Disclaimer: Most of the characters are mine but set in Ms. Feehan's Carpathian world. The basic premise is not mine and this is not for profit.
Catronia brushed her burgandy hair back and put it up. She'd watched Aisling since she was five. Not long after she started having to take more care for her younger sister than their parents did, she lost her sight. When her father saw that she became more coordinated near any feline, he brought home a kitten from an alley. She'd been dingy white but quickly bonded to the human who needed her aid. Over time the white kitten grew up and eventually found a mate. The resulting litter was pretty small but all but one went to good homes needing mousers and companions for the lady of the house. The kitten that stayed was a cute little calico who learned and bonded in if possible tighter to her mother's human. The white became the prime comforter to two girls as they'd grown until the fateful day when Catronia turned 17 and her parents died taking the cat to the vet. Cat who'd already been acting mother to her sister quickly learned to support them both though the weaving as her Grandmother had taught her. Gran came across the water but rarely saying their one cousin had noone but they at least had each other. If she didn't know better she'd have said Gran had somehow pushed this into coming about. Powers, knew the old woman was crafty enough. She'd never chastisized her son about breaking family tradition and getting mrried after all. Though his twin sister had followed and had been killed leaving her cousin a virtual orphan since noone knew who fathered her. It was doubtful he'd acknowledge her anyway since it was well known Gran had groomed her daughter and now her loner grandchild as the next village wisewoman. The kitten who'd taken fully over was now sitting with her grey long-haired daughter since today was an important day for the family. Aisling's wedding day. Amazing how far they'd both come in 22 years. Now she wouldn't even have the bi-monthly visits or as many phone calls since her sister know lived on an inverted schedule. Cat accepted that and the fact she more than likely would never live to see any nieces or nephews born and grown. Life goes on and now there would quite frankly be some reason to complain of boredom if she stayed in the house as she had. She fluffed the bride's maid grown picked up her bouquet after placing the smaller ones down for the cats at an angle so they could pick them up like a kitten by the scruff. She helped adjust the veil on her sister.
"Who'd think that I'd be so nervous at this? After all I'm already legally married both and Romania and here. This is just a formality." Aisling started to fiddle with the ivory gown when Cat caught her hands.
"It's natural. After all this is the type of pledging vows that gets brides superstituous but you know he's not going to leave you. He can't."
Ais smiled. "He's yelling the same at me. I think it's making him exasperated that in a small way I'm trying to fade back."
"Small? Sis this is your wedding. If you feel like balking remember he's put his pride on the line doing this. Now courage. Our father's female line has always been strong no matter what. Remember the tale of Great-greatgrandmother Aislinn who you're named after who was named after the Daoine Sidhe matchmaker walked with her head erect to her hanging as a witch didn't make a single sound despite knowing her twin sister and daughter were forced to watch by the mob of townspeople who had listened too much to their priest. Now raise your head up. Remember how you feel for him and you'll have the strength to get through this."

*Though I might not. Good luck little one. In many ways it feels as if I'm giving away my own child.*

At the reception, Ellis pulled her aside. "Thank you again for your aid in claiming my lifemate. I really wish you'd move in with us so I feel less worried that some vampire might try turning you into the undead and causing my lifemate sorrow."
"I must refuse yet again. It'd hurt too much to see my sister's joy and know I'll not have the same. Do not worry about me. We'd both been safely hidden for ten years before you came along and I shall probably still be safe. After all the vampire had gone after her not me. Maybe my mind is just too well mazed to be seen. Besides there's no way the cats and I could learn the house quickly enough to keep from getting lost. It's not like they have maps in their heads until I've learned the layout." Cat shrugged as if it didn't matter and it was fast getting to the point it didn't. She'd already had a few overtures for dating from the groomsman and bestman but she didn't feel like it. Without her duties what did she have left except emptiness and lonliness.
"At least let me put up safeguards on your home to protect you. I've respected your privacy enough to make me feel guilty enough for not telling my Prince of your exsistance but I just want to be sure you'll be safe until we come back in three weeks."
Cat was spared having to reply by her sister's arrival. "We have to cut the cake then could we please leave? This feels too much like being thrown in the deep end before learning to swim." Ellis kissed and lead his bride away feeling her panic creeping in. He knew she hated to be the center of attention but had pushed her into this seeing her faint longing echoing from her childhood to be a beautiful bride.
Selene and Bacall looked at her and watched slightly unnerved by the depression they felt pressing on their human. They only betrayed it in the twitching of their tails.

