-Chase-

I stared at the white ceiling above my head, lying on a bed and listening to the sound of an alarm clock. I was already done with the day, even though I hadn't been awake longer than ten seconds. The awful beeping of the clock tore its way inside my head, and I spent the next few seconds plotting to murder the person who invented that sound, and all those idiots who supported him by buying his products.

Including the still snoring man on my left. I peered at him shortly and cringed at myself when I recognized the face. Brett. I had plenty of exes and I still ended up sleeping with Brett. The whole reason I went out last night was getting my mood up, but instead of eliminating some of the misery, loneliness and regular phases of hating everything about my life, I now received a good amount of self-hate as a bonus.

Brett clearly wasn't waking up even though the alarm was blaring right next to his ear, so I got out of the bed and glared at the clock until I heard something break inside it. When the sweetness of silence filled the small bedroom, I turned to look at the clothes, scattered around the floor. I shivered while thinking about myself last night... I'd been in such a hurry to jump in the bed with the worst ex-boyfriend on my list that I didn't even watch where my expensive clothes landed in the filthy room.

And boy, it was filthy. Just like me.

"Clothes," I muttered, spreading my arms a bit. Nothing happened, which caused my annoyance turn into irritation. "Clothes!"

I knew I'd get scolded for using magic on such mundane tasks as getting dressed, but I wanted to get the hell out of that apartment, and every second counted. Once I made sure all the clothes had appeared on me the right way around, and I wasn't missing socks or boxers, I left the room and called for my bag. By the time I reached the door, my belongings had returned to me, but the use of magic had made my need to throw up even worse, so I slapped a hand over my mouth before practically flying out the door and down the stairs to the ground level – I'd much rather embarrass myself by barfing in the bushes than stay a second longer at Brett's.

While walking home, I texted my best friend, Zane, berating him for letting me hook up with Brett. He berated me for letting him take a sip of a drink that was offered to him by pixies. Suddenly me getting banged by Brett didn't seem like such a bad way to end the night, after all.

Never take anything from pixies.

I assumed he was still relatively alive since he replied to my text, so I didn't bother stopping by his house on my way home – being alive was a sign that he was recovering and would be just fine later in the evening. I had to hurry if I wanted to be at the tea shop by eleven to open the joint, and it was already closing in on ten. I needed to take a shower first. I saw a glimpse of myself in a window of a store, and I wanted to gag. My short, unevenly cut, white hair was a mess, I had weird stains on my white jeans and red wine on my blue hoodie. And on top of that, I was missing two of the seven silver earrings I had in my right ear! A big one shaped like a feather, sparkled with real diamonds, and a small, spike stud right above it. I had no recollection of what could've happened to those two.

Gritting my teeth together, I turned around to look back. I was too far away to summon the earrings, but I didn't want to return to Brett's. I didn't even have the time for that! Although, the big one was pretty expensive...

With the headache growing worse, I sprung around and continued marching home. The earring could wait. The shop, however, could not.

Ten minutes later, I arrived at home. I climbed up the stairs while searching for the key. The door let out a small creak when I opened it, and I was immediately greeted by my feline companion, Eru. Her eyes were bright green, and her long fur was gray with a hint of blue, making her look exactly like a Nebelung cat. Well, while she was in that form, at least.

"What's up?" I asked when she came to me, meowing her lungs out. I thought she was coming to greet me, but she passed by me and went straight to the door. "Eru?" I turned to look at her when she started pacing around, giving me demanding meows.

It was a real shame that even demonic kitties couldn't talk.

"You want out?" I asked in confusion – she wasn't acting like herself. I really didn't have time to waste, but then again, she was my companion for a reason. So, I opened the door and watched her run all the way down to the shop, and her pose turned angrier. She even growled at the door.

It was then that I understood something was wrong. I hurried back in my house to grab a baseball bat and a phone, before I joined Eru at the front door of our shop. I didn't see anything out of the ordinary, and when I carefully peered in through the window, everything looked just fine – nothing seemed to be missing and the shelves were untouched.

