• I growled low in my throat, wishing I were in cat form. The werecat circled me, his paws making shadowy whispers against the asphalt in the mall parking lot. My breath was shallow as I clenched the metal bar, cool in my hands. The other cats' eyes were glowing amber in the fluorescent parking lot lights and I prepared myself as I watched his muscles bunch under his coat. He leaped, claws outstretched. I swung, years of softball practice fixed into my arms. The exhaust pipe sung in a hollow metal voice and I felt it connect, metal striking bone. A sickening crunch met my ears and I winced, more in sympathy with the sound than the person. I exhaled, tension and relief blowing into the humid Texas air. My Nextel beeped at my hip and I reached for it, my lifeline.

    "Leo?" I asked, silently praying he would respond.

    "Yahg?" His reply was garbled, as if his mouth was full.

    "Get your a** out here." The phrase was said in a strict imitation of my mothers' voice. Faythe, my mother, knew how to handle this kind of stuff, and so far, I figured that following her lead would be best.

    "Why, anything happen?" I could hear the concern in his voice as he replied. At first I nodded, before I remembered he couldn't see me. Swallowing the lump in my throat I beeped back to him.

    "Yah, Uh hurry please?" My voice sounded stronger than it really was. This was my first encounter with a stray. A stray; a cat who had no family. And this one obviously still had Scratch-Fever, the fever that came with being turned into a stray. Any human could become a stray, a werecat. But it all depended on if you were scratched or bitten by a werecat. Luckily that could only happen if you were in werecat form...and not many of us shape shifters were stupid enough to turn into a werecat in front of a human.

    Rather than respond Leo came hurtling out of Kay's Jewelers shop, the black bag swinging wildly behind him. With one sweep of his eyes, he took in the scene, of the exhaust pipe swinging loosely in my hands, the Black Panther lying on the ground, small beads of blood crisscrossing over his muzzle.

    "Kat?"My name was a door for all his questions. His overcast eyes searched mine, and I could see in them the confusion that he was feeling.

    "I came out here, I was putting up the bags you know...land he just popped up. And he started lunging at me so I grabbed the bar and then like in softball and well...is he dead?" My voice was softer now, emotions leaking through.

    Leo leaned over, his right hand pausing over the other cats' jugular before tentatively reaching down to check for a pulse. I held my breath, counting in my head as I waited for Leo's sure response. Leos' parents had been doctors, and he had picked up a couple pretty tricks. Tricks that, despite my parents dislike for him, they had to be grateful for.

    "He's alive." His voice was curt and I couldn't help but feel bad. Leo was slightly overprotective and I knew he was bugged by the fact that I hadn’t beeped him the minute I knew I was in danger.

    "I'm Sorry." Despite my understanding, I also felt that he was overreacting. I mean, he should be proud of me! My first encounter with a stray and I had gotten away without a single injury.

    "You're sorry?" Leo turned around to me, his gray eyes flashing storm cloud black.

    "Damn it! I'm in charge of you Kat! I have to make sure that your OK at all times! Your parents don't even like me and if you got hurt on my watch I would be gone. A piece of shreds, thanks to Marc. But when I trust you for 5 minuets to be on your own while I go a pick something up you have to go land yourself in trouble, without getting me! Instead you have to act stupid!"

    Great. I had pushed his buttons...again. Just last week we had this talk about how I wanted more freedom, I didn't like having to have a bodyguard with me at all times. He was, naturally offended; because well he's one, my boyfriend, and second he's Leo, who takes everything for more than it is.

    "I'm Fine! Look See!" I held out my arms for inspection, my irritation growing as a fat mosquito landed on my bare arm. Swatting it away, I looked back up at him my green eyes flashing. "I can take care of myself...and it wasn't like I was looking for trouble! It was my first actual fight and you're acting like I'm some girl who throws herself into danger all the time." I was starting to yell, my dads' temper starting to show.

    Leo looked me up and down, all 5'4 of me. From my flip-flops to my tight tank top his eyes roamed and I could see that he still didn't think I could take care of myself. Suddenly he came towards me, his right arm arching back to swing forward into a dangerous right hook. I stood there, unable to move. Since when had Leo hit girls? His fist stopped a millimeter from my left cheekbone, his knuckles lightly brushing my lower lashes.

    "You didn't even move." He was growling now and I suddenly understood. He was proving to me, and himself that I couldn't protect myself and that I did need protection. I felt a surge of anger and embarrassment. I could take him on...all 6'6 of him. My left fist swung in a beautiful arch to land straight towards his gut, my knuckles grazing the black cotton of his shirt.

