“You heard me.” Cody advanced on her.
“You can’t be serious?” She took a step back.
He frowned. “Of course I’m serious. We just went through the whole mating ceremony. Everyone was there.”
“I know,” she half-yelled. “I’m not ready.” She shook her head.
He narrowed his eyes. “That’s bullshit, Demi!”
“I told you I didn’t want this. I explained my feelings. I…”
“So, what?” He took another step towards her.
“I need to come to terms with this whole thing. With us.” She worked hard at staying calm, at holding the last bit of ground she had.
“You’ve had six…make that, seven months to come to terms with this. I know it’s difficult, but it’s been long enough.” He took another step. “We need to just bite the bullet, as the humans would say. It might not be as bad as you think. Hell, you might even enjoy it.”
Enjoy it? No damned way. There wasn’t much space left between them. “I wasn’t prepared for today. I…need time. It’s a big step. It’s—”
“It’s rutting.” He shrugged. “Not a big deal, and as to time,” he shook his head, a muscle in his jaw ticked, “you’ve had enough damn time,” he growled.
This was Cody, she reminded herself. He wasn’t going to hurt her. She knew him. Had known him her whole life. He was good, kind, smart. He was the male her sister had loved…adored.
“Why delay this any further?” he went on. “It has to happen. Surely you know that?”
“O-of course I do.”
“No really?” He widened his eyes. Taking another step. It almost put them chest to chest at this point.
She put a hand on his chest and gave him a light shove. He didn’t budge. “I mean, look at you…you’re angry…you’re…”
“Do you blame me, Demi?” he snorted out a laugh. “You cried throughout our entire mating ceremony. I had to keep reminding you where you were and what was happening. You barely listened to a word that elder said.”
“I wasn’t ready.”
“You would never have been ready,” his voice boomed, and she flinched.
He sucked in a deep breath as he turned on his heel and headed for the other side of the room before spinning back. “Jesus! I won’t hurt you. I would never force you to do anything.”
“You forced this on me today. Where will it end?”
“I pushed you in the right direction, but I would never have forced you.”
Like hell!
“As to forcing myself on you…” He shook his head. “No! It won’t happen.” He looked shocked she would even think such a thing.
“I know that,” she whispered. “I know,” she said again, more forcefully this time.
“You scent of another male,” he growled. “Do you even know what that does to me, Brie?”
She choked out a sob.
Brie.
He’d called her by her dead sister’s name. She was right…had been all along.
His eyes turned anguished. “I didn’t mean that! Shit!” he growled the word. “I meant to say Demi. I…it…it was a mistake. I know who you are. I know exactly who you are.” Cody walked back to her.
“Do you?” She swiped at a tear that tracked down her cheek.
“Of course,” he growled.
“Because just yesterday you were telling me how I reminded you of her. I’m not Brie, I never will be. You can’t use me to replace her. I know you loved my sister but…doing something like that won’t work, Cody.” She wiped away another tear. “And I think that’s exactly what you’re trying to do.” She just needed to buy enough time to get him to see that.
“You do remind me of her, but I know you’re not her.” He pushed out a heavy breath. “I’ll never get over Brie’s death. I’ll always blame myself for what happened.” His throat worked, but that was it, he didn’t show any more emotion.
Her tears came faster.
“But I am ready to move on,” he insisted. “I do think this could work, I only wish you’d give us a chance.”
She shook her head. Not convinced at all. “You are like a brother to me.”
“Only I’m not, Demi.” He lightly gripped her upper arms. “We don’t share blood.”
She looked into his familiar blue eyes. “We share Brie. The memory of her. If you had mated her, you would have become my brother. I can’t let go of that either.”
“Only, I didn’t mate Brie. I mated you.”
Not yet! Not really! The thought rang through her mind like the ringing of a great bell. Clang! Clang!
He tried to cup her jaw, but she moved away. It was the intimacy the touch promised, that and the look in his eyes. It was too much. Pulling back wasn’t even a conscious move. It just happened.
His eyes grew stormy, his brow creased. “You have three days to come to terms with this. You stink of that dragon at any rate. Once his scent has left you, we are making this official.”
“Back to threatening me?” Her voice held an edge.
Cody made a noise of frustration. “You know what I mean.”
Demi swallowed down her response. She didn’t know what he meant. Who was this male? Cody had always been so sweet, so easygoing.
