by L. C. Davis
“Wait, wolves?” he frowned. “What wolves? You didn't tell me that's why you were so freaked out.”
“I think it's just that wolf I heard outside,” I murmured. I decided not to tell him about Victor's wolves from the drawing. Accusing his brother of being a creepy stalker probably wasn't the best way to get to the bottom of our strange situation. “For whatever reason, it must have shaken me up. Now I'm having these weird dreams, but I don't know how you heard me.”
The waitress came and filled the table with food from one corner to the other.
“Help yourself,” he said, gesturing to the buffet.
“No thanks,” I said, deciding to stick to my plate. Even if I could eat more, I didn't want to risk my fingers. He was already scarfing down a burger at an astonishing speed.
“Well,” he began between entrees. “I have a theory, but you won't like it.”
I bit my lip. “I might be a bit more open to some non-logic base theories than I was before.”
“We're mates,” he replied. “I told you, I saw you before in a dream. I wasn't joking.”
He wasn't. That much was obvious now.
“Is that what you think this is?” I asked warily. I couldn't believe I was really entertaining the idea that this stranger and I shared some sort of psychic link.
Hadn't Victor said something about that? My head throbbed whenever I thought too long about our unsettling conversation. Anyway, it was just a dream.
He hesitated. “That was different. It was a special circumstance, and I was the one that reached out to you. I don't know how you got to me.”
I pushed my plate towards him. My stomach had soured to the thought of more food. Maybe I wasn't ready for this kind of talk.
“This is so confusing,” I murmured. “Nothing makes sense since I entered your Lodge.”
“It can,” he said earnestly, reaching across the table to put his hand over mine. It was engulfed. “The Alpha called, he'll be back tomorrow morning. He can help explain everything, better than me. It's too important and I'm just gonna mess it up.”
I glanced up at him. Part of me wanted to accept his invitation. Part of me was terrified. Not of him, but of the other man who would be there.
“You said Victor is back?” I asked, subtly removing my hand to pretend I was tucking a stray hair behind my ear.
He gave a frustrated sigh and leaned back in his chair. He had already demolished his food. “He came in this morning,” he said. “Just showed up and said he felt like a hunting trip to clear his head.”
“Without telling anyone?” I asked. “Does he do that often?”
“Not really,” said Sebastian. “That's why I got worried. He's been acting weird lately. It's not like him to just run off. He missed five sessions, too. Logan and I had to cover them.”
My back straightened and I felt a strange twinge in my gut. It couldn't be jealousy. My palm stung a little, but I thought nothing of it.
Despite my best efforts to hide it, Sebastian picked up on it quickly. “Are you jealous?” he asked, sounding far too pleased.
“O-of course not,” I mumbled. “We're not together, that would be ridiculous. Anyway, I know you're a dom. I'm sure that implies... things.”
“Things?” he laughed. “Sometimes. Not always. Why don't you come down to the Lodge and find out?”
“You know how I feel about that, Sebastian,” I sighed. “Don't get me wrong, this was nice, but-”
“But you wish this was all there was,” he said knowingly. He thought about it for a moment. “Is that the only reason you won't date me?”
I hesitated. I wasn't sure myself. “I don't know,” I admitted. “I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel drawn towards you, Sebastian, but there's just so much up in the air. Aside from the dungeon and the contest and the whole mate thing, I'm trying to get away from a lot of things in my old life. I just don't want to risk getting into something new only to fall right back into the things I'm running from,” I admitted.
I expected him to argue but he listened patiently and squeezed my hand with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. “I know. It's just hard to accept that you don't feel the same pull I do. I know we're meant for each other.”
“Maybe that's true,” I said as gently as possible. As unsettling as it was when he spoke like that, his sincerity made the idea of hurting him seem unforgivable. “But I need time to figured that out for myself.”
He perked up noticeably. “Can we be friends then? If I promise to cut out the destined mates talk. Just let me be around to keep you safe.”
I couldn't help but smile. “That might be more of a task than you think,” I admitted, changing direction once I saw him shift into protector mode. “But I already consider you a friend, Sebastian. Putting the soulmate thing on hiatus would probably be helpful, though.”
“Consider it done,” he said, taking out his wallet once the waitress brought our check.
“I'll pick up the tab, considering you reverse pickpocketed me the other night,” I said, taking out my debit card.
He snorted, laying down a black credit card. “I never promised not to be an overprotective friend.”
I started to protest but he silenced me with a look. “I know we're just friends, but please let me have that at least before I forget I'm a dom.”
I sighed. If everything he claimed was true, he was making a lot of concessions just to be around me. “I don't like taking things,” I admitted.
“It's not taking if it's offered,” he countered. The waitress took his card and returned a moment later. We headed out of the restaurant and he insisted on walking me back to my dormitory.
“Goodnight,” I said, glancing up at him once we reached the side door. Even campus was dead. The quiet streets had an eerie vibe. “Thanks for walking me home.”
“Always,” he said, stepping forward. He tilted my chin upwards and my breath caught in my throat as I realized he was going to kiss me.
