Mates of a Human

Part Three. Chapter Seven. Michael

I woke to hear my alarm chime next to the bed and quickly moved to turn it off.  I never used the snooze option.  I was the sort of person who fully woke when disturbed.  My nature had caused some difficulties when we had first moved to this house, amongst a village of strangers. My wolf struggled to settle, the scents were too different, each unexpected sound disturbed him. And if Eric was not lying next to me, either as I had returned from a night shift or he was visiting the Pride, I would not sleep as my wolf would be too alert.

Once mine and Eric's scent was fully entwined upon each piece of furniture, each cushion, each wall, he calmed a little, but it took more than a year for us to fully settle. Now our home, our land was fully our territory, so the only time I might wake in the night is if my wolf felt as if we were in danger or our mates were. He was already feeling especially protective of Alex, so our first instinct was to check on him and I reached for my phone intending to text him as I had over the weekend.

I paused mid reach realising that there was no need.

Eric was partially snoring, partially purring as he splayed out on his side of the bed. This was normal. He either curled up like a kitten and slowly made his way to my side of the bed to press against the heat of my body or he demanded most of the mattress by spreading out and occasionally stealing the blanket. Only this time, Alex was draped over him, using his chest as a pillow. My wolf was circling happily as I observed them, chanting 'mates' repeatedly inside my head. Well, not really. Our beasts don't really speak, it's a thought, image or feeling we receive from them. But when they feel strongly about something, our human-side interprets it as words.

I let them sleep a little longer as I went to brew some coffee.

*****

"Would you be able to drop me off at my apartment, before work?" Alex asked me, while Eric was still in the shower, upstairs.  He had only brought with him the overnight bag that he had taken to his parents and we had washed and dried the clothes from Saturday, so he probably needed something else.

"Sure, but you start at the same time as me," I pointed out, "so I'll take you from the apartment to the hospital as well." 

He tilted his head to one side.  "How did you know when my shift starts?" 

I found myself reddening slightly, unsure how to admit that I knew his schedule for the next two weeks as well as the past week.  "More coffee?" I offered him, grabbing the cooling pot. He handed me his cup and a slightly unexpected sparkle appeared in his eyes.  I refilled his cup, which he brought to his lips before whispering;

"Stalker."  I almost choked on my own drink.  My wolf whined slightly, worried that he had upset our mate, until I noticed the curve of amusement lifting his eyes.

"Well, you didn't make it easy for us to find and talk to you," I mentioned.

"Touché," he mused.  He placed his cup down on the work surface.  "I'm not running anymore."

"And you don't know how happy we are about that," I told him, smiling happily.  "Though my wolf didn't mind the chase too much."  He blushed a little. 

"I'll let you chase me again sometime, if you like."  I'm getting the impression that my mate has a playful side.  I find myself growling at him warning him about teasing me too much, but he simply smiled at me, as if the scent of arousal was not drifting from his person.

"Flirting without me," Eric pouted as he entered the kitchen and poured himself the remainder of the coffee, before adding three sugars and a healthy dose of milk.  "I'm hurt!"

"I'll flirt with you later," I murmured in his ear, which reddened deeply.

"Promises, promises," he replied.  I am surrounded by sass this morning!