Lone Werewolf

I lied

Cesare 

It was a car alarm that woke me up. I opened my eyes, half expecting Eden to have been awoken at the same time that I was, but it surprised me that she was still soundly within the tight clutches of asleep. I smiled tenderly at her, her face was turned towards me, her eyebrows creased and brown hair mussed in a sleeping haze. She looked like an angel when she slept, with her eyelashes long and brushing the top of her cheeks, the small freckles dusting her nose down to the cute little bow of her lips.

She possessed a soft kind of beauty, the kind that the man at a club may pass over, but one that I cherished with every waking moment. You had to look at her to really see her; she had a habit of hiding in the shadows, or as Celia put it: a habit of hiding in my shadow.

When she was asleep like this, inches away from my fingers, I knew that she was safe, but it was very easy to worry about her and even then, very difficult to resist drawing her to my chest and curling myself protectively around her, such as she had let me on rare occasions.

I needed to have a shower and ready myself for the day, except that I had to force myself to leave her side. I managed it, making sure that I was quick, just in case something did happen. I needn't worry, though, since when I returned, rubbing my wet hair, she was still fast asleep. It was unusual for her to sleep-in this long, she usually awoke from a fit of nightmares or was such a light sleeper that she would be startled awake. I reckon the action yesterday really took a toll on her, as you'd expect from her injuries.

I decided to make breakfast, does she like pancakes? She must do. I tiptoed over to the kitchen, careful to open and close each cupboard door as quietly as possible. There was a radio on the counter that I switched on, quietly tuning it to my favourite channel. I hummed along to the tune as I cracked some eggs into a bowl, rolling up my sleeves and grabbing the flour. 'Closer' came onto the radio and I smiled, shuffling to the beat, but then I forgot to be self-conscious and danced my dance as I mixed all the ingredients into the bowl. Whilst trying to cut shapes I almost dropped the bowl when my socks slipped on the floor and I laughed to myself, glancing around to see if anyone had been watching, before ladling the mixture into the pan.

I resumed shrugging my shoulders to the rhythm; pausing mid-dance at the soft footfalls coming from the hallway, turning around to see Eden staring at me; I felt my face melt into a smile. Her eyebrows were raised and I don't think she even knew it. She yawned, rubbing her eyes with sleeve covered hands.

"Good morning sleepyhead," I said softly, "Take a seat," gesturing to the breakfast bar. She nodded, shuffling over to the stool and I turned back to the pancake, saving it from near – decimation as I did so. I slid it onto a plate and pushed it towards Eden over the counter, she looked up from where she had been fiddling with her sleeves to give me a small smile, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," I replied, and with a wink. She blushed. I smirked, swiftly cooking up my own and sitting down next to her.

"How is your chest?" I asked. She looked bewildered for a moment, but quickly answered, "Pretty much healed."

I was glad and the bond didn't twist like it did when she lied. Although I could feel some of her anxiety thrumming gently through the bond and she kept fiddling with her sleeves. I ate, trying to ignore it from my peripheral before it got too much and I spun around to face her.

She looked startled, looking up from her empty plate. I slowly reached out to prise her hands from their cramped position, unfolding them in front of us.

"What's wrong?" I queried.

She frowned, "Nothing."

I glanced down at her hands – her wrists were red and sore, as if she had been rubbing them insistently. The red overlapped the silvery scars that encircled her wrist, marring her skin in a mangle of puckered white flesh, lines thin and thick like grotesque bracelets. I closed my eyes and looked away.