An old woman was sitting at Cat's kitchen table. Cat just barely glanced at her and looked away.
"So the youngest of my grandchildren is now and the prophecy is fulfilled." the mellow voice hung in the air.
"Yes, Aisling is now bonded to her, what did you call him all those years ago? Oh yes, 'demon lover'. He's not not really a demon you know." Cat was chopping carrots for the stew she'd decided to make. She wasn't trying to commit suicide. She'd just accept death if its jaws closed on her.
"And you? Are you planning on finally moving on with your life?" the gaze sharpened. She'd had a soft spot for this granddaughter who'd had to learn virtually alone. How could she not but her son had forbidden her and made her vow not to make his children unusual when he wed. In fact the full vow was set to allow virtually no interference but sometimes vows needed to be bent in spirit while kept to the word.
Cat ignored this for a moment and decided to not answer but evade. "How is my darling cousin doing? I haven't heard from her in a while and I didn't see her at the wedding."
"I'm afraid she wasn't taking good enough care of herself. The village keeps having nearly impossible births that have been wearing her thin. I left her sleeping on the couch after removing only her boots then hiding them." she twitched her lips at how she had to protect her grandchildren sometimes. "But you're trying to avoid my question. Are you going to undo what was wrought?"
"No, I like my solitary life with only my cats crowding their thoughts with mine. If I miraculously were 'cured' Aisling would try hooking me up with a 'nice guy'. You know how she occasionally gets. How many times have I complained because I worried when she went to the battered women's shelter to do her 'angel's visits' since she knew the woman wouldn't remember her just a vague feeling of peace and then when they got out they somehow miraculously found a decent guy who had no clue that he was being sent until he had the uncontrollable urge to talk to the woman. I've been wondering if you gave Ais a similar push."
The silver eyes danced as green searched unable to pull the secrets from their depths. "You really should move on with your life. It's not good for you that you do this to yourself. Your father wouldn't want this for you. I'm not even mentioning my daughter-in-law." Her eyes became hard. Over the years she'd wondered what that woman did to make the only male in their line turn from his heritage, his mother, and his daughter. She'd never asked Catronia the younger what her parents had done, since why else would a young girl run any way she possibly could even making herself vanish for all intents and purposes? and had no intention of doing so now. She just only hoped this grandchild wouldn't buck fate as much as her sister did. Not a single one of her granddaughters would be unpaired and the next generation assured before she finally let go of this world. If that meant pushing Fate into decisions she would gladly do this. It was for their future happiness and to ease their grief. * I love you, kitten. Good luck.*

