•Ethan•
Well. At least it seems a few good things came from going back to school on Monday. Or, maybe it was really only just one—
"I made the team!?"
Katski's exclamation — thank god — did not catch the attention of the entire hallway of the school, as it was halfway through the lunch period when he heard the basketball roster had been posted. I didn't exactly know why he sounded so shocked. But his eyes were wide open, and he was blinking in succession at the scribbled name at the top of the sheet in the nastiest handwriting I've ever set eyes on. Barely readable, and yet, still managed to say:
Katski Black.
"I can't tell, are you genuinely surprised or just acting like it because you think it makes you seem 'humble'?" I asked, unable to help rolling my eyes as I stood boredly behind him.
Katski finally looked away from the sheet to shoot me a frowning look over his shoulder — wearing another hoodie today.
"Ok first off — fuck you later," he said, and I raised an eyebrow with interest at his peculiar word choice. "Second, should I not be surprised?"
He sounded so genuine with the stupid question that I was momentarily caught at a loss. He was either doing this little act on purpose...Or — my boyfriend was extremely stupid.
"You're kidding me right?" I stared at his blank expression with one of my own. I snapped, "You were the best fucking one out there! Of course you're making the damn team you idiot!"
He laughed sheepishly then, rubbing the back of his neck. By gods he was serious? And stupid then! He really thought there was a chance he wouldn't be making the basketball team even after how much showing off he had done during their tryouts?
Yep. Absolute idiot.
But that absolute idiot was my boyfriend and mate, so I guess I might as well offer to do something nice for him.
"Do you wanna..." I fumbled awkwardly and turned my gaze away pointedly as I realized I hadn't thought out what I was acting going to say. Suddenly my brain decided now was the time to cut out. "Go out...to, uh, celebrate...or something?"
I winced because holy fuck that had come out sounding so lame.
Katski blinked nevertheless, seemingly none the wiser. "You mean it?" He sounded like excitement was bubbling beneath the surface.
I wasn't sure why I was blushing, only that I was and it was fucking embarrassing. "Yeah, why not?" I said, trying to cover for the heat in my face by keeping a neutral expression. It was...not working.
Katski laughed — at me — and then smiled brightly. "Luna's!" He declared.
I raised an eyebrow, "Seriously?"
"Yeah," he replied without fault, "That place is really nice. Hey, also remember that project we still have to do?"
"You want to work?" I pronounced it like the word was foreign. It may as well have been, because who the hell wanted to do school work on a celebration date?
Yes. It was a date.
"What? It could be fun!" Katski protested to my dismissal with a pouting expression. As if that would work.
Who was I kidding? It did.
He was the worst.
"Ugh, you're such a weirdo," I said, sighing.
"And while we're there you can buy me their peach fritters," he grinned, completely unfazed by my commentary.
"Oh gee, how sweet of you to offer," I rolled my eyes with sarcasm.
And then I started counting down the minutes until the rest of the goddamned school day was over.
* * *
Heeding Katski's request, the two of us headed for Luna's Cafe as soon as the bell rang and school was let out. As it turns out, the music teacher had given a reminder for students to work on their projects, so it seemed we had to do the work regardless.
Great.
On top of it, it seemed the both of us were going to be there for a while and guess who was paying. Not that I really minded, I had money of my own after all. Except Katski expected me to get something other than black coffee.
It seemed he remembered me mentioning how I drank black coffee when I was in a particularly 'black-coffee' kind of mood, therefore, he begged me to get something with a bit of sugar in it so that he — and I quote — didn't have to suffer the downpour of my constant 'storm cloud'.
To appease my all too fussy mate, I ended up ordering a vanilla latte. It wasn't bad, but I wouldn't exactly call it coffee either. Too sweet for my taste.
Or so I thought at first — but by the time I was halfway through I realized it had become rather delicious. And slightly addicting.
Katski got a cinnamon latte to go with the peach fritter he ordered. The girl at the front told us that they were just putting a fresh batch in, so the wait would be just a few minutes before they brought it out to him.