    "Neither did you." My accusation was sharp and I saw his feelings as he realized he hadn't even noticed my fist had been coming up. He turned away, leaving my fist to hang there in empty air. Heading towards my red ford escape he looked at me, a scowl on his face as he slid into the drivers' seat.

    "Coming?" he asked, ignoring my earlier retort. I stood there debating on whether my pride would make me stand there, and let him drive off the 20 or so miles to the Lazy S Ranch, leaving me to call Daddy or one of my brothers, or if I was going to get over my fit of independence and get into the Escape with him.

    He was smirking now, knowing that if he left me I would embarrass myself. And if I went with him, he would win. So no matter what, he would get his way...or not.

    "No." My single word wiped the smirk off his face and I did a small victory dance in my head. Was I really that petty? Oh Yeah. I could call Grandma. Grandma, the picture of the perfect 50's housewife, apron and freshly baked cookies and all, would understand and accept it.

    "No?" He was doing that again. Acting all manly, but hurting inside. Ha. Leo was so funky sometimes. I mean really what's the point? He knows he messed up...he could just get over it and apologize. Leo wouldn't do that though, it wasn't his thing.

    I shook my head, the smirk on my face now. I leaned back against a light post, crossing my arms. "Ta-Ta." I teased, giving him a peppy wave. I had won. The car door slammed, and the lights were thrown on. The windows rolled down and I could hear the heavy beats of Industrial
    Metal coming out of the car; music that of course, I hated. I smiled though, knowing what that meant. It meant that he was trying to get back at me…but it wasn’t going to work. Leaning back against the pole again as I pulled out my cell, I thought about the whole thing. Rather stupid really, not something you would expect from a couple of 20-something year olds to have a fight over. At least, not an average couple, but then again we're far from average.

    "Grandma?" I asked as her mellow voice came through the line.

    "Yes, Honey?" I could practically smell the cookies wafting from her line of the phone as I heard the oven being opened and the sheet removed.

    "Hey, can you come get me? Leo and I had another...spat." I chose the word for its obvious fit. We hadn't had an exact fight, but it wasn't a conversation either.

    "Where are you, Katherine?" Her voice was still sweet, but I could hear the underlying tones of weariness.


    "At the mall..." I trailed off, slightly uncomfortable with asking her for a ride because I was too petty to apologize, and so was Leo. But we could both apologize to her later, and help her clean the kitchen or something once we got over it. We always did.

    "I'll go get her, Gram." Marco, my twin brothers' voice came in from the other line, slightly fainter than my grandmothers. Thanks to our cat enhanced hearing he had probably just heard everything I'd said, which also explained why I could hear him. I could hear my Grandmothers murmured thanks and then she was back.

    "Marco's coming to get you Hun'." She said to me, before banging some more things around the kitchen again.

    "K. Bye." I closed the cell, slipping back into the back pocket of my shorts. Which were, sadly getting a tad too tight...I sighed looking down at them. My favorite shorts, from Hot Topic, had just left the shelves...permanently. And I wasn’t going to be able to get another pair. I sighed, looking around the deserted parking lot. If I hadn't chosen the last shift to work, I wouldn't be here. But no, I chosen closing time and then while I was closing up the store (Karen, my other partner had left early for a date) Leo had ditched me to run to another store...Kays. What had he been doing there? Unbidden the commercial logo popped in my head. 'Every Kiss Begins with Kay' How cheesy is that? I was reflecting and I knew it but I needed something to occupy me from the humid night air and the thousand mosquitoes feeding on my flesh.

    My eyes strayed to the spot where the stray had been laying. He was gone, probably taken by Leo and put into the car at some point while I wasn’t looking. That was protocol, find them and send them back to free territory, away form our land. Our pride, our territory stretched from most of Texas all the way up to Arkansas and over to Louisiana. It was a pretty nice spread, and luckily we had just about a hundred ready Toms willing to defend out borders.

    The sound of a car pulling up pulled me out of my own head. It was Marco, his messy brown curls bouncing as he swung his head to the intoxicating sound of Three Days Grace, one of our favorite bands. He pulled up beside me before rolling down the window.

    "Hi Kat." He was smiling, his hazel eyes bouncing. His eternal optimism had made me angry and annoyed when we were younger, but at the moment I welcomed it.

    "Hey, Co." I called him by his nickname, a name that he actually liked. Marco seemed too long, and Marc was our Dads name... so Co it was.

