White Fur

Chapter 18

Skyler’s POV

My throat started to burn, I could feel the alcohol already starting to affect my body.

“I can’t believe you made me take a shot. Aren’t we getting a bit old for this?” I asked.

Sally’s scrunched up face relaxes after she’s finished sucking on her lime. She flips her hair and comments back. “Girl, we aren’t old. We aren’t old until we are 30 and even that’s young.”

I chuckled because she always said that. The club music was loud and people were dancing and drinking, enjoying the night. One dude was already passed out on one of the chairs.

“So are we getting you someone to go home with?” Sally’s eyebrows wiggled at her suggestion.

“I told you, I have a boyfriend.” As I said that my anger started to rise a bit again.

“Well then let’s dance instead, that’ll remove some of those angry feelings your giving off.” Sally downed the rest of her drink and placed the empty cup on the table. Before we could move to the dance floor though Sally stared at something behind me.

“Excuse me ladies, we couldn’t help but hear you wanted to dance. May we join you?” I turned around to face the person who said that.

That’s when my alarm went off. I groaned as I rolled over to my phone to turn off the alarm. I didn’t want to go for a run, I just wanted to lounge around all day. I sat up and started to get ready, logic being that there would be no way I could keep up with a werewolf but I might as well try. I put on some leggings and a loose tank top, threw on my sneakers, tied up my hair and turned on my music before heading out my apartment door.

I stepped out of my apartment building and absorbed the fresh morning sun rays on my face. I took a couple deep breaths before I started my jog. I ran on sidewalks that didn’t have too much foot traffic that I’d run into people, but still crowded enough to make me feel safe. As I ran down the street, I let my mind drift towards tonight. It’s been a couple days since I’ve seen Kanto and tonight is our first real date. No closed restaurants, no thugs, just us enjoying each other’s company. I knew I had to be ready by 5 and dress a bit more fancy, but beyond that I have no clue what’s going to happen tonight. I’ve been trying to pry information out of Kanto, but he won’t spill anything. It’s annoying.

As I got to a tiny corner park, I saw more people waking up and walking around. But the usual people I’ve been seeing were there participating in their regular routine. One women walking with her baby in a stroller. A younger man sitting on a park bench reading the newspaper. An elderly couple walking arm in arm slowly through the park. I smiled thinking about how calm everything was in that tiny park. I ran through the park, did a quick loop and headed back to my apartment. As I ran back, my eyes caught a piece of neon pink paper. I went over and read the flyer about how they plan to do a street farmers market next Wednesday. I took out my phone and took a picture of the flyer to remind myself to go next week.

When I finally made it back to my apartment building, I took in some more rays of sunlight before heading in. When I was safely in my apartment again, I started to stretch out so I wouldn’t be stiff or sore later. After my mini stretching session I headed to the bathroom to take a shower. As the water heat up, I inspected my body like I have been for the last week. All the bruising was gone, you wouldn’t have even guessed I was attacked. My wrist still hurt a little bit if I moved it too quick but nothing awful. This mate healing rate thing was impressive. I hopped into the shower and let the warm water soak my hair.

After my shower, I switched into some light comfy clothes since I was changing later anyways. I threw my hair up in a towel, poured myself some cereal and took out an empty notebook. This was the perfect opportunity for me to finally sort through the information I’ve gathered this week.

Kanto is a werewolf, and not just a werewolf a very, very large werewolf. He got his wolf, Zenith, at 13 years old, shifted into the giant wolf at 16, and could find his mate at 18. He didn’t find his mate at 18, because I’m his mate. A mate is like a soulmate but way more permanent. To fully become mates we have to have s*x and then he has to bite me on my neck. Do I bite him too? I’ll have to ask him that one. So far the pros I know about becoming mates, other than the obvious, Kanto, is that I get a boosted healing ability. Does he gain anything from me? Uh this is why I can’t mate with him yet. What if I provide nothing for him other than being a useless human. What if after a couple years he finds someone better or a werewolf, and wants to be with them but he can’t because he’s stuck with me. What if I hold him back?