When I tell you his eyes lit up like a damn Christmas tree. It seemed fresh pastries were the highlight of his day.
While we waited, I took us to the back music room with all the bean bag couches and only slight dusty instruments. We'd have privacy while we worked — thank god. Except for the fact that after a few minutes of starting, we were hardly doing any 'work' at all.
Katski pushed me down by the chest, shifting one knee over my legs in a smooth motion until he was straddling my waist. Then his mouth was crashing back down to mine with a clash of tongues and a scrap of teeth as we moved in rough opposing forces — both working against each other and moving in melding synchronization.
It had started slow. For about five seconds — a gentle nudge, leaning against me, and then we had moved at the same time, a gentle kiss with knowing smiles and devious smirks.
Then it was more. Our movements were quick, rushed. And yet relaxed. We were moving fast, as if he was unable to get enough of me as I felt unable to get enough of him. But it was also relaxed, like we had all the time in the world, in this small room, and we were trying to savour every second.
After minutes that felt both so long and way too damn short, Katski pulled back first, both of us gasping for breath. When I looked up into his face, he was smiling, still only inches away, enough to feel his laboured breath on my collar bone as he used me as his personal body pillow.
"What is it?" I demanded, frowning at his felinish grin.
"I can smell my pastry. They took them out of the oven."
"So?"
He lay his chin flat down on my chest so that he was gazing up at me from where I sat only half up on my elbows, his eyes slanted pathetically. "Can you get it for me?" he pleaded whiningly.
"No."
"Aw please?" He begged.
I let my head fall back as I let out a soft groan. "Damn you, pathetic cat." I could feel his grin pointed at me. "Ugh, fine. Wait here," I said as I began to sit up fully. Katski slid off with a wide smile.
"Thank you," he said with a cheeky grin.
I rolled my eyes and got up to walk to the door, but when my back was turned my mouth pulled back into a drawn smile as I chuckled quietly.
I pushed the door open. Coming face to face with Maia standing right there at the opening.
I cursed and hit my back against the closed door as my hand flew to my chest. "Jesus woman!" I exclaimed.
"Hey," she replied like nothing was amiss. I didn't know she was working today — just my luck. But she wasn't holding a peach pastry so I had no idea why she was here.
"What do you want? I'm busy," I stated, crossing my arms.
"With what?" she questioned with a tilt of her head.
"Doing my...project?" I replied with a smidgen of a wince. At least we had been getting to that part. Eventually.
Footsteps echoed from inside and I heard Katski's voice come. At the worst possible time. "Hey, is someone at the — oh, hey Maia." He opened the door and smiled.
Maia smirked back.
"Hey project," she replied in emphasis.
I fucking choked on air. Behind me, I could hear Katski doing something similar.
I was certain both our faces were red.
Maia's smile was full of satisfaction. "Well, anyway, I'll be seeing you later E. Have fun, but not too much fun. Alright? Anyway, bye!"
As she ran out, Katski grabbed me by the arm just in time to stop me before I fucking strangled her.
* * *
I'm going to kill her. I'm going to kill her. I'm going to kill her.
I was still fuming by the time we left Luna's.
Maia hadn't even been working! All she wanted to do was stop by and bother me — according to her smug claims. Before she had then ordered herself a slice of cake from the bakery and chatted around with the human friend of hers that was working the shift, ignoring me completely despite the numerous glares I sent her way both before and after we left, seeing as she had still been there an hour later.
I swear, it was like girls could talk for hours. Maia hadn't even moved from her position sitting on the countertop, still munching on cake when she shot Katski and I an innocent little wave goodbye with a wink that was anything but.
Yep. As soon as I got home she was a dead-mutt.
"Calm down, it wasn't that bad," Katski said from my side as I felt a hand on my shoulder.
Once again, we were in the safety of the woods, heading back. Without the weight of eyes or heavy gazes lingering. That was perhaps what made the walk back to each of our houses more enjoyable. The seclusion, out in the open nature, with him, either in calming silence or comfortable chatter. It made the fact that I wouldn't see him until the next morning easier to bear.
