Chapter 6

"Can werecats be mated with werewolves?"

Mom's emerald eyes are puzzled as she looks up from behind the book that she's reading. Standing on the stairs above and behind her, I can't help but notice her book's oddly familiar cover. I tilt my head to the side, sneaking a peek at it, my eyes squinting in the process.

What the...

"Is that Fifty Shades Of Grey? I thought you hated it," I say, confused.

Funny how she loathed it months ago.

My dear mother carelessly throws the book away to the other side of the couch, looking up at me. "Why so many questions? And yes, they can be mated with werewolves. It's rare, but it can happen."

I hum while gripping the dark wooden stair railing. "And... hypothetically speaking... is there any way that a werecat would feel that a werewolf was their mate? Excluding during the full moon period."

My mom stays quiet for a moment as her eyes shift toward the ceiling. "I don't think so, but then again, our family has always been mated with werecats."

"I see... thanks mom," I say, heading upstairs.

"Cat," she calls with a fruity voice.

My feet halt in their steps and I look back at her. "Yeah?"

"Are you crushing on a werewolf?" she asks, tilting her head to the side with interest.

I blink my eyes a couple of times before laughing at her and shaking my head. I quickly head up to my room, ignoring the echoes of mom's light chuckles ringing in my ears.

Why would I be crushing on a werewolf? She knows that I'm dying to find a male werecat mate. From what she told me, they're mysterious, devious, and very persuasive, unlike werewolves who are arrogant, conceited, and so damn quiet.

Honestly, Blake is so weird!

With a sigh, I close my bedroom door and throw myself on the bed without a second thought. I stay still for a moment before flipping around. I frown, feeling something poking my butt. My hand reaches for it, and I groan, releasing my black tail.

Fuck.

She always chooses the wrong time to express her needs.

Nonetheless, I get up and prepare myself to shift into my panther form. I put on a random orange dress, open the window, and gracefully land on the grass ground.

One thing I love about this small town is the fact that we're surrounded by woodland. The road ahead perfectly divides the forest from my 'neighborhood' houses, including my own. The houses are so distant from each other I don't even consider them my neighbors.

No one is around as I enter inside the woods. My eyes wander around, and my heart nervously speeds up. I always feel like eyes are watching me when I take off my clothes to shift, just like now.

The cracking of my bones following the skeletal anatomy of a big cat brings a smile as my contorting human face turns into a feline's one. I watch the way my human hands turn into paws in awe every time. It's a beautiful sight.

With a low growl, my panther stretches our back, lifting our butt up. Our form is smaller compared to normal ones. My mom told me it was because she gave birth to me earlier than expected, but I don't mind. My small size makes me faster and more agile, so I can dodge attacks easily.

Unfortunately, even though I've been blessed with inhuman speed, the lack of training in my human form weakens my feline side.

For example, panthers can run up to fifty miles per hour for short periods of time. I can reach half of that before giving up.

Anyways, I let my feline side do whatever she wants while I just watch everything unravel in front of us.

She runs for hours, our heartbeat a constant, pulsing reminder on our mind. Out of the corner of our glowing green eyes, my panther catches a deer sniffing the ground. She halts as her body goes stiff. Her black head hangs low and with slow, cautious steps, she gets near the poor animal that's about to die. I hate this part, but I can't deny my panther's primal needs.

It takes all but five seconds for her to leap forward and smoothly bite into the deer's neck, killing it instantly. She usually likes the chase, but we agreed that if she was going to kill animals, then it had to be quick and painless for them.

I feel her mood lift more and more for every bite she takes until she's satisfied enough and lays on the ground for a while. She closes her eyes and simply enjoys the moment in her element before we have to go back home.

I don't know how werewolves deal with their wolves, but for werecats, we are two different beings coexisting within the same body. So there's me, Catherine, and my cat, Panthera. I could easily take control over her when I shift, but I know she would just hate me and give me the silent treatment afterward.

Panthera soon gets back on her feet and starts running again, leaping on low-lying trees. Her claws dig on the trunks for a fraction of a second. This goes on until something soft but solid bumps against us, making us lose balance and roll down to the ground.

It takes us some time to regain our senses. I quickly blink our eyes, seeing the large black eyes of a solid black werewolf hovering over me.

Everything in the air except our breaths is quiet. Hell, even the constant chirping of the birds are gone. I don't move. The wolf's black eyes don't leave my face. Is this a challenge? I stare back at him just in case it is.

Is he going to kill me? Or is he a simple stray wolf?

Just when I thought this couldn't get any worse, the beast takes a step back and casually lies down in front of us. I don't know why, but his presence feels familiar.

What should we do now? Get up and run? Or just wait for his next move? Panthera seems oddly indifferent to this wolf, so I take the lead.

I sit up.

He does the same.

I tilt my head.

He does the same.

I lie back down.

Guess what? He does the same.

I growl in a low tone and he parrots me, his tail moving quickly sideways.

I blink, feeling confused and astonished at the same time.

Why is he happy? He should be killing me now.

On the other hand, Panthera doesn't feel in danger with him. She looks into his black eyes for a minute before taking off in a run.

If I was in my human form, then I would have fainted right now, but Panthera has a death wish. I mentally prepare myself to fight the wolf when I see him catching up to her pace. Instead of attacking each other, the two animals that are normally enemies are running next to each other.

What the hell is happening?

We end up running until the moonlight is shining upon us. I don't know what it is about this wolf, but being near him makes me feel safe. The fact that I don't even know who's under that ball of fur makes me question my sanity because I actually like him running with me.

The muscles in my legs are sore as we pass my house. My sensitive sense of hearing picks up on my mom's faint voice calling me from afar.

