White Fur

Chapter 11

Skyler’s POV

The office was quiet, I knew what he was going to say next but I didn’t want to hear it.

“Ms. McCarthy with everything that happened at the festival and the damage to school property. The school board has decided to let you go.” Mr. Rodriguez had a strict look on his face which signaled to me that it was over. “Ms. McCarthy, I tried my best to prevent this. You are beloved by our students and our staff but unfortunately the school board couldn’t ignore the complaints.”

I looked down at my hands fiddling with my fingers trying to think of what to do next. Then I suddenly stopped as if my thoughts were about to come up with a solution.

But then I felt a sharp pain in my side, the world around me was fading.

I opened my eyes and took a deep breath. It was only a dream, I guess my mind is overly imaginative because I have my meeting with Mr. Rodriguez on Thursday. But the pain was real. There was some added weight pressing on my side. I glanced down at my side to see an arm draped across my body. I slowly rolled over to see a peaceful sleeping Kanto in my bed. I remember now, my thirsty self invited him to stay over. And yep, I took his shirt off too, I really need to learn to control myself.

I took a deep breath and release it. I silently study his sleeping face. His dark brown hair tousled on my pillow and a bit in his face. His thick eyebrows at ease on his forehead, while his eyelids hide those perfectly mesmerizing hazel eyes. His sharp square jawline was relaxed. And his lips just sat there taunting me to taste them again as my thoughts remembered our first kiss.

My gazed continued to move down to his very exposed chest, lucky me. I shamelessly stared at Kanto’s well built figure, his tan chest tight with muscles as it rose up and down from his breathing. I glanced at the six pack he had and had to shift away from the dirty thoughts I was having. But something else caught my eye. Four silvery scars that when from Kanto’s left collar bone towards his left elbow. I wonder what they could be. They look more like claw marks but how would someone get claw marks that big? Well I mean he is a werewolf so he-

I shot up so I was sitting on my bed and my breath begin to get faster. The rapid movement caused Kanto to bolt up too.

“What’s wrong? Are you ok?” Fear and worry were evident on his face. I could still see he was a bit groggy from the rapid awakening and felt a bit guilt.

“Nothing’s wrong, I’m fine. I’m just…” I paused for a moment trying to calm myself down. “I’m just going to use the bathroom and take a shower.”

I got up from the bed and heading to the bathroom. I felt Kanto’s sad gaze on me, so I turned around to face him again. “You can go back to sleep, if you want. I do still have a lot of questions for you so please don’t leave.”

I could see Kanto relax his shoulders and his sad face lessened. “I won’t leave you.”

I nodded my head slightly with a small smile on my face and stepped into the bathroom. I walked over to turn on my shower and once the water was running, I slid down to the floor and let the panic set back in.

Kanto is a werewolf!?! And not just a cute little dog sized one, a whole huge-ass wolf. His face practically came up to mine, if he didn’t tell me he was a werewolf I would think he was a giant bear or a really furry horse. But this means that werewolves are. . .real. What other fairytale creatures are also out there? I feel as if my world is collapsing in on me.

I shifted my weight to get up, I put my hand down on the tile to push myself up and instantly regretted it. Pain instantly shot through my left arm and I remembered what else happened last night. I started to take off my clothes until I was standing in front of the mirror naked. The mirror was steaming up but I could still see the damage that had been done. I stood and looked at myself in horror at the results of last night. There was a huge bruise on the right side of my face with a cut on the left side of my bottom lip. My neck looked like it was painted black, purple and blue with an off center cut where that asshole put his knife. My rib cage had a bruise as big as a baseball mitt on the right side while my left wrist was in the cast Dr. Garcia set. That’s when I remembered another injury I couldn’t see, the stitches on the back of my head.

I let out a heavy sigh, I was a mess. I turned down the water temperature before getting into the shower. I carefully rinsed out my hair, sensitive about the stitches. Then I turned to face the shower head and let the water rush over me. I looked down for a brief moment and noticed that the water coming off me was a light pink color as it washed off the blood. I tilted my head back and closed my eyes trying to process everything that’s happened within the span of 24 hours. But one thing was certain, Kanto saved my life last night.

