Cats and Dogs

“Are you coming in?” I asked as I walked through my front door only to see that Embry was standing on the porch with a look of pure terror on his face. “I promise I won’t bite.” Trust me; that wet dog smell radiating off him pretty much guaranteed that anyway.

“Okay,” slowly the wolf placed one foot in front of the other until he was standing in the middle of my small living room. I rolled my eyes at his obvious discomfort before closing the door behind him and scooping up my white and grey tonkinesse, Lily, off the floor.

“Do you like cats, Embry?” I asked as I stroked the feline lovingly. She purred in my arms and a smile immediately formed on my face at the content way she nuzzled her head into the crook of my arm.

“Not especially,” he whispered as he stepped away from me in a clear sign that it wasn’t a good idea to come any closer with the animal in my grasp. “Actually, I’m kind of afraid of the things.” I gave Lily one last scratch behind her smoky colored ears before setting her back on the tiled flooring and watching as she scrambled away.

“That’s probably a good thing,” I told him and I took the boy’s arm before pulling over to one of the lower platforms in the room, which he had yet to comment on. “Cats don’t like you,” when a feline doesn’t like you, it’s a pretty good idea to stay away from them.

“How would you know?” asked Embry. The sparkle in his eyes was starting to return as he became slightly more relaxed and I didn’t know if that was a good thing or not.

“Well, that’s something we should probably talk about. But remember, you said that you’d keep this between us,” I looked out a window to my left and the sight of that beautiful full moon filled me with a new sense of peace.

“I won’t tell anyone, I swear,” he promised and I really hoped he meant it.

“Alright, I lied earlier,” I started, figuring that was the best approach since he seemed to already know that. “I’m not part wolf…” Embry’s brow wrinkled in confusion but I bit the bullet and continued. “…my family was cursed, blessed, I really don’t care what you call it, a few hundred years ago, the curse was for every member of our family to live in both the world of man and beast, but never truly belong to either.” I could practically hear the gears turning in the wolf’s mind, but the confused look on his face never faltered.

“What the hell does that mean?” He asked and I should have known that taking the cryptic approach wasn’t the best idea.

“I’m a cougar shifter.”

The house suddenly became extremely quiet and the space separating me from the shape shifter seemed as though it was mere centimeters even if I knew subconsciously that it was more like several feet. I was just moments from jumping off the platform and making a hasty retreat when Embry started laughing hysterically.

“Sure,” he said through his laughter. “Of course you are.” My jaw tightened as he continued to laugh at my expense and my self control started wearing down when he made no move to calm himself. I felt my eyes shift again, much like they had in Jacob’s presence, but for an entirely different reason.

“Crap,” Embry whispered when he noticed that my eyes were no longer human. “You’re not joking are you?” I shook my head and the wolf moved closer to get a better view of my face.

“So the hatred of females thing, is that because of the cat-whatever?” he asked and sat back while I cleared my head in order for my eyes to return to normal.

“Yeah, think of it this way. A large cat, like most animals, think of one thing all the time; passing on it’s genes. I get along with guys because the primal part of my brain says that they’re a good sign, I have more choices in mates, my offspring will be stronger, and I’ll be protected. While a girl that enters my territory is taking away my mating options and leaving me vulnerable.” It’s basic animal behavior and that seemed to be a good thing since Embry looked as though he knew exactly what I was talking about.

“That would also explain why we always see you at night, you hate to be outnumbered, and why there’s now a cougar on the reservation. Sorry about shooting you.” He whispered the last part as if he was saying it for his own conscience instead of actually apologizing.

“Wasn’t your fault,” I told him and went to place a hand on his arm but he slid away from me as if I was some disease he didn’t want to catch.

“Give me a minute,” he said and stood up before starting to pace back and forth across the room. “I understand… kind of, but it’s a lot to take in.” Embry started mumbling to himself and I doubted I could have made out what he was saying even if I cared enough to try.

“I hope you’re aware that you were fine after I told you, Embry,” I told him after several minutes of just watching him pacing around my living room and talking to himself. “It must have taken awhile for the shock to sink in,” I was speaking more for my sanity than his but he looked up anyway with a slightly crazed look in his eye.

“Keep talking,” he whispered just loud enough for me to barely hear him from across the room. “Tell me stuff, anything. Just don’t stop talking.” I’m not going to lie and say I’ve been put in his shoes plenty of times in my life, but I had seen others go through this and I knew that the information I had just given him would drive him crazy if he kept thinking about it and trying to make connections his mind wasn’t ready for. The only way to solve this was for him to listen to someone, to distract himself from the thoughts that were running through his mind.

“Don’t hurt yourself by thinking too much,” I warned and he just rolled his eyes but I noticed that his face relaxed as if he was actually taking my advice. “Since I can’t read minds, I’m just going to tell you a whole much of random things and hope they clear this up for you.”

“What’s keeping you?” Asked Embry and the wolf nearly screamed when my large Main Coon named Bear walked into the room. “What is that thing?” You’d think the guy had never seen a cat before in his life by the terrified expression on his face.

“It’s a cat,” I answered and smiled when the boy continued to walk away from the animal as it made it’s way through the room and to the kitchen in order to get to his food bowl.

“That thing is huge!” I don’t think he meant to scramble away from the feline and practically jump in my lap, but I sure as hell meant to laugh at the display.

“Does this mean you’re better now?” I asked. Embry had his arms wrapped around my waist was trying to hide behind me but failing miserably. I took that as a sign that he had gotten over his fear of me on his own, which meant I was happy since I didn’t have to spend the next hour and half working him back into human society.

He didn’t answer me and instead had his eyes locked on my pet who was eating quietly in the kitchen, oblivious to the commotion it was causing in the adjoining room.

“Apparently, the fear of my house cat has brought you out of your shocked state.” I said and started to pry the shape shifter’s arms off me. “Strangely this made you less afraid of me as well,” I managed to free myself just as Bear walked out of the kitchen, causing Embry to scream like a girl and jump onto the platform next to me.

“Hey Alai,” he said once the incredibly scary kitty was out of the room. “What is this we’re sitting on?”

“It’s a platform,” I replied as I tried not to laugh as the boy hit the solid wood a few times with his fist before looking up and noticing for the first time that I really didn’t have any furniture except the platform we were sitting on and others like it.

“Cat thing?” he asked and I nodded my head in conformation.

“Cat thing,” I answered.