Surprising Smells

CHAPTER 17- Surprising smells
JASMINE’S P. O. V.
I am surprised when Zoe waits until we get back to her house for the whole interrogation. She is my best friend, of course she wants all the details. We are both sitting on her bed and she starts in on me. “When did you find out? How did you find out?” I love how excited she sounds. I was a little worried about the whole devil thing that she wouldn’t be.
“Well, you know how I work out when I get home right?”
“Yeah, something that baffles me.”
“I was getting ready to work out when he asked me to spar. I haven’t had a good spar in a while so I said yes. After I got him pinned down. He kissed me. I couldn’t believe it. I jumped off of him. Yelling at him. Then he told me that I was the one. At first I was pissed. I mean Hunter, but then he was being so sweet.”
“Come on don’t hold back what sweet stuff.” She gets more comfortable on the bed.
“Like yesterday he took me out in the woods and we had private time. Just the two of us talking. Then we went back to my room, we were supposed to watch a movie but we missed dinner, so he went to the kitchen to cook for me. I fell asleep while he was cooking. He put me in bed and let me sleep. He snuggled with me all night long. I woke up next to him. It was so nice.”
“He didn’t try to get frisky?”
“No, he just held me.” I am totally serious and she can tell. I think I might see a little disappointment on her face. “Really he is just enjoying being with me. Ok, so he might hint at wanting more, but he isn’t pushing me.”
“Is he going to be at the dance?” She gets a gleam in her eyes that scares me. It is that plan look again.
“I am pretty sure. He said he can’t be away from me for two days.”
She jumps off her bed and heads to her closet. “Time to put this on. I am pretty sure I got the sizes right, but we have to make sure.” She pulls out a hanger with a bunch of red satin hanging on it. I can see lace. I am a little scared to put it on. I can tell she went the sexy route. I reluctantly stand up and go over and take the hanger. Zoe starts laughing at the face I am wearing.
“It isn’t going to bite, it’s a dress.”
I look at it again. “I think it is going to eat my body, it looks tight enough to be a boa constrictor.”
“It is more comfortable than it looks, I am sure.” She waves her hand dismissing me to the bathroom.
It takes time to get the dress on. The lace on the bodice needs to be tightened, I make sure I can still breath. When I come back in the room with the dress it is the first time I can see the full effect. Zoe has a full length mirror in her room. I look at myself and am shocked. I do look hot. She had the satin sleeves hanging off my shoulders. The bodice accentuates the breasts that are usually just hanging out. The skirt ends just above the knee and it has a wavy effect when I move. I can honestly say I love it.
Zoe can see the look on my face. “You love it. I knew you would. What did I tell you? Trust me I know you better than you do.” She starts tugging and pulling at the dress seeing how it fits. “I really did a good job. I don’t think I need to adjust it at all. We might need makeup on this though.” She points to my mark. “If you still don’t want Nick to know about it.”
“Isn’t there a cape or hood or something?”
She gets a duh, look. “I completely forgot. I was so focused on making you look hot.” She goes back to the closet and pulls out the hood on another hanger. I take it from her and drape it over my shoulders. It covers the mark perfectly. “Problem solved.” She looks at the hood. “I am not so sure I like the length it takes away from your ass, but it will do. It will look stupid if I make it any shorter.”
As far as costumes go it isn’t half bad. I don’t really like the Red Riding Hood character but I can look past it. “You did great. I actually feel hot in this. That is not an easy feat. You should be proud of yourself.”
“Of course I am. Have you met me? I am always proud of myself.” She goes back to the closet. “Do you want to see my costume?”
“Duh.” I watch as she pulls out a costume of what looks like Little Bo Peep. The costume is much like mine, only blue. Plus no cape, instead she has a hook staff. “We’ll match.” I smirk at her.
“Yeap, and we will both be hot.” She runs and slips hers on. It takes her no time at all to put it on. When she comes back she starts snapping pictures of the two of us together in our costumes. “Does your man have social media?”
I shake my head. “I doubt it, he’s not really the type.”
She beams, “Good I don’t want him to see you yet. I want to watch as he loses it.” She starts posting pictures while I take off the costume. After she is done she strips off hers in the room and puts on pajamas.
“So, what is it like to be practically a married woman?” She asks as we start getting things together for a movie.
“Exhausting, being around someone all the time. They always want your time and attention. But I couldn’t be happier.” I beam at her.
We of course spend the rest of the night gossiping and barely pay attention to the movie. We passed out on the floor, like usual.
I am awoken the next morning by my phone ringing. I answer with my eyes still a little blurry from poor sleep. “Hello,” I groaned.
“Were you up all night?” Hunter asks as he chuckles, through the line.
“Yep, Zoe likes to party hard.” I joke. There actually wasn’t any partying.
“Your dad has had me working for hours, I think he is more excited about your birthday than you are. He has me decorating this whole house. Tea lights are a pain in the ass.” He grumbles.
I laugh, “Well, he did say that he was going to keep you busy.”
“Does your birthday really need that many tea lights? Or fairy lights? We have chandeliers. What the hell is the point of all the tiny lights?”
“They are accents.” I point out.
