Mae's POV

It was gone. All of it. No bodies, no hints of struggle, no nothing. I dared to take a glance at Dex, and he looked bewildered at what had become of his home. The werecat's camp was deserted.

"W-w-where are they?" Dex stuttered, trying to make the words come out of his mouth.

"I don't know," I murmured truthfully, "I don't know."

"But there has to be something! My Pride was all I had left! They wouldn't give up with out a tuff of fur, a drop of blood!"

"Dex, they're gone." Xander said, speaking softly.

"If June laid one claw on any of them, I'll rip her to shreds." Dex vowed.

I tried to imagine what was going through Dex's head. To loose everything you cared about. I suppose I'd be angry and upset, but also confused, very confused. Only I'd never felt like I was betrayed by my own family, and to loose the adopted one, while being trapped in a basement.

Okay that was a weird way to put it. It was almost like my mind was trying to make me the bad guy! Only that's not possible, is it? I suppose it could be a side effect of the becoming a stupid werecat.

Don't you dare insult our species! A voice in my head demanded.

Great! Now I'm hearing voices! I thought to myself.

No your not you idiot! It's me, Lana!

Lana? How can I hear you? I'm not asleep am I?

No mousebrain! I'm here to help! Like Nick helps Dex. It's just what happens when you start excepting me.

But I'm not.

Aren't you? You used your powers today in the forest. You thought it would be a good thing to be a werecat! With that, I'm here!

Well can you not be? I'm kind of busy at the moment! At once, Lana disappeared. I sighed, and refocused my attention to the real world.

Xander was gone, and Dex was staring at me as if I'd grown whiskers and a tail! I didn't did I? I looked around, and to my relief there was no tail.

"Why did you look at your butt like that?" Dex asked me.

"I thought I'd grown a tail." I said honestly. Dex looked like he was about to burst out laughing, but he held it in.

"Why would you think that?" He said, laughter still at the edge of his voice.

"Well it's happened to you before, hasn't it? And well you were staring at me." I replied, not looking up.

"Oh, that!" Dex exclaimed, "I just noticed that you were talking to Lana, that's all."

"I was not!" I lied.

"Sure you weren't." Dex said, annoyingly, "Whatever helps you sleep at night!"

"Dexter James Marwood!" I exclaimed, surprised there weren't pillars of smoke rising from my ears.

"Yes?" He responded.

"You know I hate it when you say that!" I said, still slightly fuming.

"And I hate it when you use my full name, so we're even." He stated.

"I hate you." I muttered. Dex looked at me with fake shock in his eyes.

"Hate is a very strong word little sister." He said.

"First if all that wasn't meant for you to hear, or respond to. Secondly I was born first, so you're my little brother."

"What ever--" he was cut off when I glared at him, "but if you must know, I'm taller, so it makes you the little sister."

"That is so not true!" I protested, "Last time we were measured, I was taller than you!"

"That was a long time ago! I'm a wild man now! I hunt my own prey and sleep under the stars! Of course I've grown taller than you!" He stated.

"On your diet of two berries a day?" I teased. Dex just rolled his eyes.

"I'll have you know, I eat three berries a day!" He said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"The life of a werecat must be a hard one! Not being able to eat pop tarts, never having enough." I said, kind of serious now.

"Oh there's plenty of food in these hunting grounds. I just don't eat it." Dex said, quietly.

"What? Why would you do that to yourself?" I asked, shocked.

"Cause it hurts. I like the pain. Or I suppose I did. It reminded me every day, I was still human. Or at least partially. It stung Mae. Not just your words, but Xander's, our Uncle's and even Charlotte's. I needed pain, to prove I wasn't a soulless monster. Like the others."

"Dex, I'm so sorry." I said, struggling to find the right words.

"It's okay, but I'm really hungry so I could use some food right about now." He said, the joking humor back in his voice.

"We have to wait for Xander. Where is he anyways?" I asked, looking around. As if on cue he emerged from were they kept their prisoners. Sheesh I had some bad memories down there!b

"Ready to go?" I asked him.

"Sure we're are we going?" Xander responded.

