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It had been about four weeks since I'd woken up in the packhouse of the Forest Edge werewolf pack when I woke up, like I normally did, at around six in the morning when I felt slightly different. In the past few days I'd started feeling a bit strange, as if there was something else in my mind along with me but this morning I felt it more strongly and lay back and closed my eyes to see if today I'd finally get to meet my other half. I'd had a great amount of time to sit and read up on what it really meant to be a Were-being and this was something I was looking forwards to, I really wanted to meet, and get to know my cat.

When I closed my eyes, and focussed on my inner self this time I finally caught a glimpse of him and it took my breath away. If anything, he was larger than the monster that had turned me, but when he looked at me his crystal clear blue eyes showed none of the insanity or other nasty things I had seen in that cat's gaze. Instead I saw an ancient knowing gaze and knelt down slowly, "Hello, I've been wanting to meet you since I learned about what we are." I softly sent to the great cat with my arms open in a gesture of welcoming.

He prowled around almost as if he wanted to keep the distance open before turning and walking slowly and majestically closer until he was standing in front of me. "We are one, I've been waiting for a long time to meet you. Though I do have to say that you're a bit smaller than I had imagined." With that said he moved forwards slightly and I felt my mind finally meet his.

I don't know how long I was there laying back on my bed getting used to the way my cat felt in my mind but I was a bit startled when the door opened to my room and Jack walked in. "Are you okay Mark?" He asked me

I took a moment to respond, and in that moment a small form jumped onto my bed and cuddled up against me. "Kitty" she said firmly as she nestled against me.

"She was missing you Mark so we decided to come looking for you." He stated with a small smile, "Though she isn't even fully dressed for the day." he commented.

I nodded softly, "I don't think we mind Jack." I said softly hugging the young child, letting him know through my phrasing that I was finally not just one mind but two. "If anything, I feel better now than ever before." I finished up as I sat up and looked at the little pixie in front of me, who was dressed in a cute little night-shirt and a rather worn looking pull-up. One thing I'd rather quickly learned from spending time with Katy and her mom was the fact that she was in fact, almost a year younger than I had guessed when I first met her.

He nodded in understanding and smiled, "So you are a complete Were now? You've met your other side?"

"Yes... and I get the feeling he's seen more years pass than I can care to imagine." I said while hugging Katy gently "Sweety you haven't even gotten dressed for the day... did you run out of your room on your mommy?"

"Kitty man met kitty?" She asked as the door opened again and her mother walked in carrying a small bundle of clothing.

I nodded softly and smiled feeling my cat relaxing with her in my arms. "Good morning Samantha. I hope your daughter's strange fascination with me isn't hurting your relationship with your mate."

Samantha shook her head, "Not in the slightest Mark, in fact if you wouldn't mind Damien and I would like if you could watch her tonight. We both would like to spend a night on the town together and were thinking that we would have to get one of the other members of the pack to look after her."

"Think nothing of it Sam, I think that my cat wouldn't mind. In fact, I think from the sense that I getting from him he would enjoy it."

"So... you've finally met your cat?" She asked as I handed her daughter to her so that she could get ready for the day ahead.

"Yes, just before you guys came in..." I closed my eyes again and relished the feel of him in my mind. "I can't begin to describe to you what if feels like to be complete, after all these years feeling as if something has been missing from my life."

She nodded and smiled softly, looking at Jack before she softly said, "You may not have been born a Were, but from the feel of it... I think you were meant to be one all along. Your spirit probably has been longing for it for as long as you've been alive, and your cat has always been back there, waiting for you to be changed."

I nodded softly as she patted her daughter on the bottom after getting her in her clothes. "Yes, that is what it feels like to me." I told her as I climbed from the bed and made my way to the bathroom where I began getting ready for my day.

Fifteen minutes later as I walked into the dining hall with little Katy in my arms it felt a bit different, since I was getting some slightly different impressions from my cat. Before I did anything, I located Katy's father and walked over to him. "Damien," I said holding out a free hand, "So good to meet you. I am Mark McEwan."

The young man, who I hadn't yet had a chance to meet turned to meet me and his eyes very briefly flashed golden before he gave a tight smile. "So, my mate tells me."

"I am not here to disturb your relationship with your mate or your daughter, but for some reason you daughter seems to have a fascination with me since I am not a wolf." I told him, as I sensed that he had a certain strength of character, which told me that he had a fairly high level of dominance I also let him sense that using his dominance against me would do little good since I was a cat and had little use for lycan power games.

"If you hurt my pup..." He growled, this time his eyes flashed golden and stayed that way.

This time I let my cat come into my own eyes as I replied, "I would never hurt a cub Damien, especially not one who's put her absolute trust and faith in me."