Cat tossed and turned kicking the cats off the bed not realizing what she did. The dreams were too intense and despite the claws sinking into her legs she couldn't see past the dream, feel her body, or awaken.
The night beckoned the huntress. Her paws and tail twitched at the feel of anticipation of the hunt. Her dark eyes glinted and the light and shadow of her fur left her blend with the shadows around her. She slunk towards the unsuspected hoofed one. The kill was necessary, needed. The carnivore pounced and started to rend the flesh of her prey. After sating her hunger on the prey, she stretched and something deep inside was whispering over and over "Never again." Her muscles uncoiled and a human stood in the cat's place looking down and her bloodsoaked hands. "Never again will I allow her to take over. If this means I'll never have a mate who truly understands so be it. I can take no more.
Cat came awake sweating. *Freud would have a fieldday with that dream.* "Selene I'm so sorry. Are you okay?"
The cat looked so indigent that she had to bite her lips to keep from laughing. She did feel a twinge of guilt for kicking them but it's not like she could help it. She tried sitting up and felt thousands of needle pricks screaming in her muscles... needels or clawmarks, she amended feeling the trickles of blood. She felt a sudden intense desire to find- something, something to do with her mother's dresser. Her hands groupped around and found a little switch that further feeling around she found a rough covered book that to her touch felt more than a few years old. Selene's feline curiousity got the better of her. Glancing at the dedication she gasped.
For my little leopard cub.
Cat felt blackness swirling in. Images from the diary swirled in and out as Selene read over the pages for her. She suddenly couldn't breathe with the knowledge that hit her and the implications. The dream wasn't a dream per se but an inherited memory and her Mother had made both sisters go into hiding just to prove neither was a freak in her eyes or to give herself away. She wanted neither to evidence the change as she had. She was running from herself and somehow locked a vital piece of erself away. No wonder her mother never took her to the zoo and her father made her promise not to tell her mother when they went behind her back with it. Ais had been excited but she hadn't been like Catronia prefering the large cats. Was it inherited? Was it possible that this all only started beyond empathy and images from the cats because her mother's spirit was trying to explain and make up for what she'd done in some small way.

Ais swatted her lifemate's seeking hand and hissed. He went totally still unsure what was going through her head and just waited until her eyes returned to hers. "Cat... she's not not doing well. Something's dreadfully wrong. Where's the blasted phone?"
Ellis kept his face blank. He hadn't taught her to shapeshift yet but he thought for a merest flash his woman had sprouted claws and was going to rip into his arm. If that happened to her was an echo what was his sisterkin doing? It was enough to freeze his heart. He knew he should have set the safeguards.
Ais listened to the ringing in a panicked mindset. She didn't want to face the fact she'd probably outlive her elder sister. Not know when her life was still settling into its new pattern.
"Ais?"
The faint whisper broke her heart. It was the voice of a lost child and not her strong sister. Ellis stared to pull her close to calm her. "Yeah I'm here. WWhat's wrong, sis?"
"How could she keep something like that from us?" a sob started to fight its way up and the change in Cat's voice betrayed it. "She did everything she could to make us hide from the witch heritage on daddy's side but she was such a damn hypocrite." Hysteria was evidently winning over her sister's judgement.
Ais froze. "What did she keep from us?" a subtle calming compulsion underlay her voice despite something in her shrieking over and over "No, no, no"
"She wasn't human, she wasn't even like your husband or Daddy. And she dared call Gran a freak."
"The bitch." Ais couldn't stop herself from saying. Ellis looked surprised before burying his face in the pillows to keep from laughing. Her lifemate was quickly growing a backbone that he was proud of.
"Wrong species but right sentiment." Selene was adding her calming in the ancient way of every cat that chose humans since Egypt. The reason they sometimes were considered demons.
"Wh-what?" Ais felt confused.
"I found her diary. She forced herself into an unnatural for her state of never letting the snow leopard within out, never hunting. You see cat not dog, wolf, or other canine." Cat was drifting off. The lack of sleep from the dreams waking her making her lightheaded.
"Cat are you okay? Cat?!?!" Ais felt her spine stiffen when she heard the dial tone. Surely Cat wouldn't do anything drastic, would she?
Cat felt the the handle bounce off the receiver and then off but she couldn't keep herself awake another moment.
Ellis gathered his woman in close. "We'll leave tommorrow night on a plane so you don't wear yourself out. but for now, Love, there's nothing we can do except hope and pray for her and trust her sense of honor not to destroy such a beautiful light.