“You need to be accented not the damn room.” He grumbles.
“That is sweet, but I am sure my dad is just trying to make it special. You only turn eighteen once you know.”
“Oh, I know how special it is, I just don’t see why I have to do all the damn lights. He did say I was done with those though. Next he wants me to do some garlands. Why the hell do we need that? I think your dad might be getting bad advice. You know, those people that make you buy a bunch of useless stuff and tell you that you need it.”
I grumble a little. “What time is it?”
“It is like noon. You should have been up hours ago.” He chuckles at me.
“That’s a switch. Who was dragging who out of bed yesterday?”
“I know, I was surprised when you answered and sounded half asleep. I guess I’ll just have to keep you up all night to get to sleep in in the morning.”
“Nice try. I don’t usually do that. I get lazy at Zoe’s house.” I groan as I sit up. I can see Zoe is still out. She is laying on the floor a little bit away from me.
“I’ll have to find ways to make you lazy. Or else wear you out. I think I can do that.” I get the jist of his words.
“Good luck with that. I think I have more stamina than you.”
“Mmm, I can’t wait to test that theory. Anyway, I need to get my mind out of the gutter and back to work. I think your dad is a slave driver. I can see him already waving me back to work. I should form a union.”
“What, the union of one?” I laugh. Trying to stifle it so that I don’t wake Zoe up.
“Do you think my strike will fall on deaf ears?”
“Most definitely.”
“Well, damn, then I better get off the phone. I will see you later. I might call again if I get the chance. I don’t know with the slave driver.” He chuckles a little. “Oh, shit I think your dad heard that one. He is glaring at me. I need to go.”
The line goes dead. I can’t help but laugh. Zoe stirs a little bit then she stills. I get up and sneak to the bathroom for a shower. I hope that will wake me up a little. When I come back to the room Zoe is sitting up yawning. “I don’t think I can move. I hate sleeping on the floor. Why do we always do that?” She starts rubbing her neck.
“I have no idea. I think we need to go for a walk and get some coffee.”
She points her finger at me. “Good idea. Let me know when you are done with that walking thing.”
“Nice try.” I pulled her up from the floor.
“Alright, fine I will take a shower and get dressed. There better not be a long ass line, if I have to walk all the way there I better not have to wait.”
“It is like three blocks.” I call after her.
“See too damn far.” She calls back.
I wait for her to get ready. It takes her about twenty minutes. We let her parents know where we are going and walk the three blocks to the coffee shop. There isn’t a line because hell it’s lunch time. We both get a muffin, hers a poppy seed and mine blueberry. Then I get a hot chocolate and she gets a vanilla frap. Before long we are seated at a table. “I don’t get how you like to exercise. It seems like a complete waste of time.” She grumbles into her frap.
“Because it is better for your body in the long run. You may be able to burn it all off now, but your metabolism will slow down and then the pounds will pack on. You will slow down. You won’t be able to shake that ass the same. Now wouldn’t that be a shame.” I laugh and shake my head at her. I don’t mention that a werewolf needs to burn off the energy or else they get aggressive.
“I think the world would live without my ass shaking. But I think I would have a heart attack if I had to run a mile all the time. I would just fall over dead.”
“Not likely.”
“I think it would be best not to test that theory.” She scrunches up her nose. “You know better safe than sorry.”
“You know statistically.”
“Hold on right there. Do not talk to me about statistics first thing in the morning.”
“Zoe, it’s noon.” I point out.
“Not in here.” She points to her head.
I can’t help but laugh. As we are a little lost in our conversation we didn’t notice that Jay came in. He takes a seat next to me, throwing his arm over my shoulder. “There are my girls. I expected you here a while ago. I was here and then had to leave and come back. You girls are so late.” Zoe just groans at him. I chuckle a little bit. I have managed to wake up quite a bit since that conversation with Hunter.
“What are you looking for us so hard for?” I ask.
Then Jay gets a look on his face that I almost never see. He turns stone cold serious. “Actually it was you I was looking for. Can I talk to you for a second alone?”
This never happens. Jay is almost never serious. I nod and follow him outside leaving a slumped Zoe at the table. He takes me around the side of the building where there is no one else. “Jay, you got me worried, what is going on?”
He turns on me. “Why do you smell different?”
This has me paused. “What the hell do you mean? I don’t smell any different than I usually do.”
“So you always smell like a dog? You don’t even have a dog.” He looks at me with a scared look.
“What do you mean I smell like a dog? You aren’t making sense.” I pause and smell his scent. I haven’t done that in a long time. There never really was a need. This time I smell something that I shouldn’t. “What the hell happened Jay?”
“I am really freaking out. So last weekend I went to this club in the next town over. There was some really hot chick there. She bit me. I don’t really remember it all, but all week things have been changing. I can see in the freakin dark. I can smell everything. You and Hunter smell different than everyone else. I figured if anyone could have some answers then it would be you two. Please tell me you have some answers. I don’t know what the hell to do.” He has started pacing.
I reach out and grab him, I pull away his collar so that I can look at the bite. I can see two distinct puncture marks. “Have you started craving raw meat?”
“Rare meat. Not raw.”
“Does the sunlight hurt you?”
