Chapter 12

A month has passed since Blake's crazy declaration of the beginning of our friendship. The thirty days were filled with stress and paranoia.

That fucking Blake.

He put into motion his crazy theories about me not being human and threw everything that popped in his mind. Ever since Theo and I started seeing each other, he's been everywhere. I've never seen that obsessive side of him.

Blake began to pick me up in the morning for school, preventing Theodore to do so. He purposely made Life is Strange longer by repeating the same mistakes on the game and inspecting every inch of the map, canceling date after date between Theodore and I. Theodore has also been a constant subject of our fights. He didn't want me to be with him, that was clear.

He kept saying that he didn't trust him, and from there, we started to fight. At school, at my place, outside, everywhere basically.

Theodore, on the other hand, knows that Blake is the future Alpha of this town, so he's trying to get on his good side.

On top of that, there's the Creature issue.

Blake once showed up out of nowhere with a fresh lip cut and kept talking close to my face, invading my personal space. To this day, I still have to wonder if he wanted me to kiss it, or suck it off. For the record, he got neither.

Another day, Theo and I were having lunch outside of school, and he squirmed himself inside our conversation, joining us. Our backs were against the tree, and Blake kept leaning his ear toward it. Unfortunately for him, I am not a fairy.

And there's more.

Yesterday, after school ended, he forcibly took my wrist into his hand and checked my pulse. I think he'd pretty much tested every supernatural creature on the list. I could only assume that him going through my stuff moment was to find my non-existent witchcraft book.

During lunch, he made my table merge with his. Taylor, of course, didn't mind because now she can freely talk with Trevor. One set of good news over the past month was that their date ended well and they got back together.

Another good news, Bella and Jessica have officially mated. From what Bella told me, during a studying session, she surprised Jessica with a kiss. It activated their mate bond and now they're in their honeymoon phase where everything is pink, sparkly, and romantic.

For the first time in a while, I manage to arrive at school earlier than usual. The hallways are empty, and the few present students are still outside in the parking lot. Everything is calm as I open my locker and start looking for my English book. That's when I hear the voice that has been constantly present in my life echo in the hallway.

"Cat!"

Fuck me.

I suppress a whining groan, slowly turning around. "Good morning, Blake," I say with a sigh.

I liked him better when he was quiet and rude instead of nosy and weirdly happy.

"What class do you have?" Blake gently asks.

Theo saves me in time, surprising me by hugging me from behind.

"None because we're skipping school today," he says, making me frown.

I look at him, confused. "We are?"

Theo nods. "Yeah, I want to take you out."

"Why?" the wolf asks, immediately flaring his nostrils at us.

Theodore sighs at that. "Not today, Blake. Leave us alone for a day, please," he says before grabbing my hand and dragging me outside of school. I glance back at Blake, who's radiating pure anger, with his fist and jaw clenched. He runs his hand through his dark hair and turns around.

I ignore the tightness in my chest.

I turn my attention back to Theo. "I'm confused. Are we celebrating something?" I ask.

He nods. "Today is full moon day."

What?

I frown. "Are you sure?"

"Probably. Either it is, or my father and his girlfriend are in a good mood today. Anyway, just in case it is, I want to spend this day just with you."

A shiver runs through my body and I go quiet.

The thought of him being my mate makes me oddly sad. I should be happy. I should be ecstatic, but I'm not, and it scares me. Perhaps when we find out that we are indeed mates, my mind will change.

You know, there was another full moon a few days after our first dates, but I ditched him last minute because of fear. Of what, I don't know yet...

I stay quiet through all the drive, and we end up stopping near the woods. I straighten my back, looking around. Tall, green trees are surrounding us.

"The woods?" I ask as I step out of the car.

"Yeah, you'll see," he says, walking inside the forest. I follow him closely.

"Now," he starts, "I know it's not romantic or anything like that, but at least I tried."

I nod, hugging my body. "As long as you don't kill me, we're good."

He laughs, which makes me smile and relax a little. We walk for what feels like hours but are just ten minutes.

My eyes land in the middle of a small clearing that I can see from where we're standing, seeing a lavender-colored blanket on the terrain with a picnic basket near it. The forest has a few spots where the ground is green instead of the usual mud, and this is one of them.

I smile, following Theo. "Lavender?"

"That's my father's girlfriend. Don't say anything," he says, sitting down on the blanket. I do the same and snuggle up to him. He leans his body back until we're both lying with our backs to the ground.

"There's a high chance we're not mates, you know?" I say, burying my head on his chest.

He chuckles, his chest slightly bouncing my head. "There's also a high chance that we might be. Let's just enjoy our company as humans instead of felines," he says, and I nod. We make some small talk about school until I lift my head to look at him, and he leans down, planting a soft kiss on the tip of my nose.

I smile, letting my hand grab the back of his neck and pull him into a deeper kiss. He reciprocates immediately, and just like that, every inch of my body becomes warm. My mind goes blank.

The once tender, sweet, kiss quickly becomes hot and messy. Theo moves on top of me without pulling away, and I wrap my legs around his waist for a second before dropping them. His hands start touching me everywhere, his mouth trailing kisses down my neck, and all I can do is gasp in pure euphoria.

