The Traitor Panther

Chapter Thirteen-Nate's POV

 I think I'm in love with Cleo.

I know, so, soon?
But man, watching her during that challenge ceremony, it made me hold my breath in anticipation, it made my heart clench in panic and awe. I've never enjoyed watching someone get their ass kicked as much as I did when Cleo did it. She was so quick and nimble, a trait usually reserved for fighters with less muscle mass. She wasn't huge or anything, but I could definitely feel how solid she was when I accidentally bumped into her. I mean, the woman has abs for fucks sake. Not to mention her center of gravity made it nearly impossible to knock her down. The other fighters only widened their stances when going in for an attack, Cleo kept her's wide throughout the fight, making her more resistant to sneak knock down attempts. Knocking someone down was kind of like a setup for the final kill. Because we all know how hard it can be to get someone off of you who is pummeling your face in.

Anyways.

I was definitely surprised when she knocked out the second Ike announced her as the winner. Ike had carried her off before I had a chance to even see if she was still alive. That's another reason I'm worried I'm already in love with her. Why do I care so much if she's okay or not? Why are you spazzing out about the mate bond so far into the game? It's not that, I'm just worried about how it will make Cleo feel. I can already tell I'm on thin ice with the babying her thing. But I can't help myself. I want to take care of her anyway I can. And if I waited around for Cleo to actually genuinely need help from me, well I'd be old and gray by then.

The person I was becoming scared me a little. I've never even given anyone a second glance and now I'd make Cleo socks out of my panther's fur if she so asked me to. You'd what now?

This is what I've been doing for the last eight hours.

Sitting in a branch on the border of the pack's land in my panther form, thinking about literally everything that had been on my mind the past couple of days. It was starting to make me feel a little insane.

My panther slides off the tree branch, slinking down to land silently on the forest floor. I quickly shifted back into my human body and grabbed my clothes from the base of the tree.

Cleo had to be awake by now. And if she wasn't, then I'd start worrying.

I walked quickly and quietly through the cool morning forest. I loved the way it looked this time of day. The air was still and silent and moist. There's dew clinging to every pine needle, every blade of grass. The sun is barely peeking over the edge of the treeline, bringing a soft glow of light to the world.

It was so peaceful, and I needed peace after all the gray hairs I got last night from getting jostled by a hundred hyped up werewolves. Not a huge fan of groups, especially when they're crowds of these cocky jackasses.

As I got closer to the clearing where the pack resided, I could pick up on a faint twinkling noise. Sounded like... cans knocking together? I scrunched up my brow and picked up the pace a little. My curiosity peaked. Most of the wolves had gotten black out drunk last night and hadn't gotten carried off to bed until three in the morning. I don't see any of them getting up before noon today. Who could that be? We both know who you hope it is.

I feel my heart flutter when I reach the clearing where the wolf pack was set up and see it is in fact who I want it to be.

Cleo.

I stopped for a moment, watching her. She looked so cute, in her baggy outfit and messy half dried hair. She was picking cans up and setting them on a table, grumbling like an angry mother the entire time.

Finally, I started walking towards her. I stop behind her and shove my hands into my pockets. "What are you doing?" I ask after a few moments of just watching her pick cans up. She makes a little "whoo" noise and jumps, quickly whipping around to meet my eyes. I had to fight a smile. Such a killer warrior and yet I can still manage to startle her. She seems to settle a bit once she sees it's me.

"I was just picking up some of this trash before it ends up in the forest." I feel my heart fluttering again. Oh, so now recycling gives you a hard on?

It takes me a moment to notice she's fallen silent and is staring down at the ground with a sad look in her eyes.

"How are you feeling?" I ask, taking a step closer. She rolls her eyes and smirks before opening her arms. I swallow thickly and quickly close the distance between us. I feel all my tension vanishing as I bury my face into Cleos neck. She smells so good. And also, like sex.

"Someone has been busy this morning." I whisper as I run my face across her shoulder. I'm sure I looked like a cat, but I had been worried about her. I want to make sure she's real. "I can smell him all over you."

"I'm sorry." I hear her softly whisper. She would get the wrong idea. But I'm not like her simple-minded boy toy. I can accept that she has a special bond with him and trying to ruin it will only hurt our relationship in the end. Better to just accept it and try and make my own special bond with her.

"Why? We are both your mates. One day he will have to deal with my smell being all over you." I move back to give her a little space and grin. Now that I knew she was okay I could move onto my mission. My one and only opportunity to be completely alone with Cleo for more than thirty seconds. "Now. I'm not trying to rush you, and I will totally give you a couple days to recover, but now that the challenge ceremony is over, I want to take you back to my home." Calling it my home felt like a little bit of a stretch, but I have to really sell myself on this one. I needed to be alone with Cleo if I wanted our relationship to deepen. We had barely scratched the surface of this spark we had, and I wanted to know more.

"Do we have a deadline?" She asks looking up at me.

"No, but I would like to leave as soon as possible. The only reason I waited this long to take you back was because of your ceremony." She nods and turns away from me, resuming her trash detail.

"Give me two days, then I'll be ready to leave." I nod and start helping her pick up cans and setting them on her trash table. We're quiet for a while, just picking up the litter.

"Hey." She says suddenly, popping up quickly. I look at her, raising a brow as an indicator to go on. "Where is Charlie?" I sigh. I hope this doesn't make her sad.

"He had to go back to his pack." I shrug. I could feel my insides bubbling at the sight of her crestfallen face. I told him she would react like this. He didn't even say goodbye. The tears welling in her eyes seemed like a bit much, but I guess they were pretty close. "He is an Alpha. Don't give him too much shit." I see her nod and turn away, resuming her job all while hiding her face from me. "I think he gave his number to Ike though, I'm sure he'd give it to you." Even that doesn't wipe away that depressed look on her face.

I really need to get to know her better.

The next two days were God damn agonizing.

Cleo was busy getting to know the ins and outs of running a pack. She was always glued to Ike's side, shaking hands with pack members she hadn't met yet. When she wasn't Alpha shadowing, she was inside her love nest with Ike.

I was getting a little annoyed, to be honest. I hated the weird tiny house they gave me. It felt like I was in a coffin. I mean, it wasn't awful. But the ceilings were pretty low, and I had nothing to do in there when I wasn't sleeping. So, I'd wander around the pack lands during the daytime, just waiting for the two days to be up. I felt like an outsider. An annoyance. My ego was seriously suffering.

On the day we were supposed to be leaving, I woke up with hope in my chest instead of dread and bitterness.

It was finally time.