Chapter Twenty One

This time when Kitty woke up, everyone kept their distance from her in case she flew from the bed and attacked someone.

They were right to do so, but Eric wasn't quick enough and was backed into a corner.

"Where is he? Is David okay? I can't believe I slept so long, what happened?" The sun was up and she was back at the hospital in a similar room as the one which she'd woken up the last time. David's scent was in the air but it was faint, it could have been hours since they were in the same room together.

Eric held up his hands, remembering how she'd punched John the last time.

"I—I—"

"What about his brother? Is he still around?"

"Yeah, I think so …"

"Oh, nevermind," Kitty stomped away from him and spotted Larry, who was trying his best to be invisible.

"Daddy!"

"Uh, oh,"

She ran and nearly knocked him over, clutching his shirt. "Where is he? Is he alive? Did he leave?"

"Stop, stop, stop," Larry put his hands on her shoulders and backed her to an arms length, then he smiled and smoothed out her poofy bed-head.

"Daddy," Kitty snarled, and he pulled his hands away.

"Alright, I get it, he went out to talk with Elaine some time ago, but I think she wanted to be alone with him!"

He called after her when she bolted for the door.

Kitty didn't hear him, she was just so happy that David had lived, that her Pack hadn't hurt him, and she wanted to see David one more time before he left for good.

When she left the elevator on the first floor of the hospital David's scent wafted to her nostrils and pointed the way. He was sitting outside on a wooden bench, and Kitty saw Elaine with him, she was holding his hand and talking about something or other that kept the both of them from noticing her there.

Now that she saw them together, Kitty didn't want to disturb them, but a nagging feeling told her that if she walked away she would never see David again, so she waited. That way if he got up and tried to leave she could head him off.

She didn't have to wait long for them to finish. Kitty didn't know how to expect a mother who'd just found her grown up son to behave, but she had no problem with kissing his cheek and leaving David to his thoughts.
She didn't have the face of a sad woman who would never see her only child again, but she did seem thoughtful.

Then Elaine looked up and saw Kitty standing in the doorway, and Kitty blushed, feeling as if she'd been caught spying, even though she couldn't hear what they were saying from the distance they were sitting at.

"I just wanted to talk with him." She said.

Elaine smiled. "Well, he's right there."

Kitty tried to reach out to determine what Elaine was feeling, but her thoughts were so jumbled she couldn't concentrate.

"What were you two talking about?" She asked as Elaine went passed her.

"Just catching up. You'd better hurry, you're going to lose him."

"What?" Kitty turned and saw that David had gotten up and was walking away from the hospital.

He was leaving, and he wasn't even going to say good bye.

"Hey! Wait!" And Kitty raced after him, something she found to be an incredibly bad idea because of all the sleeping she'd done the night before. Her bones felt like clay and she was panting and fighting to keep from falling on him when she caught up to him.

She failed when he put his arms around her, and she collapsed against his chest.

"Are you okay? You should be resting," he said, leading her back to the bench.

"Me?" She couldn't believe it. "You turned last night! You're the one who should be in bed."
In bed and not walking away from me.

"Actually it was two nights ago, we guessed it was the gas that kept you out of it for so long."

She blinked at him when he sat her down. "Two nights ago?"

He laughed. "Yeah, you gave us all a scare."

"And you're feeling fine? No after effects from the change?"

He shrugged. "Not really, I'm always starving but Elaine says that's pretty normal for new Were's, and my neck hurts a bit. Why, were you worried?"

He was smirking, and Kitty knew he would love it if she gave that away to him. Of course she was worried!
David ran his fingers through her hair, or at least he tried to, it was so tangled, and to Kitty's horror she finally realized how horrible she must look.

"Ugh, don't look at me until I can get some eyeliner." She hid her face in her hands.
David laughed harder and pried her hands away to kiss her lips. "I think you're sexy."

"I look like a frog."

"A very attractive frog."

She couldn't keep herself from smiling at his antics despite the truth. It didn't matter how much he might love her, anyone could see that she was a mess, but at least he was capable of looking beneath that.

Then she got serious. "What happened with your family?"

The humor on his face evaporated and he took a seat next to her, scratching his newly shaved chin.

"Well, Evey was going to take Jacob to Toronto to have him face a trial, but your father said not to bother."

"Really?" Kitty couldn't believe it but at the same time she could. Larry always pulled through, and now that Bill was gone, he would be the one making the decisions for the Pack. "That's great news, and at least Evey's alright," she said, remembering how she'd been bitten while trying to hide the moon behind the clouds.

He sighed. "Yeah."

"What is it?"

He took a breath. "Jimmy and Andrew already faced a trial."

Kitty gasped.

"That was my reaction too." David said.

"Underworld trials are fast but not that fast," she said.

He shrugged. "Your father decided that there was too much evidence and witnesses to just let us go."

Kitty felt a chill run up her spine. "Us?"

"Yeah, I stood beside them at the trial."

"But, you're still here, they didn't," she gulped, "kill you."