I want more. And more I get.

"Fuck..." I hear him say under his breath as he slides his hand underneath my shirt, my bra, and squeezes one of my breasts. My back slightly arched against his touch. I pull his face back up, kissing him again.

I've never felt like this before. I feel warm, lightheaded, and want for him. Panthera doesn't mind, although I can feel her a bit bored because she can only feel a true connection with our mate through the marking. That's what excites her the most.

My hands start touching his arms, shoulders, and back. His hand plays with my nipple, making a soft moan leave my lips before traveling south. In one swift motion, it goes underneath my black leggings and straight to my bud.

I gasp.

Theo stops kissing me, and I open my eyes in a daze, looking right into his emerald ones.

"You know where this might go, right?" he asks, his voice deeper than usual.

I bite my lip. "I do."

He takes a shaky breath in, his hand warmly cupping my core, unmoving. My hips move on their own accord, begging him to continue.

"We're probably not even mates."

I sigh, my hands pushing his dark waves back. "I know."

"And you're cool with that?" he asks, swallowing a lump.

I nod. "Who knows when we're going to find our mates. All I know is that you're my boyfriend for now, and I like you. I want to do this with you. Now, kiss me," I say, pulling my tight pants down.

He smiles and helps me remove my pants and underwear. He leans back down, sliding his tongue inside my mouth while his hand starts doing its magic, leaving me a panting mess.

With shaky hands, I take off his shirt. Theo trails kisses down my neck, slowly going south, and stopping when he reaches his goal. He kisses my bud and I stop breathing for a moment.

Suddenly, a rush of pleasure takes all over my body. His tongue begins playing with me flawlessly. Instant sensations flow through my body and I feel goosebumps break through my skin against his touch. My fingers entangle through his hair as I'm gasping and moaning, slowly reaching my climax.

It goes on for a very long time, and I think Theo enjoys it more than I do since he's taking his sweet time, alternating that tongue's speed. It's an indescribable feeling I didn't know I could feel until now.

A slow, nagging, pressure-like sensation builds up in my core. Blood rushes up to my cheeks as my body tenses up. Theo's touch is leaving me breathless and my hips buckle forward for some release.

Then I feel it. The moment Theo speeds up, I feel my climax coming nearer and instinctively pull his head closer to my core. He squeezes my thighs and starts going even faster.

"I'm-" I can't even finish my sentence that a loud moan leaves my lips as I come undone. My legs are shaking as it happens, and I can't help but arch my back.

He licks me for another minute before sitting up and inhaling deeply. He rests his arms on my knees as I'm lying flat and regaining oxygen.

We stay quiet for a moment.

"That was... Interesting," I manage to say between deep breaths. I reach down and pull my underwear and pants back into place.

Theo clears his throat, his face heating up. "Yeah... I don't know what got into me. It's my first time doing anything of the sort."

I nod, suddenly feeling shy. "Good. I mean, you were good. I don't know. I've never even watched porn," I blurt out, facepalming myself.

He laughs. "Really? And here I thought I was the innocent one."

I slightly lift myself, resting on my elbows and look at the dark-haired cat in front of me. "Why didn't you think I was innocent?"

"Well, you kissed me pretty damn unexpectedly on our first date," he answers with a shrug.

Damn. I forgot about that.

An unexpected growl comes out from my stomach. My eyes widen as I look at Theo. Did he hear it?

He frowns. "Was that you?"

Damn it.

I laugh nervously. "I guess I'm a bit hungry after all of this."

He smirks. "Well, lucky for you, I already prepared everything," he says, opening a wooden basket that had been sitting on a corner.

He takes out three different boxes. One bigger than the other. "So, choose between fish, meat, and salad."

I smile, sitting up. My tail automatically shows up, followed by my ears shifting. "Definitely fish."

Theo looks surprised for a second before letting his feline side come out. A long striped tail appears with matching ears and glowing hazel eyes. I gape at him while he merely laughs at my reaction.

"You're a tiger," I say, carefully approaching him.

"And you're a panther," he states the obvious.

I gently touch his tail. I know my reaction might seem a bit too much, but I can't resist. It's the first time that I'm seeing another werecat.

"You want me to shift?" Theo asks.

I lift my eyes toward him and smile. "I thought you'd never ask."

He rolls his eyes smiling as he stands up. "Turn around."

I obey, take the box of fish, and eat it. I hear a little bit of shuffling, followed by the usual bone-breaking sound, and soon, I feel something soft against my back.

I turn around and goodness his tiger looks gorgeous. His fur is covered with black and orange stripes, and his eyes are a glowing hazel color.

Wow.

I gently start caressing him and hear him purr under my touch. Theo lies down near me, and we stay like that for a good ten minutes. He waits for me to finish eating before getting on his feet and points toward the forest with his head.

I smile. "Turn around."

He does as I say, and in mere minutes, I'm in my werecat form. I speed off into the forest, catching him off guard.

We run around the woods until the moon is brightly shining above us. Theo tackles me to the ground and licks my face, making me happily purr. As the night approaches and the full moon is shining from above us, we come to realize that our touch doesn't stir anything within us.

We're not mates, and Panthera's relief leaves me confused.