The Monarch ( Fated Series: Book 2 - Completed )

Chapter 3 - House rules

She craved it.

Until she had that first taste of goodness in her system, she all but felt in her zombie like state.

Go-make-coffee.

Ignore-wolf.

Must-have-Coffee.

Ignore-rogue.

Making-Coffee.

Preferably kick his ass to move away.

Coffee at last.

As the first sip touched her taste buds, the exhilarating rush ran down her system. It was as if her senses were waking up for the very first time. She nestled into her sweater, letting the coarse fabric rub against her skin, bringing memories of long lost happiness to her mind.

"I swear if you moan, I will throw you out to chill in the snow!" the gruff voice brought her back to reality.

"My house, my rules. If you don't like it, take your skinny ass outside", Avery replied and continued ignoring him, enjoying the pearly white view through the French doors. The scenery seemed so peaceful...

"I am well-knitted, not skinny, girlfriend" his voice intruded her peaceful time with her coffee.

Avery rolled her eyes. She must have irritated him more than she realized if that had sprung up his desire to shift and exchange few words with her. She had seen it before. Her humble experience told her than weres choose either their human or wolf form as a form of confrontation. It was as if the spilt between a human and an animal was actually helping the person to accept and deal with whatever nightmare they were currently battling with.

In his case, he had tried to intimidate her with his wolf and even had gone so far as invading her privacy and when that hadn't worked he had resolved to good old human "barking".

Avery smirked as that has been her goal from the get go.

Avery 2: Rogue 0.

Her smile grew wider as she kept her back to him. It wouldn't do him any good to see her gloating!

She was winning him over and he was following her lead, accepting his human personality back.

There was hope for him after all!

Now she only needed to cement his resolution to stay human.

"Aren't you a ray of sunshine! I think I preferred when you were growling. Feel free to shift back!" She told him fully expecting him to defy her order and unintentionally do her bidding. Staying in a wolf form was dangerous for both of them. He could lose his person and she was nowhere a match to his strength even in his battered state. A human she could reason with and properly handle between her own training and the stashed shotguns and knives that were hidden around the cottage.

On the other hand, his wolf was unpredictable. Even if she had defied him the night before, she knew he had allowed her to do so. She wouldn't be able to go toe to toe with him for much longer.

Therefore it was essential for him to stay human.

"That ain't happening", he coldly informed her.

I still got it, Avery smirked at her own thought. She was definitely on her way to make him compliant with her house rules.

"Oh, whatever!" She pretended to be uninterested in his decision and took another sip of her coffee.

His steps told her he was moving across the kitchen, fetching coffee for himself. Maybe she could hope that the hot liquid will refresh his mood, too?