Catronia woke knowing she needed out of the house. Her sister would be incommunicado for hours so she couldn't reassure her. She needed distance from the condeming words. before hitting the street at a dead run, she gave Selene and Cassiopia a bowl of cream. She caught the next bus to the zoo not knowing the cats had followed in her rush and hitched a ride in her pack. She stopped to feel the wind before heading to the ticket counter and started feeling for her wallet tucked in one of the pockets. She slipped through the turnstile not knowing her companions decided to go through the back alley and in. She opened her mind to the animals speaking to each other and felt the brighter flashes in her mind of the felines. Her feet drew her on and she wondered how hereditary the "cat" genes as she now thought of them were. Was it possible someday soon she'd have what she'd half-jokingly professed to want her life. Be careful what you wish for.

Colin McKain just finished checking over the pregnant lioness. She murmured contentedly and he grinned. He wouldn't be able to find a mate here but he was able to convince the stingy boards for funding and decent environment for the animals which made those under his care and protection some of the healthiest in the world outside of their natural habitats. His perfect chocolate chip cookie brown hair fell in a mane around his head. His milk choclate eyes danced in mirth. As if he'd want to be tied down with any of the females of his kind he'd met so far. Many had been too alpha and some had been not strong enough to be a true mate to him. No his mission was to make awareness more prevelent in his little corner of the world. He started to head towards the nursery when he heard the yowl of a housecat in pain. Frowning, he headed towards the sound and to his consternation saw a grey feline supported an older calico. He gently picked them up and started heading to his office. They were too wellfed to be strays. Someone would be missing these two but did they get left in a car to overheat and somehow find a way out? His senses started shouting something he couldn't fully understand until he turned and saw... her. Something about her stirred the cat that had been slumbering in his breast but if she was one of his people he'd never laid eyes on her before. Her eyes were emerald pools that could drown a man without trying and the slender body gave an Amazon look yet he could feel that she enjoyed making a den a comforting place. He winced at the choice of words that had popped into his head. The cat was getting the better of him and he didn't even know her name yet he was thinking of dens for crying out loud.
The grey cat sank her claws in his forearm.
"Cass, 'Lene." her voice was soft but with a thread of upset.
"You shouldn't have left your cats in the car. They could have gotten seriously hurt."
Cat's went to pure ice. "For your information, I took the bus so what they did they did of their own free will." Cat was mentally checking her friends over and cursing feeling the sprain in Selene's paw. It was nonweight bearing and making just a bit harder for her to figure out how she was getting them all home. She couldn't believe their audacity. She nabbed Selene and when Cassie jumped from the arrogant male's arms she turned on her heel. He grabbed her arm. "Listen we got off to the wrong foot but you'd be surprised what some people would do to cats. Do you think we could start over? I'm Colin. And you are?"
"Not interested." Selene struck without warning, drawing enough blood and pain that Colin let go with a curse.
Colin thought fast. "Wait would you like to see the newborn white tiger cubs?"
"Not this time." Her tone emiting not in this life at least not with you.
The panther in him reared its head. *This isn't over by a long shot.*

Cat hit *69 on the phone and waited. Finally the answering machine picked up.
"This is Ellis. If you're trying to catch my wife or myself, sorry. We had a family emergency come up so if you'll leave your name and number, we'll get back to you as soon as possible." The machine beeped and Cat hung up.
*Damn it, Ais. I'm okay now. If you're coming here, I'm going to be really upset with you for not waiting for me to calm down. What the hell did you think I was going to do to myself?* When a possibility swam up into her conciousness she shook her head in disgust. Surely Ais knew her better than that? She snarled. Surely her sister couldn't possibly think... that is to say she couldn't have given the impression that... oh blazes maybe she did have the air of someone weary of this life. That didn't mean she wanted to take it away. She sighed as Cassie and Selene both gave her unblinking stares so she could see herself. Going by physical looks it did look like she was ready to snap. Add the hysteria and her sister would probably be very intelligent to lock her up in a padded cell. She sighed. Only thing that can be done for it. Face the truth and get over her fear and anger before her sibling and her husband come striding through the door. She glanced at the journal, sighed, and Cassie jumped in her lap as she sat at the kitchen table.

