"Promises are like the full moon, if they are not kept at once they diminish day by day."

-German Proverb

Catia's POV

After school, we all met in the parking lot. "I'm driving!" Giselle yelled, raising her hand. Franco groaned, "Said it first, bitch!" she grinned coyly. "I'm older, Gis." Franco reminded her, snatching the keys from her hands.

"Sexist pig." She muttered, getting in the seat next to him. "This school is full of idiots." Lisa proclaimed, setting her stuff down next to her as Franco started the car, "I was rudely pushed to the ground by some beefy man, then a teacher rudely scolded me for being late to her class. How the hell am I s'posed to know where her freakin' class is?" she ended her complaint with a tug of her short hair.

"Where's Teival?" I asked. "Oh," sniffed Giselle, "He thinks he's soo special just because he has his own parking lot in the teacher's area, so he's running home." "We should race him." I grinned evilly.

Franco hit the gas. "If we get stopped by some cop, it's your fault, Cat." Lisa said grumpily, crossing her arms.

Teival got there before us, having had already changed into his casual attire of dark dressing shirt, with black pants and shoes. "How was school?" he asked, setting Linda's hair into pigtails. "Hi!" she beamed at us. "It was ok, it could be worse." Franco said, hanging his coat before going over and snatching Linda off Teival's lap. "It will be worse," Teival said indifferently. "What makes you say that, Mr. Optimist?" Giselle demanded, placing a hand on her hip.

"Principal told me about your teachers. They will be hard on you, especially the first semester and especially to new students." He looked at us pointedly. "Well, isn't that wonderful?" Lisa smiled sarcastically, "Makes me feel all cozy inside. I'm taking a shower. I still have that school smell." She shuddered before running upstairs.

"How was your day, predileto?"(Favorite) I asked Ramses as he climbed unto my lap. "It was good, our teacher is nice…to Linda." He grumbled. "Because Ramses kept on talking!" Linda exclaimed, pointing at him, "So I'm her favorite." She grinned angelically.

We were interrupted by the ringing of Teival's phone, "Excuse me a minute." He murmured, going to the kitchen.

"Did you make any friends, teyze?" (Aunt) asked Ramses, changing the subject.

"Yep, made some nice friends named Kimberly Walker and Alex Bruno."I stated. "Catia," Teival murmured, "Kitchen. Now."

"Geez, ok, I'm going, I'm going." I rolled my eyes, "Be right back, sobrinhos!" (Nephews) I called after giving them a kiss on their small foreheads.

"Full moon's three days away, Catia," Teival murmured lowly, not wanting the kids to hear, "Amadora called, she's warning us to be careful. Jimena called Claudine and Josias, they will watch over Linda and Ramses for us. We will travel to the mountains in Forks. MichaelAngelo found an area of caves there for us. We'll leave on Wednesday."

Claudine and Josias weren't werecats. They were shifters, like the Wolf Warriors, but they shifted into enormous grizzly bears. They were more nature-lovers than fighters, their kind never creating any conflict with other creatures.

Linda and Ramses knew of our nature. They hadn't phased yet, but if they were to be exposed to werewolves or werecats in the nearing days of full moon was enough to trigger their Cat genes and make them phase early. Phasing at an early age was painful.

I nodded, gulping. Teival squeezed my shoulder gently, "In all our years of being whom we are, nothing terrible has happened." "Recently." I added softly. "Recently." Teival agreed darkly before joining his children in the living room.

We all have a history of murdering in our Cat forms. It's an uncontrollable urge. It's like in the werewolf movies, we go crazy, we don't remember much, we're not in control.

"I'm off to work, Cat! Wish me luck!" I jumped as Cristian adjusted his formal black sweater and tie. "How was school?" he asked, combing his hair in the kitchen mirror. "T'was good, but please do your hair some place else. I do not want your hairs to fall in the kitchen." I snapped before going to my room.

"I would have appreciated some enthusiasm and support, Catia!" he yelled after me. "Sorry, grandão," (Big guy) I murmured from my room, knowing he would hear me, "Full moon is three days away." I heard him pause, "We're leaving Wednesday to some cave area in Forks." "Guess I better pack when I get back." He shrugged before saying, "Hey that rhymes!" "Quit talking to yourself, tio!" (Uncle) I heard Linda call to him.

I sighed, rolling my eyes.

Out of all of us, Cristian was the only optimistic one about our nature. He changed to be with Maria and me. We met in the streets of Portugal; Maria and I had run away from my parents house after being bitten, so we roamed the streets aimlessly, having no clue on what to do. He took us in, cared and fed us behind his father's back. He was bit by Maria, he got in our way on purpose during our phase just to be bitten.

Maria and I are still kind of mad at him, but we're glad he's stuck with us.

I stepped into the shower, wanting to relax as much as I could. "Cat!" I heard Zeirus knock on the door, "You in there?" "No, I'm a thief, just stepping into the shower." I snapped, scowling as the shampoo got into my eyes, "Of course it's me, Zeirus, what do you want?" I snapped.

