During Caterina's travels, using her gift came as a rare occasion. Humans, by nature, were weaker than her, thus her gift was basically rendered useless, not that she minded. As confused as the others got whenever she told them, Cat did not like using her gift if it was an option. She kept this reason to herself, seeing as it was nobody else's business, and even Edward was shielded from that place of her mind.

What everyone could see, however, was how physically painful using other's gifts was. Using Kate's electricity burned her fingers and Caterina knew that if she were human, they would probably be black. Edward and Alice's gifts gave her actual headaches, even when she attempted to tune them out. Battle training was absolute hell for the blonde, even as long as she'd been doing it. Though, she found that teaching Bella to use her shield was easier as the days went on, but she knew they were quickly running out of time.

The only two people whose thoughts or futures didn't absolutely wreck Caterina's mind were Renesemee, who grew bigger by the day, and Seth, to whom the pull in her chest gravitated so naturally to. Cat spent most of her days with the bronze-haired hybrid, seeing as Seth made her so happy and irritated at the same time, it annoyed her more than anything.

Seth felt tethered to Caterina, as childish as it sounded. He wondered what the spirits thought, and why they were even paired in the first place. Everyone in the tribe had calculated that imprinting was to carry on the wolf gene, though, his imprinting of a vampire confused and frustrated the tribe elders. Sam assured the younger shifter that Caterina needed him as badly as he needed her: that she was in as much pain as he was. Seth felt worried that she would reject the imprint, leaving him heartbroken and alone.

Caterina and Edward heard the gut wrenching thoughts of Seth Clearwater and both wanted to comfort him. Though, only Edward took the initiative to walk to the young shifter and assure him that Cat would never break the imprint, even as annoyed as she seemed. Caterina almost felt pain watching the telepath comfort her mate, knowing that Seth would only truly be happy with the idea of her accepting the fact that they were meant to be.

With Alice and Jasper still gone and Christmas quickly approaching, Caterina and Seth only felt the ache become stronger as they watched the happy couples, whose fears of imminent death and destruction had been set aside for the holiday, snuggle together as if needing warmth. They both watched with disdain as even the loneliest people in the house grew slightly cheerful, even if it was just for Renesemee's sake. Caterina grew sick of the happy thoughts and ran to the top of a random mountain, hoping to find quiet.

She didn't expect to hear the gloomy thoughts of a certain shifter, who she was mindfully avoiding more than anyone else. When he noticed her, his face fell even more, if that was possible. "Oh hey," he turned slightly away, almost awkwardly, "I was just, uh, leaving." Cat didn't need to be a mind reader to know he was lying, his scent was fresh to the area, like he had just arrived slightly before herself.

"Seth," Caterina said gently, "I don't mean to hurt you, it just seems to be something I excel at." The look of sadness which drifted through her crimson eyes did not go unnoticed by the shifter. "If it's any consolation, I would have picked someone much better than myself for you to be permanently attached to," she gave a dry laugh, which went unreciprocated, causing her to cross her pale arms behind her back.

His eyes shifted from the mountain trail to her pale face, "I wouldn't." Seth noticed her confusion and explained, "I don't understand why we were put together, no one does. It's like we knew what to expect from being a shifter: shift, imprint, pass on the gene. But then you came along, with your big red eyes and your long blonde hair and you mess it all up. You're the one inconsistency with this whole thing. And these haven't been a good few years for me, so I just wanted one thing, one thing, to stay the same. I can clearly see that it wasn't you.

"I hated the whole 'imprint' deal, being stuck with someone who I don't get to choose for the rest of my life seemed like a horrible deal. It broke my sister and I didn't want to do that to some poor girl, break her like Leah. I hated the whole thing. Until you looked me in the eye, and all I could see for the rest of my life was you. I already know this won't be easy, you haven't made it easy since you got here! But I would never choose anyone else to be my imprint. You're my life now, Caterina, whether or not you choose to accept it, that's up to you. Just know, I would never choose anyone else." She noticed wavering in his voice as he spoke, and how melancholy his brown eyes seemed when he looked at her.

"Seth, I'm not," she paused, "I'm not who you want." The same somber look passed through his eyes. "If anything, you would probably hate me the minute you found out what I've done, who I've been," Seth braced himself for the rejection as she spoke again, "But if you're truly willing to stay with me, knowing I was on the enemy's side, I certainly don't think you'll be too surprised." A small smile graced his russett face, brightening Caterina's entire world.

As limited as the time was on their journey to know each other, they were both so attached, they were willing to do anything for it.