White Fur

Chapter 10

Kanto’s POV

“What?”

“I said, what happened last night ‘Alpha’?” I heard Skyler’s question the first time I was just in disbelief. A couple hours ago I was carrying her unconscious body down the halls and the first thing she does is call me Alpha. Why would she do that…unless she knows?

Do you think she knows? I tried reaching out for Zenith but he’s been quiet for a while too. He took full control in that alley, I think he’s afraid that he over did it. No, she can’t know I didn’t do anything too suspicious I don’t think and I’m pretty sure she was unconscious for most of my conversation with Dr. Garcia.

“What do you remember?” I need to know how much I need to cover my tracks.

Or you could just tell her. Zenith finally speaking up.

If I do, she’ll panic and run.

Kanto, our mate is stronger than you think. I don’t think she’d run. After all she was able to fight off those guys until we got there. I took a deep breath to think over what Zenith said while waiting for Skyler’s answer.

“I remember everything.” Her face was serious. “I want to know what happened with you last night.”

“Nothing happened to me, I’m fine.” I hope she would take my answer and drop the topic. But Skyler was stubborn.

“Ok fine, then what happened when you threw that one guy so hard onto the ground that the concrete broke and you made a divot in the ground with him? Or when you broke that guys arm with one hand? Or how you threw a guy so hard into the brick wall that it cause the wall to collapse? Or maybe the part were you threw the last guy 15 feet down the alley into a wall? Ringing any bells?” She saw all of that? At least she didn’t notice the last guy’s hand but still I don’t know how I’m going to talk my way out of this.

“It must have been the adrenaline. You know like those moms who can lift cars off their babies.” I didn’t dare to make eye contact with Skyler. I’m usually pretty decent at lying when needed but I couldn’t lie to her, this was torture.

“Adrenaline. Right. Sure.” Skyler obviously wasn’t buying it. “Fine. What about why Dr. Garcia calls you Alpha?”

“Oh he calls me that because that’s what he used to call my dad.” That’s technically not a lie, but it wasn’t the type of explanation she was looking for.

“Ok. Then what about your eyes?” Skyler crossed her arms across her chest as she sat in her bed. Her face was still very serious.

“What about my eyes?”

“Normally you have soft hazel eyes. But sometimes they turn a completely darker shade of hazel. Like they are completely different eyes.” Oh s**t. I didn’t think she would notice when Zenith would take over. Maybe I can just say it was the alley lights. “And it wasn’t just in the alley this has happened. I noticed this on our first date too. It happened many times that night. Why do they do that?”

“My eyes don’t change color, they’ve always been hazel.” I don’t know how to answer her questions. I don’t think she’s ready for the truth.

When I finally looked her in the eye again I saw the painfully sad expression on her face. She slowly nodded her head and took a deep breath. “Well… ok then. Thank you for calling the doctor but you are not needed here anymore.”

“Wait, what?” I can’t tell you the truth yet, it’ll be too much too fast.

Just tell her. Tell her now. Zenith growled at me.

“I don’t need you anymore. You may go and find another girl who will believe that bullshit.” Skyler yanked her hand out of mine and shuffled over to the other side of her bed.

“Skyler, please.” I pleaded while my heart was breaking into millions of tiny pieces.

Tell her now, you f*****g i***t. Zenith was about to fight me for control. I swear if our mate rejects us because of your stupidity, I’ll make your life a living hell.

“No Kanto. You asked me to trust you and I did. Now when I’m asking for the truth, you feed me this garbage. So either I’m actually going crazy and should get myself help or you, a person who supposedly cares about me, is lying and letting me believe I’m going crazy. So which is it?” I could feel her anger rising and I didn’t blame her, I was lying but it was for her benefit.

“I can’t tell you the truth. Not yet, it’ll be too much.” I felt so guilty.

“Can’t or won’t tell me. And too much for who? Me or you? I trusted you, why can’t you trust me.” Behind Skyler’s anger there was hurt in her eyes, she was begging for the truth.

She’s going to find out sooner or later. Zenith had a point but this still won’t be easy.

I inhaled deeply before releasing it. “Skyler, I’m a werewolf.”

Skyler’s face dropped to a blank expression, she shook her head slowly then rolled over in the bed. “Bye Kanto.”

“I’m being serious.”

“Yea and I’m a winter fairy. Thanks for visiting.” She didn’t budge.

“First off, if you were a winter fairy you would have melted since it’s so hot in here. Second, you would be way smaller and I would have caught your scent. Third, I’m telling you the truth.”

“Kanto werewolves and fairies don’t exist.” She rolled over to face my serious expression. That’s when her face changed. “Oh my gosh…you…you actually believe you’re a werewolf.”

Hahaha now she thinks we’re the crazy ones. Zenith was roaring with laughter but I don’t know why.

This isn’t good for either of us. I scolded him.

Gosh I love our mate, she so stubborn and logical. She’s going to outsmart us for the rest of our lives. You have to show her. You have to shift and let me meet her, that’s the only way she’ll get it. Zenith was enjoying this too much.

