Chapter 8

I don't know if I should be happy or mad at this interruption.

My head turns toward the source who called me. Theodore's wide green eyes are looking at us with crossed arms.

I look back at Blake, whose intense eyes are still on me. My heart freaking flipped. The type of flip where my stomach is carelessly releasing butterflies. I quickly shove him away and turn toward Theo. My heart is now drumming loudly in my ears. "Hey," I say breathlessly.

Blake sighs, annoyed, but I notice with the corner of my eye that he's scooting closer to me.

In the meantime, Theodore tilts his head to the side. "Am I interrupting?" he asks with a puzzled look.

"Yes," Blake answers at the same time I reply with 'no'. My head turns to him, finding Blake glaring at the poor boy, who's looking lost as hell.

"I'll just come back later," Theodore utters out, already turning around and backing away from us.

My chest tightens, hearing how uncomfortable he sounded, and before I know it, I'm calling after him. I stand up, and Blake's hand closes around my wrist, stopping me.

"Catherine, we're not done yet," he says, pulling me down on his lap with ease. My body immediately warms up to his proximity. I can feel Panthera slowly pushing me for some control.

I avoid his gaze, already feeling my eyes glowing, and look down at my clasped hands resting on my lap. "What is it?" I quietly ask.

His sigh blows on my curls, and goosebumps crawl up my body.

"Don't worry," he whispers, "I just- I just like putting you on edge."

Panthera is frowning, and I push her back as I look at him wide-eyed. "You like putting me on edge? That's interesting to know," I dryly say.

What's wrong with this boy?

He nods his head until his eyes widen as if realizing what he just said to me. "No- it's not like that! I don't like you or anything. I like teasing. People. Yes. I like teasing people in general," he states, his eyes darting everywhere but at mine.

I hum, hiding a devious smile that badly wanted to show up. "So you tease guys like this too."

Blake snorts. "Fuck, no."

I frown at him. "So only girls. Good to know," I reply, my voice filled with a hint of bitter jealousy that I couldn't hide in time.

Blake surprises me by dropping his head on my shoulder, his arms circling my waist. He doesn't reply to me, and the sound of my heart rings in my ears, or is it his?

I stay quiet and lean my head over his messy dark hair, taking in his scent that reminds me of the wolf from yesterday.

I don't think I'll ever figure out what happens in his mind though. He's quiet one second, followed by cocky and sexy, and then a nervous wreck. This vulnerable position is showing me a new version of him. He's soft.

"Blake," I say after some time. "You're weird."

He chuckles, and the fact that it's lower than usual makes my heart flip again. "How so?" he asks.

"I thought you would be like other Alp-I mean, guys, but you're quieter than them, and it doesn't seem like you take advantage of what you inherited."

He stays quiet. Unless he's dense, he should have figured out by now that I know the existence of werewolves. I even told him I'm not his mate for Gods' sake. I'm getting too comfortable with him. Why?

"It'll take a while before I receive my... inheritance, but I'm not usually like this," he quietly says, lifting his head.

I frown, looking down at him. "What do you mean?"

"You make me act differently," he says, putting a hand on my cheek.

Oh.

Heat creeps up my face, and Blake's eyes drop to my lips. My breath gets caught in my throat when he looks back to my eyes with his once light blue eyes gone dark. Panthera is pushing through to kiss the wolf when a ring brings us back to reality. Blake fishes out my phone from my back pocket, and my body is on fire for that simple gesture. I shakily grab it and immediately answer.

"Uhm, yes?" I breathe out.

"Where are you?" Bella's fruity voice speaks up. "I thought you would at least come to say hi."

Her voice calms my body down, and I find myself smiling. "I'm coming, don't move."

I hang up, and Blake releases his hold. "Taylor?" he asks while I get up.

I pick up my bag and give him a hand to get him on his feet. "Nope. Bella," I reply and can't help but notice that fraction of a second blush coming on his cheeks again when he takes my hand.

He's definitely a softie.

We walk back inside the school, and I catch Theo at his locker while we head toward the cafeteria.

"I'll see you around, yeah?" I say, stopping a few feet away from Theo.

Blake doesn't hide the fact that he doesn't like this. "Theodore? Of all people?" he bitterly asks, crossing his arms across his chest.

I raise an eyebrow at him. "I'm sorry, father. Who do you want to engage me with?" I joke, receiving a warning growl from him.

"I don't like him," he says, throwing a menacing glare at the unaware boy.

"Well, I do. Now, off you go, father," I say, motioning him to leave.

Blake purses his lips and glares at me. His eyes turn black and, with one last glare, he marches away without another word.

Panthera snarls at me as he leaves but I ignore her as I approach Theodore.

"Hey," I start, grabbing his attention.

He gives me this puzzled look that makes me tilt my head to the side. "Hi?" He phrases it like a question.

I frown. "What is it?"

He sighs, closing his locker. "Are you and that wol- worthless person a thing?"

I don't know why, but this angered me. It's the type of anger where I want to cut Theodore in half for saying that to Blake. Panthera growls angrily in my mind. Thankfully I'm a master at hiding my intentions.

I simply deepen my frown at him. "No, we're just... acquaintances, I guess. Why?"

His eyes light up at my answer. "Then, I can ask you out to the movies tonight."

What? Is this real?

Is a guy asking me on a date?

Panthera is covering her ears with her paws while I'm internally screaming. On the outside, I blush at the offer. "Really? I mean, we just met."

Theo smiles, showing off his perfect white teeth. "Well, then it's the perfect opportunity to get to know each other a bit, no?"

Yes!

