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Chapter 15: Explain Yourself
Anna wiggled around to try and rid herself of the massive weight placed on her chest.
As she moved her head from side to side, something began to scratch her neck lightly.
After blinking a few times, her vision cleared and she was able to make out a dark mop of hair close to her face.
Anna could feel his arms wrapped around her, gripping at her back and his face pushed against her neck.
She assumed it had been his light facial hair to scratch her.
Breathing in, Anna was consumed by his scent and relaxed. She could hear Maksim's soft breaths through the silence.
She was happy to find that no more injuries coated Maksim's skin.
Sighing, Anna reached up and ran her fingers through his thick, messy locks.
Immediately, Maksim pulled her closer against him and snuggled his nose deeper in her neck, causing Anna to giggle.
"Maks, you're kind of heavy." Anna whispered. Not only was his weight on her, but his arms were acting as a constrictor.
When he remained asleep, Anna began to wiggle around.
Before she realized what was going on, Maksim pinned her arms down to the mattress.
Looking at his face, Anna realized that he was still asleep.
"Maks... Maks!" Anna tried to wake him.
"What?" Maksim answered in' a gruff voice.
Looking up, he realized that he was on top of the girl, holding her down on the bed.
"Why are you underneath me?" Maksim accused.
"Me? I woke up and you were on top of me." Anna said with a frown. He still hadn't released her, and his face was fairly close to hers.
At this, Maksim raised both eyebrows.
"Why would I do that?"
The alpha knew he would be drawn to her. In his sleep, he had no control. Maksim just liked to get a reaction out of her.
Anna shrugged.
"Maybe you just like the way I smell."
"The way you smell?" Maksim inquired.
"Yeah... because I'm drawn to your smell. Maybe it works both ways." Anna thought out loud, causing her cheeks to turn crimson.
Maksim gave her a questioning look.
"You have no id..." He was cut off by the door bell. "I better get that."
"Who is it?" AnnaLee asked.
"Niklaus."
"I'll stay up here." Anna mumbled. She was still angry with Nik for hurting Maks so badly.
Maksim pushed himself off the bed and down stairs. Once farther down the hall, Maksim chucked to himself. The girl was still angry with Niklaus.
He was excited to see how Niklaus would get himself out of this one. He knew Niklaus was the first one to accept AnnaLee and their bond would be strong.
How would he react to her anger?
Maksim wasn't sure, but he would watch over Niklaus very carefully if Anna came downstairs.
***
Anna jumped at the sound of a phone ringing.
Looking around the room, she managed to find a cell phone by the record player.
Running to it, Anna pressed the answer button.
Her plan was to take the phone to Maksim, but yelling from the other side caused her to stop.
Pulling the phone to her ear, Anna listened.
"Maksim Lukin, I will kill you! Nakonets, vy podnimayete trubka. YA pytalsya pogovorit' s vami v techeniye dvukh nedel', i nichego. Vy znayete, mne nuzhno vashe razresheniye na peresecheniye na territoriyu stai." (Finally, you pick up the phone. I've been trying to speak with you for two weeks now and nothing. You know I need your permission to cross into the pack's territory.-Russian) Came a heated female voice.
"Kto eto?" (Who is this?-Russian) Anna asked.
"Svetlana... kto eto?"
"I'm Anna..."
"Why are you answering my brother's phone?" Svetlana interrupted in a snappy tone.
"Oh, he left it in the bedroom and-"
"Wait a second! Are you Maksim's mate?" Svetlana asked, knowing that her brother was saving himself. Therefore, who else would be in his room?
"Yes... but," Anna began.
"Oh my gosh! That mutt didn't tell me! How long have you been with Maksim?" Svetlana asked.
"Nearly two weeks... I-"
"That jerk! He didn't want me coming home because he doesn't want me to meet you!" Svetlana glowered.
"Maybe you should talk to him about it. I'm sure there is an explanation." AnnaLee reasoned, trying to smooth things over.
"I think I'll do that. May I speak with him?" Svetlana asked sweetly.
"Of course. Just one minute." Anna said, as she took off down the stairs.
She couldn't believe she had just spoken to Maksim's sister.
Still holding the speaker to her chest, Anna stopped at the door to the living room.
She could hear Maks and Nik speaking on the other side.
"And they just left? No trace?" The alpha questioned.
"Not one. The timber wolves have vanished." Nik replied.
