A/N Sorry I haven't been updating any of my stories but I just haven't had the time, my dad is suffering from cancer and I'm struggling with work, school and home, I will update when I can so please be patient and I apologise for the delays.

Also I haven't put up and disclaimers, well I don't think so, so here's my disclaimers. I do not own any of the Carpathian character, that magical world belongs to Christine Feehan and her imagination. And I do not own the Jet Li movie Unleashed which gave me my inspiration for this. FYI it's a great movie. Well that's it, hopefully. Enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 6

I was in heaven, it was so hot in wherever I was, and soft. Oh so soft. I stretched and my skin brushed what felt like a million feathers, the heat washed over my skin in waves, I rolled over so I could curl up on my side and the hot air washed up and over my back.

"Are you comfy?"

My eyes peeled open at the soft voice. All I could see was a pair of legs, the dark shade of the trousers blending in the fires glow at my back. I hummed and rolled onto my belly, stretching my arms out over my head, pushing up on my knees and curving my back.

"I don't want to move." I rubbed my cheek into the soft white fur of the carpet I was lying on. Well I guess it was fur, what else was so soft and fluffy?

"Well, you'll need to move in a bit Skyler is coming to see you soon, she's bringing some friends as well."

I closed my eyes not in the least bothered. It had been five days since I'd started staying under the roof of this house. Dominic stayed by my side whenever he could, yet there were times he spoke to other Carpathians and the atmosphere in the room grew darker. I was visited by the Carpathian women, they introduced me to the world, showing me colourful clothing, technology, different foods. Apart from yesterday, yesterday had been a disaster, they had made me a vegetable soup and whilst they were getting the bowls out, I had been busy rummaging in the fridge, when they'd turned back around, I was munching on a raw steak. They seemed disturbed, until Skyler piped up and said, "Well what did we expect? She is a tiger after all."

"Rika are you going to be lazy?" There was a smile in Dominic's voice.

"I'm having a cat nap." I mumbled.

He chuckled and I relaxed more. The last five days had been excellent, I had no more headaches, no more phantom pains sent to me from Don or the collar. It was so calm, I hadn't been in a fight, but…I could feel the urge in me to shift. The feeling of lose, being cut off from a part of myself.

My fingers started drumming against the floor, my legs shifted restlessly. My eyes darted around me, oh shiny, I curled up ready to pounce at the shiny thing. The shorts I wore brushed lightly in the fires heat waves, my top rested lightly and I was thankful I was given light clothes. I didn't like wearing a lot, I had enough of Don dressing me up for show.

"Rika what are you-" Dominic's voice was cut off as I pounced, the shiny things rolled across the floor as I tapped it with my hand. When I flicked it with my fingers it rolled under the sofa between Dominic's feet. GET THE SHINY!

I dove for it, realising it was going out the other side I pushed up so that I landed on Dominic. I leaned over his shoulder and scrambled awkwardly over him and the sofa. I frowned when I saw the other side of the sofa. Huh, the shiny wasn't there.

A deep sound echoed through the room, it took me to realise Dominic was shaking, his arms wrapped around me and he pulled me so that I was facing him, still sitting in his lap. I tensed only a little, the preparation for a hit, a shout for crossing the line. When I saw his face I relaxed, he was smiling and laughing, not shaking with anger. He was holding me with affection and not rage. This was maybe even nicer than the soft rug and hot fire, maybe…

"You're getting better at human contact and understanding non-violent situations." His voice was soft and praising, similar to the tones Don used when I won in the Dog Fights. I shook my head to clear away the thoughts, I wasn't there. I was here….with Dominic….it was nice.

"I've learnt a lot, I didn't know there was so much more, to ummm, do. To live and see. It's rather unusual."

He smiled wider and pulled me closer so that I was flush against his chest. "For someone who hardly ever spoke a few days ago, you speak beautifully, who taught you?"

He was simply curious, yet when I tried to think about how I knew to talk, what words to use I, I came at a blank wall. There was a silver sheet coating that part of my mind, I had no idea what was behind there. It didn't matte, nothing mattered. My eyes focused outside the window, past Dominic's head. It wasn't raining, but the night sky was clear, only a few wisps of clouds floating by, the stars glittering brightly, the moon shone a pale white light, capturing my attention and holding it.

Isn't it beautiful Rika? It's the moon, you cant touch it, but we always try to reach for it. Keep reaching for what you want, don't ever let anything or anyone stop you, no matter what the consequences. Otherwise there's no point in living.

"Rika?" I glanced back at Dominic, by the tone of his voice I was guessing it wasn't the first time he'd said my name.

