Rising Moon: The Dark Wolf Chronicles, page 4
I walked over to the window and gazed out over the forest. The treetops peaked out from the gloom to bask beneath the stars, but the sky was so black, it absorbed their light.
“What are you doing in here?” Leonidas said.
“It’s so dark tonight,” I replied, “Where is the moon?”
He joined me at the window, “It’s there,” he said, “We just can’t see it yet.”
I scanned the sky as I pressed my fingers on the glass.
“A new moon,” I said, “I have always hated new moons.”
He rested a gentle hand on my shoulder, “As do I. She sits there in the sky, hiding away, almost taunting us. But all we can do is be patient and wait for her to finally grace us with her beauty.”
I sighed, “Well it ain’t half depressing.”
He let out a soft laugh, “They’ll be a crescent by tomorrow.”
I nodded and dragged my eyes from the empty sky.
“Come, you need rest,” he said, guiding me from the library.
I followed him back to his bedroom before I passed the door and headed for the next door along.
He sighed, “Where are you going?”
“You must have a spare room in this huge house?”
“For guests,” he said, “You are not a guest. You will sleep in here with me.”
“Thank you for the offer but... goodnight, Leonidas.”
I turned to head down the hall but Leonidas took my hand and pulled me back.
“Wasn’t an offer,” he said, shoving me through the door of his room and shutting it behind us.
My opinion clearly means nothing to him.
Chapter 6
October 11th
Leonidas set me by the bed but I shuffled to the corner. When he took his shirt off, I turned my head away.
“Don’t act like a child,” he said.
“I’ll act how I like,” I said, staring at the wall.
After sauntering over, he lifted my head, forcing me to look into his eyes. He cocked his head to the side and inspected me.
“Why are you so different?”
I scoffed.
“Don’t you dare make it out like I’m the different one here. I’m as ordinary as mud, not the most infamous Alpha in the world.”
He continued to inspect me, trailing his eyes from my cheeks to my lips.
“I’d have sex with you tonight without a second thought. It’s you resisting our connection. Why? How can you ignore your wolf?”
I bit the inside of my cheek. Even with our mate right in front of us, touching us, I couldn’t feel my wolf. Not even a little.
“I’m a virgin.”
He smiled.
“Goes without saying, sweetheart. But that’s not the reason you’re holding back, is it?”
My eyes fell to the floor as he held me there.
“Are you scared of me? Is that why?”
“No.”
He lifted my chin a little higher, his eyes boring into me as I continued to stare at the wall.
“So why do you struggle to look me in the eye?”
I clenched my jaw, shoved his hand off my face and shuffled to the other end of the bed. The darkness was still there, refusing to be ignored, and I couldn’t look into his eyes for long before that cold shiver crawled up my spine.
“You don’t have to pretend to be brave for me, Nelda,” he said, walking into the bathroom.
The faucet ran and after a few minutes, he returned.
“I ran you a bath.”
I nodded.
“Get the wretched smell of stale alcohol off you and then we’ll talk,” he added.
I got up and headed straight for the bathroom, locking the door behind me. On the toilet seat were a neatly folded white fluffy towel and a large clean t-shirt. The water was a milky pink colour with dark red rose petals which joint with Leonidas’s rich scent made for a heavenly smelling room.
As I dipped into the warm water, my aching limbs relaxed and the floral scent drifted up through my nose to my head, soothing my worries.
When I left the bathroom, dressed in the huge t-shirt, Leonidas was holding a pillow and a blanket.
“Are you still sleeping on the floor or...?”
I looked at the hard wooden floor and back to the bed. The softness and warmth were too hard to resist.
“The bed,” I mumbled.
He smiled before throwing the extra pillow and blanket on the mattress.
“My brother will still worry about me,” I said. “Can I-”
“No,” he interrupted.
I frowned.
“... Why not?”
“I will send one of my men to tell him. Sit down and tell me your address.”
“But I want to talk to him.”
He stepped towards me, “In the morning. For now, I want you to sit and rest. It’s late.”
I stared at him in disbelief.
“I have to speak to him.”
His jaw tightened as he glanced out of the window. A few seconds after, he brought his piercing eyes back to me.
“I have told you my guy will inform him you are safe and well with me. Now, get in the bed and give me the address.”
I scoffed, “You think that will ease his worries? Finding out I am with you of all people?”
He gritted his teeth, “This doesn’t have to be difficult, Nelda. Get in the damn bed before I lose my temper.”
It was too late, and I was too stubborn to swallow my pride now. So I folded my arms and stood in front of him, battling to stare into his eyes.
“No.”
Tension in the air heightened with every second, before it shattered with Leonidas lurching forward, grabbing my shoulders, and throwing me onto the bed.
I wriggled and squirmed, but he was soon on top of me, grabbing my flailing arms and pinning them to the mattress.
“You should have learnt not disobey me by now,” He snarled.
“And should have learnt I don’t answer to you, especially if you don’t ask nicely.”
“Oh sweetheart, don’t forget who you are talking to,” he spat, “I am in control here. You will obey me. Understand?”
