Chapter 85 - Is She Purring?

'What do I do with it?'

'I can't let the poor thing wander around, look at it! It's scrawny.'

Slowly, Madeline picked it up, hoping the kitten wouldn't react poorly to it. 

Thankfully, instead of scratching Madeline or trying to escape, all it did was purr in response. 

'Is she purring?' Madeline asked. 

[Author's Note: Madeline can tell the cat's a female. To those that wonder how…]

She exclaimed, her eyes sparkly, "You're just so adorable!"

Madeline searched for a collar. 

Unable to find a collar, she decided to give it a name. 

After a bit of thinking, Madeline finally decided on one name. 

"Hmm, what about Lily?"

"Do you like that?" She asked the kitten, stroking its head carefully so she wouldn't harm her. 

The kitten meowed in response.

'I must be crazy to consider keeping her.'

'But…' 

'The hunt today…' 

She placed the kitten down, opening her doors and wondering what the kitten would do next.

And if Madeline wasn't feeling guilty enough considering merely feeding the kitten and leaving her, the little thing entering her room and looking around innocently didn't help either.

'Damn it, why does she have to make this even harder for me?'

'I can't.' 

'I'm keeping her, I can't leave her here.'

'Maybe after the hunt, I'll find someone else more suitable to take care of her, but now… what else can I do?'

"Here kitty, come here," Madeline said, looking for the kitten that was somewhere in her room. 

What she didn't know was that evening was coming in a couple of hours, and that Xavier was still fully unaware of the kitten that Madeline decided to care for till she found it a better home. That is, if she ever did. 

Things were already awkward after Madeline decided to give Xavier a quick peck on the cheek before running for the hills.

Imagine his reaction if he were to greet her goodbye and hear meowing coming from her room beforehand. 

Who knew how he'd react?

Would he be upset? Happy for Madeline? Mortified? 

Madeline hadn't thought of that yet, as she was occupied thinking of what necessities one needed when providing for a cat. 

She had never been a cat person. Heck, she had always been into dogs more than cats, although she never expected herself to get any pets in the first place. And now, she had a kitten she knew nothing about in her quarters. 

'Should I tell Briar? Inform Xavier? Or Adrian?'

'Are cats even allowed here?'

"What do I do with you, hmm?" 

"How did you get here anyway?" 

She looked at the kitten who met her gaze, staring back at her with her adorable eyes. 

For a moment, Madeline felt like she could understand what the kitten was trying to tell her. As if she could talk to the cat. 

'Hah! Now I seem crazy. I can't talk to animals, that's just absurd!' 

"I'm driving myself crazy," Madeline sighed, telling the kitten, "You can't understand me."

How she wished she could. 

"I guess it would be nice having someone to talk to," Madeline said, a smile growing on her face. 

"Someone other than Briar, and Xavier."

Xavier. Him. 

She had still yet to think of what to say to him if she were to encounter him again. 

What if they met up before he left for the hunt? What would she say to him then? 

Whilst Madeline hoped time would make things less awkward, she wondered what Xavier thought of it. 

Maybe he dismissed it like it was nothing. 

After all, friends kissed each other on the cheek. 

…right? 

'What kind of bullshit is that, you don't kiss Briar, do you?' A voice in her head reasoned snarkily. 

Looking out the window, Madeline realized evening was coming soon. Extremely soon. 

In an hour or so, Xavier was supposed to leave. 

She'd definitely miss him when he left for the hunt. 

As surprising as it may have been, she had a stellar time the other day at dinner. 

It had started off horribly with her barging in on his office practically demanding Xavier didn't kill her father. No, not her father. Emilio. 

She refused to call him her father yet. 

Speaking of Xavier, he was on the way to Madeline's quarters, off to bid her goodbye and make sure she was alright before he went off to hunt for prey. 

'Would it be alright for me to check in on her or would it be… overkill?'

Xavier had learnt a new term from Adrian lately. 

Overkill. 