"That's wierd. I wonder what their end game is?" Maksim asked to himself.
At this moment, AnnaLee decided to make her presence known.
Opening the door, Anna realized that all talking had stopped.
"Um, sorry for interrupting." Anna mumbled.
"Don't worry about it. What do you need, Anna?" Maksim asked, studying her with curious eyes.
"There is a phone call for you." Anna said as she held the phone out.
"Svetlana?"
It was a simple question, but Anna was frightened by the whiteness of Maksim's knuckles as they clenched the chair.
"I'm sorry." She whispered, scared that he would be upset with her.
At the sound of her small voice, Maksim was confused. Why was the girl apologizing to him? She hadn't done anything.
He was just annoyed with his sister .
"Stop apologizing." Maksim said in an aggravated tone.
He didn't like the thought of her apologizing so easy. Anna wouldn't last among wolves with a conscience like that.
"Sor-... I mean... Ok." Anna corrected quickly.
"Come here." Maksim ordered gently.
As Anna walked forward, Maksim took the phone from her and put it up to his ear.
Anna watched on as Maksim conversed in perfect Russian. He was so comfortable and at ease with himself when speaking Russian.
It would be easy to tell that it was his native tongue.
"Hey, sweetness."
AnnaLee turned to Nik, infuriated by the cockiness that usually caused her to giggle.
With a blank look, Anna turned her back on him and sat down on the couch.
She could hear him following close behind.
"What's wrong?" Nik asked, plopping down right beside Anna.
What was wrong? She was so confused. She knew that Maksim had wanted to fight, so it wasn't truly Nik's fault, but she couldn't help but want to scream at him for touching Maks.
"I'm angry with you for hurting Maks and I know that I shouldn't be, but I can't help it." Anna answered honestly.
"Anna..."
"I'm so confused. You're my friend, Nik, and I care about you... But, last night, when Maks told me that you had been the one he fought, I could have killed you." She confessed. "Oli too."
"Anna, what you're feeling is perfectly normal. You guys are mates. At the same time, you can't blame us. You know that we can't deny an Alpha's command. I mean, we are programmed to follo-"
"An alpha's command? What does that have to do with anything?" AnnaLee questioned, confused.
"Maksim commanded us to fight him. We knew he had had enough, but he made us keep going. He didn't tell you that?"
"No, he didn't." AnnaLee said. "I'm sorry for blaming you."
She couldn't have been more angry if she had tried. Maksim had let her believe it was Nik and Oli who had been wrong, only, Maksim had been the one to cause his own wounds.
Why would he go through so much trouble to injure himself?
"Ok, I will tell her.... Ok. Bye." Came a third voice, coming closer.
Maksim and Anna stared at each other. He could see she was upset, but didn't know why.
"Niklaus, could you give us a minute?" Maksim asked.
"Uh, sure. I need to get back home anyway." Nik answered awkwardly, feeling the tension in the room. "Alpha. Luna."
And with that, he was gone, leaving Anna and Maksim to themselves.
"What's wrong?" Maksim asked.
"Nik told me that you forced them to fight you by using your Alpha command." Anna stated.
"And?" Maksim asked.
"And you caused me to be angry with people who didn't deserve it. It was your own fault you were so beat up." Anna accused.
"Does it make a difference? Would you not have tended to me if you would have known?" Maksim asked, secretly fearing the answer.
"Of course I would have. It just upsets me that you didn't tell me." Anna reasoned.
"Don't you understand? I don't have to tell you anything."
"Fine."
"Fine?" Maksim inquired, confused.
"Yes, Fine. We have more important things to talk about." Anna stated.
"Do we, now?"
"Yep."
"Such as?" Maksim asked.
"Well, for starters, what will happen to Cassandra?"
"Somehow I knew you would ask about this... her execution has been moved for six months."
"What? How-"
"Kender knew what he was doing. Shifter law states that a criminal must be allowed a proper grieving time before any trial or punishment can be issued. The law also stated that the minimum time allowed is 6 months."
Anna was about to reply when a knock on the door sounded.
She gave Maks a questioning look, causing him to shrug in reply.
Before he could get to the door, Nik let himself in and walked towards the couple.
"I just forgot my phone." He explained, walking over to the couch to retrieve it.
"Alpha. Luna" Nik nodded to each of them before shutting the door behind him.
"Do you think he was listening?" AnnaLee asked, looking up at Maksim.
"Absolut" (absolutely-German)
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