05 - Unexpected Help

The she-wolf growled and tried to bite the wolf, but Lancelot seemed to have the situation under control. My heart calmed down, as I didn't know what to do if this continued. Surviving for my children was what I needed to do.

Suddenly, a noise was heard, distracting us and allowing the she-wolf to break free from Lancelot, slightly injuring him with her claws. The moment she ran out the back door, sirens began to sound. The wolf signaled to follow her, but I asked him not to.

“It's the police,” I said, hearing the sound of doors closing. More cars than usual. When I looked at Lancelot to warn him, he was already nakedly human. “Oh my God, Lancelot,” I cried, embarrassed.

“I didn't mean to,” he said, worried, walking towards me, but then, remembering the situation, he moved away.

“Hide, go upstairs. I'll see what they want,” I ordered as I walked through the front door. A lot was happening at that moment. When I saw him go upstairs, I opened the front door and went to meet what I expected to be a police officer. It wasn't.

Casper was standing in front of me. “Are you okay, Naomi?” he asked, looking concerned. My heart was racing, and I didn't know if it was because of the scene with Lancelot earlier or if there was a chance that Casper was actually paying attention to me again.

“What are you doing here?” I asked without answering his question.

“I heard there was a medium-sized wolf around here. I had to come; I had to protect you,” he said. For some reason I now knew, I felt bad hearing those words. Lancelot was a nice guy, but I knew he wasn't talking about him. “I have contacts, Naomi. Since I left you at the coffee shop, I've had some eyes on you for your protection,” he said. Casper really was a man of power, and not just a man, but an alpha. His concern for me to the point of providing an escort was new, but it worried me. I didn't know if Lancelot liked the idea of others knowing about his species, so I feared that these supposed eyes had seen him in his wolf form.

“She's fine,” I heard a familiar voice say. Then Lancelot was leaving my house, now dressed. He was wearing Casper's clothes that I had. Casper didn't like what he saw.

“What's he doing here, Naomi?” Casper asked, without taking his eyes off him.

“He walked me home,” I said.

“And then you take him to your house, right?” he asked me. His eyes began to turn slightly red, and he was angry. I said it wasn't what he was thinking. “And why is he wearing my clothes? Why do you have my clothes, Naomi?” he asked me, looking at me.

“It's for the children. Having your clothes would help them with the smell and affection, and it also helps to lie about your presence,” I replied. It was a lie. The clothes were there for my benefit. Whenever I missed you, I found myself smelling your clothes. The smell of a wolf was strong and didn't go away. Even if I washed it a hundred times, the smell didn't go away, at least not from ordinary wolves.

“If you weren't with her, what are you doing here?” Casper asked Lancelot, confronting him directly, giving him a push. Before he could retaliate, I stepped in front of him.

“I came to help. I transformed and didn't have any clothes, so I just took these,” he replied, almost hostilely.

“So you're more than just a coffee waiter, aren't you?” Casper confronted him. He had always had a sense of leadership and power, so it didn't surprise me that now that he actually had those things, he would show them off.

“You knew I was a wolf. And I'm the manager,” Lancelot said, pushing me out of the way and coming face-to-face with Casper. My first and second mates were together, hating each other. It was all I needed.

“I don't remember smelling you before,” Casper says. I feel Lancelot's authority waver and he feels insecure. His gaze meets mine. Fear. Maybe at the coffee shop, Lancelot was unintentionally masking his scent. Casper didn't like humans very much; possibly his hostility there was because he thought he was one. The fact was, now I knew he didn't want anyone to know he was a medium wolf, and I couldn't blame him for that.

“I'm fine, Casper,” I finally replied, trying to take the focus off Lancelot. “And I asked him to stay home for fear that one of the humans would see him,” I said. Casper understood that kind of situation. Like any wolf, he knew the difficulties of changing near humans who didn't know of our existence.