Cat & Mouse OR Wolf & Spouse

Disclaimer: Glad you guys are enjoying this. Makes me feel warm inside. Everyone knows what I own and don't own.


Chapter 3

Jared's POV

"What the hell was that!?" I grip the roots of my hair as I pace Sam Uley's kitchen floor. Fire is racing through my veins instead of blood. I don't know how Dad and Sam can sit on the couch so calmly. I've got this adrenaline rush. Hell you'd have an adrenaline rush too if you had suddenly turned into a freaken dog!!

"You've heard the Quilette legends, have you not?" Sam asks, in a patronizingly rational voice. D-uh!

"Yeah. What about them?" I mutter, linking my fingers around the back of my neck.

"They are true." Sam rises to his full height, a good foot from my sudden 6"7 frame. "You, Jared Ian Thane, are a shape shifter."

"I'm a fuckin' wolf shape shifter!?!"

"There's no need to curse." Sam's fiancée, Emily walks in the room, frowning at me. "Yes you are a shape shifter but there's no reason to use such foul language. It's Christmas."

"It's the first of December."

"The month of Christmas. Hello Mr Thane."

Emily perches on the arm of the couch Sam had been sitting on. He rested his chest against her back, his hand running through her dark hair.

"Argh!" I resume pacing. The height is pretty awesome, I'll be king in basketball. "Who else is a… shape shifter. Besides you and I?"

Sam smiles reassuringly. "Jacob, Embry, Leah, Quil, and our latest, before you that is, Paul. You will have to learn to control your anger. Anger will force you to explode if your temper over rules your mind." His hand caresses Emily's scarred cheek, his face pained.

"Jake, she's been playing you all along! The only reason she hung out with you is because the bloodsucker had left her! I don't know why you're so surprised she went back to him after the family returned last week." A woman with curled black hair and snapping dark eyes waltzed into the house, a guy following at her heels. Both were snarling at each other.

Sam rolls his eyes. "Well, here are two members of the pack."

The guy turns his gaze on me. "You're Jared Thane, right?" At my nod, he grins and holds out his hand. "Jacob Black."

Jacob Black was quite impressive. Almost as tall as Sam. The woman standing beside him stood at 5"8.

"I'm Leah Clearwater." Though pretty, her facial expressions are anger and depression. Then I remember Sam and Leah Clearwater had been high school sweet hearts before Emily came into the picture a year ago. Emily is Leah's cousin. Ooooooooo, bet there's tension there.

I shake her hand. "Jared Thane." I nod to Dad on the couch. "This is my Dad, Gary Thane."

"Nice to meet you both." Dad slowly rises to his feet. "Well, I'll see you at home Jared. Have fun with your… new friends." He quickly walks out of the living room and out the front door.

A hand touchs my forearm. Emily's face smiles warmly, her neck tilted to see my face. "I wouldn't be too concerned about him, Jared. Some people are uncomfortable with all of us in the same room." She glances around the room, already walking for the kitchen. "Anybody hungry?"


Kim's POV

It's been a month since the dinner and it wasn't until last week I could stop blushing every time someone brought up weddings. Luckily, Jared has been sick for the last two weeks and I haven't had to look him in the eye. He's gone back to ignoring me now, which is quite nice if I do say so myself.

"Tinsel, tinsel. Gotta love my tin-sel!" Luke happily arranged tinsel all over the Christmas tree, showering the tree in silver stuff.

"Luke, shut up already!" Penny shook her head, watching tinsel fall to the floor.

"I like my tinsel!"

"You don't deserve your tinsel."

"You deserve to have all your tinsel destroyed!"

"What happened to all the love?" Lindsay and Nathan boxes full of lights and Christmas ornaments. "Christmas is all about friendship, forgiveness, and looooooove. Lots and lots of loooooooooooooove."

You don't know these people? Then what the hell are you doing decorating a Christmas tree with people you don't even know!?