"Full moon's on Thursday?" he asked. "Yep, check the calendar!" I yelled over the water.

Thanks to Zeirus being in my room, I stepped out of the shower sooner than I wanted. I changed into sweats and a T-shirt and put my hair up into a bun. "Hope you didn't snoop through my things." I muttered, merely glancing at him as I hung my towel.

He grinned toothily, before sobering up and saying, "Are you nervous?" I shrugged, concealing my anxiety. He stood up and walked towards me, "Everything will be fine. Jose and MichaelAngelo do their best to keep our nature concealed from the world. These past 4 centuries have been peaceful for our kind, Catia." He patted my cheek comfortingly, "Everything will be fine."

I nodded grudgingly. He was right. Since the 17th century, our kind was thought to have been extinct. Some powerful vampire coven "wiped" us out. But they were misled.

"Ramses and Linda have shown no signs of phasing anytime soon, they'll be ok too." He said more to himself than to me. I nodded again, frowning. "I'm gonna take a nap, Zeirus, get out or sing me a lullaby." I yawned, jumping into my bed. He rolled her eyes but tucked me in before humming a melody. My eyes were beginning to close almost immediately.

I opened my eyes, feeling cold. I could barely breathe. I was in the forest, the place where I most felt safe and happy, but something was wrong. I was hungry.

The clouds covered the sun, thunder cracked across the sky. Hearing the pounding of a heart, and the thudding sound of footsteps, I ran after it. I felt my teeth sharpen; my claws take place of my human nails, my legs stretch into the slim powerful legs of a Cat, my pupils turn into Cat slits as my eyes turned a gold-red color.

I ran on all fours, panting in anticipation as I neared the victim. I could hear its heart pounding in fear.

I stopped in a trail, sniffing the air. There were nine of them. I hissed in glee, climbing a tree swiftly as they neared. Three of them turned into humans. I clenched my clawed hands around the tree trunk in impatience, wanting to attack but knowing it wasn't the moment.

Two of them seemed familiar; one of them had deep dark eyes, I felt reluctant to attack him but I was hungry.

The wolves around them scanned the forest, knowing it was unsafe but weren't able to see anything. I crouched, releasing the branch from my hands, preparing to pounce. Then suddenly, the man with deep dark eyes looked into mine. "Catia."

"Catia!" I opened my eyes, momentarily confused of where I was. "We'll be late for school!" Franco pulled the covers off me, flipping my mattress over, causing me to fall to the floor with a loud thud! He ran out of the room immediately, combing his brown hair.

"Sexist!" I yelled weakly after him before getting ready. I dressed nicely this time, wearing a black Dior T-shirt with khaki biker skinny jeans and black biker heeled boots. When I came downstairs, Franco glanced at my outfit before saying, "How nice of you to think of him, Cat." I growled at him, munching off croissant, "Think of who?" Amadora asked curiously, getting a batch of croissants out of the oven. "Oh yes, do tell." Maria chirped, placing her chin on my shoulder, blinking innocently. "No one." I mumbled, shrugging her off.

She pouted, "Grosseiro." (Rude) "Yeah right, Cat," Franco barked a laugh before telling them, "There's some guy she met, named Paul something." "Paul Meraz." I corrected, instantly wishing I hadn't. "And is this Paul Meraz handsome?" Maria asked, raising a dark brow. "Kind of." I muttered. He. Is. Fine.

"Uh-huh, 'kind of'." Giselle looked at me knowingly. "Aren't we going to be late?" I asked, impatient to rid myself of their stares. "Ok, prendre soin!" (Take care) Amadora called after us, "Oh and Cat," she waved me over, her eyes sparkling excitedly, "Don't be scared, petite fille. Be strong. He would've wanted this."

I nodded, swallowing, knowing she was referring to Ixia. "Thanks, Ama, bye." "Au revoir!"

"About time." Teival muttered as soon as I entered the car. "Excuse me, Mr. Ferreira, not all of us can be as punctual as you." I shot back. "You, uh," Giselle motioned to his collar, "Have a little something there, Mr. Ferreira." Teival smoothly wiped Maria's lipstick stain off, an impassive expression on his face.

"Wouldn't want the rest of the teachers to know what you do every morning." Giselle coughed awkwardly. Teival simply looked at her before starting the car.

"Love will find a way through paths where wolves fear to prey."

-Lord Byron

Paul's POV

I arrived home at dawn, having had been out all day after school, chasing a scent around the forest with Jake, Sam, and Jared. "They all lead to her house, Paul!" Sam pressed. "Well what is she then?" I demanded, knowing he had no answer. "We'll find out soon enough. I've asked Billy but none of these things sound familiar to him. If we observe them closely, we might be able to find something to help deepen the search of their nature."

I stared at him, "She's my imprint, Sam. I have to protect her, I can't help it. And if she is a member of some weird species we haven't heard of, I'll have to work something out. I can't destroy her." Sam nodded his enormous wolf head, understanding completely, "It's against our rules to attack a pack member's imprint." Jared agreed.

