Friends
I parked my car in the spot right outside the front door of the cafe which was probably about the only perk of opening up. I unlocked the door, turned off the alarm and got to work turning on all the coffee machines and giving the surfaces an extra clean before any customers arrived.
I still had 30 minutes before official opening so I pulled out my phone and leant against the coffee machine enjoying the warmth on my back as I checked my messages.
I was engrossed in a silly chat with Harry when the door creaked open setting off the little bell that hung from the wall to let us know when a customer arrived.
"We don't open for another 30 minutes" I advised sharply not taking my eyes off my screen as my fingers and thumb typed speedily back to my friend.
"Perhaps you can make an exception" a deep, gravelly voice suggested as a bar stool scrapped against the wooden floor and he sat down at the bar opposite me. He smelt like cinnamon, spice and expensive cologne. I couldn't help but inhale it discreetly and let it sink into my skin like a soft, alluring veil.
"Or perhaps you could come back in 30 minutes" I bit back not even bothering to look up and give my time to some jumped up arrogant wolf. There was also the fact that just his voice alone was doing things to my body nobody had ever done before.
It was like my insides were gently humming to the sound of his voice.
But I refused to be weakened by a man.
I couldn't afford to mess up anymore than I already had so I focused on my phone as a distraction.
I chuckled when I received a reply from Harry, a selfie pulling the most dumb, goofy face. He was clearly not hard at work training like he'd always moan about.
"What's so amusing?" He asked in a curious tone and I felt my stomach twist into knots at the audacity of this total stranger to be so intrusive. Not only that, he gave me goosebumps as I could feel his eyes boring into my skull like some kind of mind reader.
"Oh nothing it's just my friend Harry" I shrugged still glued to my phone and hoping that my visitor would vanish into thin air if I paid him as little attention as possible.
"Friend?" He growled lowly slamming his fists onto the counter top startling me into looking directly at him.
My voice got stuck in my throat and my heart skipped a few beats where my eyes finally met his. I immediately wished I'd not been given the early shift. It was too early for my body to cope with the flushed feeling that swept through it awakening parts of me I hadn't felt before.
He was huge, like a god with muscles that bulged out of his black t- shirt, his tanned skin looked so soft I wanted to reach out and touch him.
His tousled brown hair fell over one side of his face in an effortlessly sexy manner and his eyes blazed bright blue with speaks of silver as if they were made from precious jewels. He was breathtakingly beautiful.
"Yes a friend.. it's 2020 not 1950 women and men can just be friends" I rolled my eyes at the rudeness of this stupid, sexy man hating the way my body was betraying me right now.
"What's his name again?" He demanded harshly
"That's none of your business! now what can I get you so that you can get out?" I snapped back infuriated by his behaviour towards a complete stranger.
"Coffee... large... strong.. black" interesting, just how I like it.
Neither of us said anything else so I got to work making his coffee as quickly as possible so I could get rid of him.
As I made his drink my mouth salivated at the sweet cinnamon smell that filled the room and overwhelmed me. My mind wondered and I hoped that Iris was busy upstairs making her infamous cinnamon pretzels which were my favourite of all of her glorious bakery delights!
"4.95" I slammed his cup on the bar top and glared at him in annoyance.
"Keep the change... Nice to meet you Eden" As his placed the note in my hand his finger tips slowly brushed over mine creating small sparks of electricity that tickled my skin causing me to gasp in surprise.
My shocked expression quickly turned into a frown of annoyance when the arrogant arsehole flashed a toothy grin at my reaction to his touch before leaving the cafe.
Wait- how'd the hell he know my name?
Harry and Skylar arrived at the cafe around 4pm and before the door even fully closed Iris was making a beeline for her son. She squeezed his cheeks together like he was a toddler and cuddled him tightly whilst he blushed bright red with embarrassment.
"Oh my baby boy. I've missed you honey" she squealed in full on mama bear mode
"Mom you only saw me at breakfast chill out " Harry cringed carefully removing himself from his overly affectionate moms embrace
"That was hours ago. Oh you are such a handsome boy. You are going to make some she-wolf a very lucky girl" she stated proudly before heading into the kitchen no doubt to make her son a feast.
"That never gets old" I chuckled as a wiped down a table for them to sit out.
"And seeing you waiting on us never gets old either" Harry sneered back narrowing his eyes in annoyance at my laughter
"How was training?" I ignored his comment completely not wanting to get into it with another man today. This mornings run in was weird enough.
