Later that evening, I am seated at the huge dinner table. There are three such tables, each completely occupied by the pack wolves/ I am seated on the left of Xalvador and his chair is almost attached to mine. The cook and the maids serve some spaghetti to everyone and the people dig in immediately. I take a morsel, struggling with the fork and then finally settle for the spoon instead. Xalvador notices this and glances at me to which I look away embarrassed. I manage to use the spoon perfectly after some bites and my thoughts drift to my previous life. I was happy as a rogue. Free, independent, and able to do whatever I wanted to do. I didn't have to adhere to any norms or fit in anywhere. But... fate had other plans and now this is the life I'm living.
The dinner for me was awkward. With all the wolves constantly giving me curious looks, I felt like running away from there. I still managed to get through it but now is the part I had been dreading all along. The night. In the same room with Xalvador. I get into his room and sit on the bed not knowing what to do. Xalvador enters soon and goes to the closet.
"Go and change sugar bun. It's time to sleep." Xalvador says after he is done changing, not to mention looking even more attractive in the casual shorts and t-shirt. I get up sighing. I choose a pair of black pajamas and a yellow t-shirt for the night. The pair isn't revealing at all which offer some relief to me. I enter back into his room and lie down on the bed, closing my eyes slowly drifting towards a slumber.
I'm suddenly awake again when there is shuffling but I keep my eyes closed. The bed dips and I know the monster is beside me. A part of me is happy that my mate is so close to me but the sane part of me wants to cringe away from him and run from this hell. To my horror, an arm drapes on my waist and I'm pulled closer to Xalvador's chest with my back to him. My breathing shoots up and the mate bond is satisfied and aroused at the same time. It wants more. It wants a mark. A claim. And then the ultimate consummation. But I won't ever do that. This is the farthest I will allow Xalvador to go and the mate bond has to satisfy itself. If it can't, I would rather die and end this agony once and for all. But the mate bond won't allow that too. I know about it. It would make the attraction irresistible and almost impossible to overcome. I would end up doing things I don't want to do and stopping it would be out of control. Being this close to him will only deepen the intensity and the craving of the mate bond.
"Sleep sugar bun. Its quite late." Xalvador says and I yelp slightly. I squish my eyes tighter and struggle to breathe normally. Xalvador leans towards me and his hand tightens around my waist. I feel the hair on the back of my neck rising because of his hot breath. He takes a deep sniff of my scent and I realize that this is something he does everytime we are close. I don't know the reason though. I calm my uneven breathing and try to sleep. Soon I hear Xalvador's breathing become even and that provides me with some sort of relief. I try to slip into a deep sleep but my eyes stay wide open, and I end up thinking about everything that has happened and everything that might happen. Another fact is that I woke up late today so its natural if I can't sleep. I was never a heavy sleeper. This room, this proximity irritates me and I decide to get out for a while. The feeling of being trapped might go away if I go in the training field for a while now. With a constant prayer in my mind, I lift Xalvador's heavy hand from my waist and drop it lightly. I wiggle slowly and reach the end of the bed. With soft steps, I open the door and close it as noiselessly as I can.
I go down the stairs and the entire house is eerily quiet. It's amazing how the chatter that was present throughout the day is completely dead right now. No wolves roaming around or no wolves training. But that's exactly what I was looking for. The day was an ordeal except for the time I spent with Liam. I hope I run into him tomorrow again so I might get to know him better. But then I remember Xalvador's reaction to me and Liam being friends and I sigh sadly. Not such a good idea then. I don't want him to get into trouble because of me.
I reach the training field almost crying in relief after I manage to sneak out through the huge door without making a ton of noise. The field is clear, the grass cut adequately and moist with a soft wind blowing around. The cool breeze fans my face and I feel the most calm and pleasant I have felt in the last few days. I walk there, feeling the light massage that the grass gives my feet and imagining the breeze taking away all my fears and frustration with it. I suddenly hear ruffling on the right side of mine and my senses are immediately alert. Being an elemental, all my werewolves powers and senses are sharper and stronger than an average wolf. Not as powerful as an Alpha but definitely a plenty times stronger than the other wolves. I look to the right, my eyes focusing on the area I heard the movement from. Its dark and the trees act as a thick blanket covering whoever or whatever that is standing there. Then I see it! A shadow. Moving along the trees. And the other second it has disappeared. The movement was so fast and swift that I doubt if I even saw something. But then I trust my instincts yelling at me that there was definitely something over there. Yes! I did see something. The movement was unnaturally quick
but the shuffling sound was there. And my ears can't be wrong about it.