I shook my head, clearing the conversation out of my head as I tugged a black shirt on, "Paul, honey?" My mom knocked softly before opening the door a crack, "Good morning, breakfast's ready." "'Kay, I'll be down in a minute." I told her, combing my hair. She grinned broadly, her young face looking tired but happy, "I'll drive you to school today, son." She smiled before going downstairs.

I went downstairs, the sweet aroma of pancakes and cinnamon rolls hitting my nose, "Smells good!" I yelled happily, giving her a kiss on her cheek before stuffing my mouth with cinnamon rolls. She laughed, "Glad you like it, I remember you loved these as a kid." She said fondly.

"Did you guys catch anything last night?" she asked. "No," I swallowed, "The scents lead nowhere." "Hope you figure out what it is soon, don't want you getting hurt." she frowned.

"I'll survive, mom, like I always do." I rolled my eyes. She simply grinned at me. "Why are you so happy today, mom?" I asked puzzled. "Oh well, you know," she grinned toothily this time, "Just chatted with Sue Clearwater yesterday…" I groaned, knowing Seth opened his big mouth and told his mom, "I'm happy for you, Paul!" she insisted, taking my hand into her small one.

"What's her name?" she asked, looking up at me. "Catia Ferreira." I answered, defeated. "She belongs to that new family doesn't she? I've met her adopted mother, Amadora, she's very nice. Is she pretty?" She asked. "I guess…" I mumbled. "Have you talked to her yet?" she asked eagerly.

"I have her in my first period class, mom." I smiled my mother's happiness spreading to me like an infection. "Now, I have to go now, I'll be late." "I'm driving you, Paul, I can still interrogate you in the car." She laughed, putting her coat on as I opened the door for her.

And she did, but she didn't receive many answers, "You'll talk to her today?" "I don't want to ignore my imprint." I chuckled.
She looked at me seriously before asking, "Will you tell her?" I knew immediately what she was referring to, "I'll have to…although I don't really want to." I muttered. "Be proud of your nature," she said softly, her eyes scanning the road, "I'm proud of you." The rest of the drive was in a comfortable silence.

"I'll see you later, mom." I said, as she squeezed my shoulder. "Bye!" she waved to me as I walked into the school.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Franco coming towards me, I turned. "You're Paul Marez?" "Meraz." I corrected him. "Yeah, yeah. I'm Franco Ferreira, it's nice to meet you." He extended his hand for me to shake. He had that scent on him.

"How do you know me?" I asked. He nodded towards someone behind me. I turned and saw Catia talking to Kim, they were leaning against the lockers. She looked hot.

"Don't drool, girls find that unattractive." Franco chuckled humorlessly, his eyes glinting frostily, "You have her first period?" I nodded, tearing my eyes away from Catia. "Look, it's nice to meet you, but I don't really see the point of this conversation." I said, wanting to talk to Catia.

Franco's pupils narrowed his features slightly sharper; he leaned in and hissed, "Just by seeing the way you look at her, I know what you feel towards her. I'm warning you to be careful, Paul Meraz, just one wrong move and-" "Franco!" Catia called, coming towards us. Franco's features immediately straightened back to normal, I blinked. As if though nothing happened, "Hey yourself!" he grinned at her, before looking back at me, and saying, "If anything happens between you two, just be careful…please."

"Hey Paul," she grinned slightly, her brown eyes shining, before turning to Franco, "We need to talk." She said the last bit with a pointed look, his widened in realization before nodding and saying, "Nice talking with you, Paul Meraz." "See you in class, Paul Meraz." Catia nodded absent-mindedly, tugging Franco away.

I watched them walk away; I jumped when Kim said, "So. What did your mom say?" "She's happy." "Does she know that the scents lead to their house?" I snapped my head towards her, "Jared told you." I stated rather than asked. She nodded, "She just doesn't seem like the type…" she murmured uncomfortably.

"Well we're not sure, yet, Kim." I said, trying to put her at ease, "None of the attacked bodies have their scent…except for the animals." I muttered the last part to myself.

"Are you gonna tell her about…?" she let her voice trail off questioningly. I sighed, "I guess I'll have to." "Stealing my woman, Paul?" Jared asked jokingly, putting his arm around Kim. "I couldn't even if I wanted to." I mumbled grumpily, walking off.

"Hey Paul Meraz." Catia greeted me as I put my stuff down. I smirked, putting my charm on, "Hey, Cat." Her face darkened, "Don't call me that." She hissed menacingly, before sighing and softly saying, "Just don't call me that, please." "Okay…"

"Okay class! Eyes up here, everyone!" I groaned as the teacher began the lessons.

I noticed Catia looking around in worry, her eyes widening as she looked around. "What are you looking for?" I mouthed to her. She pointed to the empty seat next to her, frowning in concern; I shrugged, feeling slightly jealous of Alexander Bruno.

I looked around, glancing at Brenda, the blonde girl next to me before gathering my stuff and sitting next to Catia.

She glanced at me, confused.

I simply winked at her causing her to look down furiously, blushing.

Well, at least I do have an effect on you, Catia. I smirked.