"It was killer. Alpha Anderson was not impressed" Harry explained furrowing his eyebrows tightly together in frustration
"That's putting it mildly but on the plus side is he is extremely hot" Skylar agreed looking stressed out and tired but perked up when she mentioned the hot alpha.
"We don't have to go out tonight if you guys are tired... we could just do a movie at mine?" It was obvious how exhausted my poor friends were.
Clearly this new alpha was hellbent on fixing the packs warriors into the best of their ability. I couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy that I couldn't train that way anymore. Even being worked extra hard by the new alpha would be better than being useless.
"That sounds great. I'll bring snacks" Skylar nodded relieved by the change in plans.
"Umm what about your 'friend' ... does he eats snacks?" Harry questioned discreetly
"He eats food like us. He just doesn't need to eat snacks to survive" I tried to discreetly answer in the simplest terms not wanting anyone to overhear our discussion
"He needs something to survive though" Harry mused uncomfortably
"Well Keep pissing me off and that something will be you. See you guys at 7" I warned playfully sticking my tongue out at him before turning on my heel to get back to work.
As usual Skylar was running late so Harry and I raided the kitchen cupboards for snacks and sodas when mom joined us to grab a bottle of water.
She didn't train hard anymore but I could see the dark circles under her eyes that showed the amount of stress she was feeling and I doubted she'd been sleeping very well as of late.
"Hey trouble. How was work?" Mom joked giving me a kiss on the cheek
"Work was work. Same old same old" there really wasn't anything that exciting to tell my mom.
I mean I could of told her about the super sexy yet idiot of a man that came in this morning but that would send her into one of two modes.
Overprotective crazy, panic stricken mom or what was his name, what happened, are you dating him mom.
I still had 30 minutes before official opening so I pulled out my phone and leant against the coffee machine enjoying the warmth on my back as I checked my messages.
I was engrossed in a silly chat with Harry when the door creaked open setting off the little bell that hung from the wall to let us know when a customer arrived.
"We don't open for another 30 minutes" I advised sharply not taking my eyes off my screen as my fingers and thumb typed speedily back to my friend.
"Perhaps you can make an exception" a deep, gravelly voice suggested as a bar stool scrapped against the wooden floor and he sat down at the bar opposite me. He smelt like cinnamon, spice and expensive cologne. I couldn't help but inhale it discreetly and let it sink into my skin like a soft, alluring veil.
"Or perhaps you could come back in 30 minutes" I bit back not even bothering to look up and give my time to some jumped up arrogant wolf. There was also the fact that just his voice alone was doing things to my body nobody had ever done before.
It was like my insides were gently humming to the sound of his voice.
But I refused to be weakened by a man.
I couldn't afford to mess up anymore than I already had so I focused on my phone as a distraction.
I chuckled when I received a reply from Harry, a selfie pulling the most dumb, goofy face. He was clearly not hard at work training like he'd always moan about.
"What's so amusing?" He asked in a curious tone and I felt my stomach twist into knots at the audacity of this total stranger to be so intrusive. Not only that, he gave me goosebumps as I could feel his eyes boring into my skull like some kind of mind reader.
"Oh nothing it's just my friend Harry" I shrugged still glued to my phone and hoping that my visitor would vanish into thin air if I paid him as little attention as possible.
"Friend?" He growled lowly slamming his fists onto the counter top startling me into looking directly at him.
My voice got stuck in my throat and my heart skipped a few beats where my eyes finally met his. I immediately wished I'd not been given the early shift. It was too early for my body to cope with the flushed feeling that swept through it awakening parts of me I hadn't felt before.
He was huge, like a god with muscles that bulged out of his black t- shirt, his tanned skin looked so soft I wanted to reach out and touch him.
His tousled brown hair fell over one side of his face in an effortlessly sexy manner and his eyes blazed bright blue with speaks of silver as if they were made from precious jewels. He was breathtakingly beautiful.
"Yes a friend.. it's 2020 not 1950 women and men can just be friends" I rolled my eyes at the rudeness of this stupid, sexy man hating the way my body was betraying me right now.
"What's his name again?" He demanded harshly
"That's none of your business! now what can I get you so that you can get out?" I snapped back infuriated by his behaviour towards a complete stranger.
"Coffee... large... strong.. black" interesting, just how I like it.
Neither of us said anything else so I got to work making his coffee as quickly as possible so I could get rid of him.
As I made his drink my mouth salivated at the sweet cinnamon smell that filled the room and overwhelmed me. My mind wondered and I hoped that Iris was busy upstairs making her infamous cinnamon pretzels which were my favourite of all of her glorious bakery delights!