I was even more shocked to realize that I wasn't going to stop it. My eyes fell shut as I waited. I felt him move closer. His lips pressed against my forehead, warm and gentle.
My eyes fluttered open in surprise. I stared at him, mystified as to why he had foregone his chance. Part of me had been hoping for it, that maybe it would purge the strange dream from my mind. Or at least the guilt and the burning in my palm whenever I thought of it.
He gave me a knowing smile. “One thing being a dom all these years taught me is patients,” he said, pushing off the wall beside me. He shoved his hands in his pocket and walked towards the curb. “That and some things are just worth the wait.”
I didn't know what to say. I watched him turn away and it took every measure of self control I had not to follow him.
“W-wait,” I called. He spun around curiously. “Y-you forgot your jacket.”
“Keep it,” he grinned. “You can give it back when I pick you up tomorrow. Oh, and uh, sorry about your room. I kind of tore it apart looking for a way to track you before I remembered you worked at the library.”
“My room?” I blinked, too shocked to be angry. “How did you even get into the building?”
He just grinned and turned around, sprinting towards the forest. I hurried upstairs to survey the damage. My clothes were everywhere with books strewn about and left open like he was going through the pages for information.
Fortunately, Arthur wouldn't be home from his parents' weekly dinner for another hour. I knew that would give me just enough time to clean up.
Even the fact that it ended with a marathon cleaning session wasn't enough to mar the unexpectedly pleasant evening. As good as it felt, my head knew otherwise.
Some people were born to find love. I was definitely not one of them.
11
Thursday came and went like a hurricane. Prentice was right, about half the class stayed after for the special two-hour study session and a few of them scheduled tutoring appointments for the next week. By the end of it all I was exha
usted, but I agreed to go out for coffee with Arthur, who was lamenting our game of room tag a little too much for me to buy it.
While I had been avoiding him for a day or so, he had taken up the baton lately. He was hardly ever in the room and when he was, it seemed to be for ten-minute intervals that “mysteriously” occurred during times when he knew I would be away.
To my relief, he was the same old Arthur when we got together. We talked briefly about the competition and I apologized in person, but so much had happened since then that what had seemed like the end of the world last week took a back seat to talk about classes, other students and campus gossip.
I kept talk of my involvement with the Lodge to a minimum and tried to make what little I did share sound dull and disappointing. I felt guilty for holding back, but until I spoke to the Alpha, I felt I had little choice.
I also felt guilty for lying to him about where I was headed off to that night. I told him I would be going to a party for student workers and he seemed to buy it. At least it explained why I was dressed up in nice slacks and a red silk blouse. I hoped my favorite choker would hide my scars, since I couldn't see an appropriate way to wear any of my usual cover-ups to meet the Alpha.
With my bag in hand and Sebastian's jacket draped over my arm, I headed out to meet him at the curb. He was already waiting even though I headed out five minutes early.
He jumped out of his truck as soon as he saw me, took my bag and opened the door. “Thanks,” I said, trying to climb up into the truck while he tossed my bag behind the seats.
No such luck. He grabbed me and lifted me into the cab, giving me a look as he shut the door. A moment later he climbed in and we were off.
“You're in a hurry today.”
I wasn't. As much as I wanted the clarity Sebastian assured me his Alpha could provide, I was not ready to meet the father figure of my friend-slash-supposedly destined lover.
“Don't wanna be late.”
“Late? I thought this was an open-ended thing.”
“Nah, he's obsessed with punctuality.”
“And when are we supposed to be there?”
He looked at the clock. “Fifteen minutes.”
“Why didn't you tell me to be ready sooner??”
“You said you had stuff to do until five.”
“Yeah, but nothing important enough to risk being late to meet your scary wolf boss guy.”
He laughed. “Chill out, he's gonna love you.”
“Not if his first impression of me is being late.”
I paused and realized I was freaking out as badly as the first time I had met Jeff's parents.
“Is your brother going to be there?”
He shrugged. “Dunno. Why?”
“No reason,” I lied.
The Lodge loomed and the dirt path curled around the hills surrounding it. My heart felt like it was in my throat, keeping me from swallowing.
“Relax. Everything is gonna be fine.”
His voice soothed me more than I wanted to admit. Even the gentlest consolation was a command when it came from his mouth.
My heart rate began to drop as I took deep breaths. We parked in the familiar lot and I followed Sebastian up the steps that led into the back of the Lodge where the wolf pack lived.
Brendan flew out the door just as we were climbing up the stairs.
“Watch it!” barked Sebastian.
“Sorry Remus!”
He jogged to a sedan parked in the lot, but turned back halfway. “Glad you're feeling better.
I groaned inwardly. The fact that I had humiliated myself in front of the better part of the people living in the Lodge, and on multiple occasion, had taken a backseat to other anxieties. Until now.
“Thanks, Brendan.” I waved before heading inside.
“Follow me,” said Sebastian.
I complied, feeling like I was following the executioner to the block as we headed up the stairs.
He glanced back at me. “You look hot. Forgot to tell you.”
I smiled weakly. Maybe I shouldn't have eaten before I came.
