first. Then I have the rest of the night to explore the sexy mate the fates saw fit to send me.”

Tristan’s face lit up beautifully and Carl fought back his urge to forget the meeting and pull his mate back to bed.

He must have made some noise because it seemed it was Tristan’s turn to smirk. His mate then stepped out the shower and stood there dripping wet.

“Pass me a towel please.”

Carl growled. The towels were well within Tristan’s reach, he was just pushing his luck. Carl stalked forward and proceeded to pat his now non-smirking mate dry…slowly.

By the time he’d finished they were both in no mood for a meeting. But, Carl moved away and after glancing longingly at the shower he turned toward the bedroom to dress.

“Wait.” Tristan placed a hand on his arm and muttered a few words of power. A warmth spread over Carl and he felt refreshed. He raised an eyebrow and Tristan blushed. “It’s a simple cleansing spell. The shower was just to tempt you.”

Shaking his head Carl carried on to the bedroom and searched for clean appropriate clothes.

***

“There’s bad news and worse news.” Patrick was leading the meeting as usual but Leon, a bear shifter enforcer, was speaking about what he and his men had found out from the prisoners. “One vamp says he and others are being forced to work for Cheryl. Like the mage she is taking mates and using them to make beings cooperate with her plans. She is apparently using the seers’ powers to identify the mates she needs to take and who she can influence with them. The worse news is that he heard rumors about her having the mate of someone in the high council she is making the council member give her information of our investigation and making them put roadblocks in our way to slow us down. I have already checked on all my men and their mates. I personally met each one face to face. None are missing. I would urge all elders to check in on their clans/packs/groups.”

Carl felt his mind stutter. Targeting mates just wasn’t done. Targeting seers or one particular species was one thing, that had been happening for as long he could remember. There was always someone who wanted to eradicate a certain section of paranormal society. Or enslave them. Or just persecute them. But, mates? They were always sacred and it had been an unwritten rule—before it became a written law when the high council was formed—forever that mates were off limits.

Patrick cleared his throat. “I think we should break so Carl, Tristan, and Brian can contact their relevant groups to get their enforcers to do a check on all mates. I would suggest you check children too. Someone who would use a mate for blackmail wouldn’t hesitate to use a child or other loved one for the same purpose. We’ll meet again after midnight.”

The meeting broke up and everyone seemed to be lost in their thoughts. Tristan’s hand slipped into Carl’s and made him smile.

“Do you mind if I come with you and we check together? I may need someone to back me up when I tell my family there is a danger to the clan.”

“Of course, my mate.” Carl dropped a kiss on Tristan’s head and they headed out together.

Thank you all, for reading, commenting, reacting.  
And thank you to Timothy for all his continuing help