Mate Massacres

Chapter 39

Pip showered, and while he looked around Krey's bathroom, he thought hard about what he was doing with his life.

Pip had known Krey for almost three weeks, and now he had moved into Krey's home. This is different, he reminded himself. Krey is a werewolf and we have this... this...

Pip didn't know what to call their connection. He still didn't really understand what it meant to be Krey's mate because he didn't feel any different.

I feel a little ill, actually. Pip thought his lack of energy was because of his exhaustion. Washing his hair was a lot of effort.

The steam in the bathroom helped unblock his sinuses, but the water beating down on his head didn't help his headache.

The cold air in Krey's room wafted into the bathroom when Pip opened the door. Krey look up from the couch, but Pip saw his deep frown before he stared intensely. "Do, um, do werewolves sleep the same as humans?" Pip asked, putting his clothes with his bags. He felt Krey's eyes following him through the room.

"Yes, though we can handle a few more sleepless nights than humans."

Pip knew he still had lots to learn about Krey and how he lived like someone with a raging animal inside him. Quite literary, Pip thought and smiled to himself.

"What's so entertaining?" Krey's deep voice pushed through Pip's chest like a drill, vibrating him to his core.

Pip looked up to those deep brown eyes. "J-Just the thought of you with an actual wolf inside of you."

"Are you getting used to that yet?"

"I'm not sure." Pip hovered near the bed, still too awkward to flop onto the duvet. "I think it depends on my reaction when I next see your wolf."

"When do you want to see it again?" Krey asked. During Pip's shower, he had texted Sid about Pip and to tell the wolves not to panic about smelling a human. Sid hadn't yet replied. Krey also received a text from Francis and he hadn't yet opened it. She was somewhere in the institute. Krey thought it was best to talk face to face, if he wanted to resolve things.

"I don't know." Pip wore a green long-sleeved t-shirt and green patterned pyjama bottoms. He pulled the sleeves over his hands. Krey's room was very cold, but Pip was too shy to ask if they ever put the heating on. He eyed the duvet and shuffled closer to the bed.

Krey not only saw his anxiousness, he felt it. "Get into bed," he said, "and I'll turn off the light."

Pip climbed onto Krey's thick duvet, a little guilty that Krey had to squeeze himself onto the couch, but Pip would sleep a lot easier if he wasn't hyper aware that Krey was next to him.

Pip slid under the duvet, immediately comfortable, and surrounded by the smell of Krey. Pip couldn't describe the smell, but he liked the way it was familiar like he had smelt it for years.

He pulled the duvet up to his chin and Krey turned to look at him with his finger hovered over the light switch. Pip stared back, and as the light turned off, Pip could have sworn he saw Krey's lips curl towards a smile before the room was engulfed with darkness.

He listened to Krey's footsteps moving through the room and towards the couch. When Krey settled, Pip asked, "Can you see better in the dark because you're a werewolf?"

"Yes."

Krey's deep voice coming from the darkness was oddly alluring. Pip sank further under the duvet until only his nose and above was visible.

Pip blinked in the darkness, and soon, outlines formed of the unfamiliar room. He hoped that when he woke up, his mind would feel a little less busy, and he would feel a little less awkward.