Cat was hard at the journal when she realized she wasn't processing the information. It might as well be in Arabic for all that her mind was comprehending. The air just too thick and her hair and cats were bristling. She tried shooing the cats into hiding but they darted refusing. Time came to a standstill and rewound in some ways to a couple of months back. Only this time the cats were ready and leapt when the door ripped from its hinges. Catronia jumped at the sound and hit her head on the doorframe. She bit her tongue to keep from screaming as Selen and Cassie hit the walls head first in one swat. She had to stall long enough for her brother-in-law to come since if he was coming here the phone call was a few hours ago and dawn was too close for the creature in front of her's comfort.

Colin felt his world turn to crystalline ice seeing the ripped door. He'd hit it lucky and noticed where the bus route went added to the fact he'd seen Catronia Moonshine's picture in the society section where her relation was in a wedding dress. He'd called information and they gave him this address. His body had shifted while he rushed to the door. A Florida Panther, supposedly extinct except for one in a zoo stood where the man had been.
"Well, well. You were obvious so you've been asking for me to come."
"Get the hell out of my house!" Cat knew Slene and Cassie were in a lot of pain and was giving her trouble focusing on her opponent. She might be blind but there was nothing wrong with any of her other senses.
"Now, now. The beautiful sister of a known Carpathian lifemate must know what I'm here about..." He could get no further. Something heavy hit his back kicking and clawing him. He summoned his ghouls and sensing a hunter cursed and fled. He would get the woman another time since her sister's lifemate could obviously not sufficiently protect her.
The panther rended flesh and didn't stop until the pieces were so many and tiny there was not really anything left. A fireball came from the door igniting the blood and flesh leaving mere ash including on the panther's muzzle.
A dark shape seperated from the shadow remaining at the door quickly and the shadow stepped into the light. "Geez sis I leave for one week for a honeymoon and you wind up having a party and not inviting us."
Cat laughed around the pain and listened to her sister picking the cats up and chanting a soothing verse.

Ais glanced over at her sister and was surprised to see the shock that the larger feline was standing guard. Come to think of it where did he come from. It was kinda far from the zoo so where'd a large cat come from. She tried reaching out to scan and recoiled as something in the feline's mind snapped. If she didn't know any better she'd say the feline had caught what she was doing and was glaring at her for a reason. Muscles melted and a naked man stood in the cat's place. Ais was amused to watch her sister turn away blushing despite the fact she knew that with Selene watching him closely turning away wouldn't work.
You could follow your sister's example, dear heart. I wouldn't want to be forced to hurt him when by all appearances he saved your sister's life.
The longer I stay with you the less fun you become. she teased.
Ellis knew he was nowhere near as far from the vampire as he would have liked to track to his lair but there was no time. If it was a nest he couldn't spare the time to clear out. He didn't completely trust a strange male near his mate. He saw the gashes on the vampire's back and smiled. Whoever the male was he's made Ellis's job much easier. As the vampire ried to ensnare more prey a fireball took his heart then the rest. Ellis implanted other memories and ran back to his wife.

Colin's eyes were still wild. He was still making growling noises whenever the two-legger approached his mate. What was left of his pelt bristled and rose. Cat gasped when it finally occured to her who the shapeshifter was. *God no not him.*
*You know him?*
*We've met. Guy's an arrogant jack-ass. Set Selene and Cassie down in the beds in my room.*
Cat glared and once Aisling was back out stormed into her room and slammed the door.

