Wolf Girl (Book 1) REWRITING

Chapter 2: Jana

Jana's POV

I wake up feeling more well-rested than I have in months. I'd gotten used to sleeping in beds when I was living here with Ceri, but after she left and the house was empty, I felt safer down in the cellar. The old armchair is uncomfortable and with winter rolling in, the nights were getting colder. But here, in Carys' bed, I am warm.

It's only when I try to get up that I realize one of my arms is underneath her, and the other is resting on top of her arm which is lying across my stomach. Her head is nestled into my neck. We are wrapped in each other, and my heart starts to race. I have to close my eyes and focus on the sound of the wind howling outside just so the pounding in my chest doesn't wake her up.

I wish I could stay like this, it's comfortable, but I don't want her to be freaked out if she wakes up like this. She's fast asleep though, so I gently slide my arm out from underneath her and try to climb out of her light grasp, but in her sleep, she pulls me back in, and she moves her head onto my chest. I don't know what else to do, so I just lie here.

I know I shouldn't be staring at her like this but I can't pull my eyes away. Yesterday I couldn't help but notice how tense she was, but here in my arms, deep in sleep, she is relaxed. Her furrowed brow has smoothed itself out and a delicate smile sits on her pink lips. She breathes steadily, and I feel her hot breath on the skin of my arm.

In the wild, we'd often curl up to each other for warmth in the winter, but in Carys' bed, we're adorned with blankets. I'm not sure if this is something that people do in their sleep normally, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't like it. I just worry how she'll feel when she wakes up because she's told me about her ex, and it's pretty clear there are still feelings there. The last thing I want to do is confuse her, we only just became friends. And I can use all the Wolfblood friends I can get right now.

As she lets out a small breath, her eyelids twitch and I find myself desperate to look into her eyes, wondering what dreams filled her head all night and hope they were good. In a moment of lapsed judgment, I brush a strand of hair over her ear, and then she opens her eyes.

"Morning," I say awkwardly. She is immediately startled and jumps out of bed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you, you looked so peaceful."

"No no," she's blushing, and quickly throws on her robe and slippers, "It's my fault, I'm sorry, I must have been really tired from the move. Um, I'll go put the kettle on, do you want a cup of tea? Or coffee? Hot chocolate?" She doesn't wait for my answer, she just leaves the room in an awkward hurry.

I crash my head into the pillow, pull the covers over my head and cringe. I should have forced myself away from her before she woke up, but the way she was clinging to me... I couldn't. 10 minutes later, she comes back into her room and places a cup of coffee for me on her bedside table.

"I didn't know if you take sugar," she says awkwardly, "So I did one."

"It's perfect," I take a sip and the hot liquid wakes me up instantly, "I swear I can already feel tomorrow's dark moon coming on," I let out a yawn and sit up against the headboard.

"Me too," she sits next to me and crosses her legs, sipping her coffee. "Look, I really am sorry about earlier. Last night you seemed so tired and you sort of cuddled into me, I didn't want to wake you, so I just let you be. I didn't think I'd be the one clinging to you this morning," her cheeks are still red.

I blush a little too. I am surprised to learn that I was the one feeling lonely in my sleep. "Don't apologize, I guess we've both lost people, in a way."

Carys' smile falters, probably thinking about her mum, "Yeah I guess we're in pretty similar situations."

"I suppose we're sort of a pack now, I can introduce you to Tom and Shannon at school, you'll love them."