We've all been friends since junior high. Luke Ivans is a football player; 6"3, big muscles, buzzed black hair, and sharp hazel eyes. He makes it his mission to annoy people in life. Penny Quaker is 5"4, voluptuous, has spiked black hair with blue tips, large chocolate brown eyes, and a big mouth. Lindsay Hatchet is the beauty of us all. Long waist length dark brown hair, round brown eyes, trim as a model, 5"8, and a flirtatious personality. And finally, drum roll please, Nathan White. A soccer player, 5"11, shaggy brown hair, sleepy demeanour, wide smile, and a mathematician.

"Stuff your love Lindsay, nobody cares." Nathan sets down the box of ornaments, plopping down beside it on the floor.

Lindsay wrinkles her nose, pulling out the ball of lights. She stares at the twistation for 5 seconds before dropping it into Nathan's lap. "Fix please." She stares in horror at the tree. "Tinsel is supposed to go on last! What the hell Luke!"

Luke rests his chin on my shoulder, using my body as a shield for any potential items thrown our way. "I love tinsel. I was spreading the love. Don't make me take the love down."

I roll my eyes. "We'll work around the tinsel. Everyone can think our tree is made of tinsel instead of pine."

"You're just saying that because this is not your tree. I have to see this monstrosity every time I wake up in the morning and pass in the hallway." Penny pouts, untangling strings from the ornaments.

"Did you hot glue these things together?" Nathan mutters, using his feet to hold the ball still and both hands to untangle the endless cords.

"Yes I'm always thinking of ways to make your life a living hell." Lindsay smirks, tossing her hair off her shoulder.

"Shit, you coulda told me that sooner. And don't flip your hair at me."

Flip.

"Bitch."

"Lazy ass."

"Hey, hey!" I interject. "Where'd all the love go?"

"Ah shut up." Luke pulls one end of the cord and Nathan pulls on the other, securing the bundle of lights together in a tighter ball.

You gotta love Christmas.

"When the weather outside is frightful! And the fi-"

"SHUT UP LUKE!"

"You PMSing Penny?"

She snarls at him. "I'll eat you."

He smirks, wiggling his eyebrows. "Lookin forward to it love." … "Ow! You freaken bit me! Kimberly, Chomper bit me!"

"You enjoyed it."

"Did not!"

"Keep telling yourself that."

"I will."

"Share the love dude, share the love."

"Nathan, you are on crack."

"Can't prove it."


"Kimmy, Kimmy, Kimmy!" Penny clickety- clicks down the hallway to where I'm leaning against the wall with Nathan. Her abundant bosom is heaving as she skids to a halt in front of us. "You'll never guess who I just saw."

"Everyone has seen Santa Claus, Penelope. He's been around since the end of November." Nathan says, his eyes not leaving his mathematics textbook.

Geek.

"No. Kimmy, guess, guess, guess."

I purse my lips. "Adolph Hitler."

Penny's smile is wiped from her face. "Hitler? Why'd you guess Hitler?"

I shrug. "You said I'd never guess. So I decided a dead guy's name out there just in case."

Penny huffs. "If you had seen him, you'd be squealing in ecstasy." She lifted an eyebrow before throwing her hands up in the air with exasperation.

I'm done guessing.

"I saw Jared Thane!"

"Thane?" I return to leaning against the wall. "What's so thrilling about having Thane back?"

Penny held her hands out dramatically. "He's gotta be 6"8. His muscles are the size of my face, and his voice…" Her eyes turned dreamy. "Is absolute heaven."

"You're making me nauseous over here." Nathan glares at Penny, tucking his hair behind his ears and stuffing his hands into his pockets, his book tucked into his arm. "You did this with Jacob, Quil, Paul, and Embry. I swear, those guys are on steroids. There's no way a guy in two weeks can have a six pack."

"Oh quit raining on her parade." I smack a hand against his chest. "Those guys are pretty decent." I shrug my shoulders when Nathan glares at me. "Yes, they're probably on drugs but-"

"The result is most satisfying." Lindsay drawls, fanning herself with her manicured hand. She rested an elbow on Penny's shoulder. "Every time I lay eyes on those boys, I have an orgasm."