I need to get back.

I halt. The wolf lies down next to me, breathing heavily.

Putting a paw at his face I point with a nod toward a house that isn't mine. The wolf luckily understands what I tell him and gets up.

He comes near me, nuzzles my neck with his muzzle for a few seconds before walking away from me. I manage to catch a sniff of his scent. He has a pleasant, forest-like smell. It's like the kind of damp, musky smell that forests have after a rainy day.

I wait for him to completely disappear out of my sight before grabbing my orange dress with my mouth from behind the tree, where I'd left it, and sprint toward my house. I scratch at the door a few times until Cleo opens it. I quickly bound upstairs to my room and change back to my human form.

"Someone called asking for you today," Cleo says from behind me as I slide on some sweats and a shirt.

"Who?"

"Blake... Is he your boyfriend?"

Blake? Why would he call me?

"No," I reply, annoyed, grabbing my phone and sitting on my bed. My sister joins me and immediately receives the get- out-of-my-room look, consisting of a raised eyebrow and my eyes traveling up and down her tiny frame several times.

"I don't want to," she says, scooting closer as her eyes glance down at my phone.

Oh, sweetie.

I smile innocently at her, my fingers tucking a stray blonde curl behind her ear. "Get out before I squeeze that little tail of yours."

Cleo yelps and exits my room with the speed of light.

Finally, peace.

Checking my call history, I call Blake back. He picks up after the third ring. I happen to have his number saved in my contacts because of an English project we had to do last year.

"Catherine?" he asks, his voice sounding clearly puzzled.

My heart skips a beat, making me frown. "Yeah, it's me. My sister said that you were looking for me earlier?"

I hear him clear his throat. He also sounds out of breath. "Umm, yeah. Can we meet?"

"Now?"

He releases a sigh. "Yes."

I look down at my attire. "Can you come to my house? I don't want to change again."

"Again? Where were you before?" he asks. There's something in the way that he asks that prevents me from refusing to answer.

"Running," I end up saying.

He hums. "Okay. I'm at your house, by the way."

My eyebrows shot up. "Already?"

"Yeah, I was running too."

"I'm coming," I say, already marching downstairs.

Every step I take down, my nerves build up a level. What does Blake want from me? It's the first time that he comes over to my house for something not related to school or family.

My hand closes on the door's handle. I briefly close my eyes, taking a deep breath. A familiar forest-like scent is already filling my nostrils. It reminds me of the wolf from before. I can feel Panthera's ears perk up as she makes her presence known. I blink a couple of times, shutting down the glow my eyes make every time she's in sync with me.

Here goes nothing.

I open the door and take in the sight of a nervous boy on my doorstep. He takes a few steps back as I close the door behind me. "So, what is it?" I ask, tilting my head to the side.

He ruffles his dark thick hair a few times as he glances down. "I know you're going to hate me if I do this, but something's been bugging me for a very long time, and I want to get rid of it fast. Please," he says, his eyes desperately looking for approval from my own.

I take a step back until my back meets the cold wooden front door. He just does not give up, does he? "Whatever you want to do, don't."

He bites on his plump lower lip. "Just once."

I groan, already getting tired of his antics. "Why? I deserve to know this, at least."

Blake lowers his gaze. "If you let me kiss you, then I'll tell you everything."

I shake my head. "No, I want to know it now."

"Catherine," he pleads, passing his hand back on his hair.

I cross my arms across my chest. "Blake," I mimic, "tell me or we're done with this conversation. Again."

"Are you sure you're human?" he finally blurts out.

No.

Instead, I nod. "Yes. What else would I be?"

He sighs, his shoulders slightly slumping. "Then, I can't tell you. Unless-"

"No. Not until you tell me why you want to kiss me so badly. It's not like you're attracted to me or something... Right?" I ask with a raised eyebrow.

He snorts, his eyes darting everywhere. "No, why would you say that? Have you seen me? I'm pretty sure it's the opposite."

I don't know what noise I make in response, but a mix of a snort, a laugh, and a pfft leaves my lips. "No way."

He raises a straight eyebrow. "Want to test that theory?"

I smirk, feeling cocky for once. "So, you are ready to tell me why you want to kiss me?"

He takes a step closer. "After the kiss," he says with a panty-dropping voice that got deeper.

As Blake leans down, I can't seem to move away from him. The door is right behind me, trapping me. My only option is to simply open it, step inside, and close it in his face. As his lips move closer to mine, my heart is drumming loudly in my ears. I'm frozen as I look into his sapphire-colored eyes.

Our lips lightly brush against each other. It's so light and feathery that I barely feel it but it makes my feline side go crazy. If I lean in now, Blake can finally kiss me. Instead, my head leans back against the door, putting some distance between us. My chest begins rising and falling at a fast pace.

That's when my dear Panthera takes control.

My hands move on their own, resting on his warm, hard chest. His heart thumps into my palms as I lean in, leaving small, nipping kisses on Blake's jawline and his neck. His scent washes over me as he cages me. After resting his head on my shoulder and releasing a guttural growl that vibrates into my neck.

Felines are predators who love the chase and even seducing people. Just like how mine is making me do now. I can feel Pantera practically purring inside while teasing Blake and his wolf.

My hand lightly touches his arm, traveling up to his neck. "So gorgeous," I say, my voice unknown to my ears. It's a breathy, smoky, lower voice compared to my usual light, silvery tone.

Blake notices it too.

He lifts his head from my shoulder, looking at me with wide eyes. "Cat," he breathes my name. "Your eyes..."

That snaps me back faster then you can say Amen.

I push him away and quickly slam the door, run back to my room, leaving him confused and alone.

What the fuck just happened?