Already out of breath, I fought against his hold. I tried to free my hands from the tight grip he held on my wrists but it was useless. He sat straddling me, looking down in amusement as he held me effortlessly in place.
He waited until I gave up and threw my head on the mattress in frustration.
“Are you done?” he asked.
He brought his thumb to my lips and lifted my chin. My hair lay dishevelled across my eyes until he swept it aside with the light touch of his fingertip. My heart pounded as I froze, unable to do anything.
“You’re pathetic,” he said, “I’m surprised your father didn’t teach you how to fight.”
I furrowed my eyebrows, “You don’t know anything about your father.”
His eyes flickered away for a second.
“I do not tolerate disobedience,” he said, “Do you understand?”
“Why should I obey you? Mates are supposed to be equal.”
He laughed before he brought his mouth to my ear.
“Not when your mate is an Alpha,” he whispered.
He dragged his hands across my shoulders where he trailed kisses up to my cheek. As shivers of excitement ran through me, I closed my eyes.
But when his fingertips brushed over my breasts, fear gripped me. My eyes snapped open as I brought my hand up and on instinct, slapped him across the cheek so hard the house filled with its echoes.
He froze.
His eyes slowly cast to me, his body shaking as every muscle in his shoulders and chest tensed.
“You are going to regret that,” was all he said before he grabbed my hands, plucked me from the bed and slammed my chest against the wall.
He pressed his body into mine, his crotch against my ass as he pulled my hands behind my back.
“If you ever dare try that again, there will be consequences,” he growled, “Do you understand?”
I swallowed, wincing at the discomfort.
He grunted before pushing me harder against the wall, “I said do you understand.”
“Yes.”
With that, he let me go.
I shuffled away from him as he took a deep breath.
“I am not used to having to control my anger,” he said, “You do not want to provoke me.”
My wrists throbbed with flushes of blood.
“You said you wouldn’t hurt me.”
“Well... let’s keep it that way,” he said, sitting on the bed, “Control your mouth, don’t disrespect or disobey me and we won’t have any issues.”
I couldn’t control what came out of my mouth. I had a severe case of verbal diarrhoea.
“Come,” he said as he lay down, “You need rest. And if you want your brother to know where you are, you still need to give me your address.”
I perched on the edge of the bed. He reached his hand up to play with a lock of my hair between his fingers, only making my stomach tighten more.
My breathing was heavy. I tried to control it. I tried to hide my fear. But my lungs only begged for oxygen more until I had to gasp for air.
“59 Cliffords road,” I said, my voice hoarse.
“Who is your Alpha? I will inform him too.”
“I don’t have an Alpha but the Cerridwen Alpha lets us live on his territory like humans. But don’t bother telling him anything. He doesn’t care about me.”
“So you’re a rogue?”
I nodded.
He narrowed his eyes, “That explains why you have no grasp over the concept of authority.”
For a few moments, I listened to him type and send a couple of text messages before he put his phone down.
“I’ve sent someone to tell your brother.”
I nodded and for a few moments he lay staring at the ceiling and playing with that same strand of hair.
“How can you do it?” I asked.
“Do what?”
I turned to him.
“Kill innocent people.”
His jaw tightened.
“It’s just stopping a heart from beating. As simple and meaningless as that.”
I swallowed, “That’s all people are to you? Beating hearts?”
“Just warm bodies waiting to become corpses.”
I swallowed, chilled to the core.
Slowly slipping down on the mattress, I kept my eyes fixed on the ceiling.
“I’m exhausted,” I said, my voice hoarse, “I’m going to sleep.”
He nodded and rolled towards me.
“Please,” I said as his arm rested on my waist, “Don’t touch me.”
“Why not? You’re my mate,” he said.
“I thought I was just a beating heart in a warm dying body?”
“Don’t go there, Nelda,” he grumbled, “You’ve said enough already tonight.”
He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me onto his chest. His bare skin was warm but when he rested a gentle hand on my back, my shoulders seized up. But since I’d had my quota of disobeying the Alpha, I let him hold me.
Chapter 7
October 11th
I woke the next morning with dawn. The sky outside was filled with folds of grey cloud and the trees stood deathly still.
Rubbing the grog from my eyes, I sighed. This place was just as dreary during day as it was at night.
I glanced over at the steel machine of a man beside me. His arm wrapped around me but he was still asleep. This was my chance.
“Don’t even think about it,” He grumbled, the second I placed my hand on his to prize myself free.
I sighed, “I just need to pee.”
“For sure…”
He let out a low grumble before pulling me closer into his chest, his hand ending up on my thigh.
“Keep your hands to yourself,” I said, moving his hand up.
He immediately moved it back.
“I’m touching what’s mine.”
His handed rested lightly but every finger tickled my bare skin and I bit my lip.
When he nuzzled his head into the crook of my neck, a warmth grew inside me. But I pushed it out.
Mate bond aside, I knew who this man really was.
“The only person my leg belongs to is me. I don’t see you using it to walk every single day.”
