12: It’s called embarrassment, my dear.

-Cascade Hill High, Cafeteria-

"Kat~ come on this is important!" Alex whined between chews.

The trio was seated at their usual spot in the lunch room. Katherine pointedly ignored Alex as she was looking through one of her books while Kristen was sneering at Alex's horrid table manners.

"World hunger is important, the cure for cancer is important, helping you choose between going as a zombie or a vampire is not important." Katherine replied dryly, not even pausing in her work.

Alex, however, continued to whine at her. Kristen chuckled to herself however someone caught the corner of her eye. Kyle was seated by himself a few tables over, eating his lunch rather absently and mindlessly. He seemed to be really focused on the box he was reading.

"So are you gonna ask him?"

Kristen snapped back to her own table, obviously a bit surprised at Alex's question.

"Ask who what?"

"Oh come on Kris, that is the third time this week I've seen you looking for him." Alex said taking a bite of his food.

"Well I'm worried, Sam's been extra douchey as of late to him." Kristen said with a frown, throwing a glare in the direction of Sam's table.

"Well, It is getting close to the big game vs Mountain Oak Academy. And you know our two schools are big rivals for Nationals this year."

"Still doesn't mean Sam is allowed to ruin everyone's day." Alex said with a sneer, stabbing into his food.

"Yes well, you must also remember that in the world of Sam, his ego is more important than people." Katherine said with a smirk.

Alex merely rolled his eyes and turned back to Kristen.

"Anyway, what I meant was are you going to ask him to go to the Halloween party tomorrow?"

"W-what? Why would I?" Kristen said a bit flustered at the idea.

"Well considering he looks at you like you hung the moon in the sky most times and ever since I mentioned that he like-likes you, you've been looking out for him like a mother hen, I just thought-" Alex teases with an impish smile.

"I have not! I'm just worried alright?! No one, not even the teachers seems to care about him." Kristen stutters a bit, giving Alex a glare.

"Well, you know what his family history is. Everyone is terrified of his father." Alex said, shifting a bit uncomfortably.

It was rather sad common knowledge of the history of Kyle Reynolds's family. Rumor has it that his father abused his mother and him. After a while, his mother committed suicide leaving Kyle alone with his father. No one truly knows if this was true since it was never reported but it was apparent in the way his mother and father interacted in public. The father was a brute of a man with a very nasty anger issue while the mother was a sweet woman who never complained even though it was obvious as day what was happening. Ever since her death, Kyle became more of a shell of a person, barely talking and never making friends.

"Either way, I-I don't know. It's not like we really talked ever before…" Kristen sort of mumbles.

"Well I mean if you're scared it's okay.." Alex said with a shrug.

Kristen's head snaps up to him with a glare.

"I'm not scared!"

"Look Kris all I'm saying is that the guy likes you, and I just think you should give him a chance." Alex said with a shrug.

Kristen looked back at him with a small frown, before her attention went back to Kyle who was drawing in one of the numerous drawing pads that he keeps with him. However, as if he felt her eyes on him, he raised his head up. Kristen froze up, her brain stalling at what her reaction should be before she finally gave him an awkward smile and nod. Kyle shyly smiles back and adverts his eyes back to his sketch pad.

Kristen turns back, a faint smile on her face before turning her attention up at feeling a heavy pair of eyes on her. Both Katherine and Alex were staring at her with mixed looks of bemusement and impish glee.

"What?"

"Honestly Kris? We have eyes that clearly saw that." Alex said in a rather dry tone, giving her a look.

"I was just saying hi." Kristen said with an eye roll, brushing him off.

"Kris there's saying hello and saying hello." Alex said wiggling his eyebrows.

"Seriously Alex." She replied with a frown, her nose crinkling at his crude joke.

"I'm just saying you should ask him. Take a risk! What the worst that could happen."

Both Katherine and Kristen looked at him like he had grown another head.

"Okay, okay poor choice in words I know. But you need to talk to him."

Kristen just scoffed and shook her head.

"Orrr I will."

Her head snaps back up, her gaze burning a hole in him.

"Are you threatening me, Alex?!" Kristen hissed at him.

"It's called tough love, Kris!"

The two glare each other down for a few minutes. Katherine shakes her head at them as she shuts her Ap biology book with a thud. Alex's eyes suddenly wandered away and widened.

"Aw crap."

Katherine and Kristen both followed his gaze to see Sam and his goons at Kyle's table looming over him. And before Alex could stop her, Kristen already was on her way over with a vengeance. Sam had roughly grabbed Kyle's sketchbook away, jeering at him with an ugly grin. Kristen quickly grabbed it back.

"Honestly Sammy thought you would have learned by now. Guess you really are as dumb as you look." Kristen sneered, a faint smirk on her face.

Sam turns to her clearly very much put off by her presence.

"You must really like him huh? It's cute honestly." Sam said.

It was suddenly like a bucket of cold water had been dumped on her at how quickly the cold drained from her face.

