All tinsel and glitter

02

Alex POV

I looked around in this „establishment“. Leo dragged me. Normally, I would never entered such a club like the Shadow. Everything was a bit shabby. The table we sat around was marked with declarations of love of the last two decades and lovely statements like ‚Jaqueline is a w***e‘. The pads on the corner bench were scuffed and everything felt a little bit sticky. Hey Mister Grumpy. Here is another beer“. Leo placed a plastic cup in front of me. A plastic cup for beer! They serve the drinks in plastic cups so that, there is no broken glass on the floor‘. Yep. No broken glass. Therefore the dance floor was covered in I did not want to know what. If I had to guess everything from dirt over beer to the different sorts of cocktails. And to top off this cacophony of smells I could also make out the faint smell of the toilets. Uurgh, yes, a lovely place. To be fair all other customers besides Leo and me are human and for their insensitive nose noses that would not be a problem. I took the beer in my hand. This way the intense smell covered a little bit of the surrounding. „You wanted to see something different and here we are“ he added with a wide grin. „Yes“, I grumpel, „ but I thought of something more .. more appropriate“. Leo started laughing. „Don’t tell me that you feel uneasy as it is not one of your fancy clubs where a beer is around 10€. And don’t tell me it is too dirty Mr werewolf who likes to droll in the mud.“ I gave him a death glare. „Do I look like a wolf at the moment!?!? And mud doesn’t stink!“ Leo laughed even more and I couldn’t help myself but pout. He had a point and at the moment I don’t like it. I wanted to flee the high society werewolf bubble and asked him to pick a location for tonight. And this club is everything but not high society… at least I see no familiar faces. After he calmed down he added in a serious voice,“ I know this is something completely different and therefore I picked it. Nobody we know from home would even consider going here. And I expect that was the most important point. To get out. So please give it a chance. Next time you could pick the place and I promise I will follow you without complaining.“ „You are right and I will try“, I sighed,“sorry , I know you tried your best and in fact this place fulfills everything I asked for. And the music is good. Finally a place with something different than the usual stuff and new faces. Nobody bowed or try to win my attention so another bonus point.“ I leaned back on the bench and tried to clear my mind. Tonight it was only my best friend Leo and me. Two guys in a disco. No future Alpha with his future Beta. Simply two guys. At least and after all I got my space to breath free.

My gaze went to the dancing floor to the sea of people enjoying themselves and the music. It stopped at a girl who seemed totally lost in the moment and dancing with eyes closed as if she was the only person there. She was a natural beauty, around 1,65 m with dark blond hair in a ponytail and a sweet round face with freckles. With her plump lips she seemed to sing along the song to herself silently. She appeared to be totally at peace with everything. Maybe this club was not as bad as I thought.

I gulped the rest of my beer and stood up to head to the dance floor. Before I could think about I ended up behind the girl dancing at her rhythm and her flow of movements. I didn’t dare to touch her as she appeared so innocent. Normally I would have laid a hand on her hips to dance with her but on the moment it felt wrong. When the next song started she glanced over her shoulder and my eyes met her big brown once sparkling with life . She had a smile on her face. While still watching me she took a step back so that we were only millimetres away. The look on her face changed to a mischievous one as she continued moving. Her back strikes me softly like it was nothing and I could smell her hair with a sweet sent of a fresh morning at the lakeside. I put my hands on her waist and pull her a little bit further against my body so I could feel her movements and the warmth of her. After what seemed eternity ( what was in fact only one song) in gained the courage to put a kiss on the side of her neck and she leaned against me with closed eyes. I interpreted that as a yes and put a trail of kisses up to her earlobe which I nibbled softly. She parted away but before I could react in any way she turned and put her arms around my neck. She captured my eyes with her own deer brown ones. Without saying anything she leaned in for a kiss with her soft lips. I could drown in her aroma of sun and sea. I parted her lips with my tongue and started to explore her mouth.

When we parted breathing for air I asked her for her name. „Kathrin“, she answered in a sweet voice. Suddenly her watch vibrated and a message popped up. „I need to go. My friend is going to drive home“. She turned around and wanted to leave but I wasn’t ready to let her go. „May I have your number?“ Without a word she took my phone and tipped her number with the name ‚Kati Shadow‘ and handed it back to me. „See you around“, she waved me and disappeared in the crowd. On the other side of the room I could see her go upstairs towards the exit and I watched her until she completely disappeared. It was time for a last beer so I went to the bar and back to our seating area only to see Leo making out with a girl. I decided to wait aside the dance floor. 5 minutes later he mindlinked me ‚Home? I will take the girl with us.‘ ‚Okay. I’ll meet you at the car‘. I also started heading to the exit.

A short time later Leo arrived with a blond girl with too much make-up clinging to his side. „ Hi Alex, may I introduce Jaqueline? She will come with us.“ „ Nice to meet you“, I gave her a smile, „ I’ll drive and you can take the back seat.“

Finally we arrived in our shared apartment and Leo and Jaqueline disappeared in his room. I hoped I would find some sleep tonight with the thought of Kathrin and what could have been tonight if she hadn’t had to go … and the noise coming from Leo’s room. Gross!

I wished they had the right stuff in this club... something which could knock me out. But without that sleep wouldn´t come ... F*cking werewolf hearing! And why must Leo exaggerate it? Isn't one time enough?!?! I groaned inwardly. At some point sleep must have overwhelmed me finally, because I was woken by the sunlight which came through my window. Great, just great! I also forgot to close the curtains. I slowly got up and stretched my limbs. I looked at the watch , it was 6:00. So maximum 4 hours of sleep. Surprisingly I felt completely refreshed and full of energy. I opened the window and deeply inhaled the fresh morning air. A run would be the right thing to clear my head. Ear plugs, shorts, a shirt and my wet-bag and I was ready. I opened a random HardRock-Palylist on my mobile and started to run. We had our flat in Sachsenhausen and the next forest was around 4 km away. I jogged through the suburbs of Frankfurt to the beat of the music which were deserted this early in the morning. When I reached the forest line I searched for my favorite tree which had a little hole in between its roots. There I placed my clothes safely wrapped in the wet bag. After I got in a rain one time and all my belongings became wet I preferred the safe way.

After everything was secured I let my wolf take over. It was such a liberating feeling to feel my paws in the grass which was still glistering with morning dew. It was relaxing to give Fenrir all control and just watch from the back. To just let him do. He trotted through the underwood, followed the traces of a bunny and finally went to the lake. This location reminds me of her. It smelled like her. Dammit. I only encountered her for a short time and we didn't even sleep together. But nevertheless, I could not get her out of my mind.