Cats and Dogs

Jacob had no idea where he was going; his feet simply traveled over the ground while his mind was busy thinking about what Brandon had told him. Alai probably loved him, he… may or may not have had strong feelings for her as well, but did he want to spend the rest of his life with her? Listening to her sarcastic attempt at humor, putting up with over dramatic antics, and trying desperately to keep the girl from hurting herself and others? Not really, but he was willing to think about it, and that alone was a massive improvement in and of itself.

Before the shape shifter had time to recognize his surroundings, he was standing in his own back yard, the motion sensing lights shinning in the night. Jacob’s eyes immediately strayed to the large cage in the corner of the yard, it was large enough for the cougar currently within its confines to move around easily, but it wasn’t meant for extended use and seeing the animal pacing angrily, as if it wanted more than anything to run but was being denied that one pleasure, reminded him of that fact. The wolf could truly picture the blonde woman that grown to torment him in the last however many weeks as this creature, actually, he wondered why it hadn’t been more obvious from the start.

Slowly, the man walked forward, listening to the growls the cat was sending his way but not stopping until he was standing beside the enclosure and was in mild amazement of the cougar in front of him. She was large, that much he could tell from his previous location but it wasn’t her size that entranced him, but her power. Every step was measured, every muscle served a purpose, and every look from her bright yellow eyes made Jacob shiver in a mixture of fear and excitement, this girl was a challenge, and he loved challenges.

“You’re confusing, I hope you know that.” The sentence was said mostly by accident, the man hadn’t meant to voice his opinion out loud, but once he started, it became almost impossible to stop. “I mean, why didn’t you tell me a month ago? Do you have any idea how much easier this would have been? I’m not saying I would have been happy about the whole “bonding” thing but at least I wouldn’t have been blind sided three days before the full moon.” Speaking of the silver orb, seemed to make it appear from behind the trees and Jacob stared up at it as he continued, the words seeming to spill out of his mouth before he had the chance to analyze them.

“But that’s just you, isn’t it? You’re stubborn, and have a harder head than a bull; then again, people say the same thing about me.” Without truly realizing what he was doing, Jacob’s hand slipped through the small gap in the cage and began stroking the head of the feline he was speaking of. “We are a lot alike, I guess. Both have big mouths that get us in trouble, both are very hard people to get along with, and as much as I hate to admit it, we are both emotionally retarded.” He would swear for the rest of his life that the animal he was petting; actually snorted at that.

“OKAY! So maybe you have a good reason for it, and I’m simply a jerk. Does it matter?!” The creature didn’t say or do anything more than sit there and nudge his now stationary hand with its head. “That’s what I thought. Anyway, I’ve been thinking about what you’re stupid red headed friend told me and I realized something about you; something I hadn’t noticed before.” For half a moment, Jacob thought about whether or not he should say what was on the tip of his tongue, but after remembering that this beast was the only living thing around and that there was no way it could repeat a word he was saying, Jake continued.

“I feel different when I’m with you.” He admitted; only slightly self conscious, “not happier or angrier really, just… different. It’s like living your whole life seeing things in black and white and then suddenly seeing a rainbow in all its glory. Yes, I know you’ll kill me for saying this, but, you’re colorful Alai. I also know that I’m going to sound like the biggest idiot on the planet when I say this but, I like having that little splash of color in my life. Even if it gives me a headache later.” And that was Alaivera Carden in a nutshell, she was different, she made things happen, and even if you enjoyed it, the next morning always brought a headache, well in Jake’s experience at least.

The next few seconds were spent in silence, Jacob petting the cat now lying beside him and thinking of what else to say. “Alai, Brandon told me I needed to accept you as my mate or imprint or something for you to come back. I can’t lie and say I love you, hell, I don’t love half my family, but I can’t live life not knowing what the legends were talking about when they described the life of a shape shifter and their imprint. I want to know what in the world could make Sam change everything about himself; not because Emily asked him to, but just because he could. Alaivera, I want to know what it’ll be like to have the other half of my soul, even if that other half is you. Al, yes I’m going to call you Al, I accept the position of your mate, but only if you accept the position as my imprint.”

Nothing happened, the cat just continued to purr lovingly against Jake’s hand, it didn’t suddenly turn into the blonde girl he had gotten to know and to loathe over the summer, it was just a cat. As the classic feeling of disappointment welled up inside him, he heard something large land on the ground to his left and with a startled gasp he looked over and met a very familiar pair of blue eyes.

“Alai?”