Our Pet Read online

  “I’ve been in touch with home, they are expecting us for eve meal,” I nod, I’m still nervous, but that gives me a few hours to relax and get ready. Although getting ready will just be a wash and clean clothes, make up is not a thing here. Abner looks uncomfortable.

  I sigh, “what is it?”

  He looks pained, “She will be there.”

  I don’t even need to ask who the dreaded she is, “Oh. Great.”

  I decide I want a bath, Tark and Abner are quick to volunteer to join me. It’s a massive bath, at home I’d say it’s a very big hot tub. Like the beds, it’s clearly built to be used by four people. Four larger than human cat people, and in the middle I have to do a sort of quick doggy paddle to make it across. Pate comes in whilst we are relaxing, has a shower, which I watch like a total pervert, and then leaves again.

  The guys have washed my hair and scrubbed every inch of me, and in return I’ve relaxed myself by meticulously soaping every inch of their fur. It’s mindless and satisfying and I lose myself in it, idly chatting.

  Eventually I build up the courage to ask the question that has been eating at me.

  “What do you actually know about this potential mate person?”

  “Not a lot really, just what we’ve been able to look up. What’s common knowledge in the press, and one…errr...interview.”

  You have got to be shitting me. I think my voice has probably risen several octaves. “She’s famous?”

  Abner’s quick to try and gloss over this “That’s why this makes even less sense Maisy, we’re not exactly sought after bachelors. The likelihood of her interest in us being genuine is just, well, it’s just not at all likely...and more Royal than famous really.”

  I let that sink in a minute, “So you think she has an ulterior motive? And just how Royal?”

  Tark pipes up, “You wouldn’t know unless you looked her up...put it this way, a hell of a lot of people would have to suddenly drop dead for her to get anywhere near power; and she’s young, she’s been actively shown favour by a couple of brother packs, and the most likely of those are set to be high court judges one day…which would be a good move for her.”

  “A good move? Don’t you guys go in for love and life mates and all that stuff?”

  “Oh yeah, we do...females can afford to be choosy though.”

  “Hold on a minute, so the deep love and worship and your female being your chosen one and the centre of your universe and all that jazz...it’s a one-way street?”

  They both frown at me.

  “They don’t love you back?”

  “Oh, yeah-”

  “Of course -”

  They talk over each other to insist they do. Then Tark adds, “Why wouldn’t they, they are worshipped.” He said it like you’d say rain falls down. Stating the obvious gently to a child.

  “Right...but just suspend your disbelief for a minute guys...is it possible, given what you’ve just said about females being choosy and being detached enough from their own feelings to ‘make a good move’ that they are...maybe...not as invested as the males are?”

  They were both staring at me like I’d just sprouted a second head, I was apparently challenging one of the most fundamental facts of the universe.

  Neither one of them gives an answer.

  I’d sat on the bed wrapped in a blanket for ages before Abner reminded me of the time, then I’d dragged my feet as much as I could whilst getting dressed. I did not want to do this.

  It was a very short walk to their parent’s house, only a couple of minutes even with me trailing behind. I spend the walk trying to get my shit together. Petulant and miserable is not what I want to be showing these people, so I straighten my spine, take a few deliberate breaths and try to produce a smile. I’m hoping to look confident and contented, but I suspect I just look pained.

  Pate just opens the front door for us and we all walk in, I follow them through the house to a large kitchen. Their mum and the three identical males there had all turned to look at us as we came in, and a bout of hugging and greetings takes place whilst I watch from the doorway. Pate shakes his fathers’ hands but all the rest go in for hugs, all sniffing the top of their mums head, a thing I now associate with a peck on the cheek. Tark full on lifts his mum off the floor and spins her round, and her chuffing laughter fills the room. It takes a few minutes for everyone to properly greet everyone else since there’s so many of them, and it’s so relaxed and…surprisingly normal...that watching the interaction puts me at ease again. Pate comes and pulls me forward and introduces his mother Linna, and fathers Juba, Vena and Soemm.

  “It is so nice to finally meet you Maisy,” Linna says and puts her hand out to shake, which I do and respond in kind. We are led through to a covered back porch; Pate doesn’t hesitate to sit me in his lap and Linna actually beams at us. Not what I was expecting.

  I am being put more and more at ease.

  One of the dad’s, I have no hope of ever learning which is which, appears with cold drinks for everyone and although Pate sits quietly rubbing my back for reassurance, I find I’m actually enjoying myself. Abner and Tark with their fathers are instantly endearing and hilarious, and they are quick to trot out the most embarrassing stories they can think of from when my guys were little. Tark’s groans of embarrassment have me snorting with laughter, and I am not at all surprised to find that most of the entertaining stories are perpetrated by him in one way or another.

  All too soon there’s a chime through the house, and the mood visibly wilts. Interesting, and also makes me feel even better again. Maybe their parents don’t like her either. One of the dads looks at Linna and takes a deep ‘I’m gathering myself for this’ breath before he stands and goes into the house.

  “I’ll go and start bringing dinner through to the table,” says another as he gets up.

  The last follows him “I’ll help, sooner started, the sooner it’s done,”

  Well that answers that then, they definitely don’t like her.

