Harley:

I look around the self-contained cabin with little interest before glancing back at Drew, I can’t understand why he is insisting on us having a few days here. We had spent the last three days in cat form deep in a national park and now he wanted to stay at a caravan park?

 “Can’t we just go home?” I ask unhappily.

 “I need to …” Drew stops whatever he was going to say to give a sigh. “This cabin is more comfortable than where we were. There’s hot water all the time, the front room is smaller but there is a double bed in the bedroom and the stove is electric.” He says brightly.

 “But there’s … others around close by,” I say in hushed tones. Drew takes a deep breath as he closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. He knows that by others I mean humans.

 “It’s okay,” he says quietly. “As long as we don’t change forms where anyone can see us. As long as we keep what we are a secret.”

 “I’d rather be at our place,” I insist stubbornly.

 “It will only be for a couple of nights at most.” Drew says softly and I bite my lower lip as I look away from him to gaze out the small window over the sink.

 “I have to go and see some people and …” Drew begins.

 “What do you mean you have to go?” I demand as I turn my attention back to him hurriedly. “You will be here too won’t you? You’re not planning to go off and leave me here by myself. You’re not going to go off and not come back!”

 Until now the idea that he may abandon me had never passed my mind, I don’t even know what has brought it to mind now. Was it the fact I was carrying a kitt? His kitt? He has been so happy about the pregnancy, so excited. He has become so much more affectionate, often coming up behind me and wrapping his arms around me in a hug. He always includes our kitt, putting a hand just below my navel.

 “I have to go see some people and it might be best that you don’t come along. I promise I will come straight back,” Drew says and looks at me with a reassuring smile.

 “I’m coming too,” I state firmly. Drew grimaces and looks away as he shakes his head.

 “Not a good idea,” he says in a strained voice.

 “I’m healthy. I don’t feel off at all, I’m eating well, and I get plenty of sleep. I hardly have those weird dreams I can’t remember …” I let my voice trail off as he gives me a sad look and shakes his head again as he looks down at his feet.

 “Your family said to you when you chose me not to go back on their territory again, that if you picked me over who they had picked as your mate they didn’t want any contact with you.” Drew says evenly. “They meant it Harley. When I contacted them to tell them about your accident … they hung up when they realised who I was.”

 “But …” I am lost for words as Drew meets my eyes. There is regret and pain in his face before he drops his gaze and looks away. Hurt and anger well up inside me and I am not sure which one is the greatest.

 “Well why go and see them now? If that is their attitude I don’t want them near my kitt!” I snap tightly.

 “I am going to tell them we are getting married,” Drew says firmly and glances at me with a tight smile. “No asking, just informing them,”

 “Why not just tell them I am dead!” I snap tightly. “I might as well be dead to them!”

 Drew looks down at his hands hurriedly and it strikes me I don’t know what family I have out there. Parents? Siblings? Aunts and Uncles maybe? Or cousins?

 “Who are they? What are their names and what are they to me?” I demand suddenly. Drew looks at me with surprise and uneasiness.

 “Well how am I going to know who to avoid and keep away from? You know I can’t remember anything from before the accident!” I spit out tightly. Drew looks away from me and then glances back at me before looking away once again.

 “Andrew please!” I demand and finally he gives a nod after several long moments.

 “Your Clan is the Willoughby clan. Your parents are Stephan and Abigail. Your name is Celeste Stephanie Willoughby. You have …” Drew’s voice fades into a distant hum as I repeat my name in my head. 

 Celeste Stephanie Willoughby, Celeste Willoughby, Celeste. I wait for some feeling of familiarity, something, anything, but there is nothing. The name means nothing to me. It doesn’t sound familiar, it doesn’t feel familiar, it doesn’t feel like … that name doesn’t feel like me. Celeste Stephanie Willoughby died that night by that road and Harley Dorrington took her place.

 “Celeste! Harley! Celeste are you all right!” Drew’s worried voice is accompanied by a firm grip on my upper arm and a strong shake that catches my attention. I look at him still slightly distractedly and give a nod.

 “Harley, call me Harley. I’m not Celeste, I mean I don’t feel like … the name means nothing to me.” I stumble over the words and am relieved when Drew lets go of me with a guarded grimace that is probably meant to be a smile.

 “Tell me again who are … who were my family. Who I will be avoiding from now on,” I say as I sit myself on a stool at the small bench that is meant to be the dinning table, I reach for the pen and note book Drew had used to make a list earlier before he had went shopping for food.

 “Stephan and Abigail Willoughby. You had four brothers. Andy, Steven, Pete and Mikkarl. Clans with close ties to the family … would be the Inness being the nearest neighbouring Clan and the McIntosh Clan, two of your brothers work for the clan and another lives on their territory.” Drew says quietly. He is silent for a few minutes and I look up from where I have written the names down. Somehow I doubt I will forget them but with the possible safety of my kitt on the line I am taking no chances.

 “With me being an outcast we won’t be going where there are werecats living. We will probably pass through territories from time to time but we won’t be visiting the werecats that live there.” Drew says quietly.

 “You make it sound like we will be moving frequently,” I say with a faint smile. In the time I can remember since the accident we have lived in three different places, the longest being for two months and the shortest being just under four weeks. Some how it doesn’t feel right to be virtually nomadic, it felt … odd.

 “You knew when you chose to make a life with me that we would be moving frequently. We had discussed it, discussed how it would be even when we had a family and you were fine with it,” Drew says seriously. “You’re not changing your mind about how we’ll be living are you? You don’t want to go back to the stability of your family now you are pregnant with our first kitt?”

 “No, no I’m not. I want to stay with you,” I am quick to tell him. I smile at him hoping to take the shadows from his eyes. He smiles at me and I get up from the stool to walk up to him, I smile into his face before kissing him on the lips.

 The kiss is soft and gentle, his lips brush against mine. His tongue traces where my lips are parted slightly and I open my mouth to his kiss. The feel of his firm body against mine awakens my desire and I press closer, I feel his hands brush down my back before cupping my butt and pulling me hard against his hips. The closeness of his body stirs my ever-present arousal and when he lifts his head breaking off the kiss I smile up at him. I catch one of his hands and I lead him towards the small bedroom. I make my hips sway as I move and every few steps I glance back over my shoulder at him.

Drew:

 I keep the car on the speed limit as I drive through the night. I want to get this over and done with as fast as possible and get back to Harley so we can move on to the next place I can find some temporary work. 

The engine whines as the road steepens ahead, trees are close to the sides of the highway here and the moon flickers in and out of view as I drive along. On the seat beside me in a plastic zip lock sandwich bag is a ring and a necklace. The chain of the necklace has been broken in several places and both have traces of dried blood on them.

 I can’t get the image of Harley sleeping out of my mind. She had been curled up against me before I got out of bed and I’d needed to give her my pillow to prevent her waking up. She had been exhausted by our long session of sex and the demands of the pregnancy. That long fringe of hers had fallen across her face, the light strands nearly hiding the scar slicing back into her hairline. Her fringe had even softened the shadow her eyelashes made against her cheek. The new life she carried was starting to be seen in the fullness of her breasts and the slight thickening of her waist.

 I pull my full attention back to the highway ahead of me. I still have hours of driving to do and I calculate I will have the glare of the rising sun in front of me as I drive down the steep winding road from Tenterfield. I eject the CD from the player in the dashboard and slip it into the sleeve on the back of my sun visor. I pull another CD from a different slot and pop it into the player. Music begins to fill the car and I almost reach to eject the CD before I stop myself, I put my hand back on the steering wheel and smile to myself as I begin to sing along to the song ‘Some Nights’.