I grumbled something incoherent under my breath in response, face still screwed into a sour expression.
Katski chuckled at my side, which both eased the frowning downturn to my mouth and made me want to smack him in the face. His eyes were teasing, as if my temper was the most amusing thing to him.
And I was definitely leaned a little closer to the punching him in the face option on my mind.
"Would you like a distraction?" Katski quipped, doing that thing where he obnoxiously leaned half his body weight on my shoulder as we walked. If I moved, he would have toppled over.
That would certainly be an amusing 'distraction'.
I thought about it. Fortunately for him (I suppose), he interrupted before I could entertain the idea a little further.
"How about we play a little game of cat and dog tag?" he said, eyes glinting with mischief and tone coy at the animal titles he seemed to emphasize.
I paused. "It's a little risky, Kitty..." I murmured, eyes subtly shifting from side to side, though nothing but us seemed to move in the woods. Still... "We're way too close to the packhouse," I muttered. Then I watched as his expression grimaced.
"Oh...right." Katski's expression worked into a pouting huff as he crossed his arms, but I could tell he wasn't really mad — just being a huffy cub. "I must have gotten really lucky before. You know I was around here a bunch of times, before I knew that there were even wolves here? Never got caught then. Guess I'm just that slick."
"I wouldn't be too sure," I rolled my eyes as I frowned at a fuzzy memory that was starting to come back to me.
"Huh? What's that mean?" Katski balked, eyes suddenly wide.
"I mean — I think I saw you," I answered. When his eyes widened somehow further I quickly added, "But it was just me then. As far as I've heard, no one else has said anything about seeing a werecat around here."
Which was the truth. I had indeed been keeping an ear out, listening to the talk of the pack for anything — because believe me when I say wolves like to hear themselves howl. But my worries had since eased.
Our pack still had not been made aware of the werecat clan's visit, and from the outlook of things, it didn't look like it was even a priority anymore. It had been well over a month or two. And my father had done as he'd said; he'd kept a lookout for anything, with no guarantee. And that was what had happened. They found nothing. He had asked for reports of any suspicious activity or odd smells within the border and came up with none. Bears. Deer herds once or twice. But no werecats.
And in such, his promise to the werecat clan leader to return their rogue should they find him had not been dishonoured.
Fortunately, I had never directly made any such promise.
To the clan leader...or my father.
"Where...where did you see me?" Katski asked, breaking me free of my thoughts.
It took a moment to recall. "One night, by the lake? I think it had only been a few nights after you arrived at school," I said.
Katski nodded quietly. "Yeah, I went there often. Y'know...swimming," he said with a sheepish half-grin.
"Probably why we didn't catch your scent," I murmured in absent response. "The water. You're lucky, but damn clumsy you know that?" I sighed. "It's actually a wonder you haven't been found out."
"...I thought that was how this whole thing between us started?"
The glare I sent him was deadpanned to a fault.
Katski pretended not to see and chuckled with a wide cheeky grin. "Well, lucky I have a big bad wolf looking out for me," he sang.
I took it back: the glare I sent him then was deadpanned to a fault.
"Idiot."
He kept chuckling. "Don't worry, I'll take the southern route back to my place." He paused, seeming to look me over. "Unless...you wanted to come with?"
There was a tinge of hope in his voice. But what caught me even more so was the spark of coy suggestiveness, both within the tone and within the fiery amber of his eyes. They glowed like soft flames, licking like faint candlelight.
I sighed. "Godddamnit. You know I wish I could," I growled. Because by now he should have known exactly what that stupid look of his did to me. My next words sounded as sour as it tasted to mutter them, "But I've gotta get back."
I tried not to let it affect me, but it was hard not to catch the subtle note of disappointment in his face as his glint slipped ever so slightly. But I could see it too; he had also been expecting to get turned down.
The thing is...I really didn't want to.
