Normal hot Human Man

There are three other people living in the house. Two of them are werewolves. So much for my dreams of living among humans.

The she-wolf, Nadia, seems to dislike me on sight. Another werewolf, Jacob, on the other hand, seems to like me on sight. Only too much. He flirts and holds my hand a bit too long during the introduction that Caleb gives him a hard stare.

The human girl, Lilith is a pretty girl who originally came from Ethiopia but grew up here. She seems nice, which is a good thing since I'm supposed to be sharing a room with her. She's also going to the same college but she's in her second year.

The house is an open plan and small but clean and clutter free. The living room consists of a comfy looking black suede chair, a loveseat, a sofa, and a wooden coffee table in the middle. There is a 40-inch tv mounted on the wall facing the sofa. The windows have no drapes but they do have simple white blinds for privacy. The living room opens up to a tiny kitchen. There are four bedrooms and two bathrooms in the house.

"The sink in the bathroom at the back is leaking, Caleb," says Nadia. The she-wolf looks at me like I was gum underneath her shoes but her tone of voice when she talks to Caleb, is sweet and annoyingly whiny.

"I'll take a look at it," answers Caleb.

Caleb leaves my luggage in a bigger room with two single beds on each side of the walls. There are two study tables by the headboards near the windows. The walls are painted eggshell white like the rest of the house. I guess this is the room that I'll be sharing with Lilith. She's sharing the room with me to save on rent money and I'm all for saving money.

"Is the room okay for you? I hope you don't mind sharing," says Lilith. Okay? This is like The Ritz or the Four Seasons for me compared to my windowless tiny room back at the pack house.

"This room is great! Sharing is awesome," I tell her. I guess I said it with too much enthusiasm because she gives me a funny look. Okay, let's dial down on the weirdness, Freya. You're scaring the normal human! The only normal human in this house...apart from me. Yeah, I'm totally normal.

***

Caleb, Nadia, and Jacob leave the house together around 6 pm. I have no clue where they're going off to but secretly I'm relieved. Call me crazy but I don't really enjoy having one woman staring at me like she's planning on taking me out as soon as my back is turned and a man who keeps checking me out like he wants to eat me for dinner around. I'm used to those kinds of looks when I was at the Night Shade Pack but it doesn't mean that I've grown to like it.

Lilith and I spend time talking for a bit before she has to leave for work at seven. She works irregular hours some evenings for a cleaning company. I don't know how much Lilith knows about werewolves and stuff but I like her already. I think we will get along just fine.

After Lilith left, I spend my time alone in the room putting my things away, which doesn't take much time at all. Then I take a much-needed shower. After I'm all dressed, I take my backpack with me to the living room to sort out all the stuff while munching on a chocolate bar I found in there and trying to watch TV. All at the same time. I'm awesome at multi-tasking like that.

Caleb comes home around nine with some burgers, fries, and two cans of Coke. My mouth water at the smell. He drops everything on the coffee table in front of me. He takes a burger and a can of Coke out then shoves the rest to me without saying a word.

Suddenly I don't feel hungry anymore. I've never felt more like a charity case than I am right now. I'm grateful that he's helping me and all but I'm tired of feeling unwanted and a burden to those around me.

"Look, Caleb. You don't have to feed me," I tell him. "I'm grateful for everything that you've done for me. Truly I am, but I know you don't want me here. I know you're mad at me or hate me for whatever reason but I'll get out of your hair very soon. I promise I'll move out as soon as I find another place to stay." I don't know how or where but I'll sleep on the street if I have to.

For a moment he looks stunned. Then he starts to frown again. "You're not going anywhere. You're staying here where I can keep you safe," he huffs. He takes a huge bite out of his hamburger and starts chewing with a big scowl on his face.

Well, at least it wasn't my head that he's chewing on, I start to make a list of positive things in my head.

He sighs and tosses the rest of the hamburger onto the coffee table. "I don't hate you. I hate how those people treated you," he says. "Now eat before I lose my appetite."

He stares at me pointedly until I take a burger out. He picks his burger back up only after I take the first bite, then we both eat in silence.

"Did he ever touched you?" he suddenly asks. His jaw taut with tension.

The question takes me by surprise but I immediately know who he's talking about. "Um...he..uh, yea, no...sorta...not that way...not really," I answer.

He tilts his head to the side for a while as if mulling over my answer. The way a muscle in his jaw ticks reminds me so much of Corbin when he's pissed off. "Alpha Thorne is an asshole," he finally says. No argument from me there.

"Yeah, he's a fvcking asshole," I agree with him.

"Hey, you're not supposed to swear."

"Why? You swear," I tell him, but I reach into my bag and take out my swear jar. I fish around the bottom of my bag and pull out a penny, two nickels, and a quarter. I hold the jar out to him after I drop the change in. Surprisingly he reaches into his pocket and places a dime in.

"You need to put in more than just a dime. I heard you swear worse than a trucker when you were fixing the sink this evening." I shake the jar in his face and the coins rattle.

He ignores me. He drains his Coke, then he stands up and steps outside into the warm night. The next minute I see him bending over, under the hood of his Jeep. I hear some clunking noises and him muttering something about Nana and her damn swear jar. Then he swears some more when he dropped his tool and hit his head against the hood. I'm impressed with his very extensive list of swear words. I see a bright future for my swear jar.

***

We get along much better after that first night. Me and Caleb. I understand him better now. He doesn't talk much. I think my cousin was born grumpy and you can't take it personally. Underneath that tough exterior, he's not bad.

He took me out for a drive around the city on Saturday and helped me buy things for school. On Sunday, he's gone all day, along with the other two werewolves, Nadia and Jacob. I didn't mind since I got to talk and watch movies with Lilith.

Monday morning and I'm getting ready for school. I've missed my induction week, which is not a big deal, according to Caleb. I might have to find the Student Support Coordinators for information.

I'm wearing my nicest jeans, Converse, and my favorite off shoulder summer top. The top is light and white with tiny pink flowers and I think I look pretty in it. I brush my hair till it shines and swipe some lipgloss over my lips. It's time for this normal human girl to get some education and meet some normal hot human man!