Infernal

12.

"Okay," I nodded. Alaric wasn't controlling, he was just protecting me. He wasn't anything like my father who only permitted me to stay in my room all the time. Alaric was different, with him I had more freedom to do as I wanted; provided that Dean was with me.

Alaric slowly brought up his left hand to my face. Softly, his fingers caressed my cheek, the gesture was sweet and affectionate something that Alaric had started to do more. Whenever he could, he would always find the opportunity to hold my hand. I liked the fact that he wasn't forceful and didn't push me to do something I wasn't comfortable with. Our eyes locked together, and for once I wondered how I looked to him. Did he think I was pretty, or perhaps even beautiful? He had never once complimented me in that sort of way, but I didn't feel cold about it.

"Alright love, I'll see you later. If you need something don't hesitate to call," Alaric said, calling me the endearment that he had started to use. It didn't mean that he loved me, it was just his way of showing that he was 'courting me'.

"Okay, have a good day," I said, as Alaric stepped away from me, opening the front door.

"Bye Valerie," he said stepping outside, his back turned to me.

"Bye Ric," I whispered, I know he heard as his back stiffened slightly as closed the front door, leaving me alone.

**

After a few hours had passed I had found myself surrounded by the unpacked bags of the clothes Alaric had bought me from our shopping trip. I hadn't yet sorted out my new clothes, I had literally been living out of the shopping bags but today seemed like a good day to get organised. Once all my new clothes were sorted into piles of what articles of clothing they belonged in, it was just a question of knowing where to put the clothes. I wasn't entirely sure if Alaric would mind if my clothes were in his walk-in wardrobe. We slept in the same room, but did that mean the room belonged to the both of us? Even though he had given me the spare room, was I supposed to keep my belongings in there?

Deciding to check out how much space Alaric had in his room, I made my way to his walk-in wardrobe. It was a large well-designed space, with wide storage space, containing every article of clothing that he owned which ranged from expensive suits to simple casual clothes. He even had a section for ties and his watch selection. The walk-in wardrobe smelt just like Alaric's expensive cologne. My hand skimmed across the multiple Paco Rabanne bottles he had, they stood neatly placed all in line. I found it strange but interesting that Alaric owned many cologne bottles. I had always thought that wolves didn't care for perfume as we had our own individual scents. Due to not being able to shift, I was more human and that meant that I could never smell a wolf'S true scent.

I began to wonder what Alaric's unique smell to me was, as his mate he was supposed to smell different from how he would smell to his beta. To me, he only smelt like the colognes he wore. I couldn't help but think, what did I smell like to Alaric? To him, I must have had a distinctive smell that would allow him to be able to catch my scent from over a mile away.

Suddenly, a sound I had not heard yet, rang in my eardrums... the doorbell?

It was strange to think but I didn't know Alaric's house even had a doorbell. Usually, Dean would just walk in or he would text Alaric that he was here. One thing I had noticed was that Alaric rarely used the mind link between his pack; I hadn't asked him why.

I bounded down the stairs and peered through the keyhole of the front door. I couldn't see exactly who it was but whoever it was, they had gotten past the five guards stationed outside. That only meant that they were not a threat to me, and had a reason for coming to the front door.