The humanity crept back in Colin's eyes making him realize he just made a class A mistake without even trying. It just kept happening near her. First he was so much a jerk as to call her a cat abuser, now growling at her sister. Not good.
"Welcome back." Aisling's eyes were dancing. "You sure know which buttons to push as far as it goes on my sister. Just what did you do to her that she was ready to swear instead of simply groaning 'Not him'?"
"Acted like a jackass because that cat you have in your arms had somehow gotten into the zoo and had a broken leg. I was coming to appologize when I saw that her door had been smashed wide open." Colin shook his head at the way his life was going.
"Just how did you find out who she was and where she lived?" Ais's eyes went cold knowing if he'd insulted her like that she never would have let him know anything except in no certain terms the cats did as they pleased. Quite possibly he more than deserved it since she was fast learning that male pride only allowed so much appology after that it was stosicism.
Colin looked around then remembered he had left it in the car with his clothes grinned sheepishly. "I guess you didn't know how much the society page would print when you invited them."
Remind me to kill you when you get back darling. Because of your big wedding plans my sister became vampire bait.
And if your sister wasn't so stubborn she'd have been safe at home...
Our home not hers. Considering she's just taking a step back like you claim other males even best friends do when lifemating. Why the double standard?
Ellis sighed shaking his head. He finally realized this fight he couldn't win because it wasn't rational so he'd be better off keeping quiet.
Good thinking. You'd just better have a viable solution to this problem when you come back. Meantime to stop your growling I'm pulling some of Dad's old things out of the closet.

Colin looked so pathetic glancing towards the door to Catronia's bedroom that Ellis finally decided to pity him.
"Must be awful knowing she's not going to forgive or forget easily."
"True but what worries me even more is the fact I shifted that close to her. If I pushed her into shifting early I'll never forgive myself."
"Never's a long time." Ellis felt the irony in it now. He was one of those males that'd felt never would apply to him + lifemate and was pleasantly surprised to see that feeling was a lie.
"I know why he acted like that though. The frustration of he'd saved her life, but she went to see how the cats who started the problems between us instead of if he'd been hurt." Ellis felt startled to hear Colin speaking of the pather in third person. It was eerie and brought even more forecefully this other male wasn't Carpathian no matter the similarities. In this one area, he could unstand why his sister-in-law would be angry though. Ais was reading through their mother's diary trying to understand the woman who'd hurt them both so badly. "Still as badly as the first time of shifting hurts if she won't let me anywhere near how can I help. My hands are tied badly enough I should just leave her alone long enough to calm down."
"It'd be for the best. She's been through more than you know in a very short time. Her mother betrayed them both badly but the full extent she didn't learn until last night. Just give her time."
"I'll try my best. I just pray it's good enough for her." Colin slumped out. A man destroyed.

Cat was having trouble breathing. Sweat poured down her face. It'd gone on for hours already and she kept reaching out hoping to cool down. Her eyes didn't see the same things she'd gotten used to seeing. The scents had increased to unbearable levels. Finally the part from her mother's teenaged section of her journal came floating back and she accepted what her subconcious had been trying to tell her since her sister had gotten safely mated. In many ways she truly was her mother's daughter. Since she was guideless her chances of survival were low. She only hoped to survive long enough for her to say goodbye to Ais and Ellis. Wish them luck and happiness and plenty of kids. She moaned and it wasn't human but feline. *Just have to hold on.*

Selene had woken and was going spastic but her broken leg wouldn't help and her daughter hadn't learned to open doors. She kept broadcasting hunger hoping the fact her belly was empty would dawn on Aisling and get that blasted girl to check on her sister. After all the couple hadn't gone to their own home, but stayed to watch after Cat. She yowled and howled hoping one of them would wake soon. Something was wrong with her human.

Ais woke feeling weird. She felt Ellis stirring beside her scanning.
"Dear heart, I'm sorry. He warned this might happen but your sister was too stubborn to force the door. All we can do is hold her and hope he comes back in time to aid her through the rest of it."
"What are you saying? What's wrong with Cat?" Ais's eyes were wide feeling the cats hadn't been fed and she knew her sister wouldn't purposely neglect them.