I shoved his chest hard, wriggled out of his arms and sat up, being sure to give him my best scowl.
“What is wrong with you, Nelda?” he asked, running his fingers through his hair.
“Wrong with me?” I snapped, “We’ve already had this conversation.”
“Yet I still don’t have the answer. Why the hell don’t you listen to your wolf?”
“I can make my own decisions,” I said quickly.
He scoffed, “You talk like she isn’t part of you. Half of you.”
I swallowed.
“She isn’t.”
He paused for a second.
“Do you know what I think, Nelda?”
I said nothing. I didn’t know and I didn’t want to know.
“Your wolf wants to follow her instinct to be with me, and your human side is too stubborn and spiteful to let her.”
I shook my head and bit the inside of my cheek.
“I know what is best for me. I know who you are and what you have done and how you have treated us in the last eight hours and how much I want nothing to do with you. There is a part of me that wants you but it is controlled by nothing but horny instinct. I’d be better off without it, and I’d certainly be better off without you.”
A grin tugged at his lips.
“So there is something in there, even if you don’t believe it’s part of you, that’s horny for me?”
I shook my head in disbelief. He totally missed the point.
His arms wrapped around my waist again, and he rested his head on my shoulder.
“Kiss me,” he whispered in my ear, “Maybe you’ll realise how right your wolf is.”
I only bit down harder on the inside of my cheek.
“Listen to her, Nelda.”
With that I broke from his grasp and shot to my feet. My clenched my fists as my lip quivered.
“Just leave me alone, Leonidas,” I snapped before marching into the bathroom, where I slunk to the floor and buried my head in my knees.
A tear broke free, shortly followed by a silent sob.
“Open the door, Nelda,” Leonidas said after twenty minutes.
I grabbed a tissue and wiped my cheeks dry.
“No.”
“You can’t stay in there forever.”
“I can. There’s water, a toilet... I can eat the toothpaste if it comes to it.”
“You’re fighting a pointless battle.”
“If I come out, will you try to kiss me again?”
“Struggling to ignore your wolf isn’t so easy now, is it?”
I glared up at the ceiling, beginning to lose my patience.
“Leonidas, will you try to kiss me again?”
There was a pause.
“No,” he said in the most unconvincing tone possible.
“At least try to sound believable. I’m staying in here.”
“You have thirty seconds before I break this door down.”
Okay, that I can believe.
I stood up and unlocked the door, refusing to make eye contact. But he grasped my hand and pulled me back to him. I leant back away from him as he wound his hands around my waist. But there was no escaping him. He could do anything, and I couldn’t stop him.
“Let me be honest with you, Nelda,” he began, his voice mellow, “I will not make you do anything you don’t want. But I am not afraid to make you want it.”
He brought his thumb to my lips once again, radiating warmth through me.
Imagine how blissful his lips on mine would be.
“But there’s plenty of time for this later,” he said, taking his hands off me, leaving my mouth watering, “For now, we will have breakfast... unless you want to cut the chase and mate this second?”
I swallowed and paused, “Breakfast.”
He smiled and pinched my cheek, “Great.”
“My gamma will stay with you today,” he said as I sat at the kitchen counter, watching Leonidas fry eggs.
My eyes widened.
“What? Why? When?”
“I have work to do. I told him to come at 6:00 am to ensure he was here by 7:00 am but here we are.”
I glanced up at the clock high on the wall. It was already 7:32 am.
“You’re going to leave me with some random man?”
He laughed, “Man is a loose term for the word. More like an overgrown child.”
A few moments later, the front door flung open.
“You’re late,” Leonidas said in a deep tone.
A tall, boyish man entered the kitchen. With flustered cheeks and his ash-blond hair pointing in every direction, he peeled off his sweater and leant against the door frame, dramatically panting, and wiping his brow with the back of his hand like a shocked 50s film star.
“I’m sorry, Alpha. I lost my car keys and I couldn’t find them anywhere until I looked in the fridge and they were on the shelf which come to think of it, explains why there was hot sauce in my jacket pocket and then I spilt milk on my-”
He stopped when he set his grey eyes on me, stood up straight and stared.
“I don’t give a shit why you’re late. Make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Leonidas said.
“Yeah, yeah, sure,” he said, waving his hand. “Who’s the pretty Lady?”
“Nelda,” Leonidas said, wrapping an arm around my waist. “My mate.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, Alpha. She’s not pretty. I mean she is, but it’s just an observation I’m not saying that I’d ever even dream of acting on it and I-”
“Luca,” Leonidas snapped.
“Yes, Alpha?”
“Shut up.”
Luca held out a hand to me.
“It’s nice to meet you, Nelda.”
I smiled, and he smiled back.
“What’s it like having Leo as a mate?” he asked, “Terrible?”
“Watch it, Luca,” Leonidas said.
He flashed his eyes at me and rolled them as Leonidas looked away.
I giggled, which only caused his lips to curl into a wide smile.
“Nelda, this is Luca, my Gamma,” Leonidas said, “Be careful. If you’re nice to him, he’ll never leave you alone.”