"Why me?" I ask, my hand closing on the strap of my bag and squeezing it for dear life.

Theo frowns. "Why not you?"

I give him a skeptical look. "Are you serious?"

"A hundred percent," he says, pulling back that perfect smile.

"Is this... a date?" I quietly ask him, feeling a rush of heat coming up my face.

Theodore takes a step closer to me, and I have to crane my neck up from how tall he is. I thought my 5'7'' height was enough, but guess not with him. "Do you want it to be?" he asks with a smirk.

Yes and no. Yes, because it would be my first date in high school. No, because it would be my first date in high school!

Well, my first date ever.

Gods, is it normal that I feel scared? And nervous? And also quite excited? Plus, he's not even ugly! I know beauty isn't everything, but there has to be some appeal.

"Of course," I blurt out and mentally facepalm myself. "I mean, only if you want to, I guess..."

He laughs, nodding his head. "Then it's a date. Give me your number so I'll text you the time later."

I smile back, and we exchange numbers. Soon after, the bell rings.

I send a quick apology to Bella, letting Theodore walk with me to my class. As we make small talk, I start seeing him from a different perspective.

And for now, it's quite interesting.

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

Wolves are weird, or maybe this particular one is.

It's the same wolf from my last run. I'm pretty sure he's memorized the time of my running. At around five in the afternoon, I go to the woods, get naked, shift, and start running.

Not even one minute passes by before he's running right beside me.

Nonetheless, I don't mind the company, as long as he doesn't kill me, we're good.

I let my feline side take control and allow my mind to get me back to what happened this morning at school.

The date is tonight.

Theo texted me after school, saying that he's picking me up at 8 pm, right after dinner, which means that I have three hours to get ready.

I have everything under control. One hour to run, one hour to shower, do my makeup and my hair, and finally, one hour to eat and get dressed.

Everything is perf- something grabs the back of my neck. A painful whimper escapes my lips as I roll down on the ground. I blink a couple of times, facing an angry wolf, I guess?

He shakes his head then looks straight to his right. I follow his gaze. There's a huge tree. What does it-

Oh.

I was about to run right into it. I look at the wolf. He did that to prevent me from getting hurt. That's cute of him. I get up and nuzzle my face into his neck.

Thank you.

Panthera happily purrs, and I take a deep breath, keeping my annoyance at bay. This hoe. What does she have in mind?

The wolf sits down, lifts and tilts his head to the side. A comforting growl vibrates through my chest as we cuddle him more. Afterward, we runoff, and he keeps up with my pace. I stop at the same house that's not mine, and with one last nuzzle coming from him, he walks away.

I wait for him to completely disappear before shifting back, put my dress back on, and walk home. Everything else goes as planned, and the moment I slide on my sneakers, my sister screams my name.

I pick up my purse and quickly walk downstairs when everything I've been trying to avoid hits me hard. My heart speeds up, and I start getting paranoid.

What if there's The awkward silence tonight? What are we even going to talk about in the car? Oh, my Gods, there's definitely going to be an awkward silence. Fuck!

I'll ruin everything.

I don't know how to make light conversation!

"You look amazing," a familiar voice comments, breaking me out of my thoughts.

I lift my head and catch Theo's eyes traveling up and down my body a couple of times. A bright smile appears on his face, and I start feeling all giddy inside.

"Thank you... you look good too," I shyly say back, tucking a curl behind my ear that immediately slides back off.

"I know, but please, compliment me more," he says, making me giggle.

I freeze wide-eyed. Did I just giggle at Theodore?

I quickly clear my throat. "We should probably go before my parents find out about this," I say, walking out of the house.

No boys in the house unless the school is involved. Dad's words.

I follow Theo outside to his car, one that just became my favorite. A black Mini Cooper. How can you not love a small car like that? It even has a bubblegum scent inside. I'm surprised at how clean it is.

"Nice car," I say once we hit the road.

He smiles. "Thanks. It's a gift from my parents."

I nod, looking out of the window and watching the houses pass by in a blur. Then I realized what I was fearing was now happening.

Oh, it has arrived. The silence.

The soft tune coming out of his radio grabs my attention, and I quickly turn the volume up. "I love this song!" I lie as I bop my head, trying to be on time with the beat.

Theo's eyebrows shot up. "You listen to 'System of a down'?" he asks in shock.

System of a what now?

I nod, a nervous laugh bubbling out of me. "Totally! I mean, who doesn't- No," I lean my head back on the headrest, already giving up, "I've never heard of them."

That makes him laugh, and I put my elbow up against the window, dropping my head in my palm, a familiar rush of heat burning my cheeks. I just want the floor of the car to open up and take me now.

Theo manages to make small talk, and I finally relax, opening more as time passes by. We talk a little about our lives until we're inside the movie theater and waiting for the ads to end. I find out that he's an only child that came here because of his father's work. His parents are divorced, so he only lives with his father. His mother is a chef, so he doesn't see much of her.

Despite a pleasant conversation, I sense something with him is off. The more I talk to Theo, the more I look at him, I have this gut feeling telling me that he's not human. I don't know if the eyes are to blame or the fact that he's a pescatarian.

No, it's his eyes. They're similar to mine. My cat-like slits are more evident, but he has them as well, although you have to take a closer look. The only way to find it out is to let his feline side go crazy like what happened between Blake and me.

It doesn't take a lot to lure the cat out, and I can feel that Panthera is curious as well. After all, it'd be the first time for us to meet a werecat who's not from our family.

With that in mind, I look at him the moment the movie theatre lights turn off and guess what?

His eyes glowed.