"Wh-wha"

"I mean it only makes sense that you would, you know given how quickly you run to his side. Like a well-trained guard dog to its master." Sam said, raising his voice a bit to get the attention of the rest of the cafe.

A sudden hush fell as everyone turned to watch what was going on. The look in Kristen's eyes could start a small fire at its intensity and ferocity.

"Leave him alone. I'm not going to ask again."

Sam just laughs and shakes his head.

"Fine no problem, I'll leave you two love birds alone. Although you might want to check that pad you're holding. " Sam responded, whispering the last bit if his sentence to Kristen. "A bit stalkerish if ya ask me."

Kristen just glared as Sam walked away, his two friends following close behind, snickering mockingly. The whispers around the cafe were insistent and scandalous. Kristen could feel all the eyes on her as she turned back to Kyle with a small smile, holding out his sketchpad. Kyle seemed lost between looking at her and the book, not sure what to do before finally taking the pad from her.

"T-thank you.." He mumbled.

"No problem." She responded with a smile.

She stood there a bit awkwardly, not sure what to say before he suddenly spoke.

"I- its not just you, I draw alot of things…" He sort of mumbles, eyes averting shyly.

Kristen looks at him a bit confused before thinking back to what Sam said.

"Can.. Can I see?" She asked a bit timid, not sure it would be too imposing.

He seemed to contemplate his decision for a bit before sighing. He then nodded and moved over a bit more so she could sit down, passing his sketch pad over. She sat, opened the pad, and immediately was greeted with a wide variety of sketches from animals, landscapes, and a few people until she arrived at a page which was filled with pictures of…

"Me.." Kristen mumbled.

They were unlike any of the other people that he drew. They were beautiful, a word she never really associated with herself. Practical, loyal but never.. beautiful. Her face lit up with a blush as she looked over the pictures of herself, Alex was right. Kyle dedicated a lot of time to drawing her, the details he put in. He didn't just like her.. he…

"I-I'm sorry." He said, his voice practically dripping in embarrassment. His head falls in shame, as his face breaks out in a blush so heavy that even the tips of his ears are a bit flushed.

She couldn't speak at first as she flipped through. She soon arrived at the most last picture which was basically a full body of her laughing. It was even colored, which made it seem more alive.

"These are beautiful Kyle." She said with a smile, closing the sketchpad.

Kyle returned her gaze however it was obvious from his face he was waiting for the other shoe to drop. So she turned completely to him, her eyes never leaving his. Kyle turns away thinking, she was gonna yell at him.

"Do you want to go with me to the upcoming Halloween party?" She said loudly, loud enough that it could be heard at Sam's table.

Sam's head snapped up and the rest of his gang turned their attention to

"I'm sorry I know that- wait what?" He turned back quickly, eyes wide.

"I said do you want to go with me to the upcoming Halloween party?" She repeated.

His mouth dropped open for a while but no words came out. After a few seconds of gaping like a fish, he finally replied.

"YES!" He slightly yelled, a bit over-excited, face still red with blush.

"Great!" She said, her smile stretching wider. "I'll talk to you later okay?"

She then stood from the table and walked back over, throwing Sam a smug smirk. The look on Sam's face could curl wallpaper with its intensity. However, her calm and cool facade lasted all until she was seated back with her friends and then her face instantly burned with embarrassment as she slumped down onto the table.

"That my dear Kat is how you be a badass." Alex said dramatically waving his hands in Kristen's direction.

"My face is burning." Kristen mumbles miserably.

"It's called embarrassment, my dear." Alex said with a smirk.

"Ugh.."

"Now you know how I felt." Katherine said, a tad bit bitter.

And lunch continued onward, now with the whispers of Kristen's declaration in the air. However, beyond that, no one was stupid enough to go to her about so the day passed on as normal.

—-<>—-

Katherine lets out her second deep sigh since getting to Nathan's house, then she suddenly flicks her wrist. Her hand is upturned and her fingers outspread, however, frowns when nothing else happens.

"This is a lot harder than I originally thought it would be." She muttered as she turned her head to Eric who was sitting across from her.

Eric's hand was in a similar position as her own however instead of regular nails, there were claws. Nathan and Rose were watching on the side with varying degrees of interest. Katherine tried again however nothing, her face growing more and more frustrated with each failed attempt.

"You'll never get it if you continue to try and force it." Eric said.

"You think I don't know that?" Katherine sneers, anger boiling in her throat.

"Kat, slow down." Nathan said cautiously as he noticed something was a bit off.

Katherine ignored him as she continued to try, each attempt getting more and more forceful.

"Katherine, sto-." Nathan tried again.

"Shut up, I can do it." Katherine hissed, cutting him off.

"No need to be a bitch about it." Rose said.

Katherine ignored her, her other hand clenching on the table. It was quite obvious by this point that something was wrong, and judging by the look on Eric's face he had a good idea as to what it was.

"Katherine."

"I can do it!" She practically yells.

"Stop."