"Yeah?"

He frowned and rubbed his hands up my back. "Did you just think something, or did someone say something to you? In your mind?"

At his question I ran my hand over the cold steel plated collar. I felt the familiar warning hum of it under my hand. I missed running on all fours, I felt contained and casting like that we got irritable.

"I don't know what you're on about." I admitted tilting my head at Dominic.

He opened his mouth to say something, only his eyes seemed to grow darker as he just looked at me. I leaned forward as I gazed at the storm that seemed to going on in the depths of his eyes. "You're eyes just changed, that's so cool."

My skin felt hot as I leaned closer into him, so close to his face that I could feel his breath, my own breathing seemed to sped up slightly and my stomach did a flip as I realised I liked him, more than I liked anyone. Uhhh.. What was the word used to describe this? Oh but those eyes.

"So has yours, a deep azure with beautiful cat eyes." He leaned closer and my nose twitched with his scent tickling my senses.

I was trying to get a better look at his eyes, I wonder if the moon could reflect in it like a mirror, it was so dark there? Then I felt something light brush my lips. His hands curled around my back and he tried to pull me even closer, yeah I didn't think that was even possible. He moved our lips in sync and I realised I was doing it back. This was what was called kissing, a show of affection, of attraction, it was my first kiss. And I was enjoying it. I tilted my head and the kiss deepened, I felt his chest rumble and heard his growl. I purred and rubbed my body against him, it was like catnip. I could roll around for ages with him, huh, maybe that didn't sound quite right.

My hands wrapped around his neck and I gasped for air, resting more fully on his lap, my fingers tangling in the ends of his hair that curled at the back of his neck. One of his hand trailed up my back and curled around my neck, I could hear a snap and hi hand didn't hesitate as the collar sent out a sting of energy, his hand curled above the collar, wrapping around my neck and tilting my head for a deeper kiss.

My eyes closed and I sighed as he pulled his lips away, trailing more light pressed kidded to my jaw and down to my neck. I was lost in the new sensations and feeling flooding me. But what I did feel was the slight graze of teeth, he brushed his mouth across my neck, above the collar, the pressed slightly against my skin. I gasped, in shocked pleasure at the feeling.

Then I flinched back as a wave of pain slammed against my mind. The force of it was so strong that I was thrown away from Dominic, across the room and against the wall. The sound of impact was deafening. I fell to the floor with the breath knocked out of me. Don didn't say anything, he sent the full force of his anger through the link he had with me and the energy bound to the collar cut off my airways.

Dominic leaped up in seconds, a snarl ripped from his throat and when he stepped forward, Don anger increased. A invisible force slammed me into the ceiling and let me drop back down to the floor, I went to land crouched on all fours, only the force of it crushed me down, forcing me to land awkwardly.

The pressure on my neck built up, I could feel my windpipe being crushed, then a new sensation alerted me even more than the violent assaults. I could feel the invisible touch of a hand running across my chest. Don had never done that before, I must have crossed the line. I didn't like this. I didn't want this at all!

Your fun is ending soon Rika.

Dons voice echoed across my skull, shaking my brain up and causing spots to dance behind my eyes. When my vision cleared and the assault on my body and mind ceased, I glanced around me to see Dominic and Gregori.

Everything I felt from the attack, from even a few moments before it, I blocked them out, retreating back into my cold shell. I had been foolish to believe Don had left me alone because he had given up. No, he had just been building his strength, saving it for a moment when he knew I was relaxed, he had bided his time so he could do the most damage.

"Rika..?" Dominic held his hand out to me. I pushed away from both of the men and sat against the wall. My eyes staring past them. The pain was blooming over my body, the aches already starting. That wasn't even taking into account the impact it had on my mind. My psyche itself had been shook.

"I'm fine." I wrapped my hands around my stomach, I had felt hits and blows being dealt out all over my body. But I was used to that, I didn't like it when I felt a hand touch my chest, no one had ever touched me there. Don never used me for things like that, I was a fighter, pure and simple.

"What happened?" Gregori asked with stormy eyes.

I lowered my head, he couldn't have been blind. It was obvious what had happened. When I peeked back at them, I realised they did want me to answer. "Don, he was angry….. Because I was happy. He wants me home."

Dominic growled and snapped his teeth. "He hasn't bothered you for ages why now? How can he? How is he able to do this to you?"

I stayed quiet, ho stupid had I been? A tiger like me, a animal bred for a life of fighting, trained to give obedience to her master, I couldn't live normally. Normal didn't fit anywhere into my life. I had been foolish and stupid.

"It's that collar isn't it?" Dominic's voice was sharp, hard. It scared me. "Well there's one way to solve that problem."

