Harry pov

I sighed as I closed the door to my apartment and shook off my jacket.

Today was a rough day.

It's close to Thanksgiving break, and it makes the kids bounce around like bouncy balls. Try to teach a bunch of 15 year olds geography when all they're thinking about is their grandmother's chocolate cake they'll have during Thanksgiving dinner.

I've had a few students ask me about me being marked. Most of which I never expected to be werewolves. It was weird how they just knew while I was kept in the dark about their existence, but it was also weirdly calming knowing that some of my students were werewolves. I've

realized that being around them feels natural.

"I'm home." I called into the hallway.

Zayn would be at work till 5, but my own little ritual kept standing strong. I made my way into the kitchen and filled a glass of water as I leaned against the counter, collecting my thoughts.

I wonder what zayn and I should do this weekend. Because of heat and Harley being here we didn't go out last weekend, so I know Robin is up for a trip to the bar.

I don't know what mood zayn is in. He seems to like clubbing, but at the same time he might just say that because I enjoy it. It was Thursday today, so I still had some time to decide.

I stiffened as I heard a noise. It was muffled, but I think it came from my apartment. Ok, what to do? This is how poor innocent women die in horror movies. Do I go check it out? Do I call zayn? Do I run and never return?

I subconsciously reached for the silver around my neck. At least if it's a werewolf I can defend myself. I looked sideways and grabbed a knife from my knife block and decided to do the stupid option of checking it out.

I checked the bathroom first, it was empty. Then I checked my bedroom. Also empty. I made sure to check

under the bed and in the closet, but there was no one there.

That leaves the laundry room. I carefully approached it while holding my breath. I did a silent prayer before opening it and holding out my knife.

Someone was indeed behind the door, making me scream. In return, the person on the other side screamed as well. Then I realized that I knew the person who screamed and calmed down.

"Fred? What are you doing?" I called out?

Fred stopped screaming, "Oh thank god. I thought it was someone else." I frowned and was about to ask what she was doing in my laundry room when she grabbed my hand, pulled me into the room and closed the door

behind her. The only light source was a small flashlight.

"The hell Fred? What is going on?" I asked?

"I'm hiding." She responded nonchalantly.

I frowned, "Ok. Two questions, what are you hiding from and why the hell are you hiding in my laundry room?"

Fred shrugged, "Robin made sure to hide some defensive weapons in your laundry room to turn it into a safe

house."

I rolled my eyes. Of course, Robin is always up to something. Wait a minute, Robin has told me this too.

"Wait, why is my laundry room the safehouse for our group? And what kind of weapons are in here?"

Fred looked around the poorly lit room, "Just a baseball bat really. She didn't want to put in anything illegal."

I pinched the bridge of my nose. Why are my friends so weird? "You never answered my question. What are you

hiding from?"

Fred glanced at the door before sitting down and pulling me down with her. "You'll laugh at me." She whispered.

I raised an eyebrow, "I won't laugh, and why are we whispering now?"

"I don't know how well they can hear." Fred responded.

My eyes narrowed. Uh... I know about a few creatures with good hearing. "Fred, I won't laugh I promise. Just tell

me."

Fred shook her head, "No, you won't even believe me!" She whisper yelled.

"Trust me, recently I've been open to a lot of unbelievable things." If anything, the bite mark on my neck should account to that.

Fred sighed, "Trust me you'll keep an open mind? I'm really serious about this. It's not a joke."

I gave Fred a patient smile and grabbed her hands, "I promise."

Fred blew out a breath to collect her thoughts before speaking, "I'm running from Jasper. He told me something today that freaked me out."

I nodded asking her to continue, already guessing what this was about.

"He told me that he wasn't human. I know this will sound insane, but I've seen it with my own eyes! It's real!" Fred started to breath faster and faster with each word, and I was starting to worry she'd get a panic attack. "Jasper is a werewolf!" she then breathed out.

I was silent for a moment. How to respond to this? She's clearly freaked out, so maybe a 'Oh great, you know now. Zayn is one too and he bit me two weeks ago' isn't the best idea. Maybe just a calm response?

"And you saw him as a wolf?" I asked as calmly as I could, hoping she'd see it as a legit question and not me

questioning her story as a whole.

Fred nodded and because the lighting hit her face differently when she did I could see the tears in her eyes now, "He just, turned into a massive dog right in front of me!"

I scratched my head, "Ok..." I paused not knowing what to say next but I think Fred took it as not believing her.