    He cocked his head towards the other seat and started turning back up the music. I walked over to the other side of the black Escalade, seating myself into one of the clean leather seats. This was Marco's car and only his. With his OCD it was spotless…literally. He looked at my dirty sandals and gestured towards the foot mat, placed on the floor but a couple inches further out that my legs would reach. Growing up around a bunch of 6 foot something guys did that. Made you have to reach. Plus there was the whole toilet seat thing, which was just from them being guys. I can't even count how many times in the middle of the night I have stumbled into the bathroom only to plop into the bowl. Ugh...I shuddered even thinking about it. Being the only girl (Other Than Mom and Gram,) out of 7 guys had some serious drawbacks.

    As we drove out of the mall complex and onto the highway, I zoned out, singing along with the songs unconsciously.

    "So what if you can see? The darkest side of me? No one will ever cha-" I was completely off key, and my voice was an octave higher than it was needed to be.

    "Kat, I've told you a million times. No singing in my car!" He cut me off and I glared at him, shutting my mouth tightly. The corners of his mouth lifted up into a quirky smile and I couldn’t help it. I smiled back at him, scolding myself for giving in.

    The Lazy S appeared on the right, and Co turned. Anxiety built up in my stomach as we drove up the mile long driveway, and in my head I was picturing many scenes, most of them involving Leo breaking up with me. The car stopped, the key turned in the ignition, and the engine cut off. Marco opened his door, allowing a bright light to click on and a loud ding to fill my ears. Inwardly I winced, knowing that the reason these things seemed so extreme was because of my worry. I looked up, my eyes looking straight at the person on the porch, whom Marco was exchanging a greeting with as he passed. The screen door opened and closed as my brothers' huge frame disappeared from my view.

    I was alone, with Leo. Who, at the moment, was somebody I really didn’t want to be alone with. He looked up at me, his fingers now drumming an impatient pattern on the cedar railing he was leaning against. The light flashed back on and the Ding sounded again as I opened the Escalade door and stepped out, my flip-flops making the gravel under my feet crunch. I shut the door, and the thrum of the noise seemed to ring in my head long after it had been absorbed by the humid air.

    Gray eyes followed my movement as I walked towards him, leaning against the railing next to him. His eyes were locked on mine and it was in this moment that I realized that I could loose myself in those eyes…if I let myself. I tore my gaze away, looking anywhere to escape the accusation in those depths, twin pools leading down to his soul.

    My stare settled on his hair, the golden undertones almost muffled by a rich brown. The ends of his curls capped the tips of his ears, giving him a boyish charm. But his eyes off set that, a deep, startling gray, ready to swallow me whole. My gaze traveled further down his face, needing to find a safe spot. Down the straight line of his nose, past his lips; now in a grim line which was causing his bottom lip to protrude in a half-pout. That was definitely not a good place to look. I let my eyes wander a tad bit more until I did find a place I could look. The strong line of his jaw, clean shaven held no danger to me.

    "Katherine." He said my full name, also my Mothers first name. But no one ever called her Katherine; instead she was and always would be Faythe.

    I considered using his full name- Leonardo. But for some reason I held back. Instead, I lifted a single eyebrow, daring him to continue. I watched his jaw clench, and then relax as reason trumped over his anger. Somehow Leo had mastered that and I...well my problem was that when something was said in my mind, my mouth opened, which generally got me in more trouble that I was already in.

    "I'm sorry." His words caught me off guard and my knee-jerk response was a deer in the headlights look. Mentally shaking my head I wiped my face clean.

    "Me too." And I was... partly. I should have called Leo, but another part of me had felt it was my right to put my practice time into use; just this once. However, I had a sneaking suspicion that this one fight was going to make me want to crave more victories, and probably allow me to develop my mothers habit- Finding trouble everywhere.

    Somehow between our four words the tension in the air left, allowing me to breathe again. I inhaled, feeling the thickness of humidity settle on my tongue as I did so. But no longer could I feel the acid like anger and anxiety.

    My feet were itching, relief spreading through my body. I eyed the sliver of moon, wondering if tonight I would Shift. Leo looked at me, and read my face with those captivating eyes.

    'Let's run." His words were more of a statement than a question. Running was our favorite hobby, being in cat form and running, no boundaries nothing but 200 acres of our personal playground. I nodded already sprinting towards the tree line. Leo ran close behind me, taking off his white tee as he did so, to leave it lying in the grass to be illuminated by the glimmer of starlight. I reached the tree line and stepped out of my clothes, laying them in a neat pile. Leo was in the forest somewhere around me, and I smirked looked back at the scatterings of his clothes in the yard. His shirt, to his khaki shorts, to one tennis shoe, and so on. My clothes was folded neatly, a habit only the females in my family seemed to use. The guys were constantly leaving various articles of clothing, draped everywhere. Over this bush, that branch.

