Werewolf Boyfriend: Dante 3 (rough draft)

It’s hard to talk about, after all you figured you would be done with crushes by now in your life. Not only that, you never expected to have feelings for the guy who was actually the werewolf you’d been afraid of for three years. Dante though had become one of your favorite people to talk to, and there were times you forgot what he actually was. Not only that, it was hard to make your argument sound like an actual issue when all you could say was ‘I like this guy I met on vacation’. Rather than the truth which was, ‘three years ago i met this guy as a wolf then met him again as a human and now I like him, even though I was scared of this wolf’.

“Well, does he feel the same way?” Miri asks after you’ve spilled most of the beans. You still keep Dante’s secret identity close to your chest.

You shrug. “I don’t think so. It’s hard to tell over texts.”

Miri glances out the window at the rain. “Well, I know the place he works at, it’s expensive and fancy. You should at least just go for the free vacation. Not only that, one on one time. You can find out if he feels the same, or if you two are supposed to be just friends.”

“I don’t want to take advantage of the offer,” you scoff.

“He offered, and you said so yourself he would be working a lot.” She then motions to the envelope under your elbow. “You’re mailing him an invite to the play, you know you want to see him.”

You tuck the envelope back. “Yes, I want to see him.” You wish you could just get out all your thoughts and concerns now. There’s more to it that Miri just doesn’t understand, but the only person you could talk to about that was the person you wanted to talk about.

Miri beams. “Then go have an amazing winter vacation. Take my skis, take my teddy.”

You frown. “Teddy? Your Care Bear?”

Miri gives you a sarcastic look. “You work in theatre , how do you not know what a teddy is? It's like a super sexy  bodysuit. It’s lingerie.”

“Ew,” you balk. “I don’t wanna wear something Arnie has jizzed on.”

Miri rolls her eyes. “Do you even have any sexy lingerie. You know? Just in case anything were to arise? Snowstorm traps you in the cabin. You seek his big hairy arms for warmth?”

“Just how many romance novels do you consume a week?” You scoff.

“Only my AO3 account knows for sure. But that isn’t the point, young lady. You still haven’t answered my question? What do you own that is sexy?”

You scrunch up your face as you think. “I have a shirt with Betty Boop on it.”

“Oh my god, no.” Miri scolds.

Later on, you send Dante a message asking for his address so you can send him the invite to the play. You don’t expect to hear from him until much later that evening, like usual, but he replies fairly quickly.

“Shouldn’t you be working?” You reply.

“I got injured today at work so they sent me home.”

Your heart nearly stops. “You got hurt? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Didn’t think it was something I had to share. It wasn’t anything bad anyways, they just sent me back to rest as a precaution.”

“Well? What was it?”

A picture comes through of his foot, which is bandaged and bruised to heck. “Some kid on a snowmobile ran over me.”

“How is that not serious?”

“I can still walk.”

You grumble under your breath, fuming with the need to comfort and heal. This wasn’t new, you’d always done that when your brother or dad got hurt during one of their hunting excursions. You had spent a summer doting on your brother when he broke his leg falling out of a hunter’s watch.

“Are you icing it?”

“I stick it out the window from time to time.”

“I’m being serious!”

“I’ve had worse. Really. This is no big deal to me.” He says this, then starts to reply again. “If my invite the other day seemed weird, I’m sorry. Most of my friends already work here, and the idea I could actually invite someone was a surprise.”

“It wasn’t weird,” you reply.

“It’s just, when my boss mentioned it, the first person I thought of was you.”

You can’t take this. Your stupid little heart is already going through the numbers, and those last eight words were making you tumble and leap.

“I’ll be working most of the time,” he says. “So you would have a whole cabin and the amenities of the place to yourself.”

“I’m very flattered,” you answer. “Let me figure out my schedule. Right now the play is only just getting started.”

“It’s okay, no worries. I’ll be here until March.”

You wouldn’t be able to go to the winter resort until after the play was getting started, even then it was questionable. Luckily though, your production staff this go around were handling things better than the last, so you felt okay about requesting time off.

You figured the first week of December wouldn’t be too bad. You would leave after having Thanksgiving with your families, and go directly to the resort. You were nervous, especially since you feelings for Dante had been shifting. It was no longer just a crush, but genuine feelings mixed with real friendship.

Once you got off the shuttle that took you from the airport to the resort, you felt a slight sense of calm come over you. This would be good for you, and quite possibly help you completely conquer your fear. Your dreams had helped, taking that werewolf of your nightmares and molding him into the sex symbol he was becoming.

The front of the resort was like any other, big building meant to look like a cabin, decorated for the holiday season. While attendants unloaded luggage from the shuttle you looked around, hoping to see Dante before you went inside to find out where to go.