Ais looked so distraught Ellis told her to feed the cats while he went to go get her since both had heard the snick of a lock on the door so mist form would be necessary. He was somewhat amazed neither had caught the sound of all the furniture he had to dodge to get in the room. Whatever he'd considered saying died on his tongue seeing Cat. He was a bit slow shutting off his sight to Ais. He took her into the master bath to run some cool water over her to clean some of the sweat off her before Ais had to be confronted with how bad it was. The only time he'd felt more helpless was as Ais was going through conversion and trying his hardest to keep her throat clear so she didn't die of strangulation.
Ellis?
What sweetheart?
Do you think Colin should be called? Seems there were some flowers left with his phone number with the neighbor since noone here could get up to get them. I knew there was a reason this felt a bit deja vu-ish.
Ellis couldn't help but chuckle I'll call him. Try to keep your sister cooled off after I unblock the door.
He opened the door to a smirking face. "Don't think I didn't catch why you're trading off. Just for that I should kick you but Cat's too important for me to waste the energy."
Ais felt the irony that the elder sister was now the helpless one when even after she'd lost her sight she'd never been before. She felt the muscles twitching and reforming to be more flexible. *Ouch. No wonder all mother wrote was the mind searing pain and no wonder Ellis was comparing it to conversion.*
Ais started to drift back off since it wasn't quite dark out yet, she was still tired. Being worried what was happening with Cat was too draining and she wasn't sure how Cat managed to survive vice versa.
The Cloud leopard burst free and Cat felt it part of her and yet not. She smelled her sibling but what shocked her more was seeing. It all bombarded her in mind pounding flashes as she kept closing her eyes to soothe. Even if this was only for her mother's people how did they stand it? It hurt everywhere. She felt her sibling stir and stroke her pelt in wonder.
"You're beautiful, sis. What's wrong?"
*There has to be a way to back off the sight. It hurts after too long in shadows.*
"Calm. Calm. Relax and it'll ease the pain. You're just not used to it. Relax and feel your powerful muscles. Your strength."
As Cat started to get out of panic mode she saw her sister was right. Worse than that she saw Colin throw off his shirt and quickly join her in feline form. She hissed and jumped from the window that she somehow managed to open during her trial and hit the ground running. The panther felt the springin his hips as he caught up with her herding her towards the city park's more overgrown areas. Finally when she was panting and de-shifting he nuzzled her neck. and followed suit.
"You're mine." he didn't state it as a question but Cat felt compelled to respond, "I'm yours."
When they came back it was obvious Ellis and Ais had put the house back in as much order as possible and snagged the cats to give them privacy.
"I can't believe they took my cats. As if Selene is going to be happy being fed just before dawn."
"Why do you keep those two? Especially unspayed?"
"I just haven't gotten around to spaying Selene and it's not Cassie's turn to be a mother yet. Each generation since Slene's mother has been trained to be my eyes since kittenhood. The rest of the litter and the litters that the mother cat deems have no kittens she wants to be the new queen watching after me are trained as mousers and lapcats."
"Your eyes? You mean these beautiful green eyes need felines to replace them?" he kissed her and she tucked her head in his hair.
"Yes, they needed replacing before now. Somehow the shifting corrected my vision which I had my grandmother ruin so I could protect Ais from our mother by not heading to school. We both had the tutors during school years and I took distance learning for college. It wasn't so bad except I always needed a cat near if I wanted to read anything or had to do anything that couldn't be done with the other four senses. Since cats are colorblind I'm kinda really trying to adjust to everything about seeing again."
"Not to mention your senses sharpned anyway due to the onset of your first shift. Here I thought you were burying your head in my hair to get my scent more fully. Come to think of it you owe me a date to see the white tiger cubs."
"Deal so long as we have the wedding where I want." Cat looked up into his glittering eyes. "Is it so hard to believe I think the time has come to heal all the rents my mother made in my family and see my cousin and introduce my grandmother to my sister?"
He stroked her hair knowing he'd give in.
Next up... the last of the Moonshine ladies and finally meeting Ellis's brother as best man since Colin has noone to proform that office for him. What secrets is the last one holding?  Be prepared for Dark Orion.  Or you could go back and re-read Dark Memory