Chapter Five

 

“This will sting,” Otto said a split second before he ran a swab of some sort of antibiotic liquid across the largest gash in Kate’s shoulder.

Kate instantly felt like her entire shoulder had gone up in flames while simultaneously being poked with a giant needle. She gritted her teeth together and sucked in her breath, doing her best not to cry out in pain. Otto was not exactly being gentle. He seemed to know what he was doing, yes. Kate had no doubt that her wounds were being treated well. But couldn’t he have stood to move a bit slower and show a bit more care?

She already knew the answer to that. Otto was furious with her, and he wasn’t going to baby her just because she had a bunch of scrapes and gashes all over her body. He’d barely spoken a word to her the whole walk over here, and he didn’t look like he was about to start now. Kate contemplated trying to start up a conversation with him, but decided against it. This day had exhausted her, both physically and emotionally. Perhaps it was better to attempt a meaningful conversation with Otto tomorrow, after she’d had a chance to rest and tensions between them had had a chance to lessen.

Not that she was sure tensions between them would ever actually ease up. She’d seen some angry people before, but she’d never seen anyone look quite as angry as Otto had before they began their little sparring match in the Arena today.

But to Kate’s surprise, Otto himself broke the silence a moment later. Apparently, he could no longer hold all of that anger inside.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he asked as he mercilessly ran another swab of the antibiotic ointment across her wound.

Kate winced before answering. “I’m joining the resistance. I’m tired of sitting around waiting for the revolution to start, so I’m here to help move it along.”

Otto rolled his eyes as he began to put a large bandage on her shoulder. “I was afraid of that. You don’t just ‘join’ the resistance, though. You have to be approved by a majority of the members. And I’m not sure the guys are going to approve some chick who thinks she can just waltz into Gilt Hollow and boss everyone around.”

Kate frowned. “I’m not trying to boss everyone. I’m just trying to give you guys a push forward. Don’t you get it, Otto? This is a time to take risks?”

Otto looked at her and raised an eyebrow. “Well, you certainly took a big risk by coming over to Gilt Hollow. You realize you can’t get out of this now, right? Loki doesn’t let his shifters quit the Games, ever. The only shifter that’s ever left was Oskar, and only because Zora stood up for him. Zora’s gone now. There’s no one in Gilt Hollow to stick up for us.”

“I know. I did take a big risk. But that’s my point. We all need to start taking big risks, unless we just want to live under Gilt Hollow’s oppression forever. Taking food over to Bear Hollow is nice, but it’s not enough. We have to do more than just not starve. We have to do more than just survive. We need to go on the offensive.”

Otto let out a long sigh. “I guess it’s nice to see someone so optimistic and starry-eyed. Don’t worry, though. A few weeks in Gilt Hollow will knock that optimism right out of you. It’s not as easy as deciding to take some big risks. You have to take smart risks that won’t get you killed and won’t expose the entire resistance. And that’s not easy to do. The Gilt Hollow citizens know we hate them. They might seem like all they care about is frivolity and money, but they do tend to take security seriously.”

Kate didn’t say anything for a few moments. She stared down at her arm, where Otto was now bandaging up another deep gash, and she was suddenly sharply aware of the fact that they were both still naked. She hadn’t ever thought much about being naked in front of other shifters, but suddenly she felt self-conscious, and she wasn’t sure why. Perhaps it was because she had just realized, when her eyes settled on the space between his legs, that his dick was much larger than any she’d ever seen. She swallowed hard and forced herself to look away, even though her natural inclination was to stare. She felt a flutter in her stomach, and she could feel her nipples hardening with desire as her breasts rose and fell from her rapid breathing.

Get a grip on yourself. She could not develop any sort of feelings for him—not even feelings of pure lust. She had to remain objective and clearheaded around Otto, because any weakness he saw he was sure to throw against her. He didn’t want her interfering with his precious little resistance, even though Kate was convinced that that’s exactly what it was: a little resistance. It needed to expand, or her parents weren’t going to see true freedom in their lifetime.

Luckily, Otto was too focused on cleaning up Kate’s wounds to notice that she had been looking between his legs. Kate decided to let him finish in silence. She wasn’t getting anywhere with him, at least not today. She needed to do some reconnaissance and figure out who else was in the resistance. If she could get some of the other shifters on her side, it would be easier to win Otto over. Otto seemed happy to work in peace, and a few minutes later he finished bandaging up the last big wound.

