The kitten claims her mate (complete)

Drunk alien teenager

Betty was freaking out. Apparently, she was a freaking cat. Koga was really Jax, her creepy neighbor. Jason had just rushed in here with two big dogs and took Koga with them. She frowned and reminded herself it was Jax, not Koga. Which brought about fresh horror as she thought about all the times she walked around without clothes. He had seen her naked!

Then the jerk had the audacity to tell her this was all just a dream. Really? She wanted to hurt him so bad- how stupid did he think she was? She would be questioning her sanity right now, but this all made sense.

The cat that Jax and Jason had been so concerned about was her. The clues were all there- stuff being moved while she slept, the weird dreams that had been getting clearer, the stupid dog that was just too smart. He'd shown up and stayed after she told Jax that she'd be closing her window. For some reason, that she couldn't figure out, they wanted to be near her cat self. Things had been weird for a while, but she'd been ignoring it.

It finally hit her that Koga was gone for good. Oh, Jax was still out there and would probably be laughing for a good long time about how dumb she'd been. But her dog, Koga, and the friendship she thought she had with him was gone. She would never run her fingers through his fur again or snuggle next to him after a long day of work. It hurt so bad to think about it. She was alone again and it sucked.

Her heart was racing and she was panting, having a hard time catching her breath. She needed to cry but the stupid cat body wouldn't let her. She felt like she was on fire. She huddled in her blankets and closed her eyes. 'I will get through this. It will be ok. Just breathe...' She repeated over and over that everything would be ok until she started believing it.

Slowly she started breathing slower and deeper and her thoughts cleared some. She had just been a joke to Jax, but at least she knew now. She could build up her defenses against him and never let him know that he had hurt her. Obviously her cat self had liked Jax, but she was in control now. She would never see him again.

It took a long time, but she finally fell asleep. When she woke up she was in her regular body. She jumped up and ran to the kitchen. She still had the birthday card on her table. She'd thought of it last night during her freak out. When things got weird, Jack said to talk to him. Well, things just got a whole heck of weird. She would talk to him today, even though she had the day off.

***

She sat with Jack in the family dining room. It was a special room for when family visited so that they could have privacy with their loved ones. It had a big wooden table and chairs, a glass cabinet with dishes inside, a potted plant and some paintings of birds and lace draped over everything.

She didn't know how to start this conversation. She fidgeted with her fingers while she tried to think of a good opener. 'Hey, I'm a cat' didn't seem like the best way.

Jack was sitting patiently, waiting for her to start. He had a twinkle in his eyes like he was amused. She hoped she wasn't making a mistake coming to him.

She took a deep breath and said, "Things got weird."

"Did they now? Imagine that," Jack said with a smile. He raised his eyebrows at Betty when she just sat there waiting for him to continue. The old coot said nothing else.

"Umm I have been having reoccurring dreams and I've noticed things being moved around while I sleep."

"Is that all?"

Betty frowned. She was starting to get irritated with Jack. He wasn't making this easy for her, dammit! How much did he know? Maybe the message in the card had just been a joke after all.

"Why don't you tell me why you told me to talk to you if things got weird? Without going into a lot of detail, things are pretty freaking weird. Did you know this would happen?"

Jack laughed and leaned forward. "Without going into detail, life is weird. It's weirder for some than for others. I wrote the card because I thought you may be part of the some."

She rubbed her head and thought of how much she wished she could strangle Jack sometimes. Things were never simple with Jack. He was a stubborn old man who liked to push her buttons.

"Jack throw me a freaking bone already. You said to talk to you and I am. So far you've told me bloody nothing. Do you want all my dirty secrets? Fine!
     My neighbor is a werewolf, I think. We haven't really talked about it and we won't ever talk about it, but he turns into a dog. I turn into a cat. I only just found out and I'm still freaked out about it. I don't think I'm crazy, but it's still a possibility I suppose. Now that you know, will you either bloody help me or tell me I'm crazy? Do something, dammit!"

Jack chuckled and rubbed his hands together. "Well, my dear Betty, you may be crazy."

"What!" She cried angrily. What the hell?

"Let me finish," Jack said with a hand raised to stop Betty. "You may be crazy, it's one of the reasons I like you. However, you are not delusional. You, my dear, are not from this planet. You are from a distant world light years away from here. On that world, your people live hundreds of years. They don't fully mature until their thirties- so you my dear are still in puberty." Jack laughed for a full minute after saying that. He just kept laughing and wiping tears away while ignoring any questions or glares from Betty. She wanted to strangle him so bad.

When he was finally ready he continued, "During the late stages of puberty, they start developing their second form. It can be any animal and the purpose of the second form is to rejuvenate the mind and body. It's a way for your soul to break free and influence your life. Your second form plays in integral roll in finding your mate. It knows what you need before you are aware of it yourself. Trust your cat, it won't steer you wrong. Any questions?"

Betty opened her mouth to ask the many questions she had, but Jack just smiled his signature grin and said, "Excellent, then I'm off to play cards with Phyllis." He wouldn't stop for Betty and he obviously was choosing to ignore her. She followed him, shouting that she was not done and that he was the worst teacher in the world, but it was no use. Jack was done. He had tilted her whole world upside down and then calmly walked away.

She went home and quickly ran inside, not wanting to see her neighbors. She locked the door and then sat on the couch. She was an alien. She started laughing hysterically at that thought. She was crazy to believe it, but it felt true. She was a bloody, freaking alien. Her neighbors were werewolves or maybe aliens as well. Not only was she an alien, she was still a freaking teenager by their standards. Oh god, she needed scotch. This whole day had been too much.

She stood up and grabbed a bottle of scotch and started drinking straight from the bottle. She would see just how drunk an alien could get. And maybe, just maybe she would wake up and find out this was all just a terrible dream. God, she hoped so. She missed Koga terribly and wanted nothing more than to hug his stupid doggy face.