Days went by since my birthday.

Not knowing what his gift meant, or if it meant anything at all, I tell myself not to get carried away with feelings. An Alpha werewolf is never going to accept a witch as a mate.

After checking the barrier, I return to my room while Nara and Jenny visit the main house.

As soon as I open the door, I see a silhouette on the window and scream.

The culprit jumps to the floor and comes near me. I stand still. Then it circles my legs and rubs its head against me.

"How did you get here?" I say to the black cat near my feet.

He jumps up on my bed, curls up, and closes his eyes, as if it was his bed, not mine.

Not even a purr. That's my cat, alright.

Any cat owner can relate to me when I say we don't own cats, cats own us. It's even more true for my cat.

I found him on the street when I was twelve years old. He doesn't like to be touched. He scratches me if I try to. He also scratches me if I'm late to give his meals.

He has the habit of appearing before me when I'm away from home. Everybody in my school knew I'd a cat because he kept popping up here and there inside the school.

But appearing this far from home? This is the first time.

In the evening, I sit in the living room and my cat decides to take a nap on my lap. That's when a bunch of kids run into the house, spread out and hide.

They're playing hide and seek. Vince is among them. He sits beside me on the couch.

"Shouldn't you be hiding?" I ask him.

"I'm good," he says. "Is that your cat?"

I nod.

"Can I touch it?"

"No. He scratches anyone who tries to touch him. I'll bring him to you when he's in a better mood."

"Okay," he says. "So... I was thinking... Would you like to see The Yedi movie?"

"Sure. When do you want to go?"

"Tomorrow."

"Will tomorrow evening be fine? Jenny has plans in the morning."

Vince bites his lips and says, "I want it to be just us two. It's a date."

My eyebrows raise. A date? He's asking girls out on dates at this age? Worse, am I the first person he's asking out?

I mull over it for a couple of seconds and say, "Sure. It's not a date. But it can be just us two."

He grins. At that moment a young girl enters the house and catches him. The girl is a savage: within thirty seconds she catches everyone hiding in the house.

Once everyone's caught, they leave.

I hear footsteps coming back in. I turn around and it's Vince again. "Oh, and dinner, too," he says.

"Sure," I tell him and he runs back out.

I never thought one day I might worry about something like this but I'm worried now – that a kid might want to pay for a movie ticket and a meal for me tomorrow. I'll have to make sure he doesn't do anything like that.

I hear him coming in again. "Vince, we're going to the movie and the dinner. What else you want to do?" I ask him turning around and realize, to my horror, it was not Vince who had come in.

"Alpha," I say as I stand up quickly while securely wrapping and picking up my cat with me. He's still asleep in my arms.

Leon looks at the cat.

"He's mine. He ran away from home," I tell Leon before he decides to kick my cat out or something. Do werewolves even like cats?

"All the way to over here?" he asks.

"He's stubborn," I say. The cat wakes up. He sees Leon and gets agitated. That's never a good sign.

He jumps over to the edge of the couch, faces Leon and crouches, ready to pounce.

"Leo! Don't," I shout at the cat but it's too late. The cat takes its claws over to Leon's face. Although Leon swiftly moves away from the cat, avoiding his eyes getting scratched, he ends up with a claw mark on his face.

But the scratch is gone as fast as it was made, taking me by surprise.

The cat lands on the kitchen counter nearby and then leaves the room.

Too stunned by what happened, I start to put together the words to say to Leon. "I-I am so sorry. He's not very friendly. I am really sorry."

"It's okay," Leon says. In the meantime, I can't take my eyes off of his cheek where the cat scratched. I'm beginning to doubt if the cat even touched him at all.

Leon moves closer. I get nervous but stay put. "He's called Leo?" he asks with a hint of a smile.

I blush. I'd accidentally used the cat's name. I avoid calling my cat by its name when people are around so I won't get caught for christening my cat after my mate.

I look away and he moves even closer. "Why did you name him that?"

I think for a second. "H-He liked that name."

"Do you like that name, too?" he says, now leaning into me.

"Yes," I whisper.

"Good. If you like that name so much, stop going on dates with others."

I look back at him. There's a sense of playfulness in his eyes, mixed with seriousness. I don't know how to interpret what he just said.

I take a step back and stumble. In the blink of an eye his arm coils around my waist, and with the same speed, he pulls me into him, tight against his chest.

While my heartbeat shoots up, he brings his lips near my ear. "Don't go promising anyone you'll be their mate when you're mine. Young boys don't take heartbreaks well. And neither do I."

He shifts an inch closer and his lips brush against my ear.

Then he abruptly backs off. He walks out the door just when Nara and Jenny enter.

"What happened? Why was he here?" Nara asks me.

I am too shaken to give her a reply. What did happen?