I shut the notebook, I was supposed to be sorting through the things that I learned but ended up spiraling into my insecurities. I may not have known him long, but he’s been nothing but amazing to me so far. I shouldn’t make him suffer because of my insecurities, I know that. I let out a long sigh before getting up and putting my bowl in the sink. I still have plenty of time before my date, so I decided to look for teaching jobs. I need to find one before the next school year.

After a couple hours of scrolling through the website, I had no luck in finding an opening. Most of the school hiring were miles away and I can’t afford to move. Maybe when the new school year gets closer, jobs will be opening up. I could always get a restaurant job again or something similar if absolutely nothing gets posted. On the bright side, I got to spruce up my resume.

I still had some time to before my date but I might as well slowly get ready. I released my still slightly damp hair from the towel it was wrapped in and brushed it out. I headed back to the bathroom so I could blow dry the remaining wet strands. Maybe I’ll make a waterfall braid and curl the ends so it looks really cute. So I plugged in my hair curler and began to work on the waterfall braid to wrap around the back of my head. After many attempts, I made two braids, one on each side, and I made them meet in the middle wear I tied them together.

My curling iron still wasn’t quite hot enough so I walked over to my closet to figure out what I was going to wear. I pushed around clothes until I stopped on the black dress with poofy sleeves and the open back. I just stared at it for a moment. This was the dress I wanted to wear last weekend, the dress that once made me excited was now tainted with vivid memories of what actually happened. I took a deep breath and pushed the dress to the side, as cute as it is I just can’t wear it yet. I kept shifting through clothes until I came across a dress that would be perfect for tonight. It was a dark green dress with long sleeves. It had a sweetheart neckline and synched at the ribs before flowing out to just above where my knees would be. I took the dress out of my clothes as well as a brown belt and matching brown heels.

I went back into the bathroom to curl the bottom of my hair. I pulled out my phone to look up a tutorial on how to put on eyeshadow. After 4 tries to get it just right, I gave up and just put on the light amount of makeup I normally wear. I put on a natural colored lipstick and then inspected my work in the mirror. I was impressed, it took me shamefully long to get the look together but I had the time and the end result was worth it. I looked at the time and realized just how long it actually took me. Kanto was going to be here in 30 minutes! I switched into the dress I grabbed out, fastened the belt right where the dress went from tight to loose and grabbed my heels. I made sure everything was unplugged and put away before putting on my heels and heading out the door.

I started walking down the hall to the elevator when Ms. O’Hara opened her door. A warm smile on her face as she inspected me. “You look beautiful dear. What’s the occasion?”

“Thank you. I’m going on a date tonight.” I replied as I clicked the button for the elevator.

“Have fun but be safe.” She nodded her head then walked down the hall in the other direction. She must be going for one of her nightly walks. The elevator binged and I stepped in.

When I got to the bottom, I saw Kanto and my heart started to flutter. But I stopped walking, he was talking to someone. He was talking to a young man about 22, if I could guess, with brown, messy hair. I feel like I’ve seen him before but I can’t put my finger on when or where. The young man bowed his head and walked away. Kanto took out his phone and began to type. That’s when my phone buzzed.

-I’m downstairs, when you’re ready.

I didn’t reply I just walked towards the entrance of my building. Kanto smiled at me when I stepped out of the door.

“Wow, you look beautiful.” I felt my cheeks blush at his compliment as the butterflies began to stir again in my stomach.

“Thank you, you look very handsome too.” He really did. He wore a black, long sleeve, button up shirt that was doing it best to contain the muscles underneath. Why do I feel like most of his shirt have that problem. He wore a pair of grey pants that matched with his grey jacket. His dark brown hair has brushed back, instead of the messiness I’ve been getting used to, but a couple strands were trying to defy him by going in his face. I locked in on his hazel eyes and got closer to him. I was once again grateful for the stairs that led up to my apartment building because I was able to wrap my arms around Kanto’s neck and plant a much overdue kiss on his lips. When I released I caught his eyes becoming a dark hazel color before he grabbed my waist and pulled me in for another kiss.

