Chapter 41 Ruler
Embry's POV
"Hey, Embry." Cathryn greeted me cheerfully, some how managing to open the car door with her foot. Her hands were busy with a big white canvas.
"So you finished it?" I asked, looking at the canvas. This was her fourth art class, she was way due for a finished painting.
"Yep." Cat said cheerfully. I pulled out of the driveway.
"Can I see it?" I asked her.
"Sure." She shoved it towards me. I slowed the car down so I'd be able to look at it with out killing us.
"Its...great its....interesting." And it was good. Much as Ca hated Mr. Godhart, he was a good teacher. Or Cat had talent. The detail was remarkable, the colors perfectly blended. I would know, what with all the photograohy classes. My own much-loathed teacher had made me disect things like this one countless occasions. And the wolf looked exactly like Quil. But there was one thing.... "Okay." I said. "Truth question. Why is the sky...."
"Purple with pink poka dots?" Cathryn looked pleased with herself. I thought it would piss Mr. G off. And I was right."
I didn't bother trying to understand. "So you still hate him?"
Cat nodded ruefully. "But the dog is growing on me. Look, he signed the picture." She pointed to the top of a tree. Sue enough, there was a big paw print pressed into the leaves.
"He stepped on it." Cathryn informed me. "While the paint was still drying. Best part of the whole painting, in my oppinion. And it accents the whole wolf theme nicely."
"Yeah." I responded, still looking at the painting.
"Hey, Embry." Cathryn said after a moment. "I don't feel like being taught to hit things today."
"Is that so?" I inquired, trying not to wonder what insane plan she had figured out.
"Yep. I want you to show me you in your wolf form."
I bit my lip, holding myself back. My immediate instict had been to tell her no. It was way too dangerous. The thought of her ending up like Emily...I couldn't think about it. And I didn't want to scare her away again. Not when she was already almost gone from me, what with the whole Ethan thing. But on the other hand, it wasn't exactly like Cathryn was this delicate flower that would scream and cry and run away when she saw me. She wasn't an idiot, either. She'd keep her distance, and I'd keep my temper. Or throw myself under a truck after loosing it. And this was something she needed to see. If we ended up together-and we would end up together, I didn't care if I had to kill Ethan to make it happen-then she would eventually see me as a wolf. If was unavoidable. It was better for it to hapen now, controlled and planned, then later. I took a deep breath. "Fine. But stay away from me, all right? I don't want to hurt you."
"Pshh," Cat waved a hand dismissavely. "You won't hurt me."
Right. I wouldn't hurt her. Ever.
But if that was true, then why did I feel so scared once I'd taken her to my house and phased in the backyard? Or rather, the woods behind the backyard. Cat hovered around the edge of them, waiting. I could hear her heartbeat. It thumped steadily. I concentrated on the rythm, trying to calm down. She wasn't afraid. And it wasn't like I was going to lash out and attack her or anything. I even had Jacob-Quil was at work- spying on us from the window. You know, just in case. There was nothing to freak out about.
So, after a few seconds of analizing Cat's heart and trying to calm my own racing one, I walked back towards the house. Or at least, I started to.
"There you are!" Cat xclaimed, appearing in front of me. "I didn't know shifting could take so long." She tilted her head, staring at me. After a moment, she sighed in defeat. "So it was him." She muttered under her breath. I didn't ask what she meant. She had said it softly, under her breath, and I wasn't supposed to have heard it. Asking would have been an invasion of privacy.
Okay, fine. Mostly I didn't ask because I couldn't talk.
"You," She said, "Are HUGE. Bigger than Quil looked." I rolled my eyes. Of course she sounded impressed rather than frightened. "You know, In the picture." She continued. "But, you know, I think you're probably bigger than the real life Quil, too. I mean, you guys couldn't get too much bigger, right?"
Right. I was, out of the twenty-ish werewolves in both packs, only smaller than Jacob. Sam and I were neck-and-neck. Usually, that kind of pleased me. I was stronger, faster than a lot of them. Now though, it seemed like a fault instead of an asset. If I was, say, Drew's size, O wouldn't be as big of a threat to her. Not that Cathryn seemed to realize this. Her pulse remained totally even as she took a step closer and reached out her hand, hesitantly running her hands through my fur. "Wow," She said softly. "This is...weird."
I barked out a laugh. She had no idea.
After a second, I chilled out a little, nuzzling her neck. Cathryn laughed and batted me away. I ignored her. It felt good, too good, to be able to touch her without pretending that it was all casual. Without having to hide how much I loved it. I licked her face.
"Oh my God!" She shreiked, jumping back, still laughing. "Disgusting!"
I laughed again. Okay, so fine. This wasn't so bad.