The Wolf That Saved Me

Chapter 9: Beautiful Mess

CODY HARVILLE

I completely froze. Natalie? Why was she suddenly calling me now, out of the blue? I had just assumed that she wanted nothing to do with me.

"Hello?" I could sense the uncertainty in her voice.

"Y-yeah, I'm here," I stammered, nervously. My heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest.

"Can you meet me at the diner after my shift tonight?" My breath hitched in my throat. Did she really want to see me again, or was I dreaming? "I'd like to talk."

I let out a long breath that I had been holding in and replied, "Of course."

"Great." Her voice was shaky, she sounded nervous. "I'll see you then. I get off around midnight."

There was a click and the line went dead. I stood still at the side of my bed for a few minutes, staring off into space, just letting the conversation sink in. I was seeing Natalie tonight, and on her terms this time, not mine. She called me, she wants to see me. My palms were sweaty and my heart was beating a mile a minute. I was happy and excited, but at the same time, I felt like I was going to throw up. I was so full of emotions, my wolf was itching to come out. I needed to go for another run.

After my second run, my stomach ached from hunger. I had worked up a humongous appetite and headed straight for the kitchen. Alpha Jason was sitting at the table, sinking his teeth into a turkey sandwich. I walked right past him to the refrigerator, avoiding eye contact. I eyed up all the food until I spotted some leftover lasagna from last night's dinner. Perfect. I took it out of the refrigerator, and put it in the microwave to heat it up.

As I'm standing, facing the microwave, waiting for the timer to beep, I heard Jason say, "So two runs, huh?"

I rolled my eyes. I was not in the mood to have this conversation, not today, so I stuck to one word answers. "Yup." I turned around to face him.

"Any particular reason?" He raised an eyebrow at me.

Like hell I was going to tell him about Natalie again, not after the shit he gave me the last time. "Nope."

"Mhmm." He sounded unconvinced. "You're not hiding anything from me, are you?"

I sighed, feeling slightly annoyed. "Nope."

"Okay," he said, focusing back on his sandwich. He definitely knew I wasn't being truthful, but for some reason, he didn't press the matter, and I was grateful for that. I knew lying to my Alpha probably wasn't the smartest idea, but I certainly didn't want to get into another argument only hours before I was meeting up with Natalie. That would completely ruin my mood, and right now, I was on cloud nine about seeing her. I would deal with the consequences later, if there were any.

The rest of the day went by agonizingly slow. I kept checking the time, which only made things worse. I took another shower because I worked up quite a sweat during my run and I definitely didn't want to stink. I sprayed on some cologne and tried on three different shirts before I was satisfied. I didn't know why I was so nervous, but I needed to calm down. There were merely minutes left before I had to leave the pack house and make my way down to the diner.

I peeked my head out of my door and scanned the hallway; it was all clear. I tiptoed down the steps, through the living and dining room, and into the kitchen, checking to see if the coast was clear along the way. I had made it out the door undetected. The brisk air felt refreshing as I inhaled it.