I couldn’t help but giggle. “Hello Zenith, I’ve missed you too.” I heard a low growl as I felt a small smile grow in between kisses. It took a lot of effort to break away from Kanto’s lips but it had to be done. “I would stay here all night kissing you on the stairs, but I’m supposed to go on a surprise date at 5.”

Kanto straightened up his shirt, ran his hand through his hair then held out his arm. “My lady.”

I smiled as I linked arms with him, after getting down from the stairs we had to switch to holding hands due to the height difference. We walked down the street to his truck where he opened my door.

“Thank you.” I hopped into the car and put my seatbelt on while he closed the door and went to his side. “So where are we going?” I eagerly asked as soon as Kanto closed his door.

He smiled at me. “That is the question, isn’t it?”

I squinted my eyes at him. “You’re not going to tell me, are you?”

He chuckled before driving to our first destination. I crossed my arms and made a loud hmph sound with a pout on my face. This just made him laugh more. “You’ll find out soon, but first let’s get you some food.”

He drove us farther into the city until he pulled into a parking lot. Before I finished unbuckling my seatbelt, Kanto was already at my door opening it for me. I’m usually not a fan of this cheesy chivalry type stuff but I didn’t mind when it was Kanto. He offered me his hand, which I gladly took before getting out of his car. We walked hand in hand until he led me to a very fancy restaurant.

“I hope you like Italian food.” He smiled but I could tell he was a little nervous that I might not like it.

“I love Italian food, but you didn’t have to take me somewhere so fancy.” I glanced at the menu and caught a glimpse of the prices, I could feel pain radiating from my wallet.

“Don’t worry about it. I wanted to take you on a proper date so here we are.” His confidence was restored to his face as he opened the door for me. As we walked to the host stand I found myself fidgeting with my outfit making sure everything was perfect. Kanto said his name to the host, but then leaned down to me and whispered. “You look more beautiful than anyone here, please stop worrying.” I looked up at Kanto and saw such affection in his eyes, I couldn’t help but blush.

The host walked us over to our table, handed us menus and told us our server would be there soon. He wasn’t wrong, I heard the server audibly gasp when she saw Kanto, not that I blame her. She gathered her composure and walked over to our table.

“Hello, how is your evening going so far tonight?” She blatantly was just asking Kanto that question as she wasn’t looking or even facing me. I didn’t like her obvious infatuation with Kanto.

“We’re doing fine.” Sweet Kanto’s attention was on me, while the server gave me the slightest of side glances. “Would you like anything to drink?”

“It must be nice to have such a caring brother.” The server said to me.

I laughed a bit more obnoxiously than I should have. “Oh no he’s not my brother.” I grabbed Kanto’s hand and moved my hand up his arm, I added a seductive smirk on my face while I did. “If he were, the things we’ve done would definitely be frowned upon.”

It took everything I had to not laugh at the wide-eyed expressions both the server and Kanto were giving me. I removed my hand to pick up the menu. I continued talking to keep myself from laughing “I’ll have a glass of white wine please, anything for you honey?”

Kanto cleared his throat “I’ll have the same, thank you.”

The server blinked away the shock before going back to the kitchen. I decided to explain myself.

“Sorry about that. I don’t know what came over me.”

“No it’s fine, just a little caught off guard.” Kanto was still chuckling to himself, his ears a little red.

Maybe I was overthinking the waitress’s attention. It’s totally possible I was just getting possessive of Kanto. But it’s strange I’ve never felt this possessive over someone before, especially not someone I’ve only known for a little over a week. Maybe it’s just because there has already been so much between us.

“Hey, are you ok?” Kanto asked bringing me back to reality.

“Sorry, yeah I’m fine. Just lost in thought for a moment.” I gave him a gentle, reassuring smile.

