A Bear Temptation

| Chapter Eleven |

In life there are things that we know, things that we learn and things we can't explain. As Katze stood at her window looking at the sun slowly sneak in and out of the dull grey clouds she knew that the burning in her heart was telling her Zeke was hurting.

There was something wrong, a feeling she couldn't explain yet as she stood there, gazing vacantly into the outside world it was the only thing that seemed to make sense. It was a continual flame l*****g around her heart at first until it became a suffocating fire. The Panther was scratching inside of her, a feeling she had become accustomed to after leaving Zeke, that only confirmed her thoughts.

"What is wrong with you Zeke?" She whispered wiping the tear that had fallen down her cheek, she didn't understand the emotion yet somehow knew those tears were for him.

Serena had given her a lot to think about and for the last few days she had tried desperately to forget. It was virtually impossible especially when the only contact you had with people was them serving your meals. All she had to do was think and now with the pain the thoughts just swirled around ten times faster.

"We need to speak."

Katze spun so fast she stumbled, luckily gripping onto the table at her side which seemed to keep her balance. Of all the people she expected to see it certainly wasn't the man who was very quietly shutting the door at his back.

"Deon?"

"Hi." He looked around awkwardly.

"How did you get in here? How did you manage to get past everyone?" She was so confused; nobody could get onto this land without someone knowing. 

"That doesn't matter right now."

Katze again gripped her heart feeling the burning ache sink into her soul. She looked at Deon who pulled his hand through his short curly hair. 

"Something is wrong." It wasn't a question, more of a statement. 

"Yes, you can feel his pain?" Katze nodded the tears once again falling down his face. 

"It keeps getting stronger, it's like my heart is in flames." 

"You know Katze, when Wolff decided to take on the Council we knew it was going to be hard, but it just seems like it's a never-ending battle that is going to ruin us all. Wolff and the others don't deserve the pain and hurt they are going through. They don't deserve any of this. They are good people."

Deon walked over to the window shaking his head. He looked broken and as Katze looked at him she knew the look on her face mirrored his. She hadn't heard him speak much when she was with the Clan but now, his young face didn't match his words, he spoke beyond his years. 

"They attacked us." Katze spun to him, he looked at her in pity. "There was too many of them and Zeke's Dad was killed, his Mum couldn't cope with the loss and took her life."

"Oh God, no."

The burning all made sense now. He had lost everything. His mate, his family, and his bear. A sob broke past her lips as she fell to her knees with the unbearable pain he must be feeling. Deon sat beside her pulling her into an awkward hug. 

"He's my mate and I can't even help him. He has lost everything."

Deon didn't respond, Katze could feel the bear grumble in his skin but he just held her while she cried. He had lost too much and what made her cry more was that some of that pain, she had caused.

An anger seeped into her veins; one she wasn’t prepared for. The cat hissed in her throat as she fought with the animal. Deon gripped her by the shoulders pulling her back, so his eyes bore into hers.

“Now is not the time to change.” The words were distant, the heat in her body unbearable as she tried to calm her breathing.

The animal wanted her skin and it wanted it now. It wanted to rip the Council apart for causing so much hurt to her mate.

“Control her. Do it for Zeke.” Deon begged and somehow she did, looking at him she matched his breathing. It must have been minutes until she knew she could control herself.

Deon let her go slowly helping her to her feet. He again dragged his hand through his hair looking out the window into the distance.

“You have to go to him.” A frown took her face.

“I can’t. You know I can’t.”

“You have to find a way Katze. It’s his parent’s funeral tomorrow and he needs you.”

“But, the prophecy.”

If she came, it would bring even more danger to the Clan. Her kind wouldn’t just let her leave and even if she did go to Zeke, they wouldn’t let her stay. She would take them to a war must sooner than they needed to.

“That prophecy was someone else’s plan to save your species. It was a desperate plan by desperate people a long time ago but if they could see your species now do you think they would deem them worth saving? They treat you like rubbish. You were supposed to be a saviour and they treat you as if you are beneath them when without you they are nothing.”

Katze couldn’t argue with him but this was so much bigger than just a plan. It was a lifeline for her people, one they would do anything to keep.

“Zeke has tried to come to you Katze but he can’t. Wolff has commanded him not to.”

“Good, then he won’t get hurt.” She responded quickly; she didn’t like the thought of her people hurting him more than he already was.

“He is already hurt; he is broken and day by day he will get worse. Don’t you understand? We all want to come and get you; we all want to ease his pain, but we can’t.” He barked.

“If I come, if I stay my people will be at war with yours, they will come to kill you all. This prophecy was my fate, the minute I was born.” She couldn’t let that happen.

“Katze, look around. We are already at war. A war that the Council wanted whether others believe it or not. The Council need to be in charge and slowly with the bonds forming in the Clans, they were losing that power. Don’t you understand? For survival as animals we all grouped together in our kind. We created groups for protection and created a family unit that became our life. The council didn’t like that, we created something they feared, we created loyalty among our own.”

“But, they had what they wanted. The groups you created gave you love; it gave you something you didn’t want to lose so you followed their rules to keep it.” Katze frowned, it didn’t make sense to her.

“At first yes but now that love has turned into something to fight for. Don’t you understand, we can only have love on their terms, but we deserve more, we got a taste of what we could have and now we are fighting for it all. This war was always coming. Wolff was just the flame that started the fire.” Zeke sighed.

“You seem to know a lot.”

“When you lose a lot you start to see things differently, you start to look at things from the outside in. Looking at the bigger picture gives you clarity.” He shrugged.

“What if I can’t get you him.”

“You will. And as for your fate, Zeke is your fate Katze, he always was. You are the only one who can save him now. Calla is keeping him afloat but without you he is as good as dead, and you know it.” A tear slipped down her cheek at his words.

A clang sounded in the distance; Deon tilted his head to the side nodding as he did.

“I have to go but come Katze. You must come. Zeke is the best of us all, he deserves to be happy, he deserves the love only you can give him.”

Katze nodded watching as Deon walked to the door, he turned looking at her with an intensity that almost had her dizzy.

“Life is cruel, it’s unfair and we have to do things that we don’t want to in order for us to keep those we love safe. We all have tough decisions ahead of us. Make the right one”

With those words he was gone off into the distance like he had never been here to begin with. She stared at the door for what felt like hours knowing that the only way she was getting out of here was when Serena provided a diversion and the only way she could keep Zeke would be if she killed Wolff.

The thought had bile rising in her throat.

Deon was right, life was cruel, it was unfair, and she had a decision to make. She just wasn’t sure what on earth she was going to do.

Somehow Deon coming had made her so much more confused than when Serena had but in her heart she knew what had to be done.