"4.95" I slammed his cup on the bar top and glared at him in annoyance.
"Keep the change... Nice to meet you Eden" As his placed the note in my hand his finger tips slowly brushed over mine creating small sparks of electricity that tickled my skin causing me to gasp in surprise.
My shocked expression quickly turned into a frown of annoyance when the arrogant arsehole flashed a toothy grin at my reaction to his touch before leaving the cafe.
Wait- how'd the hell he know my name?
Harry and Skylar arrived at the cafe around 4pm and before the door even fully closed Iris was making a beeline for her son. She squeezed his cheeks together like he was a toddler and cuddled him tightly whilst he blushed bright red with embarrassment.
"Oh my baby boy. I've missed you honey" she squealed in full on mama bear mode
"Mom you only saw me at breakfast chill out " Harry cringed carefully removing himself from his overly affectionate moms embrace
"That was hours ago. Oh you are such a handsome boy. You are going to make some she-wolf a very lucky girl" she stated proudly before heading into the kitchen no doubt to make her son a feast.
"That never gets old" I chuckled as a wiped down a table for them to sit out.
"And seeing you waiting on us never gets old either" Harry sneered back narrowing his eyes in annoyance at my laughter
"How was training?" I ignored his comment completely not wanting to get into it with another man today. This mornings run in was weird enough.
"It was killer. Alpha Anderson was not impressed" Harry explained furrowing his eyebrows tightly together in frustration
"That's putting it mildly but on the plus side is he is extremely hot" Skylar agreed looking stressed out and tired but perked up when she mentioned the hot alpha.
"We don't have to go out tonight if you guys are tired... we could just do a movie at mine?" It was obvious how exhausted my poor friends were.
Clearly this new alpha was hellbent on fixing the packs warriors into the best of their ability. I couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy that I couldn't train that way anymore. Even being worked extra hard by the new alpha would be better than being useless.
"That sounds great. I'll bring snacks" Skylar nodded relieved by the change in plans.
"Umm what about your 'friend' ... does he eats snacks?" Harry questioned discreetly
"He eats food like us. He just doesn't need to eat snacks to survive" I tried to discreetly answer in the simplest terms not wanting anyone to overhear our discussion
"He needs something to survive though" Harry mused uncomfortably
"Well Keep pissing me off and that something will be you. See you guys at 7" I warned playfully sticking my tongue out at him before turning on my heel to get back to work.
As usual Skylar was running late so Harry and I raided the kitchen cupboards for snacks and sodas when mom joined us to grab a bottle of water.
She didn't train hard anymore but I could see the dark circles under her eyes that showed the amount of stress she was feeling and I doubted she'd been sleeping very well as of late.
"Hey trouble. How was work?" Mom joked giving me a kiss on the cheek
"Work was work. Same old same old" there really wasn't anything that exciting to tell my mom.
I mean I could of told her about the super sexy yet idiot of a man that came in this morning but that would send her into one of two modes.
Overprotective crazy, panic stricken mom or what was his name, what happened, are you dating him mom.
Neither of which I had the energy for this evening.
"You know as both Luna and mom you have the power to officially change her name to Trouble, It definitely suits her" Harry butted in grinning like a smartarse at his own joke.
"As much as it suits her I think Eden is far prettier. Have a good night kids" my mom pondered politely entertaining the joke before she disappeared into the darkness of the lounge and upstairs.
As soon as she was out of sight I stood on my tiptoes and grabbed a handful of Harry's blonde hair and tugged his head down to mine.
"Unless you want me to use your balls for earrings I suggest you cut it out with the jokes okay?" I warned lowly in his ear reaching the end of my tether with him teasing me all the time and putting me down.
"You know as both Luna and mom you have the power to officially change her name to Trouble, It definitely suits her" Harry butted in grinning like a smartarse at his own joke.
"As much as it suits her I think Eden is far prettier. Have a good night kids" my mom pondered politely entertaining the joke before she disappeared into the darkness of the lounge and upstairs.
As soon as she was out of sight I stood on my tiptoes and grabbed a handful of Harry's blonde hair and tugged his head down to mine.
"Unless you want me to use your balls for earrings I suggest you cut it out with the jokes okay?" I warned lowly in his ear reaching the end of my tether with him teasing me all the time and putting me down.
I let go of his hair and shoved him back a few steps.
I wasn't a warrior anymore but I wasn't going to take any crap either.
