Chapter 23 NEW FRIENDSHIP

Chapter 23 NEW FRIENDSHIP
POV - Hazel

I kick him lightly with my foot, and he stirs from his sleep.
“You could have at least slept in your wolf form, it would have been comfier,” I commented.
“I was afraid your neighbors would call the dogcatcher on me,” he replies sleepily.
This makes me laugh, even if I’m trying to keep a seriously annoyed front.
“Come in,” I tell him not so nicely, but I’m not trying to be nice, I just don’t want my neighbors to stick their noses into my business.
He gets up visibly proved by the night spent on the hard floor, and I sneaker internally, that’s what you get when you don’t listen.
After I’ve closed the door, and he’s made himself comfortable without an invitation on my small and battered couch, I turn on him with the sternest look I can master. 
“I give you one breakfast and a shower, to thank you for your help yesterday, and then you are gone. Deal?”
“No can do. I’m not leaving,” he replies stoically.
“Why? I mean, we don’t even know each other well, what am I to you? Why do you even care what happens to me?”
 “Because my Alpha and Luna care very much about you, and I live to serve them, so I’m not leaving you here alone and unprotected, when a bunch of witches and your dear husband want to find you and rip your heart out.”
“Actually, Raspy said he wants to drown me, because it’s the most painful way to die. I’m not sure it is, though. Aradia didn’t agree either. Being skinned alive would be much worse, probably.”
“Hugh, no gruesome images in my head before my morning coffee, please. And who the fuck are Raspy and Aradia?” Danny grunts out.
“Please, gruesome is an essential part of being werewolf. And Raspy is that male witch, Aradia is one of the females, the other I think is called Diana.”
“Wow, you’re on first name bases with them now, that’s a turn I wasn’t expecting,” he remarks, placing both arms on the back of the couch, like he owns it.
“Obviously not, but I am attentive, and I paid attention to their conversations. For starters, I know that the man controls the water, and Aradia can control the air, Diana manipulates fire and can cast spells to block my powers and hinder my shift, although the others maybe can do that too, I’m not sure. Diana can cure injuries too.”
“Good to know. Any clue on the why they are hunting you?”
“Not really,” I reply absentmindedly, not wanting to tell him about my dreams, and at the same time replaying them in my mind in search for clues.
“We will find out. Anyway, do you have to be somewhere? You were leaving the house before you woke me.”
Darn, yes, my shift will start in 20 minutes, and that’s how long it takes me to get there on foot.
“I need to go!” I say hurriedly, grabbing my purse.
“Wait, I’ll shower quickly and take you.”
“Take me how?”
“With my car.”
“If you have a car, why did you sleep on my threshold?”
“Because you are too sneaky, I was afraid I’ll miss you passing me by, little Casper.”
“Fine, but you better shower fast!”
And with that, our cohabitation started, not as lovers, mind, just as friends. Danny has been given a job as dishwasher in the same Diner I’m working at, and we spend our days working our asses off, sparring to improve my combat skills, and drawing up a plan to infiltrate Illumina Corporation, to find proof of their wrongdoings and present it to the authorities.
I’m not sure if Danny has reported or not my location to Lukas, even though no one has come knocking on our door in the last two weeks he’s been here, so maybe I should stop worrying and cut him some slack.
I’m not sure how Derek would react if he knew that I’m living alone with a man, I don’t even know how I feel about it, but I argued with Danny on this for a long while, and he was unmovable on his belief that he needed to have his eyes on me at all times, in case some enemy showed up. I ended up giving up and conceding him to sleep on the couch. 
If I have to be true to myself, I kind of feel safer now that he’s with me, and even if he’s stubborn as a mule, he’s a pleasant person to be around; after his arrival my days don’t seem so bleak anymore. The nights, though, are bad, now I’m having dreams nearly every night, and some of them are so atrocious that often I’m awoken by my own screams. 
In tonight’s dream, Derek has been pushed off a cliff trying to save me, while I was bound to a tree, unable to do anything but cry and plead for mercy.
I woke up in cold sweat, my heart hammering against my rib cage and tears flowing like torrents down my face.
“Hey, it’s ok, it was just a dream,” Danny coaxes softly, while running his hand in circles over my back, just like Derek used to do to calm me down.
It’s the memories of these small little things that hurt the most, how Derek used to kiss me good morning with a small peck on the tip of my nose, how he laughed heartily at my failed attempts of sneaking on him without him perceiving me beforehand, and when he would massage my abdomen with his warm hand until the cramps of the poison would disappear. I miss him so much. I want my mate back.
I start crying even harder, and Danny comforts me by pulling me into a tight hug, holding me until I cry all my heart out, and until exhaustion pulls me again into a deep sleep, this time not plagued by dreams of past horrors.
I wake up to the sound of traffic outside our building, and a quick glance at the clock hung on the wall tells me that it is already late morning. Today is our day off, so I don’t even consider getting out of bed before noon, plus today my bed feels particularly warm and snuggly. 
I fall back into a sleepy slumber, until I feel two brawny arms press me against a solid warm surface, while a fastidious hard stick pocks my left thigh. I swat it away with my left hand, my hand connecting with fabric, while the solid wall of warmth behind me howls in pain, and at the same time releases me from his cozy hold. 
I immediately jump out of bad, connecting the dots together, and to my horror acknowledging that I have slept on a bed with a man who’s not my mate, and I’ve even touched his erected … 
My eyes fall on his stick, which he’s now massaging morosely through his boxers, making a series of dirty thoughts pop into my mind. I blush, and then immediately scold myself for looking at the penis of a man who’s not my mate. What’s wrong with me?
 Before I can embarrass myself further, I shut myself in the bathroom and start a long and refreshing cold shower, hoping all thoughts of sticks and stones leave my mind quickly.
When I’m out, already dressed and a little more collected, Danny has already got brunch ready for us, and is currently sitting at the table sipping his black coffee, like nothing happened.
I sit at my spot without a word and start eating in silence, avoiding his gaze at all costs.
“So, are we going to talk about it?” he starts, sounding a little offended.
He has the nerve to sound offended when he’s the one who crawled without permission into my bed and then dug his stick in my thing, which felt more like a branch, considering his humongous size. Which is only normal considering his exceptional height and size.
Ok, brain, stop embarrassing yourself. 
“I don’t know what there’s to talk about?” I reply nonchalantly, even though I’m nothing but.
“About what happened earlier,” he persists.
“Nothing happened,” I say firmly.
“Are you sure? Because I seem to remember you hitting my cock hard and then fleeing to the bathroom like your ass was on fire.”
He seriously wants to go there; like it wasn’t embarrassing enough living it firsthand, now he wants to reminisce together the glory details of me touching his dick! By mistake, I must add.