Cassius stared at the message from Nadya again. He wanted nothing more than to go to her, but he was afraid that if he did, he wouldn't be able to stop himself from taking her into his arms and kissing her red lips. Something he swore he would never do to a human again. He couldn't stay away, though. He wanted to see her, to listen to her laugh and admire her smile. He closed his eyes as he stood facing the windows that overlooked the gardens in the back of the manor. He heard his adoptive brother enter the room and come up beside him.
"Still brooding, I see? Just go to her, Cassius. Take what you want," Dragos said. Cassius let his irritation show through a scowl and low growl.
"Like you took what you wanted from the girl that ended up going 'missing' according to local authorities?" Dragos at least had the good sense to look sideways with a guilty look.
"Yes, well, you and I are on a different level of," he paused, looking for the right word, "control. Lenny is safe with you, Cassius." Cassius snorted and opened his eyes to look outside. "Just go to her, you fool." Dragos breezed out of the room. Perhaps he was right?
***********
I sat back, satisfied with my work on the chicken coop. After finding several old rolls of chicken wire inside the barn, I had constructed a pen. Hopefully, the wolf watching me work wouldn't get any ideas of snacking on any future residents.
"You swear you won't eat them?" I asked him while I worked on stretching the last piece of chicken wire I was trying to make work. It was just short of where I needed it, so I was trying to stretch it to reach. Another snort and a wag was my answer. I laughed at the wolf sitting near where I worked.
We had become quite comfortable around one another over the weekend. After Aurora and Micah had left yesterday afternoon, he had returned to watch over me again. I had talked about some of my first memories as a child to him.
I strained against the chicken wire again and clenched my teeth, pulling. The wire sprang back and tore a large gash in my palm that started dripping blood. I cursed again in my native tongue, sighing at myself. I looked at the wolf, who actually looked concerned.
"I'm rather clumsy, I guess." His head whipped around in the direction of the forest, and I realized he could hear someone coming again. Was it Aurora again? The wolf stood and lay his ears back and growled.
Cassius walked out of the trees and froze when he saw the wolf. He looked at me, and his eyes went to my bleeding hand. I looked at my wolf, and with another growl, he turned and ran off into the woods, in the opposite direction of Cassius.
Cassius disappeared, and I thought he had gone after the wolf for a moment, but then he appeared in front of me with a towel to press to my bleeding palm.
"Are you alright?" He asked, not looking up at me.
"Yes, it was just the chicken wire I was trying to stretch cut me."
"And the. The wolf?"
"He is still safe for me. We've started a good friendship, I think."
"Come inside; we need to bandage this up."
"First, I need to finish." He released my hand and stood up, taking ahold of the wire, easily stretching it into place and nailing it fast.
"There, now let's bandage up that hand." I followed him inside, and he sat me down on the window seat. He set the med kit between us, took hold of my hand, and gently started to bandage it.
His cool hands felt good near the hot cut. He was more gentle than I expected him to be. He finished and stood and carried the med kit back to the bathroom. He returned but stood in the hallway at the edge of the room. I studied him for a moment.
"Everything alright, Cassius?"
"I just need a moment." Oh! He was a vampire! How inconsiderate of me to allow him to bandage up my wound. The slight reminder of his true nature didn't turn me off as I would have expected it to; it would have in the past, but it no longer seemed to affect me that way. I swallowed with a nervousness that had nothing to do with the vampire's desire for blood.
"Would you like to see what I've done around the place? Perhaps see the seedlings? Some have come up already."
He came to me and gently helped me up off the window seat. I led him outside and showed him the workbench covered in little pots, some with a baby plant already standing tall in the center of the pot.
"You surprise me," he said. "Doing work on the roof and building chicken coops. It seems like you intend to stay for some time?"
I blushed and looked down, whispering, "If it's not too much trouble. If you don't want me here for very long, I will start looking for a new -"
He cut me off with a finger to my lips, saying, "Shhhhh. That is not what I meant. I am delighted you seem happy here and desire to stay. The cottage is yours for as long as you would like." I couldn't look away from his gaze that softened as he looked at me.
