Bound

Chapter 20 - Proof

Dmitri

I allow my hand to transform. It becomes bigger than it is now, hair shooting out of the pores on the top of my hand and fingers, nails transforming into long sharp claws. She never asked for proof when she could have, so I want to give her this validation. I want her to trust what I say completely, without a sliver of doubt.

Instead of fear, she reaches out and strokes the fur on my hand. Once again, Sky's reaction is unusual and unpredictable. Most people are scared, their fear pouring out of them. She isn't afraid.

As she strokes my hand, I watch her intently. As fascinated as she seems to be with my hand, I am with her.

"Can you feel the tingles between us, or is it just me?" She asks, dragging her eyes from my hand to look directly at me. Her cheeks tint a shade of pink. She is embarrassed to ask, but determination is overriding that embarrassment. I like this brave side of her.

"I can feel them too, Skylar." My eyes bore into hers, the intensity causing her to break our gaze.

I change my hand back after she finishes stroking the fur, grabbing my nearly cold coffee.

"Is that normal between humans and werewolves? I mean, does every person who touches a werewolf feel tingles?"

"It's not normal. I have no explanation for why it happens when we touch. I have been alive for centuries and never felt something like this." I nearly said, 'I have never felt something like how I feel with you,' but I thought that would definitely be too creepy.

"How old are you?" She is frowning slightly as she asks.

"Very old," I answer, not really wanting to disclose that information.

She doesn't push me for an exact age. Something I appreciate. She can sense I don't want to elaborate. I ponder my unwillingness to disclose this information to her, realizing I don't want her to feel disgusted by my age. Like I'm sort of a perverted vile old man. It shouldn't matter, I tell myself. You are not getting involved anyway, right?

Her frown disappears, replaced with a smile before she says, "Should I call you Grandpa?"

I nearly choke on the coffee I have just sipped on. 

"Definitely not," I say sternly, which just makes her chuckle.

"I prefer older men," she says offhandedly. At the realization of what she has just said, her cheeks turn a bright red.

"More coffee?" She asks quickly, trying to distract from the awkwardness she has just created with her comment.

"I'm fine, thank you, Skylar."

She clears our mugs, placing them in the dishwasher before returning to sit at the table, her pink cheeks back to their normal shade.

"I should get dressed and ready for work." She doesn't seem enthused saying this, which clearly indicates her tiredness. If I know anything about her, she loves what she does, so for her to not feel keen must mean something.

"Relax. I spoke to Ivan last night when you were sleeping. Rene will look after the shop in your absence today. You need to rest properly, and we have more to discuss."

"I would have managed, but thank you, Dmitri. Let me call her quickly, as some urgent orders need to go out today."

With that, she wanders off down the passage to make the call. I wasn't sure how the next conversation we had would pan out. I needed to keep her safe. My security team was currently busy organizing and installing security at the renovated and new houses being completed on the bordering land. That meant they would only be available to upgrade the security on Sky's property in just over a week.

Anything could happen between now and then. I came up with a solution. I just didn't know if she would accept what I suggested.

"All sorted," she says, sitting at the table and returning me to reality.

"We need to talk about your safety Skylar."

"Well, I'll just have to be extra careful when coming home and leaving. I have thought about this, and I don't want any of your men guarding me, my house, or my shop. I'm not your responsibility Dmitri. We barely know each other, and I can't put your men in harm's way. They don't even know me. It's bizarre. This whole situation is, and it doesn't feel right. I'm still cut up about Ruan, guilty that I caused his death, and I'm just not comfortable, and that is putting it lightly, with having people's deaths on my hands." She finishes her calmly spoken speech, looking me straight in the eyes, her eyes watering at the end before she blinks the moisture away.

I mask my expression, not wanting to give anything away. Sky saying she is not my responsibility causes a rush of possessiveness to surge through me. That and an element of fear. The thought of leaving her to her own devices and then having something happen to her affects more than just my pride in being the protector of this town. I actually fear losing her. That alone tells me there is more to this situation between her and me than we know. These kinds of feelings are not easily elicited out of me and especially not by some bewildering human woman.

I need to keep her close to me. No matter what.

"The agreement with this town and my pack means that as the Alpha, you are under my protection. Ignoring that would mean breaching the contract and ending an arrangement that has existed for decades. It's not that simple, Skylar," I say sternly. A different approach was perhaps required.

"Tell me, how exactly do you think you will protect yourself against a highly trained Hunter?"

She hesitates, thinking for a bit.

"Look, I see your logic. I'm not ignorant enough to think I have the skill set to do that. I just have no other option at the moment," she trails off thoughtfully. 

"Oh, I'll ask Ben to stay with me for a week." Her face lights up as she says this excitedly.

"He has been threatening to come visit, now would be the perfect time." She claps her hands together, her elation eliciting a feeling I fundamentally detest. Oh, hello, jealousy. Been a while, my friend. She wants some other man, other than me, to stay here. Not fucking happening.

"Ben?" I say impassively, balling my fists under the table where she can't see.

"Ben and I have been friends for years since my aunt and uncle adopted me," she explains.

"And Ben is going to protect you how?" My skepticism seeps into the words. I was looking for a logical reason besides my jealousy for that arrangement not becoming a reality.

"Well, he's not as...muscular as you," she says, struggling to find the word as she motions towards my body, looking at my torso and arms as she does. 

"But he is a pretty big guy, and he told me once that he had extensive combat training when he was in military school," she finishes, looking pleased with herself and her idea.

"And you are okay with putting him in danger?" I ask her expressionlessly, deciding that working on her emotional side was the only way I could get her to drop this suggestion. This suggestion that was making me angrier and angrier as she spoke about this fucking Ben guy.

Bingo. Her face drops.

"I didn't think about that," she says hesitating before a small, "No, I'm not really okay with that either" comes out of her mouth. Her eyes trail from my eyes down to her hands despondently. I feel like she might start crying again.

"I have a solution," I tell her quickly before any tears can fall. "You just might not like it." 

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