Feral Born (Viciously Yours #1)

Chapter Four: Lessons and Shitty Notes

Early the next morning, I woke up to the sounds of breathing. Heavy breathing. Rolling onto my back, I stared up at the ceiling and started going over everything that happened yesterday. Ryan was being weirder than usual but that could be fixed by just ignoring him until whatever he was going through was over. Jasper being here was a curveball but there was nothing I wanted from him so I doubted we'd cross paths. And lastly, the threatening notes. Depending on what they said, I was either going to tighten up security or tighten up security and increase training.

Satisfied that I had a simple solution for everything, I sat up and pushed the white comforter aside. The heavy breathing had evened out while I was thinking everything over, so I still had a few minutes before I needed to meet Theo outside. Standing up, I made my way to the back of the bedroom and into the bathroom. Walking past the sink, I shoved the shower curtain aside and turned the water to lukewarm. Stripping out of my boxer shorts and t-shirt, I quickly got in to wash up.

Scrubbing the last of the 2 in 1 shampoo and condition from my hair, I leaned over and turned the shower off. Grabbing the light blue towel hanging over the top of the shower, I wrapped it around my body and stepped out onto the tiled floor. Taking the few steps to the mirror and stopping before it. I tucked a corner of the towel into the other side to keep it in place while reaching for my toothbrush on the sink. Brushing my teeth quickly, I shifted them half way through to brush my fangs. There was nothing worse than trying to threaten someone with a pair of yellow fangs. Something about flashing a pair of pearly whites tended to scare the prey better.

Finished, I put the toothbrush back and headed into the bedroom to get dressed. Moving past the bed, I started pulling clothes from the dresser and tossing them backwards onto the bed. Shutting the drawer, I unwrapped the towel from around my body and used it to dry my hair as I turned around. Since I'd only be doing, what I considered to be, light training and maybe a meeting or two. Dressing more comfortable than battle ready seemed appropriate.

Pulling on a mix-match pair of black underwear and a white sports bra, I yanked a white cotton long sleeve over my head. Before slipping into the uber soft black sweatpants I had laid out and grabbed a pair of socks as I left the room. On the way to the kitchen, I glanced out the window to find Theo standing outside staring right back at me through the glass. The first few times he did this, it put me on edge but then I realized he was doing it on purpose to freak me out. I don't know what it was but the male shifters in this pack were all... odd.

Ignoring him, I opened the cabinets and searched for a quick breakfast snack for the both of us. Spotting a granola box in the back, I pulled it forward and opened it up. Only to find it semi-empty with one lonely granola bar inside. Taking it, I pushed the empty box aside and headed to the front door. Pausing by it, I pulled on my socks and sneakers before unlocking the door to step out onto the porch.

"Well, it's about time! I've been up since four thirty and you're barely waking up? Talk about lazy." Theo called out as he stretched on the snow-covered lawn.

Scoffing, I shut the door behind me, "That's because you run two laps around the territory and it takes you thirty minutes. Why would I wait around for thirty minutes until you showed up?"

"It was just a joke, babe."

Babe? "Don't call me babe, Gremlin. What's your lap time?"

He gave me a smug smile, "Twenty five minutes."

"Twenty five minutes faster than a third of the pack and only seventeen minutes slower than me. Almost there." I said, tossing the granola bar at him.

Shaking his head at me, he ripped open the packet and ate the bar in two bites.

Jogging down off the porch and into the snow, I paused to breath in the mountain air. I never planned on leaving again, Arizona had smelt of body odor and smoke. Going into towns and cities was always overwhelming. Here snow coated everything and always gave the air a fresh scent, which reminded me...