A Wolf's Miracle

Chapter 14

They all left to let me shower and get dressed. It's not like I had an array of clothes from which to choose, so I put on the dress. I was pleasantly surprised to find out it fit me perfectly. I looked in the mirror just before putting on the shoes Selene had also given me, a white pair of sneakers from her own closet. While we had very different bodies- she was on the curvier side and was at least a head shorter than me- our shoe size was the same.

The wounds on my face and most parts of my body had healed nicely. And even though I had severely neglected my hair, it looked fine. The mess of curls pouring over my shoulders looked somewhat stylized. Maybe this werewolf thing has advantages after all: My skin looked healthier and my hair stronger, my eyelashes seemed to have multiplied, and I feared so would my eyebrows. Or maybe that was a hurtful stereotype, none of the women I had seen seemed particularly hairy.

 I finished examining my face and body in the mirror, not having missed the under-eye circles or the offputting bite-shaped scar that now adorned my waist on the left side. It had scarred horribly, it was a keloid. I'd seen worse though, so maybe it wasn't so bad.

I was trying to be positive that day, but as I emerged from the room I hadn't left in a week and found Harlan my mood plummeted.

He looked up from his phone, looked me up and down twice, and then back to it as if he was bored. He didn't even say anything, got me feeling self-conscious and shit. Did I look bad? I didn't think that I did... Jesus, this guy was getting me nervous.

"Ah!" Selene squealed from the end of the hall "You look so beautiful!" she said coming over to the little sitting area I was standing at. "Melody has got a good eye, she guessed your measurements and it seems like she nailed it!" she said more to herself than to me.

"Thank you, for this and for the shoes," I said with a soft smile. "Well, and for everything, you saved my life," I owed these people, if it weren't for them I would have died alone in the forest.

"Don't say that, it sounds like a permanent goodbye" She squeezed my hand "You should go now," she said to Harlan.

"Fine," he said, turning off his phone and grabbing the bag I had just noticed was beside him. He simply stood up and started walking, not even acknowledging me.

Selene saw this and rolled her eyes "Harlan may seem like a jerk sometimes," she started "but really he cares too much and tries to conceal it by keeping people at arm's length."

"Well, he just seems like a jerk to me," I said with a half smile and she gave me a knowing look before sending me off.

By the time I had gotten outside of the house, Harlan was already waiting in the driver's seat of a large and beautiful black range rover. He had sunglasses on but I could tell he was giving me an annoyed look for taking so long. 

I said nothing as I get into the passenger seat of what definitely smelled like his car. It had his musky rain scent, I wouldn't know how else to describe it. Damien smelled like a summer breeze, and Harlan smelled like rain, I did like Harlan's scent better though.  It seemed strangely comforting in a way.

We drive in silence for what seemed like an eternity. And it was starting to get really uncomfortable, so I reached over to turn on the radio when Harlan stopped me by snatching my wrist. "Don't even think about it" he said with a serious tone, taking his eyes off the road to look me in the eye.

"Eyes on the road!" I said, pulling away from him.

He snorted "Please" was all he said before looking back to the road.

"What do you mean' please'?!" I said angrily. I really hated this guy and how slightly turned on I was when he looked at me like that.

"I'm a werewolf, I could drive full speed with my eyes closed and still wouldn't crash" he boasted as he said it like it was so basic and normal it was taught in elementary school.

I snorted back "There is no way," he rolled his eyes and said nothing. 

It took me a while, in my defense, but I finally caved in and said "How?"

"Hearing," he said maintaining his serious expression. God, I hate him, why is he like this? Is he doing this to annoy me or does he really think that was enough information? I stared at him for long enough that he added "I can hear everything, the sound the wheels make, the way the air surrounds us, any car in front or behind me, I can hear it all." He sounded annoyed he had to explain himself. 

My hearing was normal, and my sense of smell was only slightly heightened. Maybe that was the difference between being a werewolf and a half-ling.

"Cool" was all I said, thinking he would be annoyed if I fought fire with fire. 

He didn't care though, he just stayed silent. I stared at him for a while wondering why he offered to take me if he hated me so much. 

"What?" 

Fuck it, I want to know. "If I knew you were going to be such an asshole I would have never agreed to go with you."

"Why would you expect anything different?" 

Oh God, I could actually strangle him. "Why did you even offer yourself then?"

"I needed to go to Vancouver to check on someone, I'm doing you a favor, you should thank me," he said with a half smile.

"Thank you?!" I snapped "You haven't even apologized to me about--"

"Why would I apologize? I meant every word," he started "Besides, are you a two-year-old? Why do you need someone to apologize to you, that's useless."

I honestly didn't know what to answer to that. I was dumbfounded. Honestly, how does such a rude person even function? "God, were you raised by wolves?" I realized what I said as soon as it came out of my mouth.

Harlan's answering smile had me wishing I could sink off of this seat and into the ground.

____

When we arrived at the private section of the airport there was a huge jet waiting for us.

Harlan said nothing as he simply opened his door and got out. Opening the trunk to get his bag. I got out as well and started walking toward the, I can't believe this, red carpet they had laid on the ground.

There was a man waiting by the stairs that led to the inside of the jet. Harlan gave him a short nod and the man handed him a phone. 

"Here," he said as he gave that phone to me.

"What is this?" I asked.

"A phone," he said, always answering the most obvious question.

I rolled my eyes "I'm aware" I took a deep breath to remind myself who I was talking to, "Why are you giving this to me?"

"I won't be with you all the time. I have things to do," he started "So if something happens text, don't call" he warned then turned around and boarded the jet without sparing me a second glance.

This was going to be a long trip.