The Werecats: Creatures of the Night (Book One) (Revised)

- Eleven: Awkward Moments -

- Eleven: Awkward Moments -

Dom woke me up early the next morning.

"Hey... Riley? Are you up?" At the shake of the bed I bolted straight up.
"Jesus Christ!" I yelled, feeling sweat drip down my neck, "I had the most awful dream."

Dom stared at me for a moment, thinking. He turned his head to the side and studied my face. He seemed to be looking for answers for something.
"About what?" He finally asked.
A flashback hit me and I felt the tumbling of the car and the impact at the bottom of the hill. Dom must have noticed, because he was at my side holding me up in an instant.

"Whoa, are you alright?" He asked.

My vision cleared and I met his steal gaze, "Yeah. It was about the night my parents died."

"Oh." Was all he said. An awkward silence fell over us then until finally Dom seemed to realize he was still holding me by my waist. "Oh, I got you up for a reason," he said, shaking his head, "You start training today."

"Didn't you attempt that a day ago?" I asked.

"No, this is affinity training. We gotta find what you're good at." He said, smiling.

I yawned saying, "What time is it, anyway?"

"6:30."

I fell backwards on the couch again. "Wake me up at never."

"Oh come on! It's fun." Dom said, dragging me by my foot. I landed on the white wood floor with a thud.

"Sleeping can be fun."

"Sleeping at night ends now." With that, Dom sent me upstairs to get dressed.

I picked a dark blue sweater dress and black leggings. As I got dressed, I studied my reflection in the mirror. You're a mess, I concluded. My brown curls were nappy and all over the place and even with the extra sleep I'd received lately there were still light purple marks under my eyes.
I left the bathroom as I vowed to bathe later and met Dom in the hallway.

"Breakfast now or later?" He asked.

My stomach grumbled right on cue. Dom laughed as he led the way to a new part of the Compound I had yet to explore.

The hallway opened up on the left side to reveal a huge two story dining room.
How do these people get their money? Do they all just rob banks? I asked myself as I gaped at the enormous, and probably expensive, room.

Out of nowhere Dom laughed next to me, "There are Werecats in the human world."

"How do you keep doing that?" I asked.

"Doing what?"

"Every time I've ask myself a question, you've answered it." I said, pulling him to a stop before he could walk through the labyrinth of tables.

"Uh, well-" he began before he was cut off.

"Dom! Up here!" He whirled around instantly to see who had called him. I glanced over his shoulder to see Nick waving from a table of people next to the balcony on the upper level of the dining room.

"Coming!" He shouted back. I thought I detected a hint of relief in his voice.
We climbed one of the spiral staircases after weaving through crowded tables of Werecats and finally settled at a table where Nick, David and two strangers sat.

"Riley, this is Willow, Nick's mate, and Misty, David's mate." Dom said, gesturing to the two girls.

We exchanged hellos as I studied them. They both could have easily been Victoria's Secret models. Willow had sandy blonde wavy hair that must have reached her waist when standing. She had glistening green eyes the color of summer leaves.

Misty was a bleach blonde with a pixie cut. She was very pale, more pale than anyone else I'd yet to meet, and had dark blue eyes. I noted that she smelt like clean laundry and grass dew, much like David.

"Coffee, ma'am?" A small voice asked from next to me, breaking through my thoughts.

"Uh, sure." I answered. I picked up the cup that had been sitting upside down in front of me and turned to the voice.
A small boy, maybe thirteen, stood in an all black uniform with a coffee pot in hand.

Once he had walked away I whispered, "He's not one of you, is he?"

"No, he's not." I whipped around to see Eran looming over me, a pair of Ray Bans protecting me from his red gaze.
"Good morning." Dom and the others all said in unison, standing. I sat awkwardly until Eran gestured for them to sit. I noticed that as they sat Willow and Misty threw me concerned glances.

"Sit, sit. It's only me." Eran said, pulling up a chair. He turned to me and took of his glasses, "Riley, how are you adjusting?"

"Pretty well, I guess." I replied, shrugging my shoulders.

"Very good. To answer your question, no, the waiters are not Werecats. Some humans manage to catch wind of our society, and very few brave ones confront us. These people who serve you wish to be you." He continued, "I would've hoped Dominique had explained this concept to you by now."

"Yes, well, this is all very new to her. Things like that can be saved until later." Dom said, meeting Eran's bloody gaze. There seemed to be something happening between the two, but whatever it was eluded itself.

"Riley," Eran said, placing a hand on my shoulder, "today in your training, try not to get burned."

So whatever I was doing today involved fire. Fantastic.