What it meant was when someone did something excessively, as Adrian had explained. 

Xavier thought the meaning of said word had something to do with killing, but turns out, he was incorrect, much to his dismay. 

He hesitated when he arrived at her door. 

'Should I knock or not bid her goodbye?' 

'I shouldn't.'

'Or should I?'

'I probably should.'

'Will she think I'm annoying?'

'Gah!' 

He knocked on her door.

Then, he heard some scrambling and something dropping, before he finally heard Madeline exclaim, "Coming!" 

For a second, Xavier was slightly - and only slightly - worried that something had happened to her. 

But, all his worries vanished the moment he saw her face staring back at him.

"X-Xavier?" Madeline stuttered. 

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to say goodbye," Xavier said, his hand in his pocket as he looked someplace else. 

"Since I won't return till morning earliest."

Madeline blinked.

"Oh."

'He came to say goodbye, how sweet,' Madeline thought, her heart warm simply thinking about it. 

He didn't leave without greeting her goodbye. She couldn't help but feel all warm when she thought about it. 

It was then Xavier sniffed the air. 

"Is there an animal in your quarters?" He asked Madeline. 

Madeline's eyes went wide 

"Right, about that…"

Xavier gently pushed her to take a step into her quarters, as one did when they sensed unknown danger - or at least as Xavier did.

He stared at the floor, trying to prevent himself from yelping. 

'WHAT IS THIS DOING HERE?'

'WHAT'S THIS MONSTER DOING IN MADELINE'S QUARTERS?'

One would argue that he was overreacting when he found a cat in Madeline's quarters. However… Who knew?

Maybe he had his reasons for reacting so harshly… 

Madeline was about to explain herself, before he questioned, "How long has this… creature been here?"

"It's a cat. It's been here for a couple of hours."

Xavier seemed like he wanted to say something to her but chose not to. 

Madeline reckoned he was hiding something from her. 

'Does this have something to do with Lily? But she's just a kitten. What could possibly be so wrong with her?'

Did werewolves have a natural dislike towards cats? Was that what was happening? 

Did Xavier not allow cats here? Would he ask her to move Lily someplace else? Or worse, abandon her?!

"I know it is."

He didn't know how to explain it to her. 

Oh yes, he had a dislike towards cats, that was for sure. 

Those creatures had eyes that pierced through your soul whenever you looked at them. And they looked like they were constantly plotting a million different ways to torment you to your dreadful death. They acted all high and mighty as well. And the way they meowed to get attention and acted all innocent sometimes? 

Xavier could go on and on. However, that wasn't what he was trying to tell her. What he was trying to tell her was… 

Sort of embarrassing, when he thought about it. 

He backed away from the kitten, hoping it wouldn't come closer to him or try to curl up next to his feet. 

'Please no.'

The kitten certainly knew he was there. It licked its paw, acting all innocent. 

Now, something to know about Xavier was that he had one thing that differentiated him from other werewolves. 

A… weakness, as one would put it. 

Not even Adrian knew this. Xavier had never told anyone this before, so he was having trouble doing so now. 

There was a reason there were no cats in Eudora. Other werewolves were alright with cats, others weren't. But either way, there was a strict no pets rule there. Cats definitely applied to this rule. 

Xavier had a feeling Madeline wouldn't react so kindly to leave the cat someplace and never look back. There was a reason she harboured the… pest in her quarters in the first place. Maybe Madeline found it… cute. 

He shuddered, backing away from the kitten. 

Madeline wondered if he had any problem with Lily. She hoped not. 

'I'm only keeping her till the hunt's over and I find someone else who can properly care for her.' 

"I should probably tell you that… uhm…" 

Xavier scratched the back of his neck nervously, wondering how to break it to her. 

It wasn't a big deal. 

Alright, that was debatable. 

If she found Xavier being unable to visit her quarters so long as the cat stays a big deal, that is. 

What was this thing he was trying to tell her?

That he was allergic to cats.