As I stand there in the dark, in the quiet, cold night, my mind is in a havoc thinking of what my ears and eyes just witnessed. No matter how strong a werewolf is, he or she cannot run so fast. Not even an Alpha. Werewolves have strength as a built-in feature. Speed and flexibility is something that they master by practice. But even then its impossible for a werewolf to attain a speed equivalent to what I just saw. I wonder what it could have been and once again my mind calculates the possibility of me being mistaken or just being a paranoid.
"A she-wolf shouldn't be here all alone at this hour of the night." A croaky voice says from behind me and I turn around. I see a man- probably in his fifties, face wrinkled and eyes gleaming with something I can't put a finger on. He stands in a bent posture which is quite weird and the aura around him itself is of something wicked. I don't know why I feel like that but his presence makes me uncomfortable.
"I'm sorry but may I know who you are?" I question politely and he smiles. A sly smile. What the hell is up with this guy!
"Of course the Luna would want to know who I am. I am a member of this pack and also the younger brother of the pack trainer Marcel." He says and I nod hesitantly. Okay. At least he is from the pack. Which makes him... safe. Maybe he has always been this weird.
"Oh alright. But please refrain from calling me Luna. I would appreciate if you call me Miss Arabella or simply Arabella." I say with a shrug. He shoots me a weird smile again and suddenly I regret coming out here.
"Wouldn't the Alpha kill me if I called his mate simply Arabella?" He says laughing a maniac laugh and walks away. I catch a small bit of his scent and it feels weird. But then, its also true that each werewolf has a different scent. Plus the pack smell was evident on him. And moreover, I have only met a few werewolves in my entire life so I can't tell if he smelled weird.
But something about the way he said the world 'Alph' did not seem right and I feel like investigating the matter. But then decide against it. I'm not going to be involved or even feel interested in the matters of this pack. I don't care if this guy is absurd. As long he doesn't harm me, though, in case of which I can defend myself, I have no issues. I forget the events of the past few minutes and focus on the breeze and the calm surrounding.
"Bella." A voice growls from behind me and a shiver runs down my spine. I turn around and see an irritated Xalvador. Jeez. Does this guy know any other emotions except for anger and irritation! Like there hasn't been a single moment today when I saw him smile or at least stay normal. He is just as absurd as the guy I just met, just in a different way.
"What are you doing here? And why the hell are you not beside me in our room?" He growls and I feel like punching him. Chill monster. I have a life too. And don't call that hell chamber 'our' room, please.
"Xalvador please. Stop fussing about small things. I couldn't sleep and the room was suffocating me, so I just came here for some fresh air." I say, irritation glazing my voice.
"Small things? My mate who is always making stupid plans of running away is not in my room in the middle of the night and you think I should find that normal? You could have just stood in the window if you were not feeling good. Or simply woke me up and I would have brought you here." Yeah right. Little do you know that you were the one actually suffocating me.
"I wanted to be alone for sometime okay? Away from you. So waking you up would have ultimately been the same as lying with you in your bed." I snap and Xalvador's eyes darken. He inches closer to me and I find myself gulping in nervousness. Damn it, Arabella!
"Say that again sugar bun." He says in a dangerously low voice.
"No-nothing. Lets go and I sleep. I'm feeling much better now." I say trying to get him away but he hooks an arm around my waist pulling me close.
"It's already difficult for me to refrain myself from marking you because I know you are not ready. But you pulling out stupid stunts and saying these things drives me insane. It is taking every bit of my self-control right now to stop myself from pushing my canines into your flesh and claim you as mine. My wolf is raging crazily to come out but I am not letting him. Because if he does, I won't be able to stop him and I might not even want stop him from doing what he wants. So I suggest you stop doing and saying such things if you don't want to face the consequences." He says huskily yet dangerously near my ear. The cold breeze no longer affects me as I suddenly feel hot all over. His hand is tracing the area of my neck where I am supposed to be marked and I shiver in fear. I don't want him to mark me. No. I jolt away from him and with quick steps run into the house savoring the last waves of the cold air on my skin.
Heyy Nerdies! Here was the next chapter of TWC. I hope you guys liked it. Please vote and comment if you did.
P.S- Romance fans can check out my book Her Mismatched Fate! I am sure you guys will enjoy reading it.