After a moment of locking eyes with me Damien stepped back a bit and looked down, not wanting to clash wills with my cat. "I just want what's best for her."

"I understand Damien, after all she is your daughter." I told him, gently handing his daughter to him. "I'm only the cat that she's taken a fascination with."

He took her into his arms gently and looked at me. "I may not trust you all that much Mark, but I can sense that your cat is a good being."

"I understand, I think it has to do with your wolf. You guys just aren't comfortable with a cat like me in your midst. The sooner your Alpha finds a Pride for me the better, it would ease your burdens and your minds significantly."

"Yes, it probably would... but I think that there would be one of our pack who'd miss you terribly." he said softly giving his daughter and gentle squeeze. "To her you are her Kitty-Man and if she lost you..."

I nodded sadly knowing that no matter what I did it would hurt. I really needed to be among my own kind, but at the same time Katy was coming to rely on me to be her rock. To her, I was almost as important as her parents. I'd taken care of her at her most vulnerable and seen the trust in her little eyes as she'd looked up at me at those times. "Damien to tell the truth I don't know how we will ever be able to make things all right for your daughter. I can't stay here forever, this is the wrong place for a cat like me, but at the same time I know that when I leave it will hurt her so much."

He nodded softly and then gently handed his little girl back to me, "I wish it was easy Mark, as much as my wolf doesn't trust you I can already tell that this little girl is becoming very important to you."

I nodded ducking my head to try and hide my eyes from him, not because I was afraid of him but because I wasn't sure what he'd think if he saw the tears in my eyes. The truth of the matter was that Katy had worked her way into my heart and I knew that leaving her would tear a piece of it out.

Damien placed a hand under my chin and gently lifted it. "Mark don't be too proud to show us that you have emotions. It shows us that you care, and would never become like the beast that turned you."

A small hand gently touched my cheek. "Kitty sad? Why?"

I staggered slightly and I could barely see as Damien guided me to a chair at one of the tables. "Is it so hard for you to admit, you stubborn cat that she means a lot to you?"

I blinked through my tears and looked up at him, "I find nothing hard about that admission Damien, what hurts so much is knowing that soon I will have to leave to join my own kind. If what I am feeling is bad, imagine what she will go through! I've never had children Damien, never found the right person worthy of being my mate... but Katy..."

He nodded, as Oscar came over to where I was sitting, "Katy is like the child you've never had." He chuckled "you do know that not everything is sunshine and roses with kids, right?"

"I know that Damien, but right now." I softly hugged Katy and inhaled the combined scents of her. "I can't explain the bond but I do know one thing. I can't leave Forest Edge, it is the wrong place for my cat but it would cause both Katy and I..."

"We both understand." I heard Oscar say. "Leaving under the circumstances isn't an option anymore not with things as they stand now. Would have helped if we'd located a Pride for you earlier."

"Yes, it would have Alpha." I said respectfully, "I take it you now know where I have to go to be with my own kind of cats?"

"Yes, I do Mark, it's in BC in the central interior of the province. The Pride doesn't have a lot of money, and they have limited contact with the outside world so we were just able to get a hold of them. They are called the Blackwater Pride and they are located..."

"Southwest of Prince George BC?" I completed for him. "I am familiar with that area, I grew up in Prince George itself and when my father was working for the government with the Forest Service his main area of operations was in that region so I am well familiar with the area out in the Blackwater area."

Both Oscar and Damien looked a bit surprised at what I said before Oscar began to chuckle slowly. "If you didn't have this bond with Katy Whitestone I'd tell you to leave today, but now you have this bond, and from what I can tell your cat has finally emerged, and you can't leave until you've been through a change and gained some measure of control of your cat."

I nodded wiping my eyes clear, "That's true Oscar, I'm now more complete than I was previously. My cat is awake and present in my mind." Now that my eyes were clear I stood up, my little clinging pixie also seemed a bit sad but I could tell that she would be okay, I wasn't sure how I could tell but the simple fact was that she was comfortable, for the moment. I needed to eat before I turned her over to the crèche for the day.

An hour later I stood in the gym with a wooden bo-staff in my hands facing one of the pack trainers. He looked me up and down and gave a tight smile, "Now let's see if your cat's emergence has taught you anything." He said before shifting to the attack.

Melding with my cat slightly, letting him into my eyes, I began to respond as if by instinct to the trainer's attacks using the both the speed and power that was, by now, becoming something that I was getting used to. While werewolves were fast I was beginning to understand that they weren't the masters of speed and reflex. They had long term endurance but in short spurts they had nothing on the sheer power and speed of a cat and right now there was only one trainer in the pack that could keep up with what I had. Melding that fact with the long experience of my cat meant that I was beginning to see and respond to the trainer's attacks almost before they came, causing the wolf's attacks to momentarily stutter and leaving me an opening, which I took, though I pulled my blow so it didn't seriously injure him.