“There. All done. Now I suggest going to your room to rest.”

“Thank you,” Kate said. “I know you didn’t have to come with me and get this all cleaned up.”

“No, I didn’t. But don’t thank me. I didn’t come with you because I care so much about your injuries. None of them are life threatening, and you could have cleaned them up yourself. But I wanted a few minutes alone with you to ask you what the hell you were up to.”

Kate bit her lip to keep from making some sharp remark. This guy was kind of an ass. He might be handsome, and he might deserve a bit of recognition for being the one to actually start the resistance. But other than that, he didn’t seem to have much going for him. He acted like a jerk, and she was beginning to suspect he was a bit of a coward. True, he didn’t seem like the cowardly type, when you looked at all he’d accomplished in the Shifter Games Arena. But she couldn’t think of any other explanation for why he wouldn’t go on the offensive and do more to stop Gilt Hollow’s oppression of the shifters.

“Well, now you know what I’m up to,” Kate said in a tired voice, hopping off the medical exam table and walking over to grab one of several lab coats that hung on the wall near large cupboards of medical supplies. She put the coat on and wrapped it around herself, grateful that the coat was so large. It completely covered her nakedness, which she did not want Otto to see right now. He probably wasn’t thinking twice about it, but Kate couldn’t help feeling awkward, probably due to the fact that she herself couldn’t stop noticing how giant his dick was.

Otto didn’t seem to notice or care that she had covered herself up. “Yeah, I know what you’re up to. You think you can waltz into the Shifter Games and fit in without raising any eyebrows. Then you think you can take a few dangerous chances on the side and easily get the revolution going. It’s not that easy, but I’ve already told you that, and you don’t believe me. I just wish you’d thought things through a little further before you went and ruined your life.”

Kate felt anger flaring inside of her. “I haven’t ruined my life. I’ve only just started living it.”

She turned in a huff and stormed out of the medical room. She couldn’t stand to look at Otto for one second longer. He thought he was so smart and knew way more about Gilt Hollow than she did, just because he’d been here for decades.

But so what? He’d been here and competed in the Games, but had he really done anything else? Had he snooped around or carefully observed the Seversons and the other nobles, and how they acted? Kate didn’t think so. Otto acted too timid. He held back too much. He hadn’t taken full advantage of his time here in Gilt Hollow.

Kate would not make that mistake. She vowed to herself, as she stormed toward her room in the shifter quarters of the Severson estate, that she would not miss a thing. She would watch and learn quickly, and then she would use that knowledge to help the shifters of Bear Hollow. She would act. She would—

Her thoughts were cut short when she ran smack into a large figure as she came barreling around a corner. She yelped as the impact sent a fresh wave of pain across her shoulder, but she quickly recovered her composure and began to apologize. She didn’t want to offend one of the Seversons or their staff when she’d only been here less than a full day.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you and I…” her voice trailed off when her nose caught a whiff of shifter. She looked up to see a tall man with clean cut hair in a Severson guard uniform staring down at her. A man who was clearly a shifter.

“Well, I’ll be,” he said. “The other guards told me that Loki had brought a woman in to fight in the Games, but I couldn’t believe it. But you’re a woman and a shifter, so I don’t see why else you’d be here in the Severson estate.”

“I…yes, that’s right. I’m here to fight in the Games. I’m Kate. Kate Strouse.”

Kate extended her hand to shake the guard’s hand. He looked vaguely familiar, and she was trying to remember where she’d seen him before. Before she could place him, he began introducing himself.

“Nice to meet you, Kate. I’m Leo Ashworth. I’m a guard for the Seversons. Their only shifter guard, in fact. If you need help with anything, I’m a good person to ask. Although don’t ask me why in the world Loki decided to bring a woman into the Games. I’m really sorry you got caught up in all of this. But don’t worry, we have a good community of shifters here and we’ll make sure you’re well taken care of.”

Suddenly, all of the pieces fell into place, and Kate knew exactly where she’d seen Leo before. “You’re part of the resistance!” she said in a loud, hissing whisper.

