Cat's Got Your Tongue

Sam's POV

I knew that Liam knew. He could tell, I was sure of it. He knew that I had imprinted on his big sister. We were walking through the forest, Liam looking straight ahead. He was very disciplined, but so were the rest of his clowder, Hera had trained them well. How on earth could she ever love such a failure of a leader as myself. My pack were, let's face it, hopeless compared to her clowder. If they chose to attack, we would be annihilated. I looked at Liam, he was still walking, looking forwards. Suddenly he stopped, indicating to a log which he sat on. I followed suite, sitting besides him. We sat in silence for a while, I waited for him to speak first. Finally he took in a deep breath.

"You know why your here." He still wasn't looking at me.

"Yes." It would be best to be truthful. Brothers could be protective, I knew.

"Hera's a good person. A great leader. The best sister you could ever dream of. She's my best friend. Hera deserves the best." I was the best for Hera. I imprinted on her, of course I was. Then why could I feel doubt creeping into my mind? "I know you imprinted on her. I know you'll be the best for Hera. You've already proved that to me." I had? When? How?

"When?" Liam looked at me seriously.

"When you let Leah go." I understood. He was saying I knew the importance of an imprint. By letting him have Leah when he imprinted on her, even though I loved her, he knew that I would treat Hera the best. "I know you loved her. I am grateful that you didn't put up a fight, because if you had, I would have fought for her." And won, I added mentally. I was sure he would have won in a fight against me.

"I know. The imprint power is very powerful." I said.

"You'll be the best for Hera. You'll make her happy. Don't break her heart. I'll be watching."

Wow. I had thought he would be more protective. But I was happy. He was letting me pursue Hera. Now she just had to love me back.
"Let's go. Everyone'll be wondering where we are." Liam said, standing up and extending a hand to help me up. We walked back in a comfortable silence. When we were about to reach my house, I spoke.

"Liam, if you don't mind, could you maybe try not let Hera know about the imprint. I want to tell her myself."

"I'll try, Sam. But if she orders me to tell her, I won't be able to say no. Although she doesn't like using her leader powers on us, she might get suspicious, and she sure isn't stupid, she'll realise somethings up." I could believe that, it seemed like the sort of thing Hera would do. We walked into my house and I was aware of Hera watching me. I went and sat next to her on the bench and she smiled at me. She smiled at me! This sensation was weird. I had never felt it when I was with Leah. Just when I was near Hera, I felt tingly, and sort of elated.

"So, umm, are you guys staying in La Push for long?" I asked the cats. They all looked at Hera.

"Well..." She began. Please say yes. Please say yes. "We probably will be, if you don't mind." She said, looking at me.

"We don't mind." I answered. Of course I didn't mind. I wondered if she would like a place to stay, and if she wouldn't mind staying with me. Instantly my mind began stringing together new fantasies, but I pushed them away. I needed to concentrate.

"There is a serious issue we must address with you." Hera continued.

"You mean-" Liam started.

"Yes." Hera replied.

"Are you sure? I mean we can handle it. Can't we?" He looked franticly at Hera before gazing worridly at Leah.

"We can't. I've spoken with Namid. She says it's bad on her side as well. Tasunke's been busy. He wants to dominate, rule, take over, whatever you like. We'll all die if we fight alone, and even joining forces, there may be casulties." Now I was worried. Die? Casulties? This sounded bad, and if Hera was in any danger, I would die to protect her.

"Anyway. Did Liam tell you how he came to be in La Push?" Hera continued. There was a chorus of 'no's and head shakes and Hera continued. "Well Liam was patroling our borders when he sensed pursuers. He started running but the shifters chasing him were too fast and there were too many for him to fight off. They eventually caught him, and then you found him. His pursuers were from the horse tribe. The shifters there form horses and from last reports, there are at least one hundred of them." A pack with one hundred shifters? We had thought our pack was big, and there were only ten of us.

"What do they want?" Jacob asked. I was too stunned to speak. Hera, my Hera, was in danger, and I was too weak to protect her. If this horse tribe caused the clowder fear, then how terrified should we be? The answer? Very.

"Same as they always do. Tasunke, their leader, wants to whipe out all the other groups of shifters, or at least, control them." Liam answered before Hera could say anything.

"How many shifters are there in this world?" Seth asked curiously.

"Erm... There's Namid's foxes, five there. The birds, 11. The fish, four. The mice, six. Us, eight, and you guys, ten. So, what's that? 44 altogether" Hera replied. Her clowder looked depressed having the figures actually spoken alowed. I agree, it sounded pretty bad, especially against 100. That was more than two to one.

"And, what's more, I'd say we can gather only around 30 to fight with us." Luana moaned. What did she mean? Only 30.

"We'll fight with you." I said softly. Hera raised her head from her hands, her brown eyes had a tiny spark of hope it them.

"Really?" She whispered gently. I took her warm hands and held them in mine. It looked like mine swallowed hers up. The electricity pulsing through me was almost unbearable. Just a simple hand holding made me want to do things that I probably shouldn't even be thinking yet.

"Really." I confirmed and squeezed her hands. I felt her squeeze back a small smile on her face. This was the most perfect moment I had ever experienced in my life.