Chapter 22 FROM THE DEAD

Chapter 22 FROM THE DEAD
POV - Hazel

“Danny?” 
I turned around to find him a few steps behind me, dressed in casual jeans and a T-shirt, completely fine and breathing.
“I thought you were dead,” I choke out, covering my mouth with my hands before a sob escapes it. We haven’t known each other for long, but the guilt of his death always weighted on me, and now seeing him alive and fine, I feel like finally a weight as been lifted from my heart. 
He approaches me and places a warm comforting hand on my shoulder, smiling kindly.
“So, what trouble have you put yourself into this time? Looks like these two have pissed you off big time?” he asks nonchalantly, raising a perfectly arched blond eyebrow, and taking a look at the two men who have now gotten back on their feet, and seemed undecided on what to do, flee or attack, what a dilemma.
“These two apparently can’t take no for an answer,” I say flatly, not trying to mask my anger and disgust.
“What? Seriously? You are not bad looking lads, is it so difficult to find a willing girl that you need to force one into your bed? Also, haven’t you noticed that she is marked? Mom should have taught you that marked females are off limits.”
“What are you, her mate? If so, know that she was giving out free blowjobs in the diner she works at. Still think that she’s all that innocent?” Browny trys stupidly to rat me out.
“Hey, it was one blowjob, and definitely not for free!” I argue.
Danny gives me a “seriously?” look but doesn’t comment on the BJ thing, and I mouth a “I’ll explain it to you later”.
 Danny clears his throat and then continues, “Whatever, I’m not her mate, but a friend, and I won’t tolerate anyone hurting my friend; so, you either scram and don’t let us see your faces ever again, or I’ll have to teach you the lesson your parents forgot to engrave into your thick skulls.”
“Honestly, this is all very manly and everything, but I can take care of myself, you know?” I interject, annoyed that he thinks I’m not able to protect myself.
Instead of getting angry, Danny chuckles, in an endearing kind of way, and winks at me. 
“I’m well aware, but you are trying to keep a low profile, and my mom taught me to be a gentleman, so this time you just sit it out, and let me take care of it, alright?” 
I cross my arms in response, still feeling his attitude is a little too patronizing for my liking.
He takes it as a positive response, because next he’s sprinting towards Blondy and Browny, and in two minutes he has them half unconscious on the street ground.
He’s good, no wonder he’s Lukas Alpha, I shouldn’t have expected any less. I wish I had his combat skills, but unlike him I’ve spent my childhood thinking I was a human and didn’t train all my life like the majority of the werewolves. Also, having power makes me rely majorly on it, a power blast will always come before a punch to my mind. If I didn’t have my powers, I would be vulnerable and weak.
“Let’s go,” Danny suggests, signaling with his hand to follow him.
 “And we just leave them there like that?” I ask perplexedly.
“If you wish to bring them two pillows and a duvet, so that they can lie more comfortably, be my gest,” he replies sarcastically, making me roll my eyes.
“Are you sure you don’t have any Alpha blood in you? Or is cockiness part of all male wolves DNA?”
He chuckles again, and smirking retorts, “Now I see why you always get into trouble. Your bitchy attitude will be the death of you.”
“Maybe, but that’s part of who I am.”
“I feel for your mate.”
“Hey, he’s perfectly fine with bitchy me, aside from the fact that he’s hell bent on killing me at the moment, but that has nothing to do with my attitude, possibly.”
We walk in silence for a few moments, Danny walking ahead and me following behind, until it occurs to me that I don’t know where we are going.
“Where are we going?”
“Home?” Danny replies like it’s obvious, and I’m some kind of dumb dumb for asking.
“You mean the Moonlight Walkers Pack?” 
“Do I really need to answer this question?” he says, again treating me like I’m stupid. And he says I’m the one with attitude.
“I should have known it was too much of a coincidence meeting you here; Lukas sent you to bring me back, isn’t it? Why can’t that old grampa mind his own businesses?”
“Because the Alpha and Luna are worried about you.”
“They should be more worried about me going back; everywhere I go I just bring trouble and destruction, as you have just witnessed yourself. I won’t have my bad luck hurt Cindy and my nephew, so, please just go back and tell them you couldn’t find me. Unless… please, tell me you haven’t given them my location already.”
“I have not, relax. But you shouldn’t be around on your own, those witches nearly killed us both, they are not someone to underestimate. I would be dead by now, if they didn’t give me for dead at the time, after falling into the river.”
So, he fell too, but Lukas told me he couldn’t find any trace of Danny when he got on the scene.
“Lukas said he didn’t find you; we thought you’ve been burnt to crumbles in the forest.”
“Nah, the river’s current carried me downstream, I fainted and woke up much later on the riverbank in Iron Fang, your neighboring pack. It took me some time to gather the strength to run back to Moonlight Walkers. But now I’m here, safe and sound.”
“I’m happy for you, really. I felt incredibly guilty for … your alleged death. Well, now that we are both on the same page, I’m going to go because I’m really tired, and tomorrow I have work. Have a safe trip back.”
I turned around without waiting for his reply and swiftly started walking in the direction of my apartment.
To my utter annoyance, Danny easily follows in step with me.
“I told you, it’s not safe for you to be here alone,” he persists.
“And I told you I’m not going back,” I reply irritated.
“I got that, that’s why I’ll be staying here with you, to protect you.”
No fucking way! I don’t need protection, especially coming from someone I hardly know. It’s not like we are friends or anything, we are more like acquaintances, although I’ve ridden on his back naked, but that’s kind of the norm for werewolves, nothing intimate.
“You are not. I don’t need your protection,” I protest stubbornly.
“Oh, I think you do, weren’t you just being harassed by those two idiots a moment ago?” he says with sarcasm, grating on my nerves.
“And I was handling it just fine, before you butted in.”
“Yeah, so fine he had his hands all over your tits.”
He’s seen it all! That’s just really embarrassing, and I can’t help feeling a little awkward and ashamed of myself. I always put up a strong front, but I know better than anyone else how weak I really am, without my powers I’d be nothing.
“Hey, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that,” he says, apologetically, but he can’t erase what’s already been said, and it irks me that he thinks so little of me, when I already do a good job of belittling me on my own. One more reason for having him gone.
“No, it’s fine, you can say whatever you want, and you are right, I might be weaker than you, but I still don’t want your help, so let me be.”
I make myself invisible and run at top speed towards my apartment, hoping that in the mix of smells coming from restaurants and car exhausts he won’t be able to track me. 
I get home safely, without any trace of Danny following me, and shower, even if I said I would go straight to bed without showering, the feeling of Brownie’s hands on me was still making me feel sick, so I scrubbed myself raw before calling it a night. 
The following day I groggily wake up at 8:00 a.m. feeling like crap, I eat my crappy breakfast, then get ready for another day of my crappy job in this crappy city, sorry, today my life just feels like an endless avalanche of stinky crap.
 When I open the door to exit my apartment, I’m not prepared to see the blond bloke who’s uncomfortably sleeping on my threshold, curled up on the doormat.
I don’t know if I should pity him or be angry at him. Why does he have to be so stubborn?!