You see your luggage come off the bus, but right as you reach for it, one of the attendants takes it and hefts it on his shoulder.

“Is something wrong?” You ask in alarm.

It isn’t until he lifts his head and you see his dark blue eyes that you recognize him. “Seriously? You didn’t even notice me?”

“Dante!” You exclaim. “I didn’t recognize you with the beard.”

He strokes his beard and grins. “Yeah, I grow everything out during the winter.” He nods his head towards a snowmobile. “Come on, I’ll get you to the cabin.”

“What’s everything?” You ask as you follow him.

Dante takes off his hat and puts it on you. “You’re gonna need this.” He attaches your luggage to a shelf on the back then he helps you on. “You’ll want to hold on.” He says as he revs the machine up. He puts on goggles and places thicker mittens on over his gloves. He speeds off and you cling to him, wrapping your arms around him and placing your face against his back.

He pulls up to a cabin just outside the fancy rental ones. It’s smaller than the rest, but it still looks nice, although, the view is mostly dense trees. Dante helps you down and takes your bag for you.

“I’ve got your room set up and I went shopping the other day, so maybe you won’t starve,” he says with a smirk.

Inside the cabin is warm and filled with a faint cinnamon scent. Considering it’s a cabin used for employees, there’s nothing very descript about the place aside from brightly colored rugs that look like the nineties.

Dante takes you to a room in the back and lays your luggage on the bed. “This is all yours for your stay. The door is the closet, that door is the bathroom. And the wifi password is on the back of the heater remote.”

“It’s nice,” you remark. “Thanks again for inviting me. I usually don’t get to travel much. This year has been a bit different for me.”

Dante takes off his gloves. “Same here.” He runs his fingers through his thicket of hair. Back at the cabins, it had been shorter, now, it was becoming long enough to tie in a ponytail, maybe even braid.

“I wish I grew hair like that,” you say. “It takes my ages to grow out.”

“Kind of goes with the territory,” he chuckles. “You don’t like the beard do you?”

“No! No, it’s great! I mean-” You quickly cover as he starts to laugh. “I’m just not used to you with it yet!”

“It helps up here, keeps me from getting too chapped. But I’ll let you get settled and unpacked. I have to go meet the next shuttle and do a tour.” He takes his hat back from you. “Make yourself at home.”

As the front door shuts you stand there in the silence. The snow outside absorbs all sounds, but you can hear birds, and you can hear people shouting in the distance. You open your bag, and as you begin to unpack, you find a stowaway amongst your belongings. There a brown paper bag with Miri’s name scrawled out on the front.

She’s written a note too. “I got you a present! Enjoy being a snow bunny.”

“Dear god, what have you done?” You open the bag and find clothes inside. There’s a matching bra and panty set that’s lavender with black straps and accents, a match silk robe, and a pair of fishnet thigh highs.

“What sort of slutty fairy godmother are you?” You grumble under your breath. You shove all the things back into the paper bag then stuff the bag into a drawer. You finish unpacking then hook your phone up the wifi.

You lay on the bed for a while, just dicking around on your phone. After a while you hear the door open and shut.

“Hello? Anyone here?”

“No.” You get up off the bed and walk out to see a snow covered Dante shucking off layers at the door. “Off already?”

“It started to snow pretty hard, so the tour got cancelled.” He peels off the final layer to reveal the dark red flannel he’s wearing. “I brought some of the fancy coffee from the gathering hall.”

You smile as you look to the big cups on the counter. “How fancy?”

“The bag of beans costs thirty bucks.”

You open one of the cups and breathe in the deep, heavenly scent. “Oh god, I wish I was rich so I could be stupid.”

Dante points to the fridge. “There’s creamer and stuff in the fridge. Sugar is that ugly bear jar.”

“Ugly bear?” You finch when you actually see the horrible little sugar jar. It’s kind of green and the glossy elements look gloopy. The bears face is saggy and tight in all the wrong places. “Why won’t you put it out of it’s misery?”

“I think it’s cursed.” He walks off to another room.

You open the fridge, shocked to find a strangely large amount of cinnamon flavored products. There’s cinnamon creamer, cinnamon cakes, cinnamon cream cheese, cinnamon vodka.

Dante walks out, wearing black sweatpants and a long sleeved tee. “How are you enjoying it so far?”

“The wifi here is amazing.”

Dante grins and laughs. “Is that all?”

“Today is my lazy day, I’ll do stuff the rest of the week.” You sit at the kitchen table and watch as Dante goes to the fridge. “You like cinnamon or something?”

“It’s good for the heart.” He says as he pours a lot of creamer into his coffee.

