A Serenade To A Jerk

Chapter 17

Chapter 17 Cat

I walked down the hall from Jason's room and turned to go find Preston. I think that if anyone can explain why I got the feeling of contentment with that stinky mangy wolf he can. But I have to admit for a such a big brute of a man with so little manners as to try and steal my pizza he does smell good, and those muscles are to die for. I bet a box of doughnuts that I could wash clothes on his abs. No! I cannot be thinking about his abs! Stupid brain! I huffed in irritation with my self as I trod down the hall towards the council's common rooms. 

I was so caught up with my own thoughts that I nearly bumped into Big Mike as he left the common rooms. 

"Gomen, Big Mike. I didn't see you there." I apologized. The council members have gotten used to my using strange words. I have a love of languages and I enjoy using the words I have learned.

"It's alright Cat. What is on your mind? Usually you would have noticed me halfway down the hall." He said. His concerned smile blindingly white against his dark skin. He looked great in a black suit with a purple shirt, tie and handkerchief ensemble.

"I am a little confused about the wolf that came in the other day. When I hugged him as a thank you for helping me with the two young men this morning I got a feeling of warm contentment. And you know me, I rarely feel comfortable with men that are not already mated. I was just getting ready to go see if Preston had any knowledge that would pertain to the situation." I blurted as I craned my neck to look at his face.

He chuckled and placed his arms over my shoulders in a hug. it always amazes me how short I feel when I get a hug from him. "You're right, I do know all about how you deal with men." He said as he let me go from his hug. "At any rate you had better go find Preston. I think he mentioned needing to go help his mate with the kids." Big Mike added as he walked down the hall.

I knocked on the door once and walked on into the first of the council's common rooms. It was furnished with six love seats arranged in a rough circle off to the right of the door. A large coffee table nestled inside the circle with papers and coffee mugs strewn across the top. The other side of the room was filled with a couple old couches that had seen better days and a myriad of toys. The carpet was a boring grey affair that had been covered up with a classy looking maroon area rug with a standard design around the edges and in the center. The walls were a boring white but we had found out the hard way that other colors get messed up too easily around the shelter. The room wasn't exactly shabby though, it was more like a clean and controlled chaos.

There was a door lead from this common area to the much smaller kitchen. The wall between the two rooms had a large serving window and breakfast bar built into it so that whoever was in the kitchen could still be part of the conversation. I closed the door behind me and found Preston sitting at the breakfast nook with a large mug in his hands.

"Hey Preston." I say as I cross the room and sit at the breakfast bar looking through the window into the kitchen. I grab a Styrofoam cup and make myself some coffee with a little smile. Preston is one of my favorite guys. we used to get a long a lot better but he has been busy with his kids so he doesn't get to hang out and teach me like he used to. I smile up at him and sip the sludge that the council called coffee.

"I swear I don't know how you guys drink this stuff. I'm pretty sure one of these days y'all are going to start glowing like you swam through a radiation leak." I joke lightly, putting off the reason I actually came in here. He smiles and looks at me expectantly, knowing I don't like to come in here for no good reason. 

"Fine," I sigh laying my chin on my hand. "As you know when a cat shifter finds their mate it's supposed to feel like finding a warm, sunny patch in the middle of winter." I started off a little stupidly rubbing the back of my head. "Well, hmm, that wolf, Cory, I hugged him this morning and it felt funny. I was so content, but it wasn't like they always describe it. It was almost like when you are unexpectedly warm and happy in the inside for no good reason." I finally blurt out blushing a little as I stare into the cup half full of the sorry excuse for coffee in my hand like it has the answers to my questions. I snort as that thought crosses my mind and look up at Preston to see him looking at me thoughtfully.

"Do you think we might be mates or am I just being weird like usual?" I ask doubtfully. Man I really need to stop scrunching my brow like this. It's gonna give me a headache. I thought feeling the beginnings of one starting between my eyebrows.

"I'm not sure." He said slowly his brows beetling together as he thought. "As you well know cats rarely mate outside the clan or pride let alone outside the race. It could be that the different reaction is because he isn't a cat, or is could be because he has a different role to play in your future." He say slowly thinking out loud. "Have you done any research on the subject yet?" He asks with a little smile. 

"Nope, Dewey and I are still feuding over his stupid decimal system. I was hoping you would know everything there is to know about it like you usually do." I said with a little frown. "Usually you manage to have all the facts for everything my weird brain wants to know. Are you alright? You're mate's fine and your kids are all still in one piece?" I ask a little worried, it's really out of the ordinary for Preston to not know at least a little about something. Even things from way out in left field, like say for instance, strange mating phenomenon among the horse shifters.

"Oh! that's right, Big Mike said that you're mate needed you for something. I'm sorry, I'll go see if I can get the librarians to wrestle with Dewey for me a while." I wince in chagrin as I get up from the stool and head for the door. 

Preston bobs his head a little and follows me. "I'll see if I can help you after I find out what happened."

I nod and walk out of the room feeling a little better that I'm not the only one that doesn't know what's going on. Of course that Preston doesn't know scares me a little too. He has been giving me answers to all of my strange and off the wall questions since I moved into the shelter. One of these days I'm going to have to thank him for helping me so much. I smile a little at that thought, I swear he can read my mind. I have tried to get him gifts before but he always seems to suddenly own whatever I was going to give him.

I snort and shake my head a little as I walk down the halls towards the library not really paying attention to where I'm heading. What can I say? I really tend to blunder through life, I just sort of hang on for the ride. Not that hanging on for the ride has ever really bothered me until lately. lately I have been feeling a little unbalanced. Almost like a cat who has suddenly lost it's tail. Constantly trying to compensate or fix these minute little things that suddenly can throw me into a tailspin.

I pull myself from my deep and mildly depressing thoughts as I near the library, and start humming the William Tell Overture as I continue on down the hall. I enter the library with a wave and a greeting for the ladies at the desk, and head for the history section picking up any book that look like it might have something to do with Cat mating and any mating outside of the race. As much as I hate Dewey and his stupid decimal system I can usually get around a library alright. It's just when I want that one book that I'm after that he gives me a lot of trouble.

As I walked through the history section with my piles of books I looked around taking stock of my second favorite place in the shelter. It is a huge pair of rooms with high vaulted ceilings held up by heavily decorated columns. Instead of the traditional dark woods it has been decorated in blond woods with clear finishing to highlight the wood grain. There were four chandeliers in each room for a total of eight. They had multiple colored bottles hanging from them with a light bulb inside them making the library have patches of slightly colored light in some places. 

In some corners there were dark brown overstuffed chairs that would just about eat you if given half a chance. In the other corners there were these bright red chairs from IKEA that look minimalist but are very comfortable and great for lazing in when you want to read something light and airy. I always like the dark leather chairs best you can sit across the arms and still make piles of books on the floor as you research.

I smile a little and settle into one of the big overstuffed leather chairs hidden back in a little alcove and grab a notebook from my back pocket and start reading the books. I furiously discard several of them when I find that the contents don't have what I want. Others, I carefully pour over gleaning little scraps of information that as of yet doesn't make any sense. I'll have to but them together into a real picture later when I have time and the patience to unravel my own writing.