Leo’s eyes widened and he shushed her, looking around in fear as though Loki Severson himself might be listening in on their conversation. But there was no one else in the hallway, and Kate was far too excited to remain quiet.

“I’ve seen you in Bear Hollow. For the food deliveries.”

Leo looked around uneasily again, but then shrugged and nodded. “Yeah. I’ve been a few times. It’s always nice to go back.”

Kate beamed. She couldn’t believe her luck. She knew that the resistance force wasn’t that big, so she felt lucky to have encountered another of the resistance members so quickly. Maybe Leo would be easier to win over than Otto. And if Kate won over enough of the other resistance members, Otto wouldn’t be able to ignore her.

“Leo, it wasn’t Loki’s idea for me to come fight in the Games. It was mine.”

A look of confusion and then suspicion crossed over Leo’s face. “What do you mean?”

“I volunteered. Actually volunteered. No one forced me to come. I convinced Loki that the Games would be more exciting with a female contender, and he bought my story.”

“But why in the world would anyone want to come to Gilt Hollow?”

“I want to fight in the resistance. I came here because I want to be on the front lines of the revolution. I want to make a difference for the shifters. I want my mother and father to taste true freedom before they die.”

Leo stared at her like she’d lost her mind. “You realize that the resistance isn’t doing that much right now. I mean, we’re trying. But it’s not easy. I hope you didn’t come over here with dreams of big glory, because the reality is that things are pretty monotonous. Things are hard. Building a revolution isn’t for heroes. It’s for people with the patience of a saint.”

Kate grinned. “I’m not looking to be a hero. And I know I gave up a lot to be here. I know that I can’t just go back to Bear Hollow if things here are tough. But that’s how committed I am to this. I have some ideas that I think will help a lot. I just need the chance for the resistance to hear me out.”

Leo considered this, then slowly nodded. “I guess that’s fair. Does Otto know you’re here?”

Kate bit her lip, but smoothed her face into a smile. She didn’t want to tell Leo that Otto not only knew she was here, but also wished she wasn’t. So she nodded and pointed to some of the bandages on her forearm. “He knows I’m here. He gave me these wounds, as a matter of fact. I was pitted against him for a practice fight about an hour ago.”

Leo let out an angry grunt. “I swear, those practice fights make me furious. Pitting shifters against shifters like that! And then to have a woman fighting against a man? It’s a disgrace! What an unfair fight.”

Kate shrugged. “I’m not hurt too badly. Otto went easy on me.”

“Still. The whole idea of practice matches is ridiculous. Anyway, it’s good Otto knows you’re here. We can always use more help with the resistance.”

Tell that to Otto. Kate thought. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want my help.

But she smiled and only said out loud. “I’m definitely here to help.”

Leo beamed. “Did Otto tell you about the resistance meeting tonight?”

Kate furrowed her brow, and Leo must have noticed her confusion. Before she could reply, he answered his own question. “No, I don’t suppose he did. He wouldn’t have had much of a chance to talk to you during the practice match, with Loki and all the other shifter trainers watching. Well, there’s a meeting tonight. I know you’re probably tired after your first day in Gilt Hollow, but if you think you could manage it would be a good thing for you to attend. We only have meetings about once a week, so it will be at least a week before you have another chance to meet the group, and—”

“I’ll come,” Kate interrupted. “Just tell me when and where, and I’ll be there.” No way was she going to miss a chance to show up at a resistance meeting. She had a feeling that Otto had failed to mention this meeting on purpose. He didn’t want her there, and he thought that if he just didn’t give her information, then Kate wouldn’t be able to harass him. Well, Otto had a lot to learn about a woman’s determination. When Kate wanted something, she found a way to get it. She was conveniently going to fail to mention to Leo that Otto didn’t like her. She could play this game as well as any.

Leo beamed at her. “I’ll come get you from your room tonight. It will be late, almost certainly after midnight. We have to make sure that all of the Gilt Hollow citizens are asleep before we meet.”

Kate nodded. “No problem. Do you want me to show you my room?”

Leo shook his head. “No, I’ll find it. As one of the guards, I have the master list to where everyone is staying.”

A grin spread across Kate’s face. “Alright. I’ll see you later tonight then. I can’t wait!”

And I can’t wait to see the look on Otto’s face when I walk into one of his resistance meetings.