In a quick move full of anger he reached out for the collar, I scrambled back, pressing into the wall, turning away slightly and covering the collar with my hands. "No you can't! If you remove it, I'll suffer. And if it's removed for a long period of time, I'll die."

Unless that was what he wanted of course, he was angry. But maybe he was angry at me, not Don. Maybe I just wasn't doing things right.

"Dominic," Gregori placed a calm hand on his shoulder, trying to sound understanding. "I know this is hard on you, but we will help her. It just takes time. We are tracking him down, we will end this. But don't let your instincts rule you."

Slowly Dominic's body relaxed, his shoulders slumped and his eyes turned warm and soft. He kneeled in front of me and pulled me into a hug. I didn't resist, but I didn't lean into it either. What was I doing? Now? Here? In ten minutes? Tomorrow? I just didn't know what my life was, I was too used to living doing what people told me.

I'm sorry I didn't protect you. I wont fail again.

His voice whispered through my head and soothed the mental ache. His hands rubbed the bruised flesh on my arms and silently traced the pattern of fingers on my throat. It was stupid and silly, but I felt warm, comforted by his concern. It was a pain having emotions, yet at the same time I wondered how I lived without them.

Gregori cleared his voice. "The others would like to see you." He walked to the door and opened it. Motioning for Skyler, Sara and three giggling children to come in to the room. Behind them I saw Falcon and Dimitri lingering in the hall way. Perhaps they didn't trust me.

"Hey Kitty!" I smiled at the tiny girl in front of me. She had nicknamed me Kitty after realising I was the tiger who had been causing the trouble lately.

"Hello Chrissy, how have you been?"

She immediately launched into a detail of her day, Emma and Travis stood in front of them arguing about something trivial. When Chrissy finished she looked closely at me. "Are you okay? You don't look well."

Dominic paused as he walked to the other side of the room. His eyes assessed me and I turned on a smile and gracefully got to my feet. "You caught getting ready for a cat nap." I admitted.

"No way, you actually do that?" Travis was astounded.

I frowned. "Don't all cats?"

Emma frowned as well. "But you're not a cat now." Skyler and the others were watching us curiously. I always had a soft spot for cubs, human or otherwise. They touched a part of me I had tried to fight when I was in the Cages, you couldn't save every cub there was. But I never stopped trying

I realised what Emma meant, I sat on a stool, my legs crossed under me. "Well, I look human now, but I am a tiger. I act like a cat no matter what I look like."

"So you do cat things?" Travis asked with a glint in his eye. I nodded.

A huge grin lit up his face and he ran to the table where there was a basket full of wool balls. "Here kitty kitty kitty. You want to play with the yarn?" He waved the wool ball around, a string end waving with his movements, my eyes locked on it.

"Travis that's not funny." Emma rebuked, her hand on her hips.

Chrissy copied Emma's stance. "Yeah Travis."

Travis threw the yarn and it rolled away from me. I leapt, I hooked it with my finger and tossed it above my head, I rolled on my back so that I could catch it in my hands and bat it around. When I batted it so hard it went under the table, I didn't even think, I darted after it. I wanted the bright yarn! MINE! I banged head first into the leg of the table, I scrambled around trying to bat t towards me only really batting it away, it was fun. I bumped into chairs, I followed the mad rolling ball of yarn across the floor, I made a dash for it and it rolled into the fire place. Immediately I parked my bum on the floor to stop myself following it into the flames. Awwwww, the toy's gone.

I turned back around to my audience, only to see them either doubled over in laughter, or smirked rather amused at my actions. Dominic was smiling at me and I gave a small smile back.

Emma came giggling to me and leaned down so she could wrap her tiny arms around me. "That was funny. We missed you today Rika."

"My Kitty!" Chrissy ran up to me and wrapped her arms tightly around my neck, when I stood up she hung off me like a scarf. She giggled and swung herself lightly. I was alert to catch her in case she fell.

"You really are a cat." Travis managed to cough out between his laughs.

I just stared at him, he must've thought I was joking, but I knew I possessed very catlike instincts, I was more of a kitty than the leopards. It made for a very interesting life.

"Kitty can you shift? I wanna see your stripes." Chrissy asked grinning up at me, still hanging to me like a baby monkey.

I immediately felt the lose of my animal form, I had never gone so long without shifting, I didn't want to risk the punishment for it anyway. I was in enough trouble as it was. Dominic looked at me with concern but I just shrugged it off. "Not yet Chrissy, I'm still healing."