He stopped and looked across at me, "Very good Mark, you're a credible threat, even given your lack of experience with hand to hand combat. I take it you're letting your cat guide some of your movements."

Nodding I replied, "Yes I am, he has more experience than I can shake a stick at and I would be a fool not to learn from him."

"That's good, most rogue turned shifters have a great deal of difficulty getting used to their other half, but you seem to be fully adapting to his presence."

I nodded panting only slightly. "I hope my endurance gets a little better but I am reconciled to the fact that there is no way I can match you wolves in that category. I was already well aware that wolves are the masters of endurance and can go on for long durations."

He laughed, "That is the penalty you pay for having the kind of power and speed that comes with being feline. Some of your blocks almost ripped my staff out of my hands they had so much power and your speed is something to behold. I don't think it will be very long before I'll have to ask the Alpha to help you with your training." He looked at me with a gentle smile, "If we had a feline trainer it might be different, but as it stands now." Shaking his head, he walked from the mat. "We simply can't keep up in the short term. As you yourself pointed out you don't have good long term endurance, it is better than a normal feline, as is to be expected since a were-cat is a melding of human and feline traits, but it isn't as good as ours."

I walked beside him and placed my staff on the rack beside his, "Now I guess I can do a bit of jogging, though I am severely limited in that category."

"Yes, get some running in, and try to pace yourself to extend out your endurance a bit."

I nodded and went to one of the treadmills and set it to a rather mild slow pace before I began. I was getting used to training and the demands that it placed on my body, though I was aware that until I was fully able to shift I needed to take some of my training easy since I got the impression my cat knew that my body would change yet again.

I was sweating and panting for breath an hour later when I stopped the treadmill my cat in my mind huffing slightly being forced to run for so long. "We're sprinters, not long distance runners. If you could slow the pace down, we could have gone for longer but you made us run" Was his disgruntled comment to me.

As I was trying to catch my breath Jack came over to me and patted my damp t-shirt. "You okay man? You're panting like a leaky bellows."

"It's okay Jack, I just am not well suited to running for long distances anymore." I told him "Cats aren't long distance runners. We excel at short distances but when we have to run further..."

He nodded, "That's why we train Mark, to push our limits. To see what we can do when our backs are against the wall."

"I understand that fact Jack, I really do and I am going to do everything in my power to try and improve my endurance, but there are limits to what I can do, especially right now while I am still not even able to shift yet. Anyways, what's the word?"

"The doc want to see you again, the last time she asked to see you was last week, before your cat woke up."

"Let me guess, now that my cat has woken up she wants to update my file, and possibly even tell me how soon I will shift for the first time."

"Ding the cat's won..." He joked throwing me a towel, "Go hit the shower and then go see her at your soonest convenience."

"Very funny Jack," I replied as I snatched the towel out of mid-air and began using it to sponge the sweat off of my brow, taking a moment to dab at my short hair. Since I'd started changing my bald spot, which was something of a family trait, had disappeared so I'd taken to growing my hair back. The one thing I was a bit grouchy about was the fact that my mustache and beard had faded away to nothing, leaving me looking as baby-faced as I had been when I was 22.

After I had a shower and had something to eat I headed over to medical to let the doc have a glance at me. As soon as I stepped through the door the doc looked up from her tablet and gave a tight smile, though her scent told me she was a bit nervous. "You okay Doc?"

She nodded, "Yeah, my wolf is just getting a bit more on edge as you mature as a shifter. She doesn't really like cats."

"That's something I've heard quite a few times in the past four weeks doc. So far as I can tell there's only one wolf in this entire pack who really likes me being around."

"Yes, I know about her and I understand your dilemma." She replied as she got me to strip down to my underwear and sit on her exam table. In four weeks, I'd managed to go from 155lbs all the way up to a hair over 225lbs while still maintaining the same height as before of 5'6. Furthermore, my muscles now more than ever made me resemble, at least in part, a miniature of a body builder with all of the definition that came with it, though the sheer bulk wasn't quite there. Though to be perfectly honest I never really liked what I saw in those overbuilt human specimens.

"Damned you are starting to look like one of those ancient roman statues with that build of yours" She commented wryly as she checked me over, "With your current rate of change next month is the earliest I'd give for your ability to shift." She told me, "And that is an optimistic estimate, given how well you are taking to becoming a tiger."

"I understand ma'am, I won't push my cat to change any sooner... I don't want to become like that thing that turned me."

"I can see that in your eyes young man. You have too much respect for your cat, and what you are becoming to push yourself too hard." She replied as she indicated that I could get off the table the put my clothes back on. "Now go and do... well whatever it is you do for the rest of the day. Next time I see you will probably be after you gain the ability to shift."