"Hey Ede chill out okay? I'm sorry I was just playing around. I didn't mean to upset you" Harry looked beyond shocked
"Jesus.. I'm sorry too but can you just lay off the digs please? I'm in a really weird and over sensitive moodโ What the hell was I doing behaving like an unstable psycho to my best friend. I ran my hands over my face in frustration.
"No problem... girls problems most likely I get it. so this guy-" Harry cringed at the mention of 'girl problems' before changing the subject to a more complicated one.
"Blake" For some reason Harry 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 Blake... do you have to invite him in..is there some special procedure we have to follow or he is 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 his a big ball of flames and he doesn't sparkle either" I ran off a list of the list of endless myths that I knew Harry 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??" Well it seemed Harry had a lot of ideas swirling around that cute little head of his.
"Hey Ede chill out okay? I'm sorry I was just playing around. I didn't mean to upset you" Harry looked beyond shocked
"Jesus.. I'm sorry too but can you just lay off the digs please? I'm in a really weird and over sensitive moodโ What the hell was I doing behaving like an unstable psycho to my best friend. I ran my hands over my face in frustration.
"No problem... girls problems most likely I get it. so this guy-" Harry cringed at the mention of 'girl problems' before changing the subject to a more complicated one.
"Blake" For some reason Harry 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 Blake... do you have to invite him in..is there some special procedure we have to follow or he is 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 his a big ball of flames and he doesn't sparkle either" I ran off a list of the list of endless myths that I knew Harry 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??" Well it seemed Harry had a lot of ideas swirling around that cute little head of his.
His big brown eyes were bulging out of his head like his brain was about to overheat and explode.
I just laughed and left that to his wild imagination to figure out.
I just laughed and left that to his wild imagination to figure out.
Luckily the clip clopping of high heels echoed through the hallway and Skylar appeared looking like she'd made a lot of effort for a cosy 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, about the same age as us, smiled brightly at us and gave a small wave.
"This is Mia from the silverhaven pack. Her mate is the beta Hayden and he is really busy so I invited her to join us" Skylar introduced us smiling awkwardly at the addition to the group.
"Hi I'm Eden"
"Harry"
"We bought snacks" Mia waved a carrier bag up as if it was precious treasure. Snacks were good. We liked snacks. She was in!
Skylar, Mia and Harry got comfortable on my bed and I sat on the windowseat waiting for Blake with the window wide open for him.
For some reason my gaze was drawn deep into the night towards the tree line of the forest like something was luring me out there.
Usually I'd of been frightened by that feeling in case it was a sign of danger but something about this felt like a warmth was awaiting me there.
But she wasn't alone. A strikingly gorgeous girl with luscious light brown, about the same age as us, smiled brightly at us and gave a small wave.
"This is Mia from the silverhaven pack. Her mate is the beta Hayden and he is really busy so I invited her to join us" Skylar introduced us smiling awkwardly at the addition to the group.
"Hi I'm Eden"
"Harry"
"We bought snacks" Mia waved a carrier bag up as if it was precious treasure. Snacks were good. We liked snacks. She was in!
Skylar, Mia and Harry got comfortable on my bed and I sat on the windowseat waiting for Blake with the window wide open for him.
For some reason my gaze was drawn deep into the night towards the tree line of the forest like something was luring me out there.
Usually I'd of been frightened by that feeling in case it was a sign of danger but something about this felt like a warmth was awaiting me there.
There was something comforting, like a sense of security there. I just didn't know what on earth it was.
"Boo" Blake suddenly appeared at the window and chuckled as he snapped me back into reality. He climbed in and stood tall as all eyes fell on him and everyone was suddenly silent.
"Guys this is Blake...Blake this is Harry, Skylar and Mia is from the new pack I told you about" moon goddess could this get anymore awkward if we tried folks.
Skylar was eye fucking Blake completely unashamedly whilst Harry stared at him sussing him out like he was trying to gauge whether or not to punch him in the face .
Mia just looked dumbfounded with her mouth wide open like she wanted to speak but no words were coming out or perhaps she was catching flies.
I didn't know her well enough to judge.
"I've heard a lot about you two from Eden... and Mia welcome to town" Blake clearly felt uncomfortable but I was grateful he was making the effort to be polite.
"We've heard about you... I mean what you did... for Eden... I can't tell you how thankful we are" Skylar finally calmed her hormones enough to communicate like a normal person.
"Yeh we owe you" Harry agreed reluctantly giving Blake a half smile.
"Is he a-" Mia whisper -shouted clearly uncomfortable and abit surprised.