"Harry, I promise I'm not lying. I really saw it! It's real." She pleaded.

I squeezed her hands, "It's ok. I'm just thinking about it. Fred, I know that in situations like this you've never lied or joked about stuff, so I believe you. It's just a bit... Interesting?"

Fred broke into a smile and hugged me, "Thank you! I thought you would laugh and no one would believe me!"

I patted her back softly as she started crying. I let her cry for a moment before asking, "Why did you run?"

Fred shot op, "Are you kidding me harry? He can turn into a dog! What if he bites me? Or kills me? I don't know

wolves can be aggressive!"

I frowned, "But it's still Jasper right?" I tried to ease her into the idea that werewolves weren't naturally dangerous.

"You don't know that." Fred said as she started flailing her arms around,

"What if he isn't Jasper when he's the wolf?"

I sighed, I mean I guess she's right. Their wolves are slightly different from their human counterparts. But

Jasper is her mate, so I know he won't hurt her.

"Has he told you that he could be dangerous?" I asked her.

Fred paused and thought about it for a bit before shaking her head, "No, but a serial killer wolf man would never admit it!"

"I think calling Jasper a serial killer is a bit much." I said as I withheld a laugh.

Speaking of Jasper, I wonder how he's doing right around now. "Did you just run when he transformed?"

Fred nodded, "Uh... yeah! I ran as fast as I could. Thankfully he didn't chase me."

Well, then he must have been truly heartbroken. Wolves love to chase. Poor guy, his mate just ran out on him. He must be thinking she rejected him. I was about to say something when the door unlocked. Was it 5 already?

"I'm home!" Zayn called. I guess so. Fred slapped a hand over my mouth before I could respond and shushed me.

'Sweetheart. Why are you and Fred hiding in the laundry room?' Zayn's voice filled my head as I heard him walk towards the kitchen.

Well... this is awkward. 'Uh... Fred is hiding because Jasper told her about werewolf kind and she freaked out.'

'And she's hiding in your laundry room?' Zayn responded.

'Apparently my laundry room is a safe house for my friends.' I told him.

I heard zayn's warm chuckle in my head which made me smile. Fred frowned in front of me and looked at me with questioning eyes.

'Wait a sec.' I told zayn before I took Fred's hand off my mouth, "Why are we hiding from my boyfriend?" I

whispered, knowing fully well that he could hear me clearly. It was to give Fred a sense of safety.

"He's Jasper's friend. He can't be trusted. What if he's one too?" Fred whispered back.

Great. ' Uh... so now what?' I asked my mate.

'I can just come in?' Zayn suggested.

'How would you have known we were in here?' I asked.

"Harry? Are you home yet?" I heard zayn ask out loud. Smart.

I looked at Fred with a raised eyebrow. "We can't just hide from him. And he met Jasper like a month ago." I reasoned with her.

Fred bit her lip before nodding, "Fine. But if he kills us it's your fault!" she whisper yelled.

"If he was planning on killing me he would have done so weeks ago." I mumbled before standing up and opening the laundry room. "Uh... I'm in here. Sorry! Didn't hear you

come home." I made some weird excuse.

Zayn smiled as he approached me. "That's fine. Doing laundry?" he played along as he kissed my cheek.

He then looked into the laundry room, where Fred was still sitting on the floor looking terrified. "Not really." I decided to say, "Uh... Fred is here."

"I see. Hey Fred, what are you doing hiding in the laundry room?" Zayn asked as politely as he could. I bit back a smile.

Fred gave a shaky smile, "Oh, you know. Just some boy troubles."

"Trouble with Jasper? Want me to beat him up?" Zayn asked with a smirk. I elbowed him in return.

Fred shook her head, "N-No! That won't be necessary." Fred said in a panicked voice, before mumbling, "Not like you could beat a weird wolf man anyway." The words were probably meant to be inaudible for zayn, but I could see him raise an eyebrow at her in confusion.

"Uh... Are you ok?" he asked. He glanced at me, 'Is she ok?'

"I'm fine."

'She's definitely not fine.' I linked at the same time as Fred spoke.

Zayn gave a forced smile, "Ok. Well, are you eating with us? I'm about to start dinner." He tried to steer the

conversation to something more positive.

Fred glanced at me, "If that's ok?"

I gave her a warm smile, "Of course it's fine! You can stay here as long as you like."

Uh... are you forgetting that I'm also supposed to be your dog? How will we cover this up?' Zayn asked me through

the link.