"You lose your virginity again Lindsay?" Luke asks, earning a punch in the shoulder from me.

"I do not want to talk about Lindsay's sex life, thank you very much!" I exclaim.

"You people disgust me." Nathan shakes his head, causing his hair to fall in front of his eyes.

"You always complain about it, yet you're still with us after all these years." Penny glances at her watch. "I'll see you guys later, we're playing lacrosse in gym today." She rubs her hands together with an evil glint in her eye. "I'm gonna kick Kyle's ass today."

"You say that every day and yet you never do."

"No thanks to you!" Penny and Luke grabble to each other as they head for the gym. Nathan and I turn for English as Lindsay heads for Chemistry. Nathan sighs in resignation.

"I need to find new friends."

I pat his shoulder sympathetically. "Not likely to happen sweetie."


Jared's POV

Turns out, the guys are pretty cool. Paul talks too much but other than that, the pack is pretty decent. Leah and Jacob are into their own party-damper moods so they're usually taking engines apart as they complain about their lost loves. Well, Jake takes engines apart, Leah just sits with him and smokes.

Paul smirks at me as he takes his assigned seat behind me. Mrs. Tucker treats us like elementary students and gave us a seating plan at the beginning of the year. She rises from her desk as the bell rings. "William Shakespeare is a well known author. Anyone know how many plays he wrote?"

Does anyone give a shit?

"37."

I guess someone does.

Mrs. Tucker frowns as two students walk in. "Correct Kimberly. I would really appreciate it if you two would make an effort to get to class on time. For a change."

Nathan shrugs his gangly shoulders. "Mrs T, Shakespeare is a guy who wrote flowery crap about idiots who wear tights and puffy clothes and speak funny. Why would I rush to class to hear about that?" I chuckle with the class.

Mrs. Tucker gasps in outrage. "William Shakespeare was a great man! He was a playwright, a husband, a fath-"

Nathan waves his hands in a dismissive fashion. "Yeah, yeah, I know. He married Ann Hathaway, a woman nine years older than him. He had three children, his son being hanged in his late twenties, blah, blah, blah." He walks to his table in the corner, resting his chin on his hand.

Mrs. Tucker sputters in annoyance. I hear the chair beside me squeak against the floor as the occupant takes a seat. I glance over at Kimberly and suddenly find my eyes glued.

Since when did Kimberly become pretty? Pretty doesn't even describe her! I watch in fascination as Kimberly slings her bag strap over her seat, pulling out a thin black binder. I watch her braid swing to the left side of her body, displaying a curved neck. Kimberly slips on a pair of plastic-framed white glasses, clicking her pen in her right hand and blowing a large pink bubble of gum.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer." Amber eyes watch me warily as she shifts in her seat. Her skin is so golden, like cinnamon. I subtly sniff the air. She smells like cinnamon. Kimberly raises an eyebrow at me before beginning to take notes as Mrs. Tucker begins lecturing about Shakespeare's sonnets. I continue studying her.

Kimberly rests her boots against her chair's lowest rung. Black cargo pants set off her baby blue tank top. I watch the rise and fall of her chest as she breathes. Her head snaps up, looking me dead in the eye. "I'll punch your face in if you don't stop staring at my chest." She whispers sharply. Behind us, Paul snickers, earning a hard glare from her. I hastily look down.

"Sorry." I mutter.

"Yeah right. You freakin pervert." Kimberly turns her back to me, skimming her notes to find her place. I can't help but watch her. I want to touch her hair, hold her body against me. I suddenly wanted her back in her wedding dress and walking towards me. On our wedding day.

Wedding?

I shake my head. Why do I suddenly want to marry Kimberly Connweller?

WTF!?!


I'm pretty proud of this chapter! Review my lovely reviewers and tell me what you think!! :D