Chrissy's tiny hand reached up and I flinched when she neared the collar. Only she brushed the skin above it. She pouted in concentration. "Did you get into a fight Rika?"

I froze at her question, she must have been really concerned and serious, considering she'd called me by my real name and not my new found nickname.

Skyler stood up from the chair and clapped her hands together. "Who's hungry?" the mention of food immediately distracted me and the kids. We all filed out the hallway and into the kitchen. New scent ambushed my nose, causing me to sneeze slightly. Chrissy was now clinging to my back, ecstatic and happy as she shouted "Yeeha! I'm riding the tiger. Go Kitty, go!"

"What's this?" I poked at the soft red stuff, that was see through in a bowl.

"That's jelly." Sara told me as she got some cookies out of the oven.

They smelled incredibly sweet. "Do you want one?" Travis held a cookie out to me.

"I don't know." I answered. It looked like a brown stone. Could you really eat them?

"Well do you like them?" I shrugged. "Have you even ever tried one?" I shook my head and his mouth dropped open.

"Then eat it now. Sara makes good cookies. But don't try Alexandria's, Josh warned us all about her cooking." Faintly I remembered Josh and Alexandria, they were part of another Carpathian family.

I gingerly took the cookie, after watching it for a while I bit into it. It melted into my mouth and the inside was still warm. It was so sweet could feel my teeth ache. "Bleh, its like sucking a sugar bowl." I rubbed my tongue on my teeth, trying to rid my mouth of the sweetness.

"You don't like cookies! You're a cookie hater." Travis pointed an accusing finger at me. I would have replied but something else caught my attention. I finally set Chrissy down and leaned over the counter. A bowl with a…I think it was called a whisk, in it sat on the table, in the bowl was something thick and white, it looked like foam but it looked so poofy.

"What's this?" I asked poking a finger into it. It was thick and cold. Hmmmm.

"That's whipped cream." Chrissy told me as she watched me lick the cream off my finger. My taste buds went mad and I immediately scooped out some more with my finger.

"So you like it, figures, the cat doesn't like the cookie but she likes t cream. Typical cat." Travis mumbled as he went for the fresh batch of cookies trying to not burn his fingers on their warmth.

"We made it with the whisk. We broke the normal one so we used the electric one, Travis said it's cheating, I say its just quicker." Emma told me a she sprinkled some cakes with tiny little beads. The entire kitchen was covered with deserts, the kids were loving it and so was I.

As I carried on scooping out the cream my ears picked up the conversation on the other side of the kitchen.

"Have you found him yet?" Dominic asked in a low voice, even I had a hard time hearing it but I still picked it up with my sensitive ears.

"We're having trouble finding him, he seems to have vanished for now and no one knows where he is." Gregori replied just as quiet.

"He hurt her Gregori, if that was your life mate you'd be tearing through the city right now." Dominic grinded his teeth.

"Probably, but she also needs you right now. When she was attacked, she seemed to shut down straight away, she needs you to keep her linked to the here and now. She could end up like Skyler was when Gabriel and Francesca found her. Be patient.""How could he just be able to attack her like that? He's nowhere near here."

"Obviously that collar is charmed, it has to be the link. He is not human, but we don't know if he's just mage. Even if all the evidence points to it."

"I will protect her and I will kill him. How is the Prince taking my report on the experiments that the vampires are now carrying out, it seems to be a progression from what we know Xavier was doing."

Gregori sighed. "He is thinking about what action needs to be taken."

I blocked out the rest of their conversation, I was suddenly very concerned about the lack of cream in the bowl. It was down to half full, I knew that wouldn't be enough. A light bulb went on in my head.

"So you made the cream by using the whisk?" I asked to assure myself.

"Yep." Emma said as she asked Gregori to come and see her pretty cakes.

As he stepped up next to her, I flicked the switch on the whisk. I had learnt that most things had a switch to turn them on. The sound of the whisk was loud and whirred throughout the room. People squealed and cream went flying everywhere. I quickly turned the switch off and stared appalled at the now empty cream bowl. Where had all the cream gone?

I looked to my side, Gregori glared at me. I smiled in joy and wiped my finger across his forehead. I collected the cream on my finger and put my finger in my mouth sucking off the cream. I scooped a handful off his hair. I was delighted to see the cream hadn't vanished, it just wasn't in the bowl. No, it was everywhere, on Gregori's face, on the jelly, the ceiling, the floor, the cook books, even ME!

I liked my arm where a long coat of cream trailed up it. "Yay, cream!"

That was around the time where everyone burst out laughing. Apart from Gregori who wiped the cream off and flicked his hands in the sink.

"NO! Don't waste the cream." I cried out in horror.