Celeste POV
After Lance left, I sat in the living room and watched the news with my new werecat parents. Lance had only been gone for about twenty minutes, when there was a knock on the front door.
My dad was quick to stand up and answer the door, then a girl around my age walked into our cottage. She had the prettiest blonde hair and the most vibrant violet eyes. When she got closer, I noticed her scent smelled like honeydew and roses.
As soon as she was standing in front of me, she beamed a smile, as she peppily stated, "Hi, Celeste. How are you feeling?"
"I feel fine. Who are you?" I curiously asked, since I had no clue who she was.
The pretty blonde giggled before she enthusiastically chirped, "Celeste, I am your bestfriend. My name is Lynzee Cheyenne. Remember?"
"I'm sorry, but I don't remember," I timidly responded, as I glanced down at my lap.
Lynzee plopped down beside me, then she draped an arm over my shoulder and encouragingly stated, "It's okay, Celeste. The memories will come back eventually, and if they don't, we will just have to make a whole bunch of new memories."
I liked how positive she was being, and there was no stopping the smile that spread across my face. I glanced over at her and sheepishly asked, "How long have we been friends?"
"Our whole lives," she proudly stated with a wide smile.
"Would you mind telling me the more important things that have happened?" I curiously asked.
"I would love, too," she cheerfully exclaimed.
I stood up and happily stated, "Let's go to my bedroom, so we aren't bothering my parents."
Lynzee was quick to stand up and follow me to my bedroom, then we talked for a few hours about the different things we had done together. It was obvious Lynzee and Celeste were close friends growing up, and I hoped that she would remain one of my closest friends. I liked her bubbly personality.
We stayed up most of the night, then we crashed around three in the morning. Again, I only slept for a few hours, then I woke up full of energy and ready to explore the Midnight Pack's territory. I stretched out my limbs and enjoyed it just as much as the last few times.
Lynzee was still asleep, so I made my way to the bathroom across the hall and took a quick shower. I felt gross after not taking a shower yesterday, and I noticed I was scrubbing my skin harder than usual. I knew I was doing that because I was a werecat, but I still found it a little odd.
When I was done with my shower, I wrapped a towel around my body, then I walked back to my bedroom. I looked through the clothes that were hanging in the closet, and I immediately noticed almost every piece of clothing was either purple or white. After a few minutes of looking, I settled on a dark purple sundress, that had pretty, shiny beads lining the top and waist of it.
Once I was dressed, I carried my towel back to the bathroom and hung it up to dry, then I brushed the tangles out of my long, burgundy hair. Even in it's wet state, I could still see the streaks of neon orange, and I loved how pretty it was.
When I was a werewolf, the other pups used to tease me about my hair being white. They would insinuate that I was an old werewolf, or that I was close to dying, because my hair was so white and thin.
As soon as I was done brushing the tangles out of my long hair, I walked back to my bedroom. Lynzee was leisurely stretching out her limbs, and I could tell she had just awakened. When she was done stretching, she flashed me a smile and groggily asked, "How did you sleep?"
"Good. You?" I immediately replied, while returning the smile.
"Great," she peppily remarked, as she climbed off the bed.
"Are you hungry?" I curiously asked, since my stomach was already rumbling for food.
"Always," she replied with a little giggle.
We walked to the kitchen together, then we made cinnamon toast and ate it with a handful of grapes. We washed our food down with some orange juice, then we cleaned up our mess.
After we were done in the kitchen, we went outside and waited for Lance to join us. I was glad when we didn't have to wait long. Lance appeared in our sights after being outside for just over ten minutes. As soon as he reached us, he looked straight at Lynzee and mumbled, "Thanks for letting me know I didn't need to stop by your house."
"My bad," was all Lynzee said in response, as she nonchalantly shrugged her shoulders.
Lance rolled his pretty ocean blue eyes at her, then he turned to me and cheerfully asked, "How are you doing today?"
