The Human Pup

🐺 s i x 🐺

The next morning, Nova woke from her light sleep at the sound of someone kissing next to her. She squinted her eyes at her brother and his mate before groaning and burying her face back into the pillow. She hadn't gotten more than an hour of sleep, with all the tossing and turning she had been doing because of the uncomfortable bed, the new room, and her anxiety of having nightmares while people were around. She was exhausted.

"Sorry, Noves," Eva whispered, and the girl heard another smooch before someone stood up. "You gotta start getting up."

The girl felt tears prickling in her eyes. She was overtired and annoyed, and suddenly going to school seemed like the worst idea ever. Today was not going to be a good day.

She slid out of bed without protesting, at which her youngest brother and his mate both looked at her funny. Nova paid them no attention and stepped over Ashton's already empty bed, heading to the bathroom.

She locked the door and gripped the edges of the sink. Her eyes had dark bags under them, and her throat was dry. She brushed her teeth and decided to take a quick, cold shower to wake herself up.

Something in her shifted when the water hit her nape. Nova let a few tears drop. She needed to tell someone.

After the girl had gotten dressed, she started packing her bag. Last night, she had brought all of her school things into Tyler and Eva's room... Well, all of them except for her binder, she now realized.

The girl grumbled something under her breath and glared at herself in the closest mirror. Now she needed to go to her room and get the binder. Her room where, at this moment, the most intimidating person in the house was sleeping.

Nova slung her bag over one of her shoulders and left the room. The hallways were quieter than usual, most of the people sleeping after being up so late last night. There had been many activities for the werewolves the previous night, but Nova had been forced to stay in Tyler's room and do her homework. Well, forced by herself, not by others—her mom had made it very clear to her that she wouldn't be mad if she didn't do all of her homework and wanted to attend the activities. Nova didn't feel comfortable around lots of people, though, especially people who weren't people at all, and would be staring at her the whole night for being a human. So, she had stayed up in the room with a few plates full of snacks and dreaded falling asleep.

The girl reached the door to her room and halted. It was closed, obviously, and suddenly Nova didn't feel so sure about this. The handsome man inside would probably think she was a weirdo for wearing the same skirt she wore yesterday—he probably didn't know what a school uniform was—or for wearing a white, long-sleeved button-up. After all, werewolves did think it was never cold outside...

The fact that she was worried about her clothes and not about the man actually getting angry at her, made her worried for her own mental health.

Before she could back down, she knocked thrice on the door and waited. After a few moments, she heard footsteps in the room, ones that got only louder as they headed her way.

It's not too late to run, she told herself right before the door opened.

The first thing she saw was his bare chest. It was smooth, covered in tattoos, and muscly. The girl gulped and rapidly redirected her eyes to his face. The man was staring down at her, his expression unreadable. His dark hair was messy, his chin and cheeks covered in slightly thicker stubble than the day before, and his eyes tired.

"Something wrong, pup?"

"Er..." Nova felt her heart start beating faster when her eyes met his light green ones. She gulped and forced her mouth to move. "I'm sorry for waking you up. It's just that I packed up all my things last night, but I think I forgot my binder here, and I can't go to school without it. So—"

She cut herself off, reminding herself that it usually freaked people out if she started rambling. Nova shut her mouth and shrank a bit into herself. "Sorry," she whispered.

The man stared at her for a minute, his eyes raking from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet, and then back up again until they stopped on her face. Nova knew he'd think she was weird for wearing almost the same outfit as yesterday, not like she had another choice... Then, he simply stepped out of the way and nudged his head toward the room.

"Thanks," Nova whispered and hurried past him.

She tried not to pay attention to the suitcase next to the bed or how his hairbrush and deodorant had been placed on her bedside table. She tried not to think of the fact that this hot, dangerous stranger was allowed to sleep in her bed while she had to sleep on a mattress on the ground next to Tyler and Eva's bed, and beside snoring Ashton.

Nova forced herself to calm down when she rummaged through her drawers, and, finally, found the light purple binder. She was just having a bad day. It was her fault that she was in the mood to cry and hit everyone in her way, and she couldn't snap at a guy who had nothing to do with it.

She stuffed the binder into her backpack and zipped it back up. Then, slinging it back over her shoulder, she turned toward the door, only to find the intimidatingly big man, covered in tattoos, blocking the entrance. Alpha Hunter was leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, watching Nova with mild curiosity.

"You go to a human school, pup?"

Nova, holding onto the straps of her backpack shyly, nodded.

Hunter hummed. "And your brother tells me you were adopted."

She nodded again and dropped her arms to her sides. She, weirdly, felt relaxed around the man. Something in her made her take a few steps closer to him.

The man arched an eyebrow at her. "I've known Theo for a long time. I've heard a lot about you. But he never tells me why your mother adopted a human."

Nova gulped and looked down at her feet. The whole pack knew that they had found her in the woods, but no one besides the small group of people working on her case knew about her dreams, or even cared that she ran faster than a human should be capable of doing. There was something about him that made her want to tell him. But she was not sure whether she was allowed to or not. The pack had never asked her anything about it, maybe because barely anyone talked to her, and so she hadn't given it much thought.

A strong finger touched her chin gently and tilted it upward. Nova's heart skipped a beat. The man was now standing in front of her, staring down at her, and making her stare right into his eyes. "You don't know if you're allowed to tell, hm?"

Nova shook her head, never looking away from his mesmerizing eyes. "Sorry, Alpha Hunter."

The man's eyes softened, and he dropped his hand to place it on his knee and lean down to her eye level. "Just Hunter for you, pup. Okay?"

Nova's eyes widened a bit, and her shoulders automatically raised. A warm sort of energy was flowing from him, and she was scared of the feeling inside her chest. A tiny voice in her head told her to get closer, while some part wanted her to run away.

"Okay?" he asked, a bit more strictly.

Nova nodded immediately. Hunter. She felt like prey.

"Use your words, baby." His voice was quiet, gentle. Her heart fluttered.

"Yes," she whispered.

The corners of his mouth tilted upward, and for a moment, Nova was mesmerized. His eyes were even softer now, even more welcoming, and she wished to be wrapped up in those strong arms of his. She felt safe.

"Good girl."

She was about to die.

"Go eat something before you leave." That sounded like a command again, but not the kind that Alphas gave their pack. She couldn't even describe it, but something inside her immediately wanted to do what he had told her. Something inside her wanted to be a good girl once again.

"Okay," Nova whispered once again and stepped around him to reach the door. She turned around before leaving, a smile playing on her lips. "Thank you, Hunter." And just like that, she hurried down the hallway, a grin on her previously pouty lips.

...

Aaaaaaaaaa!!! I love writing the beginning of DDLG relationships! It's always sooo adorable!