He shook his head, a hint of a smile on his lips. "No, your dad is too nice for a Pack Master. I told him that too, when we were alone."

"You were alone with him?"

David scratched the back of his head, and Kitty swore she could see a hint of red creeping up his neck. "Yeah, he wanted to ask me what happened between us when we were alone in the motel, and I had the priviledge of trying to explain to the man that I wasn't touching his only daughter."

Kitty smiled gleefully. "Even though you did?"

"Don't tell him that."

"Twice."

"He will kill me if you tell him that."

Kitty didn't say anything but decided it was the best choice. She also didn't say that she wouldn't mind if he did it again, he had some pretty good ideas while she'd been tied up.

"So what's going to happen to you?" It couldn't be so bad if he was still alive, but a part of her still dreaded the answer.

David crossed his arms and cleared his throat. "Eventually when Evey and Jacob leave for Toronto Jimmy's going to go with them. Your father said that part of his punishment would be working with the creatures he's hunted, so, I don't know I guess he'll be a bodyguard or something to whomever he works for."

Kitty nodded, deciding to ignore for the moment that he hadn't answered her question. "He has skills for that."

"Yeah, and because the full moon was only three days ago they decided to turn Andrew so part of his punishment would be living as a Were and finding the differences between Were's and humans."

Kitty saw him flex his hands and clench them. The last time she saw him he seemed to be getting slightly smaller and weaker, now, with his first change safely behind him, he was in perfect physical health.

"Have you found any differences?" She asked.

David paused and shook his head, knowing what differences she was talking about. "No, it's strange what I feel. I feel stronger, but not like a different person."

Kitty glowed. That was the best thing she'd heard in a while, that he understood that Were's were just people like he used to be.

"What about you?" She asked again. "What happens to you?"

Now he shifted and cleared his throat. "When Jacob and Evey take Andrew and Jimmy to Toronto, I'm going to go with them."

Kitty shook her head. "No,"

David grabbed her hands and held on tight. "You know I have to be punished for what I did. Stop shaking your head like that, it won't be so bad, it's only ten months."

"Ten months?"

He caressed her cheek with the back of his hand, and despite the situation Kitty found comfort with the touch and leaned into it.

"I don't know how I'm going to handle ten months away from you, but I know it could have been worse. When he said he was banishing me I thought he was going to give me a few years at the least, not a few months."

"Ten months is your idea of a few?" Kitty asked, bitterness in her voice even though she tried to hide it. Maybe she could convince Larry into letting him come back early.

"I could invoke Lunar." She said.

David shook his head. "Elaine explained to me what that was, and now that I know I guess it makes more sense that your old Pack Master wouldn't let her use it."

But I could use it." She said.

"Leaving your Pack to start another one?" He shook his head. "I don't think that's a future you'd be happy with."

He was right, but she would still do it, and the fact that he wouldn't let her was disheartening.

"Hey," David lifted her chin and Kitty found herself unexpectedly kissed. She barely had time to react before he pulled away and grinned at her. "I will be back. Okay?"

She nodded. "Okay."

He got up, lifting her to her feet with him before wrapping his arms around her waist and taking her hand.

"What are you doing?"

"Dance with me."

"What?" But even before she could answer him he already had her swaying with him. Kitty turned her head to see if anyone was watching them, no one was, they were all preoccupied with their own daily business, so she realxed.

"You look so beautiful right now." David whispered into her ear.

Kitty decided that since reminding him of how much of a train wreck she was never really worked, that she would just not remind him this time. Besides, dancing with him outdoor, no music but the wind in the trees, twittering of sparrows and car horns in the distance, did make her feel rather pretty.

"When do you have to go?" She asked, and he twirled her and brought her back to his chest.

"Today, your dad decided to lat me stay until you woke up."

Kitty clutched his hand and hid her face in his shoulder. She didn't want him to go, but she plastered on a smile and faced him again.

She could tell his smile was just as forced, but it was better to leave without tears.

Better to leave without tears, better to leave without tears, better to leave without tears. She repeated in her head.

"When I'm gone, I'm going to study. Take a class in school or something, you know, learn about farms and land and ranches."

This time Kitty's smile was real. "So you can have a farm?" She asked.

"Yeah, something with mountains in the background and fields of wheat and tall grass. I always liked the idea of that."

Kitty was lost in the image of it. "That sounds nice. Maybe we could have Moon Night there? I mean, you're a part of this Pack now."

He nodded. "If I wanted mountains then it would probably be difficult to get everyone there every three months though."

"A lot of Packs host it annually."

"That's do-able." He said. "When I'm gone I'm going to save too, not just for the farm, but so I can buy you a great big diamond ring."

Kitty stopped dancing. "You mean—"

He kissed the top of her hand. "Don't say anything yet, wait 'til I come back so I can do it right."

Kitty sniffed and tried not to cry, but her eyes were burning. "Okay."

It was hard watching him go, but she knew he'd come back.

Fin

A.N: Thanks to everyone who bothered reading this, I know the updates were far in between but I did appreciate them and they did help to keep me going. :-)