Hawtness - Hawtness - Volume 3 - Chapter 3

I shoved with all of my might,
trying to push the creature off of me. The female werewolf leaped back with
grace, landing at the foot of the bed. I struggled to toss the sheets, moving
into a sitting position on the bed. She began to crouch, looking ready to bounce back on me, a low growl escaping her
lips.  

“Treena, what are you
doing?” a voice came from the doorway.  

The girl’s low growl broke into a
whine as she turned towards Daniel. A smile broke onto her face as she shifted
back into a more human looking form. She had dark, tanned skin, silky black
hair, dark eyes, a petite nose, and full lips. She looked quite beautiful with
a very sporty appearance. The exact kind of girl I’d expect Daniel to like. I
frowned at the surge of jealousy within me. I didn’t have a right to be
jealous. Daniel wasn’t mine or anything. Although I supposed for the next few
days, I’d have to pretend he was.  

“Hey, Daniel!” She
said, her voice chipper compared to the violence she showed a moment earlier,
“I’m just testing out your mate. I had to see for myself what kind of
woman the great Daniel would fall for.”  

A blush formed on Daniel’s cheeks
as he folded his arms across his bare chest, “Well, be careful with her,
she’s human.”  

Treena wrinkled her nose, “I
noticed, I can smell the human on her almost as much as I can smell the ‘you’
on her. It smells like you two rubbed all over each other all night. Could you
not fornicate in one of our safe houses? Save it for home.”  

Daniel let out a throaty growl,
“It’s not like that. Jane and I are friends.”  

Treena rose an eyebrow, “Are
you telling me, she’s not your mate? You’re… available?”  

The cringe on Daniel’s face told
me that he had realized his mistake. We were supposed to be mates for this Alpha thing. He blew the whole
plan to the first werewolf he met.  

“What my boyfriend is trying
to say,” I explained, jumping out of bed and wrapping my arms around him.
“Is that we’re saving ourselves. Just because we haven’t mated yet doesn’t
mean we haven’t done everything else together. We’re waiting until we get
married; Daniel is so traditional.”  

Treena narrowed her eyes and
turned to Daniel, “Is that so?”  

Daniel nodded his head a bit too
much enthusiasm, “Yes, of course. That is what I meant. We’ve only cuddled
and done oral. I mean, we talk orally. I
don’t mean we’ve done oral. We wouldn’t
do something like that; Jane is so pure. She is all anal. No, that’s not what I
meant. I don’t mean she prefers anal. I mean, she really is anal about keeping
herself pure-” 

“Daniel, that’s enough
honey,” I interrupted him; he was an awful liar.  

Treena glanced back and forth
between the two of us, her eyes furrowed, and she burst out laughing, “Oh,
Daniel, you haven’t changed a bit. You never were the smoothest around women.
Remember that time you had a crush on the Peter
girl and so you kidnapped her? Everyone in the clan was out looking for her,
and they found out you had her in your basement and had spent the last two
hours trying to confess to her.”  

“I’ve grown a little since
then, Treena,” Daniel responded with exasperation in his voice.  

I remember being kidnapped by him
not too long ago myself. Daniel hadn’t changed as much as he thought. Although, not that I thought about it, he
didn’t show any problem telling me his feelings. So, I guess he has more
confidence now? 

“Might I ask who you
are?” I inquired, trying not to sound a little put off by her actions.
 

Daniel turned to me. “Oh, I
am so sorry I didn’t introduce you two. Treena here is the most powerful
werewolf in our clan. I guess she’s what you’d call a childhood friend. The two
of us grew up together. Our families were close.” 

“Is that so?” I asked wryly. 

“I would be the strongest
werewolf in the clan if Daniel didn’t
come back,” Treena gave me a little smirk, “I’ve never been able to
beat him at anything. So, you can see, we go way back. That’s why I can tease
him.” 

I eyeballed Treena with a frown.
She gave Daniel a playful smile and punched him on the shoulder. She looked
friendly enough, but there was an edge to her eyes. A bit of heat touched them
as they flickered in my direction. Oh yes, what she said when I woke up was
true. I was treading on her territory and she was ready to tear my head off of
my shoulders. I was walking into a landmine here, and Daniel doesn’t notice a
thing.  

“So, I hope the pair of us
can be friends too,” Treena gave me a smile that only touched her lips
while her eyes still held a veiled malice. 

“Me too,” I returned
the smile, holding out my hand.  

She grabbed it, squeezing too
hard. When she let go, she turned and grabbed Daniel, leading him out the door
to the front of the cabin while being a tad closer to him than what I would
call appropriate. I shook my hand in pain.

Damn the woman, she won’t even pretend to be civil.
 

“So, Daniel,” Treena
was saying, “It seems like you’re going to be the primary contender for
Alpha. I’ve seen the competition. If you even possess half the talent you had
before you left, you’re practically a shoe-in.”  

“You know I don’t care about
being Alpha.” Daniel sighed.  

“Don’t be modest, Daniel,
you need to uphold your family tradition.” 

“What tradition?” I
interrupted. 

Treena looked back at me, an
eyebrow raised. “Oh, Daniel hasn’t told you? His grandfather, great-grandfather and his father before him
were all Alphas. The only reason Daniel’s dad wasn’t an Alpha is that he was
too young to have a mate at the time of the last choosing. Still, Daniel is the
strongest werewolf in the clan. That’s why they let him go to check on the
missing pack while he was so young.” 

“Daniel, you never told me
any of that.” I directed the comment at Daniel’s back causing him to
stiffen. 

“It’s just… that…”
 

“Oh, don’t you mind, human,
it’s a werewolf thing. It’s not something you’re likely to understand
anyway.”  

