Stubborn and the Mutt

nine | dominance

"Gertrude." Why? Why does my body react to the way he says my name? Why do I slowly feel the control of my own body slip to numbness? His lips pull to a smile. Not too big. "Was I not clear? That this is forever? That there's nothing you can say or do that will change my mind, even if I wanted to change my own mind? I'd be damned if that ex of yours thinks he can bring people to harass you for what I did." His eyes drop to my lips for a good moment before gazing back into my eyes. "Then I'd really kill him, and set an example."

The amount of shock, frustration and the slightest bit of fear I have makes me take in a deep breath before exhaling through my nose, eyes pressing shut to make sense of what the hell this boy is even saying to me.

"I want to be clear about something else." Gosh, he is so close. I think I can feel his body heat radiating off of him and onto me. "Mate. Look up. Look at me." I refuse. I don't shake my head, I don't even say anything. I remain stagnant. "Gertrude." Again, the tingles form out of nothing and skate down my back; I clench my hands on either side of me. His voice holds an authority I can't pinpoint, nor can I fathom where he finds the audacity to call me like he owns me.

I don't think I could have seen it coming from a mile away. How suddenly, his hand is on my neck in a firm hold, and the length between his index and thumb lifts my jaw up. My eyes burst open as my lips simultaneously part enough for my gasp to tease the both of our ears. My hand grips onto his wrist.

The aura is dark almost. Tiny strips of grey point at his pupils as his hooded eyes glare at me — the strands of raven can't hide his gaze this time. The rest of his facial features are soft, yet everything is said in his eyes. Nothing else gives away the dominating aura from his face but his eyes. It's almost scary, and certainly has my stomach clenched.

I don't know what it is, but much like every other confrontation with him, I'm almost completely frozen before him. I can't move my legs if I want to, I can't move anything but my hands, and even they feel the weight of moving under his gaze.

Gone was my bravery for some reason. Every single time, it thins out to absolutely nothing, and I'm in his control. Whatever I thought, about possibly smacking him across his face? It all leaves with my dignity. I'm under his control, never mind the fact that he is technically a child in comparison to me.

"It's obvious how much he still has an impact on you. Even after what he did, said, you're still emotionally attached to him." His voice has dropped a decibel or two. I'm blinking up at him as his face is bent down to reach my height. "Now, I can be reasonable and allow you the time to get over him, or I can beat every cell out of him until I'm certain you want nothing to do with him. Thing is, I'm not heartless, I'm just possessive what's mine. And what is mine, is currently more concerned about a worthless person than what should be considered, her entire life. You're my mate. It's my job to protect you, and you shouldn't be making it difficult for either one of us, unless you want to have a personal experience of what happens when I'm upset. I'll ask— hmm, I'll tell you, just this once, to stay away from him. For the sake of all of us."

So I'm there shaking my head at him, gulping a lump of saliva and finding whatever courage inside of me to speak. "You can't... you can't tell me what to do." I am hearing him, but the sense in what he is saying is, I cannot fathom.

He smiles a bit, hand squeezing my neck for a second to emphasise otherwise. "Obviously. You're human, so your submission won't come easy compared to... quite literally, everyone else in my pack. Which is why I'm having this conversations with you right now about this. I'm not forcing anything... yet."

"I'm older than you." I mutter. "I'm your senior. You're supposed to be respecting me and listening to me, not the other way round."

"You're my mate. All of my respect belongs to you. But that should apply to you as well. It's the little things, mate. Like, when I tell you to stay away from your ex, you shouldn't be hesitant nor should it be difficult. What do you need him for that your own mate doesn't have?" Now, as if he contemplated before finally making up his mind, I feel his unoccupied hand shift past my hip to the small of my back, and then slip past my shirt and creates the bone chilling skin contact I think I could have ever received. It stops on the other side of my waist, almost embracing my lower back but not quite pulling me closer towards him. "And when I tell you to look at me, Gertrude, I expect you to do just that. No hesitation. It's very important that you do that."