"I'm good. Thanks for asking," I quickly replied while smiling at him.
"Have any of your memories returned," he curiously asked.
"Not yet. I'm hoping that our walk around the border will stir up some memories," I sheepishly informed him.
"That would be cool. Are you both ready?" he eagerly asked.
Simultaneously, we both answered, "Yep," in unison.
Lance chuckled at us, then he happily stated, "Let's do this."
As we walked around the border, I admired the sheer beauty of the Midnight Pack's territory. Some areas looked like a regular forest, but the southern area looked more like a jungle. I felt like I was walking through a rain forest with the dense shrubbery and the bright flowers.
When we reached the west border, I recognized the forest right away. It was the territory that belonged the Great Forest Pack that I was a member of when I was still a werewolf. It was the territory where I had been teased and ridiculed because of my heart defect, and it was also where I was murdered by my own mate.
I stood still and gazed into that forest, while my blood boiled with anger. Remembering all of those horrible memories made me feel some kind of way, and I couldn't stop the tears that slipped from the corner of my eyes.
Lance was quick to grab my hand and anxiously ask, "Celeste, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"
I quickly brushed the tears off my cheeks, then I straightened my back and replied, "I'm fine. I don't know why I started crying. I just know I am getting a weird vibe from that territory. I think we should stay far away from this border."
Lance eyed me suspiciously for a few seconds, then he shrugged his shoulders and stated, "Okay, Celeste. We still away from this border, if that will make you feel better."
"Definitely," Lynzee assured me with a smile.
I gave them both a quick hug, then I asked, "Shall we continue?"
Lance grabbed my hand, as he happily chirped, "Let's finish this tour, then we can all go take a nap. I'm getting tired."
It took close to another hour for us to finish our walk around the border, then we went back to my house. As soon as we got there, my mum insisted we eat some lunch. She made us tuna fish sandwiches with french fries, and I had never enjoyed tuna so much in my life.
After we finished eating, Lance went back to his house. Meanwhile, Lynzee and I sprinted to my bedroom, then we talked for a few minutes, before we both drifted to sleep.
Chapter 8
Celeste's First Shift
Celeste POV
The next year went by crazy fast, and I was loving my life as a werecat. I belonged to an amazing pack of werecats, who accepted me wholeheartedly. They were nice to me, and nobody treated me like I was a leper.
Lynzee and Lance remained my bestfriends, and we had a lot of fun hanging out together. Lynzee was really spunky, and she had a tendency to bring out the more wild side of me. Lance was a little spunky, but he was the one who usually kept us from doing anything too wild or dangerous.
I had gotten used to my new human form, and I could do all kinds of things that I couldn't do as a werewolf. I could climb up a tree, and I could jump down if I didn't climb too high. If I accidently fell while I was climbing up the tree or walking across a limb, I always landed on my feet, because of my awesome agility.
Celeste's actual birthday was exactly one week before Alana's, but I didn't shift into my werecat form like everybody expected me to do. I was a little bummed, but I knew there was a high likelihood that I would shift on Alana's birthday, since it
was Alana's werecat soul that was brought out of it's dormant state when the Moon Goddess reincarnated me into Celeste's human body.
Aside from the not shifting, I had a wonderful birthday. My parents threw me a party that all of my friends attended. It was the first time I ever experienced a birthday with an actual party, and it was a little overwhelming, but I enjoyed it a lot. It was nice to have friends who wanted to celebrate my birthday with me.
My favorite area of the Midnight Pack territory was the southern area that was more like a rain forest. I could spend hours climbing up those trees and admiring the scenery around me. Everything was more vibrant, and I found myself captivated by it's sheer beauty.
There were colorful flowers scattered throughout the area, and the creatures in that part of the territory were very intriguing to me. I would often get books from the library to research the different creatures, and I learned a lot of cool stuff about them. I still loved to read, and that's what I did most of the time when I was at home.