That single utter word stops Katherine in her tracks. Her body breaks out in goosebumps as the tension in her body is forcibly expelled. It felt wrong and intrusive like someone else was controlling her body and there was nothing she could do about it. It was at the moment she realized how ragged her breathing was and her head dipped down as she took in deep breaths.

"W-What the hell.. was that?" She said between breaths.

"That is another bit of werewolf knowledge for you." Eric said as he leaned back in his chair.

"Being prone to literally random bursts of anger?" She said looking back at Eric.

"You weren't angry well not that the start, you were anxious." Rose said, giving her a look.

"Correct." Eric agreed.

"Anxious about what?"

"You tell us.."

"I don't-" Katherine started however stopped as she really thought about her current state.

"..Yesterday, I felt… wrong. It wasn't like an upset stomach or a headache but a gut feeling that something really, really bad was gonna happen." She finished, looking around the table.

"It's called Instinct."

"What? Like a sixth sense." She responds, half-joking.

"Something like that yeah. We are bestial creatures by nature so we can sense things that humans wouldn't. A heightened sense of danger, like if a big storm is coming or if there is going to be heavy rainfall." Eric explains.

"Oh thank god so I'm probably just sensing a storm or something like that right?" Kristen said, relief in her voice.

"No, usually if a storm or something like that we smell it in the air. What you are sense is nothing of nature, something is coming, something of the supernatural variety."

"Great…Wait can you guys not feel what I'm feeling?"

"It not that Katherine, we definitely also sense it. However you are still very new to your senses, kind of like a blind man suddenly having the ability to see again." Nathan corrected.

"I'm over-sensitized?"

"More or less yeah, it will die down sooner than later. But for the moment all your senses are on high alert to make sure you don't die."

"Fight or flight.." Katherine mumbled.

Nathan nodded.

"Ugh, I hate this. My emotions are all over the place, I sense impending doom and I can't even get my stupid hand to transform." Katherine said a bit defeated.

"Don't put yourself down so hard, runt. You are developing faster than you believe." Eric said as he nodded to her other hand.

She turned the hand that was clenched on the table over and low and behold, her nails were finely tuned claws. She smiled as she looked back at Eric who returned her smile only for a second before standing up.

"Alright, that's enough for today. You should go home and get some rest. Relax and have fun this weekend." Eric said before walking off.

"…So forgive me if I'm wrong but Eric seems almost… tolerable of me now?" Katherine said, confused as she looked to Rose and Nathan for answers.

Rose just gave her brother a look before getting up and walking up the stairs.

"That… had mostly to do with me."

"I don't understand?"

"Well you know Eric is our Alpha, which means he is more or less the boss of us."

"Tragic but go on."

"The title of Alpha isn't something to mess around with. What ..I did was something that could have made me a rouge."

"What?!" Katherine yelled, her attention now fully peaked.

"You can't just go around making new werewolves Kat. You need to have permission, that how the pack dynamic goes. Those of lower rank must make sure beforehand to get authorization, otherwise it's just chaos."

"But you saved my life." Katherine protested.

"Yes, but at what cost? I could have saved your life only to damn you to becoming feral and going on a killing spree." Nathan said.

"Oh.."

"And not only that, if a werewolf changes a human without authorization from their Alpha that is going against direct orders and basically equals you challenge an Alpha for his title."

"Oh shit!"

"And to make matters worse, the hunters found out about you so yeah, I was in deep shit. Fortunately, it was you otherwise, Eric probably would have had no choice but to strip me of rank maybe even exile me."

"Oh God."

"Yeah, so thank god nothing bad happened."

"I- I didn't think it was so serious."

"To you maybe but this town has very strict rules on how the supernaturals can interact with humans."

"About that actually, I just was wondering a few things. Kris mentions that there were a lot of supernatural creatures a while back but it suddenly just stopped?"

"Well not stop fully, there were a few small things here and there but for the most part yes. The most recent incident is the biggest that happens in about 10 maybe 12 or so years?"

"Do you ever wonder why?" Katherine inquires, curiosity eating away at her.

"Sometimes but it better this way. Things are nice and quiet and that is the way it will stay."

"Yeah, I guess so." Katherine muttered.

"Hey don't worry so much, whatever you're feeling we'll deal with it, together." Nathan said, placing a reassuring hand over hers.

"Yeah, you're right." Kristen replied with a smile.

"Come on let get you home. We have a party tomorrow" Nathan said, trying to make her feel a bit better with a topic change.

It works as she then spirals in a long-winded conversation about what each other would be dressed as. Time quickly passed as he dropped her home and as she lay in her bed, the feeling just wouldn't stop. It wasn't like before however, it was worse.

Something was coming, and it wasn't good. She tossed and turned in her bed as she tried to get comfortable but nothing seemed to work. Katherine then recalled Nathan's words and smiled.

"Together Kat, everything going to be fine." She said to herself.

With that final thought she turned over once more, finally getting comfortable, and drifted off to sleep.