I studied the front door, and couldn't see any hints of breaking and entering, but I still proceeded carefully when I opened the lock and pushed the door open. Eru moved quietly when she walked in, crouching close to the floor. I stepped in, holding the bat tightly. The first thing I wanted to see was the cash register, but once I got past the three, round shelves holding a variety of tea bags, I heard a noise at the back of the shop.

I turned around, bat at the ready, and saw... a man. He was lying on the couch I had there for customers. Was he sleeping there? How did he get in?! My heart started beating faster when the man moved.

"Who are you and what are you doing in my shop!" I yelled, staying by the registers.

The man flinched awake like I had scared him shitless. He blinked a few times and looked around before turning his gaze back to me.

"Chase?" his voice was hoarse and weak.

"Who are you and how do you know my name?" I asked, Eru growling at him by my feet all the while.

"It's me – Dante," the man said, slowly sitting up on the couch.

"I don't know anyone by that..." I spoke but shut my mouth in mid-sentence when the name rang a bell. "Dante? Dante Gray?"

"Yeah – it's me," the man breathed out, trying to get up, but he collapsed back down. "I'm sorry – I had nowhere else to go..."

I definitely knew a Dante, but this man couldn't be it. Unless he had turned into a crackhead during the past couple of years. He looked awful. He was pale, skinny and his face looked more like a skull.

"What do you want?" I asked with a harsh tone, still keeping a tight hold on the bat. It wouldn't be the first time an ex of mine came back to get me in trouble. Or ask for favors.

"I need your help," he said and started coughing, unable to continue speaking.

I grit my teeth together. He looked so miserable that I wanted to throw all caution out the window, but I held my ground. Eru was still growling and hissing angrily, giving me a good reason not to trust this man.

"With what? Money? Drugs? How much have you stolen from me already?" I asked. "You sure have a nerve coming back here after how you ended things between us."

"I'm hurt – please – I got shot last night and I... I have nowhere to go..." Dante muttered between his coughs.

"You've heard of this place called a hospital?" I said, trying to see a gunshot wound on him, but it seemed like he was lying. "I'm calling the cops," I added when he couldn't reply to me.

"No! I'm a werewolf!" he coughed up.

"W-What?" I asked with wide eyes. "How?"

He didn't reply to me. Instead, he took off his hoodie. I felt bad when I saw his ribs almost poking out of his pale, sweaty skin. He looked really bad. He had a blood-covered piece of clothing around his arm, and when he removed it, I saw the nastiest hole on his arm, just below the shoulder.

"Please... No cops... No hospital... They'll catch me again if you do..." he stammered, looking like he was about to pass out.

I stared at him for a short moment, but now I couldn't just ignore his pleas anymore. I still wasn't sure if I could trust him, or if he was telling the truth about being turned, but the wound needed to be treated. I put the baseball bat away and went to find a first aid kit from the office. It wasn't enough to treat a gunshot wound, but it was better than nothing.

"How did you get shot?" I asked when I carefully sat down on the couch, trying to touch his arm, but he flinched away, keeping his eyes shut. "Dante?" I asked as calmly as I could, but he turned his head away.

It was almost as if he was scared of me.

Eru stopped growling, but she still looked mad and stayed away from Dante. She hated werewolves, but she also hated canines in general, so I assumed she wasn't angry because Dante had bad intentions. It calmed me down a bit, and I turned to look at Dante again.

"Dante?" I spoke his name quietly. He was breathing heavily and ignored me completely. He had a tight hold on the cushion underneath him, and his whole body was tense. He must've been in a lot of pain – the wound looked disgusting – but why was he afraid? Of me?

"Is the bullet still inside?" I asked and he nodded. "Crap... I'll need to take it out somehow..."

I turned to look at the shop. From this angle, it looked exactly what the sign on the door said: a tea shop. But the truth was a bit more extraordinary than that. I would definitely have something I could use lying around...

"Coulisse off," I spoke loud and clear, and the shop obeyed me.