I finished up with my shower and wrapped my towel around me. I walked over to the sink so I could put on my change of clothes but instantly realized my stupidity. I was in such a hurry to get into the bathroom that I forgot to bring a change of clothes. The promiscuous side of me got excited at the thought of letting Kanto see me in my shower towel. The logical, more rational side thought my other side was psycho and was regretting what I had to do next.

I gathered my courage and opened the bathroom door slowly, trying to peek at what Kanto was doing. He was laying on my bed staring at the ceiling with one hand running through his hair. He looked a bit distracted in his own thoughts. I thought that I had a chance to sneak out and grab clothes but was quickly reminded of the layout of my apartment and how my dresser was on the other side of the bed. I just gotta suck it up.

I whipped the door opened and scurried over to my dresser. I quickly grabbed any clothes I had and scurried back to the bathroom, not acknowledging Kanto at all. I knew for a fact I was blushing intensely. I took a couple breaths to calm myself before carefully changing into another oversized long sleeved shirt and a pair of sweatpants that were too long but too comfy to throw out. Im just going to pretend that what just happened didn’t happen.

I opened the bathroom door, to see Kanto sitting up in my bed, a wide-eyed shocked expression on his face that looked a bit more red than usually. I took a step out of the bathroom, not making direct eye contact with Kanto and heading toward the kitchen. He just kept gazing at me in wonder.

“. . .would you like some eggs?” Trying my best to avoid addressing what just happened.

Kanto cleared his throat and shook his head as if shaking thoughts out of his mind. “Uh yeah sure.” He flipped the sheets off of him and walked towards me. As he got closer I felt my heart start racing again. “Would you like me to make them?”

“No, I can do it.” I had to take my eyes off of the impressive man in front of me. He still wasn’t wearing a shirt and it really didn’t help that the sweatpants he borrowed from me we hanging so low on his hips. I had to actively remind myself it’s rude to drool in front of people.

“Let me make breakfast, you should be resting.” He stepped closer into the kitchen until he was within arms length of me. “Please, let me make you breakfast.”

I caved and nodded my head, I was so focused on not letting my mouth gape open at the masterpiece in front of me that I just agreed to whatever he said. He could have asked me to rob a bank and I probably would have said yes. What the hell is wrong with me?

Kanto just smiled with a slight chuckle and made his way to the fridge. He took out some milk, eggs and some cheddar cheese. He placed the ingredients on the counter before finding a frying pan, spatula, cup and fork. This man knew his way around my kitchen better than I did.

“You can go sit down or go back to sleep, I’ve got this.” He gave me a confident smile, so I walked over to my dinning table and relaxed for a bit in one of the chairs while watching this man cook. After a couple of moments a delicious aroma filled my apartment. Kanto walked over to the table with two plates of scrambled eggs and toast. Kanto settled everything on the table, well, almost everything. I was about to get up when his expression change.

“Oh yea!” He mumbled to himself, getting up from the table and going back to my fridge. He opened it, grabbed what he was looking for, then closed the fridge and walked back with his prize. A bottle of ketchup. He shyly said “I like having ketchup on my eggs.”

“Me too.” His eyes beamed with happiness at my comment as he poured some ketchup on my scrambled eggs. We ate in silence, I don’t think either of us had an idea on how to start this conversation. So I was the first to speak again.

“That was really good, thank you.” I wiped my face with my napkin hoping I didn’t leave anything on my face but careful not to reopen the cut on my lip.

“I’m glad you liked it. I don’t cook very often so I was happy to do it.” Kanto gave me a gentle smile.

“So. . .” I started “you’re a werewolf.”

“Yes.” Kanto’s gentle smile disappeared to leave a more serious expression.

“Honestly there are so many things about that one statement that I don’t even know where to start.” I chuckled at my own honesty, so did Kanto.

“Well, I’ll start with the basics then. We aren’t always werewolves, that side doesn’t kick in until later. When a werewolf is 13, they hear their wolf’s voice for the first time. Then on the first full moon after a person’s 16th birthday, they shift into their wolf form for the first time, it’s a brutal process but most are successful. Then at 18 wolves are able to find their mates.” Kanto was obviously trying to make this as easy to understand as possible, but his explanation brought more questions.

