What Lurks in Her Eyes

Chapter Eleven: Bonding with Her

She sniffles. "W-why? I don't understand, t-though. You are different, y-you smell different, you act different and f-feel different. I-I feel different when I'm around you. I don't u-understand...."

That's the most words she's said in a sentence, and for that, I can't help but feel a little sense of pride that she has the courage to ask me questions and speak a little more to me. Improvement is improvement, no matter how small.

"What do you feel when you're around me?" I ask. Maybe she's feeling the mate bond.

"It feels w-warm and tingly when I t-touch you. And then it's almost like a v-voice is telling me to trust you. You smell like w-wood and pine trees. It smells good. It's never h-happened to anyone else before."

So she is feeling the effects of the mate-bond.

I smile. "I feel the exact same things you are feeling.  Have you ever heard of mates? Vampires call them beloveds."

She shakes her head in confusion.

It looks like I've got some explaining to do.

* * *

So I explained it to her. Everything. Every little detail about what a mate is. And now, as I can imagine, she's left with a lot of questions.

"So in order t-to complete the bond, I-I have to mate with y-you?" She asks, paling. I can feel the discomfort and awkwardness and I nearly choke.

I nod. "Yes. But that won't happen for awhile until you're ready, so don't worry about it."

She nods. "So....mates d-don't hurt each other? They protect each other?"

"Yes. Good mates look out for each other and care for one another."

"Hmm," She says, sounding interested, "And we're mates?"

"Yes."

She fumbles with her fingers in her lap, a small smile is shown on her features. But then her face contorts into confusion. Her eyebrows knit together and her lips presses into a thin line. She visibly pales and her eyes become sad.

"I-if we're mates, and we're supposed to protect one another, then why didn't you help me that night in the alley?"

Her question completely throws me off.

"What are you talking about?"

Her gaze falls to her hands in her lap and her voice shakes as she speaks. "That night, i-in the alley when that werewolf was r-raping me, why didn't you help me? You looked right at me and even watched. I-I thought mates were supposed to help each other."

"What do you mean you could see me? It's impossible...." I mutter in shock. I was in my spirit form, how could she have possibly seen me?

"I-I don't mean to lie, I-I just thought....maybe I didn't see you after all." She says quietly in fear.

I lay a hand on Anya's shoulder and cup her face with my hands. Her large silver eyes seems to look right in my soul and in that instant, I know she's telling the truth. "What did you see?"

"You were dressed in a dark robe and half of your face was shaded by darkness." She says. She looks confused by the fact that I'm so dumbfounded on how she could have seen me.

I let go of her face. "You must be confused. Do you know about reapers?"

She nods. "Y-yes. I know of the other supernatural beings that exist. V-vampires had training on the various different species above us so that we may serve them to the best of our ability."

So she's had some teaching in her life. But the only purpose was to instill a submit and obey attitude.

"Well, I am a reaper. And I was in my spirit form when I heard your cries in the alley. When I'm in my spirit form, you shouldn't have been able to see me. Nobody should be able to see me. Yet somehow, you did, and I was unaware. That's why I didn't do anything, you shouldn't have been able to see me. I thought I was in a helpless state and I would do anything to go back in time if I knew what I know now."

Her eyes widen in shock. "You're a reaper? And I was able to s-see you?"

I nod. It makes me wonder if anyone else has been able to see me. Impossible, surely I would have been approached eventually during my time serving. Besides, nobody even looked at me. Anya was the only one.

"I don't know how or why you were able to see me. Have you ever seen others like me?"

She stills for a moment, as if she's thinking. A few moments of silence pass before she breaks it. She nods slowly. "Yes, actually I have. I-I've seen a lot of....those beings actually. They would roam the slave houses and my Masters homes. Sometimes, when I'd look out the window, I'd see them in the streets."

My mouth nearly drops open. Surely, Anya has some sort of a gift. Nobody should be able to see reapers when they're in their spirit form. Nobody.

It just doesn't make sense.

"I will do some investigating about this later. It's two in the morning, and we both need to get some sleep." I say, creeping off of my bed and helping Anya down.

She bites her lip, not meeting eye contact like me. She hardly ever looks me in the eyes, apparently she lived by rules that instructed her not to look her "superiors" in the eyes. I've been working to fix that rule.

But with not much luck.

"Let's get you back to bed, alright?" I start to walk towards the door only to look behind me to see Anya still standing there. She taps her bare foot lightly on the floor and looks....awkward?

"I-I was thinking if....if I could sleep in h-here....uh, with you." She says quietly, her light Russian accent making her sound cuter.

I smile and my wolf practically screams in excitement. Always such a childish wolf. Sometimes I think he never truly grew up.

But in a way, I don't blame him. Our mate actually likes us enough to sleep here with me. The mate bond must be working in her, she must be feeling the pull.

"Yes, of course you can sleep in here. With me. In my bed. With me." I say awkwardly. Shut up. Stop talking. You sound like an idiot right now with your shyness. I laugh awkwardly. "I mean, uh, do you want to sleep on the couch in my room or the bed with me? Or perhaps I could take the couch and you could take the bed-"

Anya interrupts me when she laughs. "The bed. With you. B-but....I hope it's not too much to ask..." She mumbles.

"Of course not. What is it?" I ask. I feel like a puppy ready to please.

"Uhm.....can you not touch me too m-much? What I-I mean is...." She reddens. Her face visibly reddens.

I raise an eyebrow, not catching on.

She sighs. "What I mean is don't try anything sexual-"

"Oh for the love of goddess no! Not until you're begging for me!" Shit....that sounded wrong! Stupid Donovan! Stupid! I feel my face reddening. "Sorry, that was my wolf talking," My wolf growls his disapproval, not liking I'm blaming him, "What I meant to say was I won't do anything until you're ready. We're not close to that step yet, so don't you worry."

Anya smiles at my flustered state before nodding. "Okay."

So we get into bed together. I am on one side of the bed and Anya is on the other side. She's as far away from me as she can get and she peers at me, the covers covering half of her face so all I see are her eyes and hair.

I smile. "Goodnight."

I flick off the lamp beside me, the darkness settles over the room. I lay my head down on the pillow and close my eyes. The silence drowns out all other noises until I hear a soft voice replying to me.

"Goodnight."

And that night, I slept much better in the presence of my mate.