'She already knows about werewolves. We just need to convince her they're not as bad as she thinks they are and then she can go back to her mate.' I explained him my battle plan for the evening.

Zayn gave me a nod and was about to walk back to the kitchen when his phone rang. He showed Fred and I the

phone which portrayed Jasper's name.

"Don't tell him I'm here!" Fred pleaded.

Zayn nodded again, "Sure. Don't talk during the call." He instructed before picking up. "Hey."

I heard Jasper ramble on the other side of the phone but couldn't make out words. "Fred? No I haven't seen her. What did you do?" Zayn lied seamlessly?

More frantic rambling followed and I glanced at Fred to see her looking absolutely horrified. "Listen, whatever you did, she probably just needs time." Zayn tried to calm

Jasper down.

After some more screeching zayn spoke again, "If I see her I'll tell you. No, she's not here."

I raised an eyebrow at zayn repeating himself. Did Jasper know? Zayn said a goodbye before ending the call.

' He totally knows she's here.' He linked me before smiling at Fred, "That went well, let's go make dinner."

'Shit, now what?' I asked him.

"Thank you so much zayn! I'll help!" Fred spoke as she started running to the kitchen. At least she seemed more

relaxed right now.

'Can you send him a text? I don't know the full situation.' Zayn linked.

I nodded, 'Will do.' Zayn smiled, kissed my cheek and followed Fred as I got out my phone.

Hey, I know you know she's here. Please don't come get her. She's freaked out and zayn is right. She needs space. We'll try to explain the situation a bit better. It will work out.

I didn't have to wait long for a response.

Is she ok? I messed up so bad! I'm so sorry!

: Can I really not see her? Nate is going crazy thinking she rejected us. Has she rejected us?

She's fine, just a bit freaked out. Seeing her now will lead to rejection. Give her time, let me and zayn help.

I hoped my text came over stern enough. It took a while before I got a response.

: If you think that it's best for her I will believe you. Thank you Luna. Let me know if there is any trouble. I'll be in my car outside.

My heart skipping at beat at him using my title was short lived when I read the last sentence of his text.

You're outside right now?

Yeah, didn't Alpha tell you yet?

Not yet. Jasper, go home. She'll be fine.

I wasn't going to let this guy stay in his car the entire time.

: It's fine. Nate won't let me leave anyway.

I bit the inside of my cheek as I read over the text. I guess if his wolf won't let him leave at all.

Fine then. But take care of yourself. Go eat something and make sure you sleep.

I'll will. Thank you Luna.

I rolled my eyes and put my phone away. Werewolves and their mates, insane. When I entered the kitchen Fred was making hamburgers while zayn was preparing the buns

and everything.

'And?' He asked when I walked in.

'He will be camping outside the apartment.' I told him.

His chuckle entered my mind. 'Poor guy.'

"Need help?" I asked, making Fred jump in surprise and fear.

"N-no we're good." She told me.

"You can set the table." Zayn suggested and I nodded and started doing so.

Dinner was awkward. Zayn asked Fred what happened between her and Jasper but Fred refused to talk about it.

She probably thought zayn would find her crazy. Things got really awkward when she asked me where the dog

was. I quickly made up the story that he was sleeping under the bed and Cade had growled in my mind telling

me to stop making people believe he was human shy. Needless to say, that comment did make zayn and I hold back smiles.

After dinner we told Fred to just calm down and take a shower while zayn and I did the dishes. "So, now what?"

Zayn asked in a soft tone.

"I don't know. Try to convince her Jasper is her soulmate and everything will be ok?" I told him with a sigh.

Zayn chuckled, "Great idea. Just hard in execution."

I groaned, "I don't know what to do with this. She legit thinks Jasper is some sort of serial killer. And the man in question standing right outside our apartment isn't helping at all either."

Zayn smiled and pulled me into an embrace. I gladly welcomed the sparks that danced between us. "It will be fine. If anyone can convince her it's you." Zayn broke the hug and walked over to the fridge, "I'll go to Jasper and talk to him," He said as he grabbed some food items from

the fridge. "I bet he hasn't eaten."

"I told him to eat and he replied with 'will do Luna.'" I told him.

Zayn beamed, "Can't go against a Luna command." He walked over to me with a bunch of food in his arms

before kissing my forehead. "Just to be sure, I'll take some things with me. If anything is up just link me. I won't

go far with him."

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