"Needed, why did you need to see me?" Zach began to scan his surroundings again for threats.
"I told you I'm alone. Why won't you just take my word for it." The woman's tone had taken a hard edge to it.
"Why? Why?" Zach stepped right up to her, so close he could smell the sweat on her arms. She was frightened of him, yet she didn't move a muscle. "Because it was your kind that killed my father. It's your kind that have hounded my people since before any of us can remember." He whirled away and stalked a few paces, then spun around to face her.
"Now I'll ask again, why are you here?"
"I already told you, I needed to see you." The annoyance was clear in her tone. Zenah was getting tired of this conversation.
"But you haven't told me why you needed to see me. Or how you found me." Zach relaxed now that he'd made some space between the two of them.
"You know why." Zenah growled deep in her throat.
"What are you talking about? So I saved your life. Are you here to show your appreciation? Because that's not going to happen."
"What? What did you just say to me?" Zenah stormed up to him, looked up into his eyes. He was almost a full head taller than her five foot five. "I'll show you why I had to come." He flinched back, but she reached out and snagged his hand in her's.
The electric shock she felt was unlike anything she'd ever experienced. It was like jamming a screwdriver into a one hundred and twenty volt socket and hanging on for the ride. She gasped, her vision narrowed until he was all she saw. Breath coming in shallow pants, Zenah felt him pull his hand from hers and jerk back. Contact ended she sagged, her arms hanging limp at her sides.
"Now do you see why I had to come here? You felt it didn't you?" Zenah's voice was small and desperate. The contact had stripped away all the walls she'd built up on the way there. It left her feeling small and vulnerable in a way she hated yet couldn't control.
"I didn't feel anything." Zach lied straight to her face. "I have no idea what you're talking about." A person walked down the street and they parted to let the man pass between them.
"Don't lie to me. I know you felt the same thing I did." She glared at him, her heart aching, adding venom to her blood.
"I have no idea what you're talking about, lady. Now if you'll excuse me, I have someone paying me seventy-five dollars and hour to teach them Taekwondo, and I want to give them their money's worth." With that Zach turned, opened his door and left her on the sidewalk.
"Why do you hate me so much!" She screamed at the door.
But she knew why. Her kind had deprived him of his father. He was feline, she was canine. But she was bound to him by a cord as strong as iron, and she hated it. Her rational mind hated him with everything she had. Her heart on the other hand knew what it wanted, and it wouldn't leave her alone.
There were stories told where a wolf had died after bonding with their mate and not being able to have them. The strain on their systems was more than they could cope with. Was this to be her fate? To be bonded to someone she couldn't have.
NO! She wouldn't give up on this that easily. She knew he'd felt something. He had tried to hide it by stepping backwards. Even then she'd seen and felt him twitch. He was just trying to ignore her. She'd show him that was harder than he thought possible.
* * * * *
"I signed myself up for a martial arts class in Marquette." Zenah told her father the next morning, strolling into his study.
"And you didn't clear this with me, why? He asked from behind his huge oaken desk.
"Because I knew you'd say no. So I did it anyway. Besides, since you won't let me train with our masters, I found one that will train me, and he's really cute too." She pranced up to his desk and sat in the corner.
"He's human, right?"
"As far as I can tell. But you never know, he might be a tom cat waiting to have his way with me then send my head back to you in a box." Zenah shuddered then let out a light laugh.
"That's not funny, girl. That's why you're not going alone. I'll be sending at least two of our guards with you every time you go." He told her, his head still buried in the morning newspaper.
"That will not be necessary. It's only Marquette, no cat is going to risk a scene in broad daylight, even if they're there in the first place."
"Nevertheless, you're my daughter. You are not leaving here without an escort."
"Then I'm not going. I'm old enough to be let out of here without prison guards, and don't worry, if any guys try to get fresh with me I'll break their arms, along with their balls." She kicked her legs, letting her feet pound against the desk.
"Not on the desk. Do you know how old this desk is?" Her father growled.
"Yes dad, you've made sure to tell me at least once a week ever since I can remember." Zenah turned to face him, pushing his paper down as she spoke. "So can I go by myself or not?"
"Why do you want to go by yourself all of a sudden? Most of the time you insist on bringing someone with you."
"I've got a lot to think about right now. A near death experience will do that to a girl." She blurted out.
Oh, I've got a lot to think about all right. Like how in the world did I end up bonded to a cat. She thought to herself while she stared at her father.
"Just explain it to your mother and if she has no problem with it, it's fine with me." Her father folded the newspaper with a smile and leaned forward to peck his daughter on the cheek.
"Thanks, dad." Zenah bounced down from the desk and fairly skipped for the door. Wanting to get out of the room before her father changed his mind.
Running through the Den, Zenah almost plowed her best friend Kate over in her rush to find her mother.
"Have you seen my mother?" She screamed as she regained her balance and continued down the hall past the dining hall.
"I think she'd in the lounge, that's the last place I saw her. What's the hurry, Zen?" Kate's blonde tresses flowed out behind her as she caught up with Zenah.
"Just need to get my mom's permission for something. You know how it go's. Our brothers get to do everything, while we're relegated to asking permission for the same thing they're told to do." Zenah complained to her friend.
They raced side by side through two left turns then a right and at last the corridor opened into a large room filled with comfortable looking chairs and sofas. Zenah found her mother seated in an oversized armchair with her nose stuffed in a book. That was typical, her mother loved to read. Give her a good book and you could forget about her doing anything else until she was finished with it.
"Yeah, go ahead, your father already told me what you want to do. I don't like it, but I can't keep you cooped up in here forever. As much as I might like to." She told Zenah without picking her nose out of the book she was reading.
"How did dad get down here so fast? I just left his study like five minutes ago?"
Her mother lifted her head, gave her a "Duh" look, and went back to her reading.
I'm going to be in class from ten in the morning till two in the afternoon tomorrow. So if you don't see me around, that's where I'll be. And yes, I'll have my cell phone with me at all times this time."
"Good," her mother looked up again. "Have fun, but be careful. If you smell anything out of the ordinary, you call us. okay?"
"I will mom, don't worry about me. One of the instructors is cute. I might even get a date."
"HA! That'll be the day." Her mother's voice rose to a laugh, and Zenah turned and walked towards her room.
He thought he could ignore me. Ha, I can't wait to see the look on his face tomorrow.
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