“Yeah but, seeing all that stuff, by now your heart must taste like a Red Hot.”

“Probably,” he shuts the fridge and joins you at the table. “I remember when I was a kid and some lady gave me a piece of cinnamon gum, I loved it so much.”

“You just took candy from a stranger?” You ask.

He shrugs as he takes a sip of coffee. “I was thinking about ordering from the cafeteria tonight for dinner. They have a lobster bisque that’s amazing.”

“I’ll never say no to lobster,” you say with a smirk.

The first night with Dante is nice. The cabin is cozy, and the lobster bisque was amazing. You end up talking most of the night about what there is to do at the resort. He gives you shortcuts to everything, tips you off on the best food at the cafeteria, all the inside knowledge.

He goes to work the next morning before you get up, so you enjoy the quiet before deciding to go out and about. There’s an arcade at the gathering hall, where you spend a lot of time playing old video games. You even have a round of pool with some teenagers trying to escape their parents for a while.

You go back to the cabin later than you planned and take a long hot soak in the giant bathtub of your bathroom. You then dick off on your phone until you get hungry and make pancakes for dinner.

Right as you’re tossing the first pancake, Dante comes into the cabin, shaking snow off himself.

“I have never come home to someone cooking before,” he remarks in surprise. He takes off his scarf and approaches the counter. “You could have gone to the cafeteria.”

“I was craving pancakes.” You pour more of your special mixture into the pan. “My grandpa taught me the best recipe for them.”

“I won’t say no to that.” He goes back to his room to change. He comes back out in sweats and a long sleeve shirt again. “What did you end up doing today?”

“I hustled some kids at pool.” You push a plate of pancakes towards him. “Go ahead and eat.” You slap some butter into the pan. “I found a Pente board in the closet today. I was thinking we could play a bit.”

He arches a brow. “Pente?”

“It’s like Go but it’s different, I can teach you. My grandpa and I played all the time, so I was excited to find the board here.” You finish off your plate and join him at the table to eat.

Dante offers some hard cider, which you happily enjoy. You share drinks while you teach him to play Pente too, showing him how and where to the move the shiny stones and ways to win. As the night goes on, you’re both sitting over the Pente board, talking more than you are focusing on the game.

“Seriously, you can tell me, have you ever met a vampire?” You giggle.

Dante rolls his eyes and grins. “I seriously don’t know. All I know is that they are albino and super territorial.”

“What about ghosts?”

He shakes his head. “Don’t know.”

“Slenderman?”

He makes a move on th board. “Didn’t care for that movie.”

“Mothman?”

“Nice guy, I’m godfather to his kids.”

You stare at him as he grins impishly at you. “All I know is werewolves, that’s pretty much it. Whatever else is out there, I am either unaware or blissfully ignorant.”

You fidget in your seat. “Well, what about werewolves?”

Dante’s smile fades away and he keeps his serious gaze upon the Pente board. “What I know is not great. My mom was a loner, went from place to place on a whim. Sometimes we associated with other werewolves, hung around long enough for my mom to get what she wanted and we were gone again.”

He becomes quiet as he looks at the board, looking beyond it really. “When I was sixteen I woke up one morning to find her gone. I didn’t even want to look for her.”

“Oh god, I’m so sorry!” You whisper with alarm. “What’d you do?”

Dante sighs and he pushes his hair out of his face. “I joined up with a pack that I knew about. They made me work as a hunter, getting supplies for the rest of the pack. To them I was exposable. I got caught quite a bit, put in jail, served some time. I kept moving along, doing what my mom taught me. But I grew so tired.” He then looks at you with those dark blue eyes. “Werewolves have no master, no connection. We’re raised to believe we are both man and wild creature, allowed to succumb to our wild side while taking advantage of the human comforts. It’s not always a bad thing, not always a good thing.” He looks away and scratches at his forearm. “That’s why I was so scared when you saw me. I didn’t want to go back.”

“I don’t know what to say,” you murmur.

“There’s nothing to say, really.” He looks back at you. “I left behind that world. I just want to live, find a home, take care of something.” He shrugs. “I didn’t want to be like my mother or the packs I had traveled with. I wanted to care about something other than myself.”

“So you never saw her again?” You ask quietly.

“I don’t really want to. Not now anyways.” He sighs heavily. “I’ve never told anyone any of this. It feels nice to finally share these things.”

You smile at him warmly. “About that night,” you start unsurely, “what were you doing when I caught you?”

He chuckles and shakes his head. “Look, you’re my friend now, and I really don’t know what to say. It’s embarrassing.”

“Were you pooping? Constipated?”

Dante’s smile is both painful and genuine. “No! I was-” he sighs heavily as he struggles with it.