During the overnight hours leading up to Alana's actual birthday, I stayed in the rain forest. I couldn't explain it, but I felt like the jungle was calling to me. Sometime during the early morning hours, I felt like I was being called to explore farther into the rain forest.
I was hesitant at first, because I knew that would mean crossing the border, but I couldn't stop my feet from taking me farther into the dense jungle. Eventually, my feet led me to the most stunning waterfall.
As I gazed at the cascading water, I got this overwhelming sense of belonging. It was like nothing I had ever experienced before.
I climbed up one of the trees in case anybody else showed up, then I used my awesome night vision to scan the area. When I didn't see any signs of anybody else, I got comfortable on the limb I was perched on, then I took a nap.
I woke up a few hours later to that familiar burning pain. It was the same pain I had experienced when Alana shifted into her werewolf form. However, the pain wasn't anywhere near as intense, but it was enough to cause me to loose my balance. As I fell to the ground below me, I contorted and twisted my body just right, so I landed on my feet.
Right away, I dropped to my knees and hissed in pain. I rocked back and forth on my knees for a few minutes, then I laid on my side and curled into a ball. I could feel beads of sweat form over my entire body, then I started to hear the familiar snapping of my bones.
However, the loud snapping of my bones stopped me from being able to hear the twigs snapping around me. Since I was curled in a ball with my eyes closed, I didn't see the crowd of werecats that had surrounded me.
It wasn't until all of my bones snapped and rearranged, then I opened my eyes and saw the many werecats that had surrounded me. I was shocked to see so many eyes all locked on me with shock evident in them.
Instantly, I lowered my body as a show of submission, so they wouldn't attack me. I had no clue where they all came from, and I didn't recognize any of their scents, so I was determined to not do anything that would cause them to attack me.
Most of the werecats surrounding me were were-jaguars, but there was also a few were-panthers and were-leopards. The largest of them was a were-jaguar. After he stared me down for a few minutes, he shifted into his human form, then he curiously asked, "Is this your first time shifting into your cat form?"
I nodded my big cat head at him, as I took in his human features. He had dark orange hair and the brightest green eyes. He was well built, and he had a smile that could make any girl swoon.
He slowly walked closer to me, then he warily asked, "Can you shift back to your human form, so we can talk?"
I nodded my head at him again, then I glanced at the portion of my body that I could see. My fur looked a lot like the were-jaguar who was talking to me. My cat form was beautiful with my mostly light orange fur that had splotches of black circular forms. The smaller blobs of black were filled in, but the larger ones looked more like outlines of circular forms, and I had a long tail that was orange and black.
After I committed my werecat form to my memory, I thought about Celeste's human form, then I shifted back into it. Right away, the werecat that asked me to shift back handed me two large leaves so I could shield my naked body from the view of the other werecats.
As I held one of the leaves in front of me, and the other behind me, I nervously asked, "Who are you?"
The large man chuckled before he answered, "I am Alpha Jared Saunters from the Jungle Pack. Who are you?"
"I am Celeste Carlisle from the Midnight Pack. I'm sorry for trespassing on your territory. I will leave now," I anxiously responded.
Alpha Jared jovially laughed, then he adamantly insisted, "My dear, there is no need to apologize. You are one of us, and you are always welcome on our territory."
"Why do you say I am one of you?" I curiously asked.
"You are a were-jaguar. That is why the jungle called you here. This is where our subspecies originated," he happily explained.
"Oh, I didn't know that," I sheepishly admitted.
"That's okay, Celeste. There aren't very many outside of this territory who have that knowledge, unless they are called here by the jungle," he nonchalantly informed me.
"Why and how did the jungle call me here," I warily asked.
"The jungle called out to your cat, and she is the one who actually brought you here. She knew you wouldn't be in danger, and she acted on instinct. I don't know how it happens, but the jungle knows when there is werecat soul close by, who belongs in the jungle," he explained with a small smile playing on his lips.
