My Mate, My Best Friend

Chapter 17 - Wolf

Standing behind the creep who inappropriately grabbed Carlie's ass was Daniel, and he did not look happy. He had caught the guy's hand that was on my shoulder seconds ago.

"Ow, ow, ow! What the fuck, man?!" The guy slurred. Yep, he was definitely drunk.

"Who gave you permission to touch her?" He muttered through clenched teeth.

"Chill, dude. I just wanna know where her sexy friend with the nice ass is."

Daniel moved quickly, twisting his arm behind his back. The guy grunted in pain.

I would've let Daniel break his arm because of what he did to Carlie, but people around us were starting to whisper.

I quickly walked to Daniel and placed a hand on his arm. "Just leave him. He's not worth it."

He looked at me, then nodded. Daniel let go, and the creep stumbled backwards, almost falling down.

Daniel took my hand in his, lacing our fingers together. My heart jumped slightly at the innocent act that brought warmth from my hand to my entire body as he led me through the crowd.

The teacher guarding the exit asked, "Leaving already?"

When Daniel didn't answer, I said, "Just getting some fresh air."

She smiled and let us through.

We left the stuffy gym and entered the cold, star-ridden night. A strong breeze made me shiver as we walked towards a tree with a bench underneath.

We stopped and he said, "I'm sorry. If I had a jacket I would give it to you."

I smiled sheepishly. "Don't worry about it. I'm fine."

"Are you okay? That guy didn't do anything to you, right?"

"No," I shook my head, "I'm not the one he bothered."

"I saw what he did to your friend. I'm sorry. I was going to step in, but that guy you hang around with intervened."

"You saw?" I asked. He nodded.

"Lauren," he began, his eyebrows now creased together as his grip on my hand tightened, "I'm sorry about how I was acting back in the gym. How I reacted when he was near you... I've never been so incapable of controlling my own feelings. I don't want to treat you like my possession, but he touched you and I couldn't control myself."

His words warmed my heart. I know how werewolves tend to be when it comes to their mates, but it's true that sometimes we let our possessiveness damage our relationships. I'm glad he's trying to avoid being too possessive and that he knows I'm not a thing that belongs to him.

"I understand, especially because of what he did to Carlie. I'm just happy you've acknowledged it and are trying to keep from acting that way."

"By that way," I continued, "Has anyone told you that you apologize too much?" 

"Sorry..."

I chuckled as I took a step closer to him. The wind picked up, whistling into my ear and against my skin as my hair blew in the breeze behind me.

He, too, reduced the space between us when he took a step towards me. For a while, there was silence. All that could be heard was the howling of the wind, the rustling of the trees, the faint music that roared in the gym.

Daniel pulled me into an embrace. His hand left mine to wrap around my waist, his head resting on my shoulder. I wrapped my arms around him, resting them on his back. All worry left my mind as his warmth enveloped me and made me feel whole.