"Big Daddy's!" I shouted.

"Good plan, except I don't have any money." He replied.

"Well I do!" I said before pulling out my Dad's wallet. I had swiped it a while back, and he had never found it. Pretty genius, right?

"Any objections to eating food bought by stolen money?" Dex asked. He gave us about half a second to reply, which weather of us did before saying, "Okay then, let's go!"

As we all walked towards Big Daddy's, I felt my friendship between me and Dex start to reform. I smiled inwardly as we all walked. This was going to be something wonderful, but little did I know, trouble was waiting right around the corner.

*  *  *
Dex's POV

When I gulped down my third hamburger of the day, I laid back in my chair.

"It feels really good to eat a hamburger again!" I exclaimed.

"That's your third one. You need to slow down!" Mae exclaimed, sounding like a worried mom.

"I will Mom!" I told her. She stuck her tongue out at me and I returned the childish gesture.

"Stop acting like children, you two!" Xander said.

"Lighten up." Mae teased. I said nothing, I wasn't sure how I felt about him but, I didn't know him well enough to tease him though. Who am I kidding! I can tease anyone!

"I think you've had enough caffeine for one day." Xander said, grabbing Mae's drink away from her.

"Chill out Dad." I teased, happily.

"You've had enough too!" He said, and grabbed my drink away from me.

"It was only my first one!" I complained, even though it wasn't true.

"Ya, then you times it by five." He said.

"Hey it's not my fault I'm so hyper. I've got full moon fever!" I said dramatically.

"Okay now that's a lie!" Xander said with a huff.

"No it's true! There is no moon in the sky so the werecats become high!" I said.

"That's a load of crap." Xander said. "I'm mostly werecat and I don't get it."

I just shrugged. To think about it, I was the only one in the Pride to become so wild. It was almost like a full moon, but it didn't force you to change. You just went coocoo.

"You know what? I think Dex is right! I do feel full of energy!" Mae said.

"Xander, it has to be real! I feel so alive!" I said.

"Well I feel dead, and your supposed to feel like that too. The new moon is when werecats don't have a cat."

"Really? Because Lana is shouting at me to go crazy!" Mae said.

You should do it too! Nick said.

Really? I asked.

Yes! Your not human, so go have some fun with the Alphas!

"Nick likes the idea of going crazy too!" I said, "He wants me to party with the Alphas!"

"Really that's what Lana said too!" Mae said, happily.

"Of course. You both have Alpha blood. You radiate moon energy. So of course you feel so crazy." Xander concluded.

"Okay, I need to go. Like now." Mae said, standing up.

"Me too." I said then stood up and sprinted towards the woods. I could hear Mae follow, and probably Xander too.

I shifted into my cat form, ready to move things along. I glanced at Mae and she put on a sad face. She didn't know how to shift yet.

"Zalah." I said. Wasn't sure what it meant, but it was always said when a werecat shifts for the first time.

Mae blinked as if she could understand me, the her figure melted away, and she grew sleek brown fur, and her eyes turned red. I padded up to her and touched her nose with my own.

Xander finally reached where we were standing, out of breath. His eyes lit with panic when he saw us.

"This is bad," he whispered, "this is really bad."

Suddenly I realized why. It felt like I'd been poisoned with Moon Shade, again. I heard Nick's deep laugh, and felt myself lose control of my body. Xander backed away, but I didn't care.

"Nick." Lana said, bowing her head low in respect, oh how I hated when this happened. It took every muscle in my body not to love it, "Thanks for freeing me."

"No problem sister." He said. "Now, do you want to have some real fun?" Nick hissed. I felt my stomach turn inside out. I knew what was about to happen.

"Always." She said and we walked off into the woods, not caring to look back.

-=+=-
AN:

So dun, Dun DUN!!!! Yay Mae just had her first shift, and Dex got a reality check, that Nick wasn't as great as he seemed. Now that's a shocker! Please remember to vote and comment! BYE!!!!!!!

Ps) I know it's almost midnight and I'm sorry! I just write better in the dark!

Pps) Two parts in one day! Whoop, whoop!