My Human Mate

The Kiss

The kitchen was joined by a small dining area which was delineated by a wooden shelf full of antiques.

The sitting room which was, so far, my favorite part of the house. The room was furnitured with mid-century modern staples and a fireplace with really tall marble mantle. It was with natural light that was flowing in through the floor to ceiling glass sliding doors that opened into the patio and the swimming pool. Christmas mornings here would look cozy.

I came out and walked the wooden stairs that were paired with glass railings up to the second floor hallway which was decorated with abstract paintings. It had two doors on the left and a huge balcony facing the woods.

The first door from the balcony was the master bedroom. A huge king-sized bed was pressed against the wall on a raised dark wood platform and up to the headboard. The furniture was minimalistic and cozy. The French windows opened into a cozy balcony sitting area with the same killer as that of the balcony.

The other room was a guest bedroom, probably mine, which had almost the same decor as his minus the balcony which was compensated with a large window.

I came downstairs, roaming around the first floor, opening and closing random doors and stopping in tracks to take a second look at the small antiques he had used as décor all over the house.

The west wall of the living room had a huge plasma tv mounted on. I sat down beneath it and in front of a dark wood table, looking through his record collection. He had an impressive collection of records daring back to the 60's.

I was engrossed in going through the vinyl and because the carpets in the rooms were plush, I didn't hear the footsteps until someone cleared their throat behind me.

I jumped back surprised and stood up facing a brawny dude with shaggy blonde hair in a buzz cut with his hands clasped behind his back. "Luna", he gave me a curt nod.

"Who are you?", I breathed, still shaken up by being sneaked upon like that. I didn't even hear him open the front door.

"Eric", we both turned to face Ryan. He walked out of his office wing and into the living room.

"I see that you've both met. Bella, this is Eric. One of the finest warriors and a navy seal. He will be your bodyguard". I snapped my head back at him, looking bewildered.

"Bodyguard? I don't need one. Do I look like I need a babysitter? "

"Does he look like a babysitter?". I shut my mouth, glaring at him. I wasn't going to have a military looking guy follow me around everywhere I go.

"You can go now Eric. Do a perimeter check and report to me later"

"Yes Alpha", he nodded in acknowledgement and left without making a sound.

"I don't need a bodyguard", I started slowly, testing the waters while unpacking the lunch they've sent us from the pack house.

"It's for your safety. You won't even know he was there. He can be subtle", he said not looking up from his plate, picking on the pasta.

"I have your Gamma with me at college. We moved here from the pack house for my safety and from what I see, there are enough alarms here that could call the whole sheriff squad when triggered. I let you justify all this in the name of my safety. But I won't let you add a bodyguard to that list".

He was silent, listening to me rant. I knew he knew that I was right.

"You told me it will be on my terms. My term is I don't want a bodyguard", I said with a tone of finality. He looked up at me, silently wishing that I would let him get away with it but I wasn't going to. He saw that on my face and huffed, "Fine".