“NO, is it going to?” He sounds more panicked.
“Do you seem like you have more strength?”
“A little, I really haven’t tested it. Please tell me what is going on.”
“Did this girl give you a number or something to keep in touch with her?”
“No, she just left. She seemed upset. I didn’t understand it since she bit me.”
“Did she give you her blood?”
He pauses at that. He seems like he is thinking really hard on that fact. “Yeah, I passed out right after. I was really weak and loopy and then I remember her wrist on my mouth.”
I heaved a big sigh and started pacing myself. “This is not good.”
“Don’t say that. Please just tell me what is going on.”
“Jay, you were bitten by a vampire. A day walker to be exact. Lucky for you it wasn’t a night walker.”
“What the hell is the difference?”
“A day walker can go in the sun, a night walker can’t. Also the night walker has a little harder time controlling their blood lust. It would seem that this day walker lost control and took too much blood. They should have told you all of this. It is super dangerous to leave a person like this. You could have lost control. If I wasn’t here you probably would have in the next week.” I keep pacing looking at him to see how he is taking the news.
“So then why do you and Hunter smell like dogs? How do you know about all this stuff?” I can see Jay getting lost in his own thoughts. He is trying to grasp what the hell happened to him. Plus I can see a small part of him trying to see if I am lying.
“Hunter and I are werewolves. We shift into wolves. That is why we smell like dogs. That is why I know all about this stuff. We have to get you back to my house.”
Jay looks at me like I have lost my mind. “Your house. None of us ever go to your house. You can’t be a werewolf, they don’t exist.”
“Neither do vampires in your world, but here we are. Do you have another explanation?” I point out.
“I wouldn’t be asking you if I did. So, what am I supposed to do?”
I stop and grab Jay by his shoulders. “It’s going to be ok. For today you are going to stick to Zoe and me. Tomorrow you are going to be packed to go to my house for a while. We are going to make sure you can handle this transition. I will call my dad and make sure everything is taken care of. Usually a vampire would do this, but since she just left you we will help you out. Just remember you are still my best friend. I have never steered you wrong.” He nods at me a little defeated. “Go have a seat with Zoe and I will call my dad up.”
Jay tries to compose himself and walks in with a smile on his face. I can tell it is a little fake, but he is pulling it off enough for Zoe. I pull out my phone, dialing up my dad. He picks up after the second ring. “You know I am keeping him busy. I am not a slave driver.” I can’t help but chuckle at that.
“Dad, that is not why I am calling. I have a situation. A vampire turned someone, they just left them. He has no idea what is going on. We have to help him out.”
“Who is this person?” Straight to business, he knows how serious this is.
“My friend Jayden.”
“How long ago was the bite?”
“Last weekend.”
“Day walker or night walker?”
“Day walker.”
“I can get everything ready by tomorrow. Can you keep an eye on him till then?”
“Yeah, I have him with me now. I told him to be packed and ready to come with me tomorrow morning.” I look in the window to see if he is alright. Jay almost looks like he is back to his old self. He is joking with Zoe. “I told him that we would help him dad.”
“Don’t worry pumpkin, it will be alright. You know what to look out for. I am sure your friend will be fine. Of course he won’t be human anymore, but he will be ok.”
“I had to tell him what I am. He could smell I was different.”
“I understand. He is in this world now. It was unavoidable. We will take care of it. Keep yourself safe as well.”
“I will dad. Thank you.” I have sadness in my voice, for my friend whose whole life is now changed.
“I will see you tomorrow. Link Carlos as soon as you are ready. He will be close by. I am sending him down now in case things change. We shouldn’t, we have time. Do you want me to tell Hunter?”
“No, I will tell him later. I don’t want him trying to rush down here right now. I got it handled down here.”
“That is because you are an Alpha. I will see you tomorrow pumpkin.”
“Bye dad.” I click the phone off. When I come back into the cafe, Jay almost seems back to normal, except for that little lost look in his eyes. He is putting on a brave face, but I can tell he is scared. “Dad, worries so much.” I say as I take a seat.
Zoe looks over at me. “Why the hell would your dad call you now? He usually doesn’t call when you are with me and now he has called twice today.”
“Earlier it was Hunter not my dad. My dad is worried I won’t come home because Hunter is being needy.” I joke. It was the first lie that came to my head. Jay looks over at me like he knows I am lying.
Zoe just scoffs, “You love it. You want Hunter just as much as he wants you.”
Jay grimaces. “TMI. I am a guy, I do not need to hear about this.”
I nudged him with my arm. “That is what you get for having a best friend who is a girl. You get to be privy to girl talk.”
“Is it too late to find a guy to be my best friend?” He smiles back at me.
“Oh, fine. I see how it is. You don’t love me anymore. Fine, you can leave.” I wave my hand around like he hurt my feelings.
He pulls me close into a hug. “Oh, I love you. You are the best friend a person can have.”
“You better not forget.” I give him a pointed look.
Zoe looks at the two of us. “That is all well and good. But she was my best friend first. So you are encroaching on my territory, so deal with girl talk.”
Jay sighs, “If I must.” He places a big grin on his face. “So what are we doing today?”