  The first dad returns, “I am pleased to announce we are in the presence of Beiti-Grace.” It was such a formal announcement that I know it must be ‘the approved way’, and the way Grace is translated was more like it was implied and is like a title rather than an actual part of her name.

  She’s very white, I thought Linna was pure white, but next to Beiti she looks dulled; Beiti practically glows. She’s wearing a teal ensemble and every inch of it is glittery, just making her that much shinier. She likes her jewellery too, sporting several bangles and wide jewelled rings on her fingers, all of it shining like the most highly polished silver. The overall effect is pretty dazzling. I will not feel bad about my outfit, I repeat to myself a dozen times in my head.

  Pate stands me gently and then stands himself, everyone rising as she comes into the room. She’s the same height as Linna, but still manages to look down her nose at her as she says “You dishonour me Linna, allowing me to be greeted by one of your males.” She manages to fill the last word with disgust.

  Linna curtsies, “My apologies, no insult was meant Grace.” I can feel every male in the room bristling as Beiti crosses to the most comfortable couch in the porch and reclines across it, “We will take eve meal in here.” She announces like she fucking owns the place.

  “We have arranged eve meal in the dining room if it pleases -” one of the Dads starts, but she cuts him right off.

  “It does not please me, we will take eve meal here.” Wow, someone's spoilt.

  There’s a moment of very awkward bristling until Linna visibly gives in and through gritted fangs says “Of course, your wish, Grace,” and half curtsies politely before moving to leave the room. The Dads as I have mentally started calling them, move to follow, “I’ll help,” I volunteer as I fall in line. I follow them through to an open and relaxed dining room, “Your home is really beautiful,” I tell Linna and it earns me a dazzling smile.

  “Thank you, Maisy...perhaps you will convince my boys that it is nice enough to
visit more often.” She sounds so like a disgruntled mum in that moment I have to chuckle, and she hands me a tray which has been arranged with neatly wrapped cutlery. On the way back to the porch the underlying message of what she’s just said sinks in. I am part of her boy’s future. My face splits into what must be a totally shit eating grin.

  Which falls straight off my face when I walk back into the doorway of the porch.

  She’s on Abner’s lap, one leg extended so the she’s hooked her knee over one of Tark’s. The side of her outfit was spit to the hip, revealing endless amounts of bright white fur. Tark’s just staring open mouthed, and Abner has his arms hovering in the air like he has nowhere safe to put his hands. She has one of her hands in Abner’s mane and is stroking at her own thigh with the other. I’m disgusted. Pate has moved to sit dead opposite, like he’d moved out of the way, and looks as angry as I’d ever seen him. The other two just looked equal parts uncomfortable and absolutely horrified.

  I feel like time has slowed down and I have been standing here holding this stupid tray for a thousand years. Embarrassment fills me, but that rapidly turns into incandescent rage. I concentrate on very slowly walking into the room, and then focus on putting my tray on the table as calmly as I possibly can. I think if I don’t achieve at least that much I might beat her to fucking death with it. I look up and she’s watching me, the grin on her face is absolutely feral.

  “These males were simply interested in what a real female might feel like.” Oh, hells no. She did not just go there. Not whilst forcing herself on my men. She unfolds herself off them to slowly stand in front of me, making sure I can watch her tails rub across Abner’s crotch as she stands, he shudders with horror and disgust, and his hands move towards her tails and then stop again, as if actually touching her to stop it from happening was the worse option. My eyes go to his face, his ears have completely drooped, and he looks so sorry. All sensible thought completely leaves me.

  I move without realising what’s even happening, the rage focusing down to this moment, “you fucking whore,” the words just fall out uncontrolled as my hand swings around and up, open palmed, fully intending to slap this bitch into the middle of next week.

  I am dragged backward by my jumper so violently it hurts. Beiti’s curled hand, all claws extended, passes what feels like an inch from the end of my nose. I feel the breeze and realise with horror just how close I came to her taking my head clean off.

  I am winded again as I’m lifted round and my stomach unceremoniously hits Pates shoulder and I instinctively grip onto the first bit of material my hands come into contact with. He’s already moving before I land, and his shoulder is hurting me with every step as he jogs through the house, Tark and Abner waste no time and are right behind us.

  I catch sight of her over their heads and for a horrible moment she holds my eye contact until the door bangs shut and cuts her off.

  She was smirking.

  It takes what feels like all of ten seconds to get back to our house because Pate flat out sprints once he’s out the door, the jarring movement winding me all over again.

  Pate gets us through the door, he’s already pulling me off his shoulders and sliding me to his chest as he goes to his knees in the middle of the lounge. My legs have instinctively hooked over his thighs and he curls himself over me, his hand winding my hair around his fist and pulling so that I’m forced to arch my back and stretch my neck out, his left hand already squeezing my ass so hard I can feel his claws breaking my skin through my trousers. We slide into this position as naturally as breathing, it’s what I think of as his ‘favourite’ and we usually end up like this at least once when I spend time with him. I’ve totally and reflexively relaxed into the position, my reaction to this almost Pavlovian. Whether this is for his benefit or mine I don’t know, but I find that my fingertips are distractedly brushing through his mane, his teeth ever so softly gripping my throat. I don’t know how long we are like this, but I start to shiver as the adrenaline which had flooded me leaves again. I blink away some tears as I try and process the last half an hour rationally.

