His Cursed Mate

Chapter Six

Ell's POV

I instantly felt my cheeks burning as I placed my crutches beneath my arms, looking up to see the surfer guy leaning against the wall, clearly amused at the show I had just provided. A delinquent smile crossed his lips as he straightened his stance, standing at least a foot taller than me. He stepped toward me, bending down slightly so that his face was closer to mine.

    "You do realize that there is such a thing as asking for help, right? He really was right
about you being stubborn," he said, his voice boasting a teasing tone as he resumed his
prior position.

Before I had the chance to retort, a stunning dog rounded the corner, followed closely behind by Mari, who appeared to be attempting to glare holes in the back of the man's skull as she stormed up behind him, smacking the back of his head.

    "Don't be a dick, Luther. She will ask for our help if she wants it," she said, turning to me
and giving me an annoyed smile, "Sorry about him; sometimes he doesn't realize that not
everyone is able to read his sarcasm. He's really just a big, cuddly teddy bear if you can look past his height."

The dog stopped in front of me, appearing to look me up and down with curious eyes. She had a smooth coat and lankier frame with a black body, white underbelly and chest, and accents of brown fur lining her legs and face. There was no doubt in my mind that she had to be a familiar. Her eyes suggested signs of heightened intelligence as she studied me, leaving me wondering what she could be thinking.

    "Sorry, let me introduce you! This is Luther," Mari said, gesturing to the blonde man,
"And that is my familiar, Cass," she swooped her arm toward the canine, grinning like a
little kid as she did so.

I felt a weak smile crossing my lips as I looked between Mari and Cass. To be honest, the sight of them left me with the slightest inkling of jealousy. I would have done anything to have Jules with me in that moment, but she was gone, and I already knew all too well that there would be no bringing her back.

    "Oh wait, I'm sorry!" Mari exclaimed at once, shaking her head. "You probably don't
know what a familiar is, since you're a human. She probably just looks like a regular dog
to you, doesn't she?"

Wait, she thought I was... a human? She hadn't been able to tell that I was a werewolf? Surely, I should have at least carried a different scent to me than that of a mere human. Then again, it would definitely carry a dissimilar essence to it, especially given that I no longer held a familiar bond. I was certain that I didn't smell like a regular human either though. So, given that there was no way I could fit properly into either category, and my obvious lacking in a familiar, they'd more than likely just come to the assumption that I was a strange human.

Well, that wasn't necessarily a bad thing for me though. If anything, it meant that they would be less suspicious of me. The fewer questions they asked me, the better; It meant fewer lies that I would have to tell them in the long run. Since they were the ones that assumed I wasn't like them, it couldn't hurt to play along and provide them with a series of half-truths.

Mari and Luther both stared at me, seeming to wonder what was going through my head.

    "Right... What is a familiar exactly? And why do you have one? Do you all have one?" I
questioned, rattling off questions in an act of ignorance.

Mari briefly exchanged a glance with her familiar, a temporary look of apprehension flashing across her face. Fuck. Did I overdo it with my acting?

Her familiar slightly narrowed her eyes at me, a more serious look crossing the canine's face as she looked up at me. I couldn't hear her thoughts, but it certainly looked as though she had caught on to my lying. Although werewolves held heightened hearing as one of their renowned abilities, familiars were known to be much more capable of picking up the less noticeable abnormalities, whether it be a slight jump in a heart rhythm or the tiniest difference in a person's tone of voice. Given that they were unable to vocalize like humans did, they had adapted to more efficient methods of observation than their werewolf counterparts, which is part of what made them such invaluable guides.