I stood up as all the shelves started rotating, hiding the vast assortment of teas, and bringing out the real merchandise. From phoenix feathers to dragon scales, and crystal balls to spell books, the magic shop revealed itself in a nice, quiet manner.

I turned to look at Dante, who stared at the shop as the shelves stopped moving.

"I have something here for the pain," I told him. "Or if you'd prefer to get knocked out completely, I can arrange that as well."

"S-Something for the pain, thanks," he whispered.

I walked straight to our dried herb department, and quickly picked a few of them. One for the pain, one for the infection and one to cause drowsiness. I turned to look at Dante for a moment. He looked like he could use a little something to prevent panic attacks as well. Then, I went to get a small mortar to turn the herbs into a powder, and after pouring the mix into a big glass of water, I returned to Dante, stirring the potion until it turned dark blue.

"Here – drink this. You'll feel much better," I told him, giving him the glass.

He peered at the liquid for a moment, before taking a sip. His face immediately scrunched up into a disgusted look, and I assumed he wasn't going to drink the rest of it, but apparently the pain he was in was worse than the taste, so he gulped down the rest of it.

He sat there for a moment, looking like he was about to throw up, staring at the glass in his hand. He looked so horrible... He looked sick.

"Werewolves don't get sick," I spoke out loud. "What happened to you?"

He shook his head, but his hands started shaking. He closed his eyes and took a few, deep breaths, and I could almost see his strength crumbling down in front of me.

Something bad happened, I knew it at that moment.

"Can you walk?" I asked. "I'll take you up to my apartment – I have a spare room you can use for the time being."

"I... I think so..." he muttered.

His body was slowly relaxing, and he didn't seem as scared anymore. I had a million questions running inside my head, like what happened to him, when did he get turned, and why did he come to me of all people? But I held my tongue.

"Come – I'll take care of that wound and then you can rest," I told him, getting up from the couch and grabbing the first aid kit. His stomach let out a demanding grumble when he stood up on his shaky feet. "And you need food. Lots of it," I added, measuring his severely underweight figure with my gaze.

This was not the man I used to go out with.

"Just... don't tell anyone I'm here," he said on our way to the door. "Please. No one can find out where I am. No one."

The look he gave me was so scared... I hurried to nod and give him a reassuring smile. "You're safe at my place. I promise I won't say a word about you to anyone."

"Thanks," he breathed out, putting the hoodie back on just before I opened the door.

I watched him wobble outside, wondering what kind of trouble I had gotten myself into.

I helped him inside my apartment just in time before his strength was wearing out. I had to support him the rest of the way into my spare bedroom, which was more of a storage place than a living area. At least I had a bed in there and enough room to tend his wounds. I told him to take off his hoodie and lie down on the bed, before I went to wash my hands and get clean towels and water before I returned to Dante.

I stopped to take a good look at him. He had bruises and other wounds all over his body. Werewolves were supposed to heal fast, so I started doubting his story about being turned into one. His eyes were closed, he was still breathing heavily and sweating. When I touched his forehead, he flinched and opened his eyes to look up at me, and for a second, I thought I saw something... something sinister in him. It was gone in a blink of an eye.

I hesitated for a moment, before I took one of my earrings, a small stud with a star, and carefully touched his hand with it. He flinched again, but harder this time, and I could see a faint burn mark just before he pulled his hand away.

"I'm sorry – I have a lot of silver jewels..." I muttered. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

So, it was true... He really had been turned into a werewolf, but his injuries didn't make any sense.

There was another wound on his arm, a clean, sharp cut, and it was badly infected. When I leaned closer to take a look, it smelled really bad.

"When did you get this wound?" I asked, touching the skin lightly close to the cut. The area felt hot under my finger.

He looked away without replying to me.

"Well, I'll take care of it as well – you'll be as good as new in no time," I told him soothingly.

I was in some deep shit this time, wasn't I? And of course it was because of an ex-boyfriend, as always... I had to admit that I never thought I'd see Dante ever again.

Not after how things had ended between us.