“So for the first 13 years of life, you are like a normal kid?”

“Yeah, our wolf doesn’t come to us until then.”

“What do you mean come to you?” I was just getting more confused.

“It’s kind of like a persons wolf is dormant until they turn 13. On their 13th birthday, the wolf wakes up and suddenly you aren’t alone anymore.” Kanto laughed a bit. “Sometimes I wish my wolf would leave me alone. It’s like having a whole other souls in your mind, gets annoying sometimes.”

“Can you choose to not have a wolf?” I paused for an answer and then realized how that might have sounded. “Oh no, not that there’s anything wrong with having a wolf or being a werewolf I just meant-“

“It’s ok, I know you weren’t trying to be cruel. But no, if you have a wolf you were meant to be a werewolf. It’s not a choice. Keep going.” He gave me a sweet, encouraging smile.

“Ok, you said at 16 you shift for the first time, shift as in the thing you did last night?”

“Correct.”

“Why did you say most survive?” That part scared me a bit, even though I wasn’t a werewolf.

Kanto sighed a bit and a pained look crossed his face. “Shifting into our wolf form requires our bodies to break almost all of our bones in order to take on the other form. The first time is extremely painful and takes a lot of energy. Some wolves don’t have the energy or strength to make it through the process. About 97% of wolves make it but unfortunately the not as healthy wolves don’t. As I said it’s a brutal process but overtime a werewolf gets used to it and can shift faster and soon it’s as easy as counting to 3.”

I could tell by Kanto’s face that this was a painful subject for him, he probably knew someone who didn’t make it through the shift. “I’m sorry for asking.”

“No, it’s alright. It’s been a long time since the pack I’m in has lost a member while they were shifting. All pack members are taken care of and we look out for each other.” Kanto’s expression changed to one of pride when he started talking about his pack.

“What’s a pack?” I obviously knew what a pack was, but I wanted to make sure it meant the same thing. I’m learning about a whole new world, I’m allowed to ask seemingly dumb questions.

“In the wild, wolves travel in packs, it’s like their family. Well just like them, we also live in communities we call packs. There are a lot of them out there. My pack is about an hour north of here in the forest.” Kanto pointed in the direction of his pack then continued with his explanation. “Pack members tend to work for the pack, such as warriors or helping at the pack house. Some of the pack members even work in the city amongst the humans.”

“Isn’t that what you do?” Remembering his very fancy building with his family name on it.

“Yea, sort of. Pack members tend to live on pack lands. There they meet their mates and live out their lives.” There it was, that word again.

“You’ve said that word before. What’s a mate?”

Kanto hesitated for a bit, his face flushing. Was he worried about how I would react to this?

“We werewolves believe that we were created by the Moon Goddess as the bridge between humans and nature. But the Moon Goddess created each of us missing two pieces of our souls. The first piece we gain back is our wolf. The wolf we get when we are 13 is apart of who we are, that’s the first part we get back. The second part not everyone finds.” Kanto’s face went very serious. “As I said at 18, we are old enough to find our mates, humans call it a soulmate. Once we find our mates, they become our whole world and we spend the rest of our lives with them. There’s a strong bond, the mate-bond, that pulls them together making them irresistible to each other. They are the missing part of our soul and a werewolf isn’t complete until they find them. It’s common that when werewolves turn 18 they go out into the world trying to find their mates. Some never do, but most are lucky to find them eventually.”

I thought hard about Kanto’s words. If he had a mate, what the hell was he doing with me? “Have you found your mate?” I couldn’t stop myself from asking, a part of me wished I hadn’t.

Kanto sighed “Actua-“

“Wait a second.” I interrupted him as the memory of our first time meeting rushed back into my mind. “At the festival, when I first literally bumped into you, you said the word ‘mate’. What does that mean?”

My eyes grew wide waiting for Kanto’s answer. “That’s because that was the moment I found my mate. You are my mate, Skyler.”