"Is that why I always feel compelled to spend my time in the rain forest on my pack's territory?" I curiously asked.
"Yes it is," he happily chirped.
For an Alpha, he seemed to be especially nice, and I didn't feel the slightest bit uneasy after just a minute of talking to him. I flashed him a smile, as I enthusiastically chirped, "This is so cool. I am a member of the Midnight Pack, but I am still welcome to visit here whenever? Can I bring my friends here with me?"
"If you trust them to not start problems with our pack members, I am okay with that. When you reach maturity, you are welcome to join our pack at any point in time. We would love for you to be here where you belong," he thoughtfully replied.
"Thank you, Alpha Jared. I will definitely keep that in mind, and I look forward to visiting with you all again. However, I really need to get home before my parents and friends start to worry," I happily stated.
"Okay, dear. We looked forward to seeing you again. Do you need help finding your way back?" he politely asked.
"I just need you to point me in the right direction," I quickly responded with a wide smile plastered on my face.
Alpha Jared returned the wide smile, as he pointed in the direction I needed to go and cheerfully replied, "Have a safe journey back."
"Thank you," I happily chirped, then I thought about my jaguar form and shifted back into it.
I nodded my head at Alpha Jared once more, then I sprinted in the direction he pointed me toward. It was awesome running in my jaguar form. I was way faster than any werewolf I had ever seen run.
As soon as I crossed the border, I slowed my pace, then I climbed up a tree to see what it was like in my jaguar form. I noticed my agility was even better than my human form. I could jump from one tree to the next if it wasn't too far away, and that was awesome.
I was enjoying my time in my new cat form, when I heard Lance's voice come through our mind link. He sounded a little worried, as he asked, 'Celeste, where are you? I'm at your house.'
I quickly mind linked back, 'I'm on my way there, but I'm in my cat form, so don't freak out.'
'Okay. See you in a few,' he warily replied before he cut the link.
I wasted no time sprinting in the direction of my home, and I made it there in record time, since my jaguar could run so fast. When I emerged from the tree line, I saw Lance's eyes instantly widen in surprise.
I slowed down to a walk, then I proc
eeded to close the gap between us. When I reached him, he gazed at me in awe, then he reached out and ran the palm of his hand down my back, as he softly murmured, "I can't believe you are a were-jaguar. You are so pretty. That totally explains why you always want to hang out in the rain forest."
Right away, I opened our mind link and sheepishly asked, 'Can you open the door for me. I shredded my clothes when I shifted.'
"Of course," he happily replied, then he walked to the front door of my house with me following close behind.
As soon as he opened the door, I sprinted past him and straight to my bedroom. I could hear my parents gasp as I passed by them, but I wanted to get shifted back into my human form and put some clothes on.
When I got to my bedroom, I shifted back, then I pulled on a light pink sundress, before I headed back to the living room. I had expanded my wardrobe a great deal over the last year, and I had clothes in all different colors to choose from. It was a nice change from all the purple and white stuff I started out with when I first became Celeste.
Chapter 9
Friends Having Fun
Lance POV
Seeing Celeste emerge from the tree line as a were-jaguar was like a shock and awe for me. I was expecting to see a were-panther emerge, since both of her parents are were-panthers. So as you can imagine, I was literally speechless at first.
After I gazed at her beautiful jaguar for a few seconds, I reached out and ran the palm of my hand down her back, as I softly murmured, "I can't believe you are a were-jaguar. You are so pretty. That totally explains why you always want to hang out in the rain forest."
She was quick to mind link and ask me to open the door for her, which I immediately did, but I couldn't stop glancing at Celeste and admiring how gorgeous she was in her cat form. I've always had a crush on Celeste, but now that I was getting into my teenage years, I was starting to see her in a whole different way.
As soon as the front door opened, she sprinted past me, then she ran straight to her bedroom. I heard her parents gasp as she ran by, and my eyes immediately snapped to where they were sitting.
Revenge : His Mysterious Werecat Page 5