"No worries," he replied. Like the flicker of fire and sunshine and brightness that he was, he managed to find a light to his smile and the positive in the down. "We'll always have tomorrow," he said. And there was something so compelling in that statement, the pure confidence and certainty, that no matter what, he would be there the next day. And the next. And the next. Because every next day made tomorrow.
And endless tomorrow made the sentiment of forever.
"Right...always have tomorrow." I couldn't help but return the smile he gave. Though I still yerned to stay with him, through a pull in my chest and a clench in my heart, to see his smile helped ease those emotions. Even if just enough that the regret no longer cut so deep.
If we didn't have to hide, I wouldn't have to leave him.
Katski removed his shirt, then his jogging pants — unfazed by my watchful eye — and then, remaining in only his boxers, he shifted. Skin turned to fur, bones stretched and his form bent. Claws grew and his teeth elongated. The transformation took the heat of a few heartbeats, a smooth transition from man to beast, until it was my mate in his full feline form that stood before me.
The tiger lowered his head to pick up the fallen school bag off the ground, lifting it clamped in his large jaws as he turned back to face me.
It another moment, perhaps it would have been comical to see such a dangerous looking beastly feline with a high school school bag hanging from its mouth like a dog with a chew toy. But I couldn't find myself to find it so.
Another surge of longing filled me.
Why?
I had watched him go many times before. And each time, I had ignored this feeling.
But the wolf had grown tired of pushing these feelings away. And it made the desire stronger.
The ache and desire to always be near him, it was the wolf instinct. Packs drew strength in numbers and in unity. Bonds ran as deep as werewolf blood ran old, to the beginning of supernatural time.
And with a mate...that sense of bond was even stronger. Too different to put into mere words.
But...seeing him have to leave every day over and over again, even though this should ah e been normal, even when I knew this was how things needed to be anyway, as he was not a wolf and could not possibly know the instincts of our kind — it hurt.
In a way that only a mating bond could create. Because I had been mated with him, under the full moon. Marked him, with my fangs and with my being.
But...was this one sided?
I still knew so little of werecat mating — and I certainly had no one to ask about it. Other than Katski. But that was a hard subject to just suddenly bring up.
I didn't even know if he even felt it. This feeling.
Soul bond.
His kind did not have a bond. Though claimed and mated, we weren't necessarily connected in the same way wolven mated pairs were. Through their souls.
With Katski...I wanted. I needed. And I yearned.
Just to be around him. To feel our souls...connect.
But I didn't know if we would ever be like that.
Some differences — no matter how much we wished — just could not be overcome. And our design could not be altered by simple longing. A reminder that we did not have control over everything, even in our own lives.
Perhaps the most frustrating things of all.
I hate being helpless. But punching and kicking isn't a solution here, fighting won't do anything.
There was nothing I could do. Not for this.
But...there were things we did have control over.
Decisions we made, chances we took.
Screw it then. Screw home. I could suffer a lecture and a punishment for being late.
I decided that I didn't want to leave him. Not yet.
"Give me one second, Kitty," I said quietly as I stripped my top and bottoms.
The tiger watched, confusion clear. But that spark of light in those same golden amber eyes flickered to life. Like a hopeful flame in a cavern of darkness. A stream of light through an envoy of thunderous clouds.
As I joined with him and shifted.
~ ~ ~
So in case anybody did not understand: what Ethan is feeling is the effects of a half soul bond. He and Katski have mated, but there is a wolvern connection that is made between souls — essentially what also seems a pair mates, or soul mates. But, because Katski and he are not technically of the same species, he has no idea if a soul connection past physical mating can be formed. It is further than love — something more entirely. That is what these two will need to discover. Together.
BTW I wrote this chapter on and off late at night when I was feeling emotions, so I actually don't even understand what the hell I came up with — it wasn't supposed to happen lol. One thing led to another and suddenly this chapter was already too long with still at least half a chapter to go! This scene is not done here, though I hope it came off sweet. Therefore; part two.
And all I can say for that is...oh boy...