The Chosen One

Chapter 3

As soon as she was out of sight, Francine stood on her tiptoes and grabbed a handful of Nomer's blonde hair, tugging his head down to hers.

"Unless you want me to use your balls for earrings, I suggest you cut it out with the jokes, okay?" Francine warned lowly in his ear, reaching the end of her tether with him teasing her all the time and putting her down.

She let go of his hair and shoved him back a few steps. She wasn't a warrior anymore, but she wasn't going to take any crap either.

"Hey, Icy, chill out, okay? I'm sorry, I was just playing around. I didn't mean to upset you," Nomer looked beyond shocked.

"Jesus... I'm sorry too, but can you just lay off the digs, please? I'm in a really weird and oversensitive mood," Francine apologized. What the hell was she doing, behaving like an unstable psycho to her best friend? She ran her hands over her face in frustration.

"No problem... girl problems, most likely. I get it. So, this guy-" Nomer cringed at the mention of 'girl problems' before changing the subject to a more complicated one.

"Dave," Francine corrected him. For some reason, Nomer couldn't bring himself to say his name like it would burn him or something, which was going to be awkward when he arrived.

"Ok, so Dave... do you have to invite him in... is there some special procedure we have to follow, or is he gonna just waltz on through a house full of werewolves?!"

"I already invited him in, apart from needing to, it's just good manners. And no, he comes in through my bedroom window, and before you ask, no, the sunlight does not make him a big ball of flames, and he doesn't sparkle either," Francine ran off a list of the endless myths that she knew Nomer was ready to ask in one mouthful to avoid hearing it.

"Okay, so the invitation part of what you just said. Both of those statements are just leading to more questions. When you say you've already invited him in... 'to your bedroom'... you mean to have a strictly platonic, hands-off friendship, right??" Nomer seemed to have a lot of ideas swirling around his head.

His big brown eyes were bulging out of his head like his brain was about to overheat and explode. Francine just laughed and left that to his wild imagination to figure out.

Luckily, the clip-clopping of high heels echoed through the hallway, and Starla appeared, looking like she'd made a lot of effort for a cozy movie night. Tight black jeans hugged her figure, and she towered like a supermodel in black stilettos. A fitted red t-shirt finished her outfit, matching her scarlet lipstick perfectly.

But she wasn't alone. A strikingly gorgeous girl with luscious light brown hair, about the same age as them, smiled brightly at them and gave a small wave.

"This is Mina from the Sacred pack. Her mate is the beta Hayden, and he is really busy, so I invited her to join us," Starla introduced them, smiling awkwardly at the addition to the group.

"Hi, I'm Francine."

"Nomer."

"We brought snacks," Mina waved a carrier bag up as if it was precious treasure. Snacks were good. They liked snacks. She was in!

Starla, Mina, and Nomer got comfortable on Francine's bed, and she sat on the window seat, waiting for Dave with the window wide open for him.

For some reason, her gaze was drawn deep into the night towards the tree line of the forest, like something was luring her out there. Usually, she'd have been frightened by that feeling in case it was a sign of danger, but something about this felt like a warmth was awaiting her there. There was something comforting, like a sense of security there. She just didn't know what on earth it was.

"Boo," Dave suddenly appeared at the window and chuckled as he snapped her back into reality. He climbed in and stood tall as all eyes fell on him, and everyone was suddenly silent.

"Guys, this is Dave... Dave, this is Nomer, Starla, and Mina is from the new pack I told you about," Francine introduced them. Could this get any more awkward?

Starla was eyeing Dave completely unashamedly, while Nomer stared at him, sizing him up as if he was trying to gauge whether or not to punch him in the face. Mina just looked dumbfounded, her mouth wide open like she wanted to speak but no words were coming out.

"I've heard a lot about you two from Francine... and Mina, welcome to town," Dave clearly felt uncomfortable, but Francine was grateful he was making the effort to be polite.

"We've heard about you... I mean what you did... for Francine... I can't tell you how thankful we are," Starla finally managed to communicate like a normal person.

"Yeah, we owe you," Nomer agreed reluctantly, giving Dave a half smile.

"Is he a-" Mina whisper-shouted, clearly uncomfortable and a bit surprised.

"Yes, I am, but don't worry, you're perfectly safe," Dave interrupted her, sensing her levels of concern and panic heightening at his presence in Francine's room.

"Apparently, werewolves taste like crap, so we are off the menu," Francine added nonchalantly, as if it was a perfectly normal conversation to be having.

"Oh right... that's good, I guess," Mina nodded, still trying to process what was going on. She probably thought they were crazy.

They all got comfortable and began to watch the movie, filling their bellies with their own body weights in junk food.

"So, how are you doing?" Dave whispered in Francine's ear as she snuggled her head against his body, trying to get cozy.

"I'm okay, how was your day?"

"Not bad. So, this new pack is all settled in then?" he asked while playing with loose strands of Francine's blonde hair that had strayed from the bun she'd tied it in earlier.

"Yeah, they are here to support us and strengthen our warriors. Alpha Saber is supposed to be the best of the best. Although I get the feeling my dad's not overly keen on him," Francine chuckled, recalling the frown on her dad's face when they talked about the new alpha. He was not going along with this happily.

"So, this new alpha, have you met him?" There was a tense tone to Dave's voice, as if he didn't like this new alpha.

"No, not yet. I'm not a warrior anymore, so there's no reason for me to meet him," Francine shrugged her shoulders and sighed sadly, wishing she could fight like everyone else, like before.

"Have you met him before?" Francine enquired curiously, craning her neck around to see his face.

"We've crossed paths," he admitted through gritted teeth, his eyes glazed over as if he was reliving a memory. Anger, fear, jealousy maybe.

Francine didn't like to press him any further on it, so she left it, hoping that maybe one day he'd tell her more about it if and when he wanted to.

Francine fell asleep halfway through the movie with her head resting on Dave's arm. His muscles were too comfy, just like a firm pillow against her cheek. His free hand had been gently stroking her hair, lulling her into a deep slumber.