The Alpha's Stolen Mate

Chapter 9 - Date Night

Beep, beep.

That was my que, I grabbed my jacket and headed out the front door. David was waiting in the driveway, amusing himself with the stereo probably. White noise blared out of the radio as I hopped in the passenger seat and latched my seatbelt. He was too preoccupied with tuning in a station that I couldn't be sure if he even realised I was in the car.

"Glad to see you're not late today" he smirked as the sultry tones of Michael Buble replaced the white noise.

"Of course," I chimed back. "I've been looking forward to our date all day."

He squeezed my hand and smiled as he forced the stick into reverse, spinning the steering wheel one way and then the other until we were facing the street.

As usual, the car trip was filled with radio chatter. Whether it was David's respect for my thinking space or talking and driving were beyond his multitasking skills level. I'd like to think it was the former, besides it allowed me to stare out the window without having to think. I loved watching the houses in town stretch out into farms and then get swallowed up by the density of the trees. The trees were like a security blanket, they hid me from the world so I could be free. I could feel the leaves crunching under my paws, and the smell of the damp ground underneath intertwining with the animal musks from above. I couldn't help but think that turning into a giant black cat had made my life complicated, but when I was a giant black cat everything was so much simpler.

As the car pulled into the parking lot at the movie complex, I made a mental note to record the feelings and reactions I have when I'm in cat form. I shut my door and caught up with David as he headed towards the cinema entrance. The central alarm bleeped behind us as I grabbed his hand, intertwining our fingers and leaned in closer.

"Do we really have to see a chick flick" he whined, scanning the screening times board. "I heard that the new Fast and Furious is the best one yet."

"I really had my heart set on Isn't it Romantic." Linking my arm through his, I leaned against his shoulder, trying to catch his attention.

"If you really are that set on it, I suppose I can watch the other one with a few of the guys from work."

Yes! I didn't think that the battering of the eyes would work but the proof was in the cinema two tickets David now held in his hand.

* * * * *

"My stomach hurts from laughing so hard," I dropped the empty popcorn box and drink cup in to the bin and jogged to catch up to David. "Rebel Wilson is such a crack up, she may be my favourite actress ever."

He had a look of amusement on his face, but I was pretty sure that he was just humouring me, considering we were the first ones to leave. He pushed open the heavy theatre doors, clicking them into place against the wall and made a beeline for the men's room.

I was left standing in the middle of the foyer, feeling like everyone was watching or judging or whatever it was they were doing behind their shifty looking eyes.Two beefy looking blokes leaning against the wall under a broken light, hadn't taken their eyes off me. They were sharing comments and nodding their heads, all without breaking from staring at me. I checked over my shoulder for anyone or anything else they may be staring at, but there was nothing. My mind kicked into automatic pilot mode, scanning the room, searching for escape points and judging possible dangers. The hairs on the back of my neck prickled to attention as big, creepy, looking guy number one angled his body in my direction and taking a step forward. Big, creepy, looking guy number two was heading towards the closest exit, his eyes trained on me. There was something familiar about his walk. He had an arrogant swagger that my brain recognised as dangerous.

The men's room door finally swung open and David was finally heading towards me. I should be feeling some tension relief now that I wasn't by myself anymore but my auto pilot was refusing to stand down. Creepy guy one and creepy guy two hadn't gotten any less creepy. They were both staring intently at me while moving into attack formation. Time to go. I grabbed David by the arm, dragging him to the safest exit.

"Where are you going? We're parked in the other carpark, not this one." He was tripping over his own feet by the sound of it, but I didn't feel him trying to stop me or change to the right direction. My best chance of escape was the door I was heading for and survivor mode me wasn't stopping for anything.

"Kat. Stop."

"Kat!"

"Are you even listening to me?"

"Katarina!"

I could hear the frustration in his voice and I wanted to reassure him that this was the safest way, but survivor mode me wasn't about to slow down unless it was safe. A small crowd was gathering on the other side of the automatic doors, recapping movie highlights and saying their farewells. Survivor mode me, quickly re-evaluated our escape plan. I liked this confident, take action survivor mode. There was no panic, just instant awareness of everything around me, even the slightest deviation from the possible threat was accounted for.

I weaved my way through the crowd, sidestepping stragglers and dragging poor David, behind me. His screaming at me was getting so loud, it was drawing attention to us. With my best, shut up and just trust me look, I turned to face him causing the most unexpected sequence of events.

Firstly, every thing seemed to switch to slow motion. I could see the spittle leaving his mouth as his words got faster and louder.

Secondly, both men I was running from had stopped in their tracks as if they'd ran into an invisible brick wall. They looked at me and then at each other. They exchanged a series of barely noticeable facial expressions, like they were having a silent conversation several metres apart. Then they just turned and walked away in opposite directions.

Finally, my body slammed against something hard, much like the invisible wall had stopped men that were chasing me. At the exact same time, David's face started to contort with a rage from deep within him and I didn't understand why. Until the invisible wall I had run into was actually Buck

And just like that my slow motion mode was switched off.

"Katarina, David, I didn't expect to run into you two, here." Buck acknowledged us both before addressing me directly.

"Mr Wilson." The words seethed out of David's mouth, thick with venom and seasoned with rage.

"Date night." I blurted out the first thought that I could pluck from the flood of them now filling my head. Electricity surged through my body causing the hairs on my arms to stand up. Where was super confident, take action Kat when I needed her, instead of this clumsy, damsel in distress I could feel was starting to take over. I was starting to recognise the actions that triggered these very reactions from my journal.

Being as far away as possible from Mr Buck Wilson seemed to be the only thing that could snap me back to reality. I wrapped my arm around David's waist, resting my opposite hand on his chest. It felt foreign, considering that being affectionate made me feel uncomfortable.

The crowd had started to dissipate, leaving the three of us just standing there. The silence was awkward, but the sound of David grinding his teeth getting louder by the second, it was only going to get worse.

"We have to make a move, our date isn't over yet." I cringed as soon as the words left my mouth. I sounded like some wanton floozy a night of indecency and depravity planned for the rest of the night.

"Well, goodnight then" he replied, before walking around us and the the door.

David gave me a little squeeze back and guided me to the carpark where his car was. He must have opted for the long way around rather than the way Buck had gone. His mood was improving the further away from Buck we were, and judging by the upbeat tempo he was now whistling, my behaviour before we ran into Buck, was completely forgotten.

As soon as we got in the car, I took out my journal, writing down every detail. So much was running through my head the pressure was pounding like a drum between my ears. A pause button would be handy right about now. Just pause all the pressure and take a time out. By the time we pulled into my driveway, I had formulated a plan. I leaned over to David and gave him a goodnight kiss on the cheek.

I waited until his car was completely out of sight and headed around the back taking off my clothes along the way. By the time I made it to the treeline, I was completely naked and ready to find my cat.