Are you crazy?!? We’ll scare her. She might even hurt herself more if she gets too frightened. Why wasn’t this wolf getting it.

She’s not some weak little pup, our mate is tough and fierce. She can handle it, trust me. Zenith had a point.

“Kanto, is there anyone we can call to help you?” Skyler was being patronizingly nurturing right now, I could feel Zenith rolling around with laughter. Asshole. “Is there anywhere we can go?”

“Yea, we need to go to the woods.” I hate it, but Zenith was right, no more hiding. I got up from the chair next to Skyler’s bed. Its 5AM now, if we hurry we can make it to the edge of the woods before the sun comes up and people get there.

“May I ask why you want to go in the woods away from witnesses?” Skyler’s eyes were squinted, probably reflecting on the joke about me being a murderer.

“You want proof of me being a werewolf? Well I need space to show you.”

“How much space?” Skyler’s expression was now one of curiosity. Like she wanted to know if I was telling the truth or if I was crazy.

“Just a bit more than your room. Oh and I’ll need a towel.” Skyler pointed to where the towels were kept. I walked over and grabbed one. When I turned around Skyler was on her knees in her bed fiddling with the flower painting on her wall. “What are you doing?”

“Well you said you needed more space so how about the roof?”

“Ok? That should work, but why are you messing with your painting?” I was confused on what was happening but then I saw what she was trying to do.

“Drapes aren’t as effective at blocking out the light so I hung this painting over my window. And this fire escape leds all the way to the top of the building.” She winced and grabbed her side so I helped her remove the painting from the wall. There really was a window there. “Besides if someone tries to break in through the window, the painting will fall on me alarming me to the danger. Like a cheap security system.”

“After this I’m installing a security system on your window.” I was dead serious until I heard Skyler laughing.

“I’m joking, the windows have a security feature. If someone breaks in, it goes off.” That when i noticed a white security box on the window where if not shut down in time it screeches. After turning off the security system, Skyler pried the window open and limped out onto the fire escape slowly. “Well are you coming?”

“You know, you really shouldn’t be climbing up a fire escape right now with your injuries.”

“Yea well you really shouldn’t be telling people you’re a fictional being. But here we are.”

I let Skyler take the lead up the fire escape. She had to climb the ladder with one hand since her wrist was broken. I offered to carry her up but she just ignored the question. I felt guilty for her climbing in her condition but she was stubborn and wouldn’t let me help. It took awhile but we finally made it up to the rooftop. I looked around the rooftop, it was pretty empty and there definitely was enough space, the only thing up there were 2 old plastic beach chairs.

“Is this enough room for you?” Skyler stood there with one arm grabbing the one with the broken wrist. I could see her shiver a little. She was wearing an oversized long sleeve shirt but the pj pants were more like pj short shorts. When I brought her back to her apartment it was the first thing I could find, I wasn’t thinking. She squeezed herself tighter then let out a sigh. “I’m not cold, I’m just adjusting to the temperature. Is this enough room?”

“Yes this is fine.” I hated this we were talking like we were complete strangers. Even when we were complete strangers the conversation was warmer than this.

“Alright then.” She shrugged and looked at the ground.

I took a deep breath, then let it out. I needed to do this or else things will not work out between us. I started to undress while I explained. “I just want to give you a heads up, I’m about to turn into a big wolf. The initial sounds of the transformation aren’t pleasant but it shouldn’t last very long.”

“What are you doing?” She asked sounding completely shocked.

“I’m trying to explain that everything will be ok. That even as a big wolf I’ll still know who you are and I won’t hurt you.”

“No, I get that. But why are you getting naked, didn’t you get the hint that now is not the time.” Her entire face was beet red as she stared at me wide eyed while I was standing there shirtless.

“Oh I’m sorry, I didn’t want to ruin my clothes. I don’t have any extra clothes here so I didn’t want to rip these ones. If I shifted with my clothes on they would get ripped. That’s why I brought the towel.” I lifted the towel but I was enjoying seeing Skyler all flustered catching me with just my shirt off.

“Uh ok.” She shifted her gaze back to the ground, but her face was still very red.

I finished undress and made sure the towel was wrapped around my waist tightly so it wouldn’t fall. I checked again to make sure there was enough room for me to shift.

“Alright, I’m going to shift now but I can’t talk to you once I shift. Just remember there’s no need to be afraid, I won’t hurt you.” Skyler looked up from the ground but maintained her blush. “Are you ready?”

She nodded.

Are you sure we should do this? I asked Zenith still not sure this is the best idea.

Yes, our mate can handle it. He was confident and I should be too.

I took another deep breath and started to shift. Bones popped and fur grew all over my body. My transformations only usually take one second but I tried to take it slower this time to really show her it wasn’t a trick. This is real.

When I was fully transformation I shook out my fur and then looked at my mate. I knew she would be scared but I wasn’t ready for that face. She looked absolutely horrified and it stayed there for a couple seconds.

Shit, I knew this was a bad idea. And we can’t talk to her in this form to calm her down. I bowed my head and took a step away from her.

