As I slowly rose to consciousness, I stretch out all my limbs.  It feels like it has been forever since I had to room to stretch out.  I then slowly blink my eyes open and realize that I am no longer in the back of the truck.  I am in a deliciously comfortable bed, covered in the softest blanket I have ever felt.  I lazily close my eyes and am about to fall asleep again when I remember that I should not be so relaxed.  I am quite literally a cat in the middle of a wolf den.  The alpha who had saved me and taken me out of that hell hole of an auction had mentioned something about owing him, and I have no idea what he is going to expect of me.  Perhaps he is going to use me as his slave, or as a plaything for his pack of wolves.  Perhaps this squishy bed and soft blanket were all just a rues to get me to relax and let down my guard.  I needed to be on high alert and hopefully catch them by surprise enough to escape before they could do anything worse than had already been done to me. 

I was not paying enough attention to my senses because I didn’t realize anyone was approaching the room until the handle of the door started to turn. I immediately put on my game face and was prepared to stare down anyone who entered.  I must admit, I figured it would be a warrior, or perhaps the beta of the pack to come in, not the alpha that I met at the auction, and I certainly didn’t expect him to be smiling at me.  I was so thrown off, I ended up just staring at him. I must have looked comical trying to act all big and tough, only to turn confused and dumb founded.  The alpha let out a short laugh before closing the door behind him and coming forward.  “Good morning kitten. I am glad to see you finally awake.  You must have been quite worn out to sleep for a full day and a half, though I guess I shouldn’t be that surprised considering you are a cat.”

I continued to stare at the strange alpha, worried that the friendly attitude was simply an act that would disappear if I said anything out of turn.  I had always been told to be careful of wolf shifters because they are super protective of their pack and their mates in particular, but to anyone who pisses them off, their temper is very short and burns very hot.  This alpha, however, was seeming to throw all the known stereotypes out the window.  He was being kind to a complete stranger, and a cat shifter at that.  I will admit that out own reputations were something to be wary of.  We don’t usually like the whole touchy-feely thing, especially the solitary breeds like me.  The lions will usually be more ok with it, but us panthers, let’s just say more than one person has lost a limb by touching without permission.  Cats also are considered unduly aggressive, starting fights just because we feel like it.  It generally does not take much, or anything at all to get is the mood to fight.  Personally, I tend to fall outside the norms for cats.  I used to love to cuddle, but due to an unfortunate incident, I now jump and attempt to claw any unwanted touch.  I still don’t wholly mind cuddles, but only if I initiate it and am comfortable enough with the person.   I am also pretty docile, I have never been particularly aggressive which is probably good for the people at the auction because, while I wasn’t being careful of them, I was also not trying to outright attack them.  I simply was looking for a way to escape, which I found in the shape of the alpha now sitting on the edge of the bed I was curled up on. 

When the alpha had made the move to sit down, I had quickly pulled the fuzzy blanket away from where he was sitting and wrapped it completely around myself as I curled up against the headboard.  The alpha sat while giving me a knowing smile.  “My name is Rufus Jones.  I am the alpha of the Silver Creek wolf pack. I am sorry if I startled you, but I just wanted to check on how you were doing.  You had a pretty traumatic time at the auction, and by the looks of it, the days before that were not particularly kind to you either. Do you want to tell me your name and how you ended up in that mess?  After that, maybe you can get some food and rest for a while longer, you still look like you could fall asleep at any moment.”

Looking up at him, I take a deep breath before answering.  “Felix.  Felix Ratcliff.  I was captured from the communal cat territory called Feline Springs in the middle of the night of March 15^th.  I was held in a warehouse under constant sedation until the auction. I don’t know how long I was there but thank you so much for saving me.  I am in your debt, and I hope there is something that I can do to repay you for the kindness of getting me out of there.” By the time I was done talking, I could feel my whole body shaking, and there were tears forming at the corner of my eyes. My breathing had also started to quicken.  Sometime when I was talking, I had dropped my eyes to my lap, and by the end, I was barely talking above a whisper.  I felt the bed dip beside me as Rufus moved in closer, but thankfully he made no move to touch me.  I pulled the fuzzy blanket up closer around my shoulders before I could make my self look back up at him.  Rather than the ridicule and scorn that I expected to see in his eyes, I saw pity and…adoration? Before I could second guess myself, I flung my arms around his middle and buried my face in his abdomen while I continued to shake, and the tears ran down my face.  I felt his touch just graze my head before he patted me on the back. 

“It’s ok kitten, I know that it was probably scary for you, but I promise that you are safe here, and you will never have to see those guys again.  The reason that I am involved in that auction is to help shifters like you.  The ones who get caught in with the other animals.  Usually, it is smaller shifters like coyotes, rabbits, I have even seen an eagle shifter go though that auction before, but it was quite a surprise to see you up on that stage.  I didn’t even know that there were cat lands around here.  It was even more a shock when you broke out and came straight toward me.  Why was that, how did you know that I would help you?”