We came to the top of the stairs and I recognized that it was the same area where Sebastian had taken me after I fainted onstage. The huge door to the Alpha's study was straight ahead.
He reached back and took my hand, giving it a tight squeeze before pulling me along. I think he knew I stood a good chance of running if I wasn't guided.
He gave the massive door three firm raps and waited.
“Come in,” came a weathered voice from the other side.
Sebastian opened the door and hung back, waiting for me. I walked inside the study that seemed far bigger than it had before. Once Sebastian was inside, I followed his lead to stand in front of the massive mahogany desk where the Alpha sat amid a sea of well-organized papers.
He looked nothing like I had expected. He wasn't nearly as tall as Sebastian, but he was almost as broad with a well-muscled frame that would inspire envy in a man half his age. His strong jawline and jet black hair gave him the vitality of a much younger man. The gray hair at his temples and his world-weary energy gave away the fact that he must be in his early fifties.
“You must be the boy who's been causing such chaos in my Lodge,” he said without looking up from the papers he was signing.
And just like that, it was off to a worse start than I could ever have imagined.
“I-I'm sorry, Sir.”
Brilliant. That was all I could manage to say. Now he was going to think I was stupid in addition to being a trouble maker.
“Never said it was your fault. When a man leaves and comes back not even a week later to find it turned upside down, he gets curious.” He looked up and removed a thick pair of reading glasses. “Let's have a look at you.”
His eyes were shrewd and green and it felt like they were looking through me. They widened sharply and he rose from his chair.
I took an instinctive step back and hit the wall that was Sebastian.
He put his strong hands on my shoulders and kept me steady. The longer the Alpha watched me with those piercing, frenzied eyes, the more I was sure a fight would break out.
Just when I was sure I was about to find out whether Sebastian's protectiveness over me applied to this man he revered so deeply, the Alpha composed himself and straightened his back to reach his full height. He had to be at least six-feet.
He was looking at me with a different yet equally intense and incomprehensible expression then. He mouthed something that looked almost like “Sarah.”
It had to be a mistake.
“Come here, my boy.” His voice was shaken but it left no room for disobedience.
I looked up at Sebastian for guidance and he nodded for me to go ahead. I had never seen him look at someone the way he was looking at the Alpha, though. Every muscle in his body seemed wound, ready to spring into action at the slightest reason.
I reluctantly went forward, if only to not to give him one. I came to a stop at the safest distance I felt I could get away with and tried not to blink.
When his hands fell on my shoulders I jolted. The sound of movement startled me, but I didn't dare move. In the corner of my eye, Sebastian had taken a step closer.
“Relax, my boy,” said the Alpha. “I just want to look at him.” His voice was surprisingly tender and so was his gaze as he examined me. It felt like I was some long lost artifact newly discovered, being carefully inspected for chips and ruin.
If he had any idea.
“I-I'm sorry if I did anything to offend you, Sir.”
He ignored me.
“This is the one I was telling you about, Ulric,” said Sebastian. His teeth were gritted when he spoke and his words rang like a thinly veiled threat between them.
“I know very well who he is, Sebastian.” He was reserved and patient once again. He took my left hand and squinted his eyes as if he was intently studying something that wasn't there. Sebastian shifted behind me, but he finally dropped my hand. He released
me and motioned vaguely towards Sebastian.
I all but ran to Sebastian's side without giving him time to change his mind. He draped a protective arm around me and I felt his body tremble subtly. At first I thought it was fear but when I looked up at his face I saw that it held only rage.
“You're scaring him.” His teeth were still gritted. Practically clinging to his side, I could hear a low rumbling building in his chest, increasing with each shallow breath.
I gripped Sebastian's shirt tighter. “Please don't fight,” I whispered so only he could hear.
His arm tightened around me but he showed no signs of relaxing.
“No one is going to fight, child,” said Ulric. “Not in your presence.”
I jolted. The fact that he had somehow heard me terrified me more than anything else up to that point. His sudden tenderness was so out of place that it was far more fearsome than his menacing glare had been.
“Forgive me,” he said, resuming his seat. Sebastian seemed to relax a little. “I'm exhausted after a long trip and you remind me very much of someone I knew a long time ago. Please, take a seat. Both of you.”
Sebastian's jaw was set so firmly it had drawn a vein out on his temple. He helped me into one of the plush leather chairs and stood behind it rather than complying.
So wolves could disobey their Alpha after all. It was something I never wanted to find out because I was the cause of it. The fact that I had put any kind of distance between the two of them, however unintentionally, was not an easy thing to swallow.
Ulric sighed. “I see that the bond has set in with full force on your end, Sebastian. I do wonder if it manifests as deeply in him.”
“Doesn't matter,” he said curtly. At least he no longer seemed ready to pounce on his leader on a hair trigger. “I'll protect him with my life either way.”
“I'm sure you will. As you should.”
I was more lost then than ever before, but I knew better to question or argue with them. Sebastian was showing a side I had never seen before, even if it was in the interest of defending me. This wasn't the big, goofy puppy dog I was growing unreasonably attached to. This man was all wolf.