"Yes ma'am, though I may just see you in the dining hall, though that isn't something I know I can count on."

She smiled, "One thing I know that we can all count is you helping one of our pack's adorable little pups with her dinner."

"Yes, I will." I told her with a soft smile before I pulled on my shirt and winced at the sound of a seam letting go.

"It appears that you are outgrowing your clothes Mr. McEwan." She said with a chuckle.

"It does appear that way, doesn't it? I'm not any bigger in height, but..."

"Your entire torso is larger than before and your arms and shoulders are straining the seams of your current wardrobe. Most of our wolves haven't developed quite the same way you have, though I suspect that is simply something that cats do differently than we do. You might be able to talk to Oscar and see if he has anything in stores that might fit you till you shift for the first time. I've yet to hear of a large species were-cat as short as you are. Most likely you will end up a bit bigger than you are now."

"Thanks for the info doc. I much appreciate the insight you bring to my knowledge of my current situation." I told her as I turned to leave the room.

I was heading to the Alpha Suite, when a certain adorable little pup came to me and tugged on my pants. "Kitty?"

"Hi there baby," I replied bending over to pick her up. "What are you doing out in the hallways?"

She buried her head in my shoulder. "Sowwy Kitty... had 'nother accident. Mommy gonna be mad."

I shook my head heading to the crèche where she could get cleaned up before I continued heading to Oscar's office. When I got there Oscar looked a bit harried, though I suspect, as the Alpha of the pack, he had a lot of things that he had to deal with.

"Afternoon Mark, what can I do for you this afternoon?" He said indicating that I could sit down.

"Well I know you collected all of my belongings from my former roommate, I thank you for that, but the clothes, which used to fit me rather well are getting..."

"They are getting too small around your arms, shoulders, and chest. Even your legs are getting a bit large for your pants, some of those pants look like you painted them on with a brush."

I gave a laugh, "Yeah and the doc said that there is a pretty high likelihood that I will get bigger after my first change. She said I should ask you about borrowing some clothes from your pack's stocks for the time being. I know I can't really pay for anything I am using, that really galls me since I am used to being somewhat self reliant."

"Think nothing of it Mark, we consider your presence a good thing. Yes, the fact that you are a cat does make a lot of wolves a bit uneasy, but I like to think of it this as a learning opportunity for the members of my pack."

"How so Oscar?" I asked him, more than a little puzzled by what he said.

"Some of my older wolves don't like cats, not because of how their wolves react to them but because of a prejudice. You are shaking those lovingly held prejudices and showing them that a cat is often, in many ways, similar to how they are. Hell, even though I doubt you really were looking forwards to having Katy Whitestone latch onto you the way she did she is doing so much good for this pack that I can't help but smile."

"Yes, I can see that sir. She is... a wonderful cub and I can't help but love her."

"Mark her willingness to come up to you shows that she trusts you, that and something much more significant. Pups are drawn to higher dominance members of the pack, they make the little ones feel secure. Haven't you noticed that along with my senior wolves that you've become popular with some of the other pups?"

I considered what he said for a moment and nodded, during dinnertimes I was often surrounded by a small group of five to six pups, other than Katy, who ranged from six to fourteen. "So, you're saying is that I have a fairly high dominance level? You do know that I don't really have much use for your system of stratification in the pack." I told him, earning a slight huff from my cat,

"Just because we don't like it doesn't me we don't understand it." He told me before going on to inform me a bit about how cats handled dominance in a Pride.

Oscar watched me and smiled, "Your cat telling you something?"

"Yes, I think he decided to tell me about how cats, who I suspect have a strong independent streak, handle dominance in the traditional organization of a Pride."

"For a person who has only started hearing your cat today you strike me as one who's more than willing to listen to what he says."

"I would be a rather poor excuse for a were if I didn't listen to him sir. As I said earlier today, I am not going to end up like that thing that made me," I felt the cat inside of my mind give an angry growl at that thought. "Both of us agree that he needs to be stopped, and possibly stuffed into the top of a glacial crevasse on Greenland to spend the next million years stuck there. Though the thought of ripping him into little itty bitty pieces also has a certain charm to it."

Oscar chuckled, "Ouch that would be bloody, but far be it for me to tell you how to handle that part of that miserable rogue."

I shared that chuckle with him. "Anyways I think I've used up enough of your time, the pups should be getting home from school pretty soon and will be wanting to have a fun afternoon, and I like helping out with supervision, it makes my cat relaxed for some reason." I told him standing to leave the room and go to my own room to see if I could find a shirt and jacket that were loose enough for me to wear without ripping them.