"Would you like me to read to you some more?" I smiled and nodded. The afternoon was getting late, and a cold wind had picked up. Cassius looked up towards the grey sky and said, "Why don't you head inside, and I will meet you inside after I clean up your tools and carry in some firewood?"
"I can-," again he stopped me from talking.
"Go, Nadya. Let me help you." I sighed impatiently and walked into the cottage.
I dug out my book that was getting to the end and sat on the window seat to wait. Cassius brought in several armloads of wood and then knelt to start a fire for the evening. The sun was setting already. In a few more weeks, a fire wouldn't be necessary even at night as summer took hold, but for now, I enjoyed the crackling flames as I read in the evening.
Cassius came over to me and reached for the book. He sat facing me with one leg up on the window seat and the other resting on the floor. I moved some pillows around and leaned against the opposite wall, hugging up my knees to my body, leaning my head back against the wall, and closing my eyes to listen.
The colors slowly faded from the sky as I listened to Cassius's voice, the crickets slowly starting their serenade as a backdrop to his narrative. I opened my eyes to look at Cassius, the firelight casting shadows across his face.
"You are too generous to trifle with me. If your feelings are still what they were last April, tell me so at once. My affections and wishes are unchanged; but one word from you will silence me on this subject forever," he read. I sighed at the declaration of love in the novel's climax and looked out the window at the night.
Cassius looked over at me, and I turned to meet his gaze, "Are you tired, Nadya?" I was sore from working so hard this weekend, but I wasn't tired mentally.
"No, it's just the best part of the book."
He continued reading, and I turned to look back out of the window. A movement caught my eye, and I saw the black wolf sitting in the tree line watching us. I smiled at him and turned back to Cassius. I closed my eyes to continue listening.
************
Cassius knew that Spencer was outside watching them. He had been able to hear the wolf the entire time in the surrounding forest. Although the wolf's presence irritated him, Cassius knew that Spencer was just looking out for Nadya, so he decided not to make a fuss over it.
He had just read the book's last line when he heard Nadya's breathing settle into sleep. He quietly closed the book and replaced it on the shelf. He then bent over and took Nadya into his arms, her head falling against his chest, her arms limp at her sides. He heard the wolf give a slight growl, but he ignored him and carried Nadya into the bedroom.
*************
Spencer couldn't help feeling agitated with the vampire there. He had watched Cassius bandage her wound and followed Lenny around, talking about the various projects she had been working on, including how she wanted to stay long-term. He had listened to Cassius read 'Pride and Prejudice aloud to Lenny for most of the evening until he finished the book.
Spencer's heart had fluttered when Lenny had looked out the window at him and given him a big smile, but she was just smiling at the wolf, not really him. He longed to spend more time with her as himself. He stood amongst the trees, watching them in the firelight, trying to sort through his thoughts about why it bothered him and why he was jealous of the vampire.
He sighed, knowing why but not wanting to admit it to himself. He couldn't stop the growl that rumbled in his chest when he saw Cassius close the book and reach down to take Lenny, his Lenny, into his arms. The vampire disappeared from view, but Spencer was tracking him with his ears.
'His Lenny.' The thought had just manifested on its own. And there it was. Lenny had been right; he was feeling possessive of her. She was already his in his mind because he was in love with her. He couldn't deny it anymore.
He loved everything about her, from her teasing how she sang while she thought no one was listening, and even her stubbornness felt endearing to him. Spencer mentally sighed at himself. He was hopelessly, foolishly in love with her. He listened to Cassius's footsteps down the hall.
*************
Cassius held her to him with one arm as his other arm turned down her covers so he could slip her into her bed. He paused before laying her down in her bed, just holding her and watching her sleep. His free hand went up to her face, and he gently stroked her cheek and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
He leaned in close to her and whispered, "In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you." He brushed her face one more time with his finger, leaning in to gently brush his lips against hers as he tucked her into her bed. A wolf's howl split the night silence.