Hey at least she didn’t run. Zenith was being weirdly optimistic. I was pissed at him. I closed my eyes just thinking about how stupidly I acted. I knew I should have waited. She’s never going to-

That’s when I felt sparks from my fur by my ear. It took all I had to slowly raise my head instead of snapping it up in surprise. It was Skyler’s hand next to my ear. She was staring at me with fascination but I could still see the tears in her eyes. Her eyes kept inspecting me as if trying to connect what just happened with the logic in her brain. Zenith took control for a brief second and straightened his body out while sticking up his chin. I laughed and remembered making the same stupid pose for Skyler on our first date.

Skyler’s hand kept petting our fur, but moved down my back. I could tell it was hard for her to reach so I decided to lay down for her. She continued quietly while I watched. She winced and then smiled to herself as if she forgot about what happened earlier. That’s when she sat down next to me. I tried to curl around her as best as I could but she’s so small compared to the massive size of my wolf form. She turned and leaned back against my fur as if it was comforting her.

See I told you she wouldn’t run. I could tell Zenith was smirking.

Alright Zenith, I’ll give you this one. I reluctantly replied to my wolf.

We sat like that for a while taking in the night air. Then Skyler started to get up, once she wasn’t leaning on me any more I got up and nuzzled my head under one of her arms to help her up.

“Thanks.” She half smiled at me as she sighed. “Um, Zenith?”

Wait did she just say my name? Zenith was extremely excited, I know the feeling. It’s the same feeling when Skyler says my name.

“I’m so sorry I meant Kanto. I don’t know where that came from.” Skyler looked little embarrassed but mostly confused. “I’m going to head back to my apartment. Something tells me that when you change back you won’t be wearing the towel so I’m going to give you privacy. But I’ll see you back there because I have a lot of questions.”

I nodded towards her, she gave me a gentle smile and headed back to the fire escape. I watched as she slowly disappeared over the ledge of the building.

Zenith, how did she know? I didn’t tell her.

Who cares, she said my name! Zenith was excited and filled with pride for finally being recognized by our mate. I felt bad because usually in wolf form he takes over, but I kept control because I didn’t want him to act on his more horny impulses.

But how would she know? I’ve never heard of a mate bond doing that especially with a human. It’s usually after they are mated and marked that they can have that connection. It doesn’t make sense. I didn’t want to ruin his fun but things weren’t making sense. First Skyler’s strong mate bond feelings and now her saying Zenith’s name without knowing it prior. But she lacks the scent of someone supernatural, things weren’t adding up.

I took a pause from my thoughts and shifted back into my human form. Cool morning air hit my bare skin, it was refreshing. I put my clothes back on and started to try to predict the questions that Skyler was going to ask so I could have answers.

Brett, can you handle business today? I need to stay with Skyler. I mind-linked my Beta, it’s been a long night and I know she’s going to have a lot of questions.

No problem, Alpha. Have fun making that pup. I swear I have no clue how that guy became my Beta.

I climbed down the fire escape back to Skyler’s apartment. Before I crawled in I saw Skyler asleep on her bed. I chuckled a little at the sight of my mate all tuckered out. So many things happened last night and this morning, I’m shocked she didn’t fall asleep sooner. I maneuvered my way in without disturbing her, closing the window and resetting her painting. I looked at Skyler’s couch and wondered if I could sleep there. Of course I’d rather be with her but I was in trouble half an hour ago. I sat in the chair by her bed and stroked a couple strands of her hair out of her face. I took a deep breath and released it, I got up from my chair but something caught my arm.

I looked down and Skyler was grabbing my arm but she still seemed like she was sleeping. She whispered “Stay.”

In a quiet voice I said “I’m going to, I was going to go to the couch.”

She scrunched up her face ever so slightly “No, stay with me.” She tugged on my arm.

“Ok.” I’ve been wanting to have my mate in my arms since before I met her, there was no way I was going to sleep on that couch now.

Skyler let go of my arm sat up a little bit and sleepily pointed at her dresser. “Bottom drawer, super oversized clothes.” Then lied back down to sleep.

I just smiled, she’s exhausted and is still making sure I’m ok. I found a pair of really huge sweatpants but none of the shirts fit. So I switched into the sweats but kept my shirt on. I turned off all the lights in her apartment before carefully crawling into bed with my mate. I lied on one side of the bed and Skyler quickly backed herself up against me. But when I put my arm around her she sighed kind of like she was frustrated. Before I could ask, she rolled over with eyes barely open and then started to unbutton my shirt.

This was not a good idea, Zenith’s dirty thoughts were creeping into my brain. I could feel myself getting hard. I needed to calm down.

“I told you to stay, I want you to be comfortable, so take off your shirt.” I did as I was commanded, Skyler gave me a small smile. “Good.”

Then she rolled back over and resnuggled herself against me. I wrapped my arms around her and instantly more sparks were sent through my body which did not help with my current situation.

I was finally holding my mate in my arms. I know we would have a lot to talk about later but this felt so right. This is the way we were meant to be and I have no plans of going back to the way things were before.