Now, my back stiffened. She was
practically hanging off of Daniel! He was my boyfriend! No… rather… I was only
pretending to be his mate to do him a favor, but this girl was starting to piss
me off. I fought down the rage and desire to put this girl down a peg or two.

“Is there really no suitable
competition for Alpha?” Daniel asked.  

Treena turned back to Daniel with
a frown, “You’re not thinking of throwing the match, are you?”  

Daniel shook his hands, “Not
at all, I just want to understand what I’m up against.”  

Treena eyed him up and down
before continuing, “Well, I suppose there are two you can watch out for.
Your biggest physical threat is Jorgan. He might be as strong and as fast as
you are, but he’s as dumb as a bag of bricks.”  

“Most of the competitions
are based on strength and speed,” Daniel reminded her.  

“True, but still a quick wit
gives you an edge. If he won, it’d be awful. He has no clue what he’s
doing.”  

“The last I saw, he was a
scrawny guy. It’ll be interesting to see how he has grown. You mentioned a
second?”  

Treena slowed to a stop, turning
towards Daniel with her head lowered a bit, “It’s Bran.”  

Daniel seemed to wince at the
word. “Does he even have a chance?”  

“No, but he wants to pardon
his father and reclaim his family name. He’s been looking for a mate to fight
in his stead.” 

Daniel grimaced, “Pathetic,
can’t even fight his own battles. What woman does he think he can trick to
fight for him? Daenis? I remember she is getting on in years and a
little desperate for a mate.”  

“He wants to win Alpha.
There is only one girl in our clan strong enough for that.”  

Daniel’s eyes opened, “You? He asked you to be his mate? Don’t tell
me…” 

“No,” Treena spat,
“I’d never be interested in a coward like him. I’m interested in a man
that can keep up with me. No one left single in this clan is suitable. I’ve
considered leaving and visiting one of the other clans to find someone
suitable.”  

Daniel nodded in understanding.
“Why haven’t you?”  

A flash of hurt showed in
Treena’s eyes. If I had been in any other situation right now, I might even
feel bad for the poor girl. Was Daniel oblivious to her affections? In recent
months, I had become so used to the idea of men being so open and upfront with
me, I hadn’t even considered what it was like on the other side of the coin. I
felt a bit sorry for her, maybe we could be friends after all.  

“The time hasn’t been right
yet. I’ve been waiting for a few things,” Treena turned to me, giving me
no doubt what she had been waiting for, “Besides, not every girl is so
lucky as to have the perfect guy fall in her lap and too stupid to do anything
about it.”  

What a bitch! Daniel didn’t seem
to notice the slight. Then again, he didn’t seem to be noticing anything. He had
his hand on his chin; he seemed deep in thought. It wasn’t a sight on him I found familiar. For a moment, I could
see him as the Alpha male. He seemed to exude an aura of leadership that I
couldn’t put my finger on it.  

“I have something I need to
do. Would it be a safe assumption that that is your bike?”  

Treena looked at where he was
pointing. There was a small motorcycle sitting up against a fence. It looked
beat up, but it had seats for two on it.  

“I thought you’d be coming
from this direction. The terrain’s tough this time of year. I thought you’d
appreciate it if I took you up the slopes.”  

Daniel shook his head, “I’ll
be fine, but Jane won’t be able to make that trek on her own. Could you take
her up to Landsmeade for me? I won’t be
far behind.” 

Treena suppressed a grimace,
putting on a fake smile. “Of course, I’d love to take your human…
girlfriend to our clan’s secret meeting place.”  

Daniel nodded, not noticing the
scorn in her voice, and turned to me. “Do not worry, Jane, Treena will keep
you safe from the other werewolves. I’ll be there before nightfall; Right now,
I need to take care of something first.”  

I nodded to him. Yeah, she’d keep
me safe from the other werewolves, but who would keep me safe from her? Treena
grabbed a second helmet from her bike,
chucking it at me with force. I caught it on the tip of my fingers and began
strapping it on my head. My heart was beating a lot faster and I couldn’t seem
to control it. It was enough that I had come here to help Daniel out, now he was
leaving me with a woman who seemed to want me dead. This would not end well.
 

Treena sat on the motorcycle and
started the engine. I looked back to see Daniel already running off into the
forest, angling away from the direction Treena pointed her motorcycle. I hesitated
a few more moments before I sat on the back of her motorcycle and secured my
backpack cautiously. It looks like I was getting the motorcycle ride I had been
dreaming of at long last, although not how I imagined it. I brought up my hands
to grab her hips.  

“If you get fresh with me,
human, I’ll break your arms off.”  

I opted to grab my seat instead.
It was awkward, but somehow still more comfortable than the other option. I was
going to die. I just knew it.  

After a few moments of slight silence
while I sat there with my eyes shut and my hands gripping the seat, Treena let
out a long sigh. “I’m not going to hurt you. That would hurt Daniel and
I’m not willing to do that. It doesn’t mean your face doesn’t piss me off.
You’re not the only human at Landsmeade.
Other werewolves have human mates. So, stop acting like your about to
hyperventilate.”  

I wasn’t acting like that. I was
cool and collected. However, Treena’s words did make me feel a little better at
least. Treena let out a growl and kicked the gas, the motorcycle shooting
forward. Remarkably, she didn’t move as fast or as reckless as Daniel had on
that damned bicycle. After taking a few sharp turns, Treena almost seemed
disappointed that I was managing to stay on and remain calm. To be honest,
after spending all night blasting through the forest on Daniel’s bicycle, this
was almost like a pleasant drive through the countryside.
 I looked at the back of the woman in front of me and grimaced. Things
were just getting started.