  “What the actual fuck just happened?”

  Pate lets go of my throat, and starts to bathe me in long, rough, grooming licks. I turn my head to look at Abner and Tark. Tark’s mouth is hanging open, staring at Pate and I, but Abner just lets out a big sigh and says, “She pushed you into a reaction, and I think it’s pretty safe to say you gave her one. I just don’t understand why?”

  Pate stops licking, “You have no real rights yet. If she’d have killed you it would have been self-defence and dismissed. You made to attack first.”

  “Only because she forced me!” I gesture angrily at the ceiling.

  I sigh and relax again; Pate goes back to licking.

  “Maisy,” Tark comes over to kneel next to my head, Pate releases me and we both sit up, Tark scooching forward so my back is resting against his chest. “None of it was real, she didn’t want us. It was a show to goad you into something.”

  I release the little niggling insecurity I’d been harbouring. “You’re sure?”

  “Yeah...I’m sure.” He sounds so uncomfortable...and embarrassed?

  “What is it?”

  Abner comes and kneels next to me, and I realise they are both obviously upset by what happened but...this also feels like more.

  “She was disgusted.” My head whips round to look at Pate, “She was?”

  “Oh yeah,” Abner adds “Sort of felt like being a youth again, being...mocked. She smelt so clearly of her disgust; she did not want to be anywhere near us. She did not even want to be...touching us.” His eyes drop to his hands, and I feel Tark breathing deep into my hair. He gives the slightest shudder, and I think he may be crying. I don’t think I’ve ever seen any of them cry.

  It’s this we aren't good enough thing again. No wonder Pate is king of I don’t give a shit, it’s how he’s defended himself against years of this sort of rejection. The others don’t have that though.

  “It doesn’t matter what she feels, we have Maisy,” I look to Pate whilst he’s pointedly addressing his brothers and then he stares me down as he says “We only want Maisy.”

  He’s hanging onto that like a lifeline, I realise. But I also get why they are upset, it’s one thing for someone to not find them attractive, quite another for literally years of rejection to be dredged up by someone so openly.

  Something chimes through the house and Abner goes to the door, it’s at least one Dad that I can see from my cuddle puddle on the floor, and they have a brief, quiet conversation which I don’t catch. Another Dad Head peers round the doorway, sees us, nods, and retracts.

  I think it’s a welfare visit. A moment later and Abner’s shutting the door and coming back, he puts a box on the table on the way past and sits with us again, I lean sideways out from between Pate and Tark to hug him. “What’s the box?”

  “Mum was worried, and she sent eve meal.”

  Apparently, a good mum is a good mum no matter what planet you’re on.

  “I like her,” I say, realising that I have no reservations about her at all.

  “Dad said...mum wishes you’d managed to hit her...and that she never did send that message, Beiti ordered her to.” We all sit silently for a minute and digest that last bit of information.

  Abner suddenly snorts a chuff of laughter. And then he starts really laughing, so much so he can hardly get the words out, “...She tried Pate...first...” Tark starts laughing as well now, “And he moved out the way so fast...she nearly...nearly sat on the floor...”

  I’m laughing along with them at the image, that is one hundred per cent typical Pate.

  I lean forward against Pate and hug him as hard as I can, burying my face in his neck fur.

  “I love you guys.” There, I said it. No taking it back now.

  “We know,” Tark says, and I can hear the grin in his voice. I twist to smack at him but he easily deflects me, grinning like a fool the whole time.
<
br />   Pate is still sitting back on his heels, and Tark scooches forward more so I can feel one of his thighs under my butt. He’s sniffing at my neck, and then gives a long lick that makes me eyes close and my head tip onto my shoulder to let him in. Pate slides his hands down my sides and brings them to rest on my hips, kneading very firmly. He leans forward and nuzzles his way in so between him and Tark, I have to stretch my neck up, he’s giving me licks and gently nips on the opposite side to Tark. The fire that Pate lit when he pinned me earlier comes back to life and more.

  Between them they stand me, and Abner sniffs the top of my head and then pulls my jumper up from the hem, I oblige and lift my arms so he can peel it off. He throws it somewhere behind him, and then leans right forward to lath at my nipples. Someone on the floor lifts first one foot and then the other, I just let it happen and I know my trousers are gone too. I’m still standing between Tark and Pate, and have had to twist from the hips to face Abner.

  He’s giving my breasts his full attention, and they are becoming ever more sensitive as I become more and more aroused. Abner lifts my arms onto his shoulders, and my hands naturally find their way into his mane, trying to press his face closer to my breasts, and then I gasp as he nips at me.

  I am only vaguely aware of the others talking, and then Pate smooths the back of my legs from top to bottom, dragging his claws ever so gently along the backs of my thighs and calves. He lifts my right leg and hooks it over his shoulder, and in my split second of panic I grasp Abner’s mane harder for balance. If he feels it he doesn’t complain.