    I got down on all fours, relaxing as I waited for the first ripple of pain to wash over my body. My joints popped and remade themselves, fitting themselves into new places as I tried not to tense up. Relaxing was the key, otherwise your bones just ground against one another, causing you more pain than needed. I could feel my bones shrinking and growing, muscles stretching and reattaching themselves. The ripple had come to my jaw, and I opened my mouth and jutted my lower jaw out. I could feel my cheekbones rearranging themselves and my jaw elongated and morphed itself into the right shape. My teeth were growing into razor sharp edges, and my canines grew longer. Thousands of backwards barbs grew on my tongue as it also flattened itself, allowing my tongue to grow to the proper shape and size. I looked backwards out of my now cat-sized and cat enhanced eyes, see my bald tail twitching as a wave of hair began to sprout.

    I leaned forward on my paws, twice the size of my human hands. Leo was almost done, I could see a flash of onyx through the leaves, and I purred happy to be back in the forest. The scent of pine needles and sweet smelling leaves filled my nostrils as I inhaled, absorbing the heady scent of the forest. Leo purred, his head suddenly rubbing against my neck. I turned to him, twitching my ear towards the river.

    "Ready?" I was asking, and I wasn't waiting for a reply. I bounded away into the undergrowth leaving him to run in my wake. The forest was a blur of off colors, of movement that I couldn’t define. I could smell rodent, squirrels, mice not far off, but I didn't give any particular thought to them. They wouldn't even begin to satisfy the hunger that came when we shifted.

    Leo was behind me, his face inches from my tail. He was huffing-our way of laughing. Suddenly he tackled me, pinning me beneath him. I squirmed, trying to get out from underneath the 165-pound cat above me. Leo looked down at me, gray eyes suddenly serious. He backed off me and then turned his head back towards the house. My stomach growled as I looked at him- was he for real? We had barely begun!

    Without another indication towards me he turned around, bounding off before I even had a chance to realize what he was doing. I stood there, debating on whether to follow him or just continue with my run. Just as I was taking my first step he bounded back into the clearing, my clothes, his shorts and a black bag all in his mouth. He set them on the ground before looking at me, inclining his large fur covered head towards a clump of bushes. He wanted me to shift.

    I looked at him curiously before grapping my pile and setting off towards the bushes. I could hear him doing the same. What was Leo doing? What’s in the bag? These thoughts raced through my energy filled mind as I shifted back, ignoring each ripple of pain as I pondered.

    I finished, back on my hands and feet. The last traces of inky black fur vanished from my body as I stood up, pulling on my clothes. The tight fit of my cami and shorts seemed restraining compared to the short-lived freedom that I had just had. I buttoned the denim and stepped out from the small cluster of leaves, looking around for Leo.

    He was walking towards me, a serious and slightly shy face playing over his features as he did so. The shadows of the night coated him, leaving his face coated in different variants of gray. I looked at him, dumbfounded. Finally he stood before me, looking down at me. His gray eyes were so clear, so easy to read. I didn't understand- why was he worried, why was every once of his love for me showing all over him?

    His lips twitched into a small smile and as he bent down and I caught a reflection of my face in the pupils of his eyes. My mouth was hanging half-open, and my eyebrows were drawn together. I looked like a cartoon, trying to understand and completely failing.

    "Katherine." His use of my first name brought me back to reality, and for the first time realized he was kneeling on one knee.

    "Katherine Abigail Sanders,"he began for the second time and I then noticed the small black box lying in his hands. Was he proposing to me? I stared at the box, ignoring his face as slight panic and realization hit me in the gut. Leo? Leo was proposing?

    "Will you marry me?" His face turned up and for one moment the wispy clouds that had been playing over the moon shifted. Every hard plane, every line, every pore on his face seemed to be illuminated as he said these words, these words that meant more than anyone else. These words, that for some reason I couldn't seem to comprehend.

    Silence filled the air as I stared at him stupidly. Marry Leo? Stubborn, good-natured, caring, adoring, brash, impulsive, perfect Leo? Once more I looked away from him, towards the now open box. Inside of it sat a simple gold band, a single diamond set in the middle. It was simple and elegant, exactly my style. I looked at it more closely, trying not to let the hot tears that were swimming inside the rims of my eyes pour over. On one hand, I could marry Leo and live happily, have kids; Or I could say No. I could see what would happen, try and actually live for once. Suddenly all my mothers speeches about Independence and Rights and freedom were making sense. Yet, so was the idea of marring Leo.

    I opened my mouth, unsure of my reply. My mind was racing, my thoughts flowing into each other. This was my life- and what was I going to do? I shut my mouth, my eyes locked onto Leos' as I realized that for once in my life, I didn’t know what to say.