The Cat and The Dog

Chapter 1

   My eyes flutter open as I feel the sun beaming in through my open curtains. I roll over and leap on to the floor, changing out of the form of a fully grown Lynx back into my human form. It's the same routine I have done for most of my life, but this isn't an ordinary day for me.
         Today is my 18th Birthday and for girls in our pack this is a bigger day than high school graduation, or a sweet sixteen, or even your wedding day. When girls in our pack have their 18th birthday we are supposed to find our mate. Not like just some random man to have kids with but our soul mate, our other half, the shape-shifter that was created by the Goddess to balance us out. So tonight I must go to my Birthday party and meet every un-mated male to she if my soul mate is among them, if he isn't, which he probably won't be, I will leave the community and go on a hunt to find him.
        I walk down the stairs of the small house I share with my older brother and my father and go to the kitchen to get some breakfast. I see a dress bag sitting on a table with a note. "Wear this at your party tonight. Corrine helped me pick it out. I will be there to pick you up at 6:00. Make sure you look nice, the Alpha will be there, he made a special trip home for this party. - Dad."
        I roll my eyes and toss the note in the trash. My father has always meant well but he tries to hard to make up for the absence for my mother. But in times like this I wish he would just let it be, let me find my mate on my own. These large Birthday parties are an old tradition, hardly practiced any longer but as a high up warrior in the pack my father is close with the Alpha, Beta, and Delta and can pull the strings to have such an event.
        I push my frustration aside and slip the bag off the dress and gasp. It's a gorgeous slinky green dress that is the same color of my green eyes and compliments my figure. I make a mental note to thank Corrine later and I gently scoop the dress up in my arms and talk it up to my room and hang it in my closet. I look at the clock that is perched above my bed and I realize its almost noon. Instead of getting ready for tonight and mentally preparing myself I change forms. I run down the stairs and out the back door, in search of something to kill.
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It's about 5:30 and I'm putting on the finishing touches for my makeup. I have on the green dress, it comes to mid-thigh with a low neck and long sleeves and it hugs my curves. I curl my sandy brown hair, the same color of my fur in lynx form. Once my makeup is done and I put on my black heels I make my way down the stairs as my father pulls in. I slide into the passenger side and buckle as we take off toward the edge of town.
        We pull up outside a large house, the pack mansion. This is the home where the Alpha, and often his Beta and Delta, live. It's not usually a place where social events are held unless they are organized by the Alpha for the pack. I spin my head around to face my father as he puts the car in park. "What the hell are we doing here? Why did you think this was a good idea?"
        "We are not arguing over this Della. The Alpha asked if we would hold it here. You cannot deny him of this. He doesn't have a mate yet and you could be his."
        "Stop dad. Don't start on that." I say stepping out of the car and walking to the glass doors at the front of the house. I had heard him mention me being the Alpha's mate a few weeks ago with my brother Zander. He had been planning my party and I heard them talking about how they wanted me to be mated with the Alpha. The Alpha would never leave his mate no matter how different she was and he would be able to protect her from the opinions of others.
        I don't want the Alpha though. I would hold him back, ruin his reputation. No wolf wants to be with a cat, especially not in a community like ours. Shape-shifters come in all forms, cats, rabbits, wolves,birds. Anything you can imagine really. But the founders of our pack wanted strictly wolves. If I leave here to find my mate it will be a new life with people like me. No fear of being left because I am different.
        I push open the door and am enveloped in the arms of my best friend Axel. He gives me a squeeze and sets me down as he leads me toward the head of the dining room table. "Are you nervous?" He asks as he pulls out my chair and gestures for me to sit.
        I sit down and take a deep breath. "Axel I don't want this party. Especially not here. I don't want to be mated to anyone in this stupid town. No one here wants me."
        "I love you Della. Some of us here can appreciate you, even though you are different. And your mate will love you." He gives me a kiss on the cheek and walks down to his seat. Some voice over the speaker announces that all the un-mated men need to make their way up to the front to speak with me. I roll my eyes and lean back, waiting to be bombarded by hormone crazy wolf-boys.
        Just as the announcement ends I feel a figure walk up next to me. He clears his throat and begins to speak in a sexy, low voice. "Happy Birthday Della. I'm the Alpha, but you can call me Reeves." As he finishes I look up from my lap and my green eyes meet his dark blue ones. And something inside just clicks. I sigh in contently. There is no lighting, no sparks. Just a feeling of being complete. The feeling that I have found the half of myself that has been missing for the last 18 years.
        I have found my soul mate and I could not be less happy.
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Authors Note:
Hey guys! Thank you so much for reading this story. I'm super excited about this one, I have big ideas for it. Feedback and opinions and suggestions for improvement are appreciated and encouraged.