His story and questions broke me from my panic, and I quickly sat back up, rewrapping the blanket around me until I was once again cocooned in warmth.  “I didn’t know for sure that you would help, but I think my cat took over controlled and found comfort in the presence of another shifter.  I just had to hope that you had a shred of loyalty to the shifter community as a whole and would help me, even if I was in debt to you for the rest of my life, just about anything would be better than continually being sedated and always being locked in tiny cages that are not big enough to stretch out in.  How long exactly has it been since they captured me? What day is it?”  I figured it would be good to know since I am pretty sure I haven’t eaten since the day before I was captured.  I never had a chance to eat the rabbit I had caught that night.  Plus, I was worried about any side effects of prolonged sedation. 

He looked back at me with a stoic expression before saying, “Today is June 10^th. The auction was held 2 days ago on the 8^th.  So that means you were held for 24 days.  You were really kept under sedation for that long? There wasn’t any of that time that you remember?!”  With every passing word he said, I began to feel the panic rise once more.  24 days that those people had me.

“I remember a few bits a pieces, but even when I was conscious, I could feel the fog of sedation.  I don’t think I began fully aware again until right before I was pushed onto that stage.  My shifter healing kept trying to wake me up, but there is not much that I can do to fight the sedation except to make it ware off faster, which they figured out pretty much right away.  I’m sure that they must have had me on fluids or else I wouldn’t be alive, but I have not eaten anything solid for almost 25 days. If it’s not too much to ask, can I have something to eat?”

The alpha looked completely shocked by my last statement about food, and he immediately got to his feet.  “I can get you something right now.  What do you like?”

I faintly smiled at his urgency to get me food, it was kind of cute to see a big bad alpha wolf jumping around like a scolded pup.  “I am fine with just about anything, though something small and easy to digest would probably be best since I am sure my stomach has shrunk in that time.  I can make something if you just point me to a kitchen.” I say carefully rising to my feet as well.  I was a little unsteady at first, but I steadied pretty quickly.  I hadn’t realized how much smaller I was compared to the alpha.  In my cat form, I have no good comparison to tell size, but now that I am standing next to him, I was probably a good foot shorter than him, and I stand about 5’ 5”.  That puts him around the 6’ 4” to 6’ 5” range. 

Rufus looks at me a bit warily, like I might fall over at any second, which to be fair is not that wrong of an assessment, but I look him straight in the eye, and he seems to shrug in acquiescence.  “You are welcome to come with me, but I would prefer you to just sit and watch until I am sure you will not blow over with the first guest of wind.  You probably haven’t looked to closely at yourself in a while, but there is not much too you besides skin and bones.  I promise that I am an adequate cook.”  I nod, because he’s not wrong, I have lost a lot of weight since being captured, plus I was never that good of a cook to begin with. I would often just eat my catches raw rather than deal with cooking it.  I motion for him to lead, but then freeze when I realize I am still wrapped in the blanket.  I quickly peak under the blanket to find that I am at least wearing a t-shirt and underwear, then a blush spreads across my face as I realize that someone must have dressed me because I passed out in the car before I could put anything on. Deciding that that was enough clothing for now, I reluctantly put the blanket back on the bed before following the alpha out of the room. 

We walked down a hallway that entered into a big living room with lots of couches and pillows.  It honestly looked like heaven to me, but I sadly walked through it to go into the kitchen.  By the time we got there, which really was almost no time at all, I was already getting shaky, this time from exhaustion and muscle atrophy from lack of use. I quickly spied a bar stool and made my way over to it before I did end up on the floor. Rufus shot me a quick glance and looked pleased to see me sitting before he made his way into the kitchen to start cooking up some food.  He decided on steak and eggs on toast, since there was already some cooked steak in the fridge.  In a matter of minutes, there was a heaping pile of delicious smelling food and a glass of orange juice sitting in front of me.  “Thank you,” was all I managed to say before I attacked the food like the starving person that I am.  I hadn’t quite realized how hungry I was until the smell of cooking food had my stomach rumbling.  I managed to eat about a third of it before my stomach started hurting, and I new that I had to stop or else I would end up being sick.  I hadn’t even realized that Rufus sat down next to me until I looked up from the plate. 

“All full?” he asked me. I nodded and pushed the remainder of the food towards him.  While I sipped on my OJ, he made quick work of what I had left.  I could already feel myself falling back asleep, and as much as I tried to stay awake, I knew that it was futile.  I was just about to ask if I could go back to the room when Rufus spoke up again. 

“Do you want to watch a movie with me?” He looked so cute with those pleading eyes that I couldn’t say no, so I again nodded, even though I knew I wouldn’t be able to stay awake for a movie. I followed him back into the living room and settled myself on one of the couches facing the big tv mounted to the wall.  “Do you have any preference of genre?” When I shook my head no, Rufus walked over to a big case of movies and pick up a familiar looking green movie box, Fellowship of the Rings extended edition.  Seeing a movie that I loved, I gave a weak smile to Rufus when he looked at me for approval. He quickly set it up and got it playing.  I was so focused on the movie and trying to stay awake, that I hadn’t realized Rufus left until a familiar fuzzy blanket settled over the top of me.  “Sleep if you want, but just know that I am here if you need anything.” I gave him another small smile before curling up in the corner of the couch with my new favorite blanket and watching the movie…for about 5 minutes before I fell asleep.