Kanto took my hand away from the menu and put it in both of his. He brought my hand to his lips leaving a light kiss on the back. ”I want you to know that I’m here for you if you need to talk or have questions. I know that being my mate is a lot to absorb, but I just want you to be happy. So please don’t feel uncomfortable asking me anything.” He placed another kiss on the back on my hand before releasing it. The butterflies were growing in my stomach with each word he had said.

“It is a lot of new information. A whole new world that I didn’t think existed is now going to be apart of my life. But I think I can handle it if you’re there to help me.” I could feel my cheeks burning red. “But the first thing on my mind right now is what would you recommend to eat?”

Kanto laughed and told me what he liked. I let out small giggles thinking about how our tastes in food were so similar. The waitress came back placing our glasses of wine on the table. Still ignoring me, Kanto told her our food order. Kanto and I continued to talk about little things like how I plan to go to the farmers market and how his clients at work can’t work together to come up with the house they want. I couldn’t help but notice Kanto wince once or twice, but just for a moment. Other than that, he paid full attention to me, neither of us had our phones out or were distracted, I felt really connected to him.

“I’ll be right back, I’m going to use the bathroom.” I got up and tucked in my chair. I walked back to the bathrooms which were by the kitchen. Even the bathroom was fancy, way fancier than my apartment. After, I washed my hands, touched up my makeup a bit and made sure my hair was still in place.

As I walked out of the bathroom I heard our waitresses voice, which made me stop walking. “She’s not nearly good looking enough to be with a man like that. He could do so much better.”

“Do you think you have a shot? Our uniforms aren’t the most sexy. And I do have to admit her dress is really cute.” I guess she’s talking to another server.

“Of course I do. I’m obviously much hotter, I’m going to leave my number on the check for him. So he knows he has options.” She paused that conversation to answer a question, from I would suppose another employee, before continuing. “She may be cute but he’s way out of her league. What could a girl like that offer a man like him?”

I couldn’t listen to her anymore, because she was asking the same questions I was wondering all week. Kanto is amazing and on a whole other level compared to me. Why did he chose me? I walked back to the table feeling less confident that I did at the start of our date. I guess Kanto could tell because his face was instantly worried when I date back down.

I answered him before he could ask. “I’m fine, I’ll tell you later, ok?”

He nodded and put a small smile on his face. Just being in his presence made me feel better. I reached my hand out for his, Kanto didn’t hesitate to take it. Before we could continue, I caught our server from the corner of my eye bringing out our food. The anger inside of me started to rise again.

“All right here we go.” She place my food quickly before turning her attention straight to Kanto. She placed his plate with care in front of him, I scoffed under my breath at how blatantly she was trying to get Kanto’s attention. “Can I get you anything else?”

I cleared my throat which got her attention away from Kanto and onto me. “Yes can I please have a water? And can I also get an extra napkin for you?”

“A napkin for me?” She asked with a snicker.

“Yes, you seem to be drooling all over my boyfriend. And I wouldn’t want you to keep being a sloppy mess in front of all these people. So an extra napkin should do it.” I gave her a smile as her mouth gaped open. “Oh and one more thing. When it’s time for you to give us the check you don’t need to write your number on it. Unless if you want her number?”

“Why would I want her number?” Kanto answered perfectly.

This made me smile even more. I saw the waitress’s face turn red realizing I heard her. “Ok, thank you!” I said before she walked away to go back to the kitchen.

“Skyler?” Kanto said after I let out a small sigh. I lifted my eyes away from the delicious look food, Kanto’s face was serious. “Why would I want her number?”

“Oh I overheard her talking to another server about you. She said she was going to leave you her number so you could know you have options besides me.” I picked up my fork, trying to brush off the server’s comments.

“Skyler, it’s going to be you and only you for the rest of my life. I’m only ever going to want you. You know that right?” Kanto’s face was still serious but concerned.

“I know.” I smiled at him, I could see the relief wash over Kanto. Honestly though, I didn’t know. He could say all these sweet things now, but if life has taught me anything it’s that people change. I don’t want to get my hopes up for something that might end badly.