Cat's Got Your Tongue

Sam's POV

"We had all better be heading to the clearing," I heard Liam say, looking at the wall clock "The girls can get pretty impatient." I looked at the way he took charge like that and sighed, thinking about how great a Beta he was. I was an Alpha, and yet probably held less power than him.

"Hey Sam, is it okay, if I maybe run ahead of you guys?" Seth came up to me and asked, smiling nervously.

"Yeah, sure, but why?" I replied. Seth would need to be careful, especially running off alone, but I had a particular feeling he would be running off to Courtney, and she was more than qualified to protect Seth from an attack, Seth was such a young kid, and Leah would rip me to shreds if he so much got a scratch on himself.

"I'm err... Going to ask Courtney to come to the shops with me." He muttered, embarassed.

"Don't be embarrassed, Seth. I just wish I had your courage and could go ask Hera out without turning into a blubbering puddle on the ground." He smiled at that.

"You'll be fine, Sam, it will all work out for you." It seemed weird taking advice from a 16 year old, but I accepted it gratefully.

"Thanks, Seth. Now you go run off and show that bird shifter just how lucky she is." He threw me a cheesy grin, and turned, running out the door.

"Okay, everyone gather your stuff, your not going to need much, just your clothes you feel comfortable shifting in." The beta of the flock said. "Let's go."

We all trooped our of the house, I noticed my pack were all towards the back, waiting for me, it was good to see I still held some authority. I nodded to them, showing my appreciation.

As we walked to the clearing, Liam slowed down from the front and waited for me.

"I wanted to talk to you." He said as I drew nearer to him.

"Sure. About what?" I replied, already knowing the answer.

"Hera." I nodded. "Sam, she's had a rough past with guys, you know, before she started shifting. Abusive, cheating boyfriends. I know you won't do anything like that to her, but just so you know." He said gravely. How could anyone cheat on Hera? She was the exact definition of perfection. And as for abusing her, those horrible bastards had better keep their distance. Liam must have guested my thoughts, for he continued, "Dont worry about beating them up. As soon as Hera started shifting, she gave them black eyes, knocked out their teeth, and broke a couple of bones, when they tried to pull moves on her. Of course she got in trouble, but the law was on her side, she did it in self defence, so she wasn't punished at all." I still wasn't happy. They only escaped with a couple of minor injuries. What they did to Hera should be punishable by death.

"Okay." I said. Liam smiled, patting my shoulder, before walking back up to the front. I watched him go, seeing the definite likeness between him and and Hera, the graceful stride, the wavy dark hair. I liked Liam, he was a great guy, a perfect brother for Hera.

I saw Seth standing, shell shocked, just in front if us. When we caught up, the pack and I saw the love struck look apon his young face.

"She said yes... Courtney said yes..." He said to no one in particular, his eyes still gazing lovingly at the path ahead of us. I wished I had the guts to ask my imprint out. Sam was only 16, yet he had more courage when it came to telling girls how we felt. Jared grabbed onto the boys arm and dragged him along with us, he looked in no condition to keep walking on his own accord.

Eventually, we reached the clearing, Hera, Courtney, Namid and Luanna were already standing there, waiting. Seth blushed furiously when he saw Courtney and she smiled at him. Namid sent a wink to Paul, much to his delight, but I hardly noticed any of this, I only had eyes for one, Hera. When she saw me, she had a dazzling smile on her face, I almost had to take a step back with the powerful force radiating off it.

"Everyone take a seat on one of the logs or wherever and we'll get started." We all did what Hera ordered, everyone knew, that despite how many alphas there were, Hera was the true leader here. She was very influential. "So, we all know why we're here, right?" There was a chorus of 'yes'es' and head nods. "Good, so we'll have to refine our battle strategy, but we've got a rough outline of what we're going to do.We'll be needing to contact other tribes, the fish shoal, and mice mischeif." Hera continued. Namid groaned, Courtney shook her head, the rest of the shifters besides my pack were making other negative gestures. Hera kept a defiant look on her face, although there was still the trace of an annoyed look on her face. I didn't know what made all the shifters peeved.

"Do we really have to, Hera? I mean, can't we just cut our nails with rusty clippers instead?" Namid muttered.

"You know we have to, it's our only way for survival. Malila not that bad..." Hera said, seeming to not believe her own words as she spoke them.

"She creeps me out. And besides, Cob's the weird one." Courtney said. Marek laughed, only to be hit across the back of his head by Luanna.

"Shut up." She said, annoyed.

"But it's funny." He replied, still trying to subside his chuckles.

"We all know it's funny to pick on the mice, particularily Cob as he's so easily angered, but we need their help, and we can't annoy the people we are trying to make allies." Hera scolded.

"The clowder, particuly, has an ongoing semi-grudge against the mischeif. You know, cat versus mouse sort of thing. And the mice are very irritating and short tempered, because of their size you know." A fox shifter whispered to me, filling me in. Hera's calm collected voice seared through all the conversations like a knife through butter.

"Well if we're done gossiping about our little furry friends, and scaley delights, perhaps we can start training."

I wondered what we would learn from this, hopefully longlasting battle skills. But knowing Hera, that would only be the start.