Warriors: Dawn of the Clans #2: Thunder Rising Read Free Page B

called a tom, Tom? I’ll never understand twolegs.”
    Turtle Tail shrugged. “Anyway, he was taken away from there by our Twolegs, and came to live with me and Bumble.”
    “Did you like him?” Gray Wing asked. “Was he friendly?”
    Turtle Tail hesitated, looking down at her paws. “Oh, yes, he was friendly,” she replied at last. “We got on fine.” Then she gave her pelt a shake. “It was time to leave, though. I missed my friends on the moors.”
    Turtle Tail is returning to us! Pleasure raced through Gray Wing’s body, but before he had a chance to say anything, the three kits came charging back, chasing one another in circles, and skidded in a patch of loose soil, unable to stop in time. Lightning Tail barreled into Turtle Tail, who lost her balance and fell onto her back, her legs and tail waving as she let out a yowl of pain and discomfort.
    Gray Wing’s eyes widened with shock as he looked at her, seeing her swollen belly for the first time. She’s expecting kits!
    “Are you hurt?” he asked anxiously as he went to help her up.
    Turtle Tail leaned on his shoulder, panting as she regained her paws. For a moment she was silent. Finally she let out a short puff of breath. “I’m fine . . . I think.”
    Gray Wing’s gaze swiveled back to the three kits. Lightning Tail was cowering behind Thunder, his expression horrified. Gray Wing beckoned him forward with a flick of his tail. “Come and apologize to Turtle Tail,” he ordered sternly.
    Lightning Tail cringed as he approached, his head down and his tail trailing behind him. “I’m really sorry,” he mewed.
    “It’s okay.” Turtle Tail gave his ears a swift lick.
    “Just remember not to go dashing around without looking where you’re going,” Gray Wing told him. He paused briefly, then added, “Now I thought I told you to go play.”
    He waited until all three kits had bundled off, squeaking excitedly. Turtle Tail is having kits . . . who would have expected that?
    “So,” he meowed to her, angling his ears at her swollen belly. “How did that happen?”
    “How do you think it happened?” Turtle Tail hissed. Then her eyes softened. “I made a mistake,” she went on. “I missed you all so much. Tom seemed strong and friendly, I thought I could move on and make a new life with him. But when I realized I was expecting kits, he . . . he changed.”
    Gray Wing felt a growl rising up in his throat. “If he hurt you . . .”
    “Oh, no!” Turtle Tail assured him. “Tom was still friendly, but he didn’t want to make any plans for the kits with me. And Bumble seemed uncomfortable any time I mentioned them.” Turtle Tail flicked her tail-tip. “But neither of them would admit that anything was wrong.”
    “So what did you do?” Gray Wing asked.
    “I begged Bumble to be honest with me. She didn’t want to, but at last she told me that the Twolegs would take my kits away and give them to other Twolegs.” Her voice shook a little. “I would never see them again once they didn’t need milk from me anymore.”
    “That’s dreadful!” Gray Wing exclaimed, pressing his nose into Turtle Tail’s shoulder. How could a family be torn apart like that? In the mountains and now here on the moors, the cats pulled together. Everyone helped look after the kittens—it was unthinkable that any cat would give up on their young. Well, until Clear Sky rejected Thunder , Gray Wing reminded himself.
    “Bumble said Tom had asked her not to tell me the truth. And now . . . well, I’ll never trust kittypets or Twolegs again. I’ve learned who my real friends are, and all I want is to come back to you all.” She fixed her gaze on Gray Wing, her eyes wide. “Do you think the rest of them will have me?”
    He felt his heart melt under her earnest gaze. “How could they not?” he mewed, glancing again at Turtle Tail’s rounded belly. For some reason, thinking of Turtle Tail carrying another cat’s kits made him feel uncomfortable.