I own nothing, unfortunately. Thanks for the reviews guys!! :)

A/N: THANK YOU to Nyx-dB for her entry, "The Consequences of a Curious Cat" It's fantastic so far and she definitely deserves your readership and reviews!!

Sam cleared his throat to remind the pair in front of him that he was still in the room, as they sat looking into each other's eyes. Nick had shifted back to his wolf form so Catherine would be more comfortable. Besides, there was something inside him that wanted to change even more than usual because she had. The two looked back over to Sam.

"Well, I've got some business to attend to, so if you two are alright for now, I'll be heading out." He looked specifically at Catherine. "Call me if you need anything, or have any questions, ok? I know you're probably still angry with me, but I'm still your father and whether I meant to or not, I suppose, technically, I did get you into this mess." He finished and headed out the door, thankful for one thing in particular....that Catherine couldn't argue with him when she shifted.

Catherine awoke a while later because her phone was going off. She moved away from Nick, who was asleep as well, stood up and stretched her legs, reluctantly shifting back to answer the call. She didn't even have to look to know...it was definitely Grissom.

"Hey Gil." She answered. "Listen, I know it took longer than I led you to believe earlier, but it took longer than we thought. We did find some stuff out though......what? Like that our suspect has a brother who hated MaryAnn. Why did he hate her?" Catherine laughed nervously. "Well, all I can say is that I can't have the rest of this conversation over the phone......no I'm not in trouble.....I certainly hope not anyway, I just can't talk about this right now. Nick and I will be at the lab in the next 30 minutes.......well it's not my fault you're headed home now. Actually, Nick and I are off now too. We're going to....I'm going to go home, then. We'll pick this up tonight, ok.........ok, I promise." She sighed and hit the end button. Turning around to see Nick still sleeping she also saw new clothes layed out on the couch.....for both of them. Sam must have brought them some new ones since they, uh....ripped there others. Catherine pulled on the jeans and button down shirt, picking up the stuff for Nick and tossing it on top of him. Startled, he jumped up and assumed an attack stance.

"Nicky, it's just me...." She laughed. "I'm just messing with you." He relaxed, changing back and gladly putting on the clothes she'd scared him with.

"That was awful, Cath.....I'm still on edge from earlier." He said, trying to sound frustrated with her, but failing miserably. He just liked her too much for that.

"Yeah, about earlier......I'm sor..." She began.

"It's not your fault, Catherine. If anything, it's my fault for not being man...er....wolf....whatever enough sooner to officially do something about my feelings for you. I just, know how you can be about moving too fast, and then Sam brought up the whole 'mate' thing and you reacted so badly.....I didn't think it was the right moment to do anything about it. Besides, it's not like I have a cheat sheet for being a werewolf. I didn't know it was so easy and simple to......"

"To claim me as yours?" She said, somewhat annoyed sounding, as she inadvertantly reminded herself that she still wasn't completely keen on the idea.

"Catherine, you know it's not like you're my territory or anything like that."

"Do I? I know that Nick, the Nick I've always known wouldn't think that way, but what about Nick the werewolf? We both have all these new.....impulses and thoughts....are you sure that's not it?"

"Catherine, yes I'm sure." Nick escalated, his Texas accent becoming thicker as his voice got louder. "I think I'm in love with you, ok? I've thought I might of been in love with you for a while, too? Sure, I'm the first to admit here, that when Mark showed up, sniffing all over you, that I got possessive. Enough to fight for you.....and it must have got your attention enough to tell Sam that you'd take me as your mate. So, quite frankly, I don't understand what the big deal is."

"The big deal is that I don't belong to anyone...."

"Catherine, that's not how this works. Sure, you belong to me.....but I belong to you just as much." He said softly, putting his arms around her. "Now, is there anything else bothering you?"

She sighed, relaxing into his embrace, silently thankful he was so...just Nick. "Grissom called while you were still asleep."

"And?"

"And I don't see how we can get out of telling him the truth."

Nick thought about it for a moment and knew she was right.

"Could we just make some reason up about Mark hating MaryAnn and possibly having a...." He stopped knowing it would never work. "Well....we could get a warrant for Mark's DNA, show it to Grissom and let him make his own observations and conclusions about what's going on."

"True...but even if Grissom does accept that Mark isn't human, which he'll have to once he sees the genetic evidence, how long will it be before Mark tells Grissom that two of his co-workers had just as much to gain from her death?"

"But we weren't even wolves when she was killed."

"I don't think it'll matter......Grissom will flip if he finds out what we've become. He'll say we're a liability to the lab or something like that. At the very least, he'll know we didn't tell him the truth about everything and have reason to lose faith in us."

"Nah, Gris wouldn't be like that......" Nick thought about it for a moment. "Or maybe he would." He shrugged. "Well, it's too late to go back in now anyway. Why don't we grab some breakfast and worry about it after we're full..."

"As long as we really think about it later.......so what sounds good?" She asked.

"Well....I kind of had an idea." He said fingering her arm lightly.

"Yeah...?"

"You know the area around the lake is pretty wooded...lots of animals."

Catherine grinned, catching on. "Lots of small, helpless animals?"

"Exactly."

"Sounds perfect."

They spent the rest of the morning getting hunting down, all while trying to avoid people and doing a good bit of playful flirting. By the time they were both full, they were also about to drop. Neither had gotten much more than a nap here or there in the past few days and it was really catching up to them now.

Catherine suggested they get some rest and Nick followed her back to her house, where the two of them snuggled up and drifted off for a good eight hours.

Nick slept soundly but she tossed and turned. No sooner had she gone to sleep than she began having the same nightmare she'd had a few days earlier. It was all the same: the forest, the thing behind her, Nick running alongside, falling down, making it to the clearing, Sam....it all actually made far more sense to her now. All except for one thing. One difference.

When she made it to the clearing and saw the team standing there, guns and flashlights in tow, one person was missing this time.

She woke up in a flash, sitting straight up in bed and simultaneously calling out a name.

"Greg!"

PLEASE review. I've only gotten maybe 2 in the past 3 chapters. Anyone still there?