"Yes I am but don't worry you're perfectly safe" Blake interrupted her sensing her levels of concern and panic heightening at his presence in my room.
"Apparently werewolves taste like crap so we are off of the menu" I added nonchalantly as if it was a perfectly normal conversation to be having.
"Oh right... that's good I guess" Mia nodded like she was still trying to process what was going on. She probably thought we were crazy.
We all got comfortable and began to watch the movie and fill our bellies with our own body weights in junk food.
"So how are you doing?" Blake whispered in my ear as I snuggled my head against his body trying to get cosy.
"I'm okay, how was your day?"
"Not bad. So this new pack are all settled in then? " he asked whilst playing with loose strands of my blonde hair that had strayed from the bun I'd tire it in earlier.
"Yeh they are here to support us and strengthen our warriors. Alpha Anderson is suppose to be the best of the best. Although I get the feeling my dads not overly keen on him" I chuckled recalling the frown in my dads face when we 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 his voice as if he didn't like this new alpha or something.
"No not yet. I'm not a warrior anymore so there's no reason for me to meet him" I shrugged my shoulders and sighed sadly wishing I could fight like everyone else like before.
"Have you met him before?" I enquired curiously craning my neck around to see his face
"We've crossed paths" he admitted through gritted teeth as his eyes glazed over as if he was reliving a memory or something but I couldn't quite place the look in his eyes. Anger, fear, jealousy maybe.
I didn't like to press him any further on it so I left it hoping that maybe one day he'd tell me more about it if and when he wanted to.
I fell asleep half way through the movie with my head resting on Blake's arm, his muscles were too comfy, just like a firm pillow against my cheek.
His free hand had been gently stroking my hair lulling me into a deep slumber.
"Boo" Blake suddenly appeared at the window and chuckled as he snapped me back into reality. He climbed in and stood tall as all eyes fell on him and everyone was suddenly silent.
"Guys this is Blake...Blake this is Harry, Skylar and Mia is from the new pack I told you about" moon goddess could this get anymore awkward if we tried folks.
Skylar was eye fucking Blake completely unashamedly whilst Harry stared at him sussing him out like he was trying to gauge whether or not to punch him in the face .
Mia just looked dumbfounded with her mouth wide open like she wanted to speak but no words were coming out or perhaps she was catching flies.
I didn't know her well enough to judge.
"I've heard a lot about you two from Eden... and Mia welcome to town" Blake clearly felt uncomfortable but I was grateful he was making the effort to be polite.
"We've heard about you... I mean what you did... for Eden... I can't tell you how thankful we are" Skylar finally calmed her hormones enough to communicate like a normal person.
"Yeh we owe you" Harry agreed reluctantly giving Blake a half smile.
"Is he a-" Mia whisper -shouted clearly uncomfortable and abit surprised.
"Yes I am but don't worry you're perfectly safe" Blake interrupted her sensing her levels of concern and panic heightening at his presence in my room.
"Apparently werewolves taste like crap so we are off of the menu" I added nonchalantly as if it was a perfectly normal conversation to be having.
"Oh right... that's good I guess" Mia nodded like she was still trying to process what was going on. She probably thought we were crazy.
We all got comfortable and began to watch the movie and fill our bellies with our own body weights in junk food.
"So how are you doing?" Blake whispered in my ear as I snuggled my head against his body trying to get cosy.
"I'm okay, how was your day?"
"Not bad. So this new pack are all settled in then? " he asked whilst playing with loose strands of my blonde hair that had strayed from the bun I'd tire it in earlier.
"Yeh they are here to support us and strengthen our warriors. Alpha Anderson is suppose to be the best of the best. Although I get the feeling my dads not overly keen on him" I chuckled recalling the frown in my dads face when we 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 his voice as if he didn't like this new alpha or something.
"No not yet. I'm not a warrior anymore so there's no reason for me to meet him" I shrugged my shoulders and sighed sadly wishing I could fight like everyone else like before.
"Have you met him before?" I enquired curiously craning my neck around to see his face
"We've crossed paths" he admitted through gritted teeth as his eyes glazed over as if he was reliving a memory or something but I couldn't quite place the look in his eyes. Anger, fear, jealousy maybe.
I didn't like to press him any further on it so I left it hoping that maybe one day he'd tell me more about it if and when he wanted to.
I fell asleep half way through the movie with my head resting on Blake's arm, his muscles were too comfy, just like a firm pillow against my cheek.
His free hand had been gently stroking my hair lulling me into a deep slumber.