“There was this deer,” he says. “I hated him. Absolutely hated this deer. He would show up, make a mess with the trash can, and then trample through it. I was trying to end his reign of tyranny that night.”

“You were going to kill a deer because he was an ass? You turned into a werewolf to hunt out of pettiness?”

Dante nods. “Yeah.”

You lean back in your seat. “I preferred the pooping answer.”

“It was stupid! I told you it was embarrassing for me.” He runs his fingers through his hair and something magical happens. In the glow of the fire place, the warmth of the alcohol in your veins, and his own unique charm, you realize your feelings are growing deeper, taking root as they begin to blossom.

“Would you ever shift in front of me?” You ask.

He looks up surprised, even a touch worried.”I thought you were afraid of that?”

“It’s you, I shouldn’t be shitting my pants at least.” You smile shyly. “That’s up to you though. I don’t want to force anything, you’re my friend after all.”

Dante’s warm smile grows. “Maybe,” he murmurs. “It’s nice being able to hide that side of myself around someone.”

You can’t deny you are falling for him, werewolf and all. “It’s been a relief for me too. I’m not so afraid anymore. Maybe next summer I can actually go camping again.”

“It’s late, I should really go to bed.” Dante stands up and stretches. “I didn’t realize how much time had gone by.”

“Yeah, I am getting pretty tired.” You clean up the game and set it aside. “Good night.” You want to kiss him so badly then. You linger there and he does as well.

“Good night,” he bids as he goes into his room and closes the door.

You sigh heavily. “Sweet dreams I guess.” You go into your room and flop down on the bed, whining into your pillow.

In the middle of the night you hear something in the living room. You get up and wrap a blanket around yourself. Dante is by the fireplace, adding wood into the fire. His back is turned so he doesn’t see you. He’s shirtless, so you can see his bare back has scars all over it, as do his arms. Your stomach churns as that caregiver desire revs up inside.

Dante turns slightly. “What are you doing up?”

“Noises,” your voice cracks.

He turns to look at you and through the hair on his chest and belly there are more scars. “Go back to bed, I’m just making sure we don’t freeze to death.”

You want to approach him and hug him, but you hold off. “Okay, just checking.” You close the door behind you and cup your hands over your face. He looked so sexy but you felt so guilty thinking those thoughts after seeing the scars.

The next couple of days until you have to leave are quiet, unassuming, and a little awkward. Realizing the depth of your feelings, as well as why he kept himself covered, you felt you had no idea how to approach him ‘normally’ anymore. You were able to have a good time with him, but you felt as though you were holding back.

When you were leaving, he took you to the shuttle to see you off. “Let me know when you get home.”

“I will. Thanks for having me again, I really enjoyed this.”

His smile is shy, somewhat restrained. “I have the month of April to myself, maybe we can meet up again.”

You smile brightly. “I’d like that. Oh! Don’t forget, you can come see the play too.” You hesitate getting onto the bus, there is still so much you want to say. “I have a trundle bed I never use so-”

Dante motions to the bus. “Best get on.”

You quickly give him a hug, one you don’t want to part from. It lingers on so long that the bus driver honks the horn.

“Go on now, get.” Dante shoos you onto the train.

You watch from the window, waving goodbye until you can’t see him anymore.

Upon arriving home, Miri pokes her head out of her bedroom looking like the cat who ate the canary. “So? How did it go?”

You glare back at her viciously and she flinches back. “Yikes. Not good?”

You plop down at the table and sigh. “It was great. I had fun. I really enjoyed being able to hang out with him.”

Miri cocks her brow. “But?”

You lean into your palm. “But I think we are only friends.”

“So my gift?”

You point to your luggage. “Never even left the bag.”

Miri sits down with you and pats your hand. “Hey it’s okay. You at least have your answer now. You can move on.”

You pout as she holds your hand. “I think I like him more than I wanted to admit.” You almost feel like crying. “I hate being human. Why can’t I be a robot?”

“Aww, babe!” Miri hugs you tight in her arms. “It’ll be okay. I’ll go out and buy ice cream later and we can cry on the sofa.”

“Sounds nice,” you mutter. “I just gotta tell him I made it back safe.” You take out your phone and send Dante the update.

Later on in the day, he answers. “Good! Glad you made it home.”

“I bet you fucking are,” you grumble at your phone screen.

Another text pops up. “It’s kind of lonesome now. I’ve never had a cabin to myself so this is weird.”

You pout as you read his messages.

“Thanks for coming. I really did like having you.”

You whine to yourself as you reply. “I usually don’t like the cold, but I had fun with you. Maybe again next year, another friends vacation.”

“Yeah, friends vacation.”