“Let’s just hole up in here.” He looked around them. “We can get to know each other.”
Demi choked out a laugh. It held no humor. “I already know you. Your favorite color is green. You love fishing…in your skin…with rod and reel, like a human. You prefer sparring to running when in your fur and you…you loved my sister with all your heart.” Her voice hitched. “You changed after she died. You changed after you became Alpha. You changed…” she whispered the last.
His chest heaved. The smile that had started to form on his lips died. His eyes welled up. “I guess we all changed,” he shrugged. “How could we not? Three days, Demi.” He held up three fingers. “We can’t hide away from this. The elders…our fathers will lose their minds if they find out we haven’t consummated this thing. They’ll leave us alone, for now. Then…” He shrugged, making a noise of exasperation. “It will have to happen. Both packs will expect a proper union. You know that.” He licked his lips. “And I want cubs. They’ll have your olive skin and my light hair.”
Oh god!
It was something he and Brie used to say all the time. It made her feel sick. Demi nodded anyway. A range of emotions that warred inside her. Everything from anger, to sorrow, to extreme guilt.
Chapter 11
Two days later…
The view of the valley was magnificent from up there, it didn’t get too much better than this. Forests, streams, mountains in the distance. There was a herd of elk grazing upwind of him. The weather was mild, the wind ruffled his hair.
Obsidian stretched back against the cliff wall, the slate cool against his back. Yep…a magnificent view indeed. Especially since he could monitor all five paths that led away from Vale Creek. Away from the she-wolf’s village.
He’d been able to stay away on day one. The day he’d torn off Clay’s wing. Yesterday had been tough to get through though, and this morning had proven impossible. He’d tried to think about other things. Obsidian had gone hunting. He’d attended training but had been sent away on account of no one wanting to spar with him. He couldn’t really blame them after Clay. Then here he was. He’d sort of just found himself there. Drawn to the place. Drawn to her. Another male’s mate. His chest rumbled with the start of a low growl. He forced himself to look back upon that view. Hoping the vision before him was about to get better. Hoping a certain wolf would come into view. One with inky black fur and big dark eyes.
One with— Wait…wait just a minute. Movement. Up ahead. He squinted.
Fuck!
Not her. It wasn’t Demi. He wanted to punch the cliff face. Remove chunks of rock. Smash and bash into it until his heartrate sped up to such a degree that his tension levels would go down.
He hadn’t eaten much, or slept much, since leavi
ng Demi in her back yard. Leaving her to her fate. He shouldn’t have done it. He should have forced her to… Forced. No, dammit! If he forced her to do anything he’d be just as bad as her family. No, he’d made the right decision even if it still felt wrong. She’d needed him and he’d turned his back on her. Here he was, needing to see for himself one way or another. Mountain had tried to convince him she was just fine. Truth was though, that he’d feel wound up like this until he was sure.
He’d managed to capture a deer this morning. He’d been just about to sink his teeth into its soft fur, to tear its neck open but had stopped himself at the last second. Why kill it if he wasn’t going to eat it? Even being in his scales wasn’t as liberating. Hence why he was sitting there in his skin, just watching. Watching and waiting like an idiot.
His eyes tracked the lumbering bear as it picked up speed, running from the village like its ass was on fire. Too fast and agile to be a real bear. Too big as well. The creature must be a shifter. Someone from the village. Its fur was shaggy and thick. It was roughly one and a half times the size of Demi in her wolf form. Clearly male. The beast wasn’t close enough for Obsidian to scent it, but he could see it was most likely the case. From its movements and his gut instinct, he was almost certain of that fact. He watched it lumber on, with waning interest. That was until the wind picked up again. The creature’s scent hit him. It had him sitting straight up. Had his snout twitching. His scales sprouting. Obsidian leaped from the side of the cliff.
* * *
Her back prickled. Every hair on her body went up. Her blood flowed faster, rushing through her veins as her senses reached out, catching his heartbeat. The sound of his lungs filling. “You shouldn’t sneak up on a person.” She glanced back, quickly looking back down at the bread she was smearing with butter.
Shit! Shit! Shit!
It hadn’t been three days yet. Today was day three. Technically she had until tomorrow. Not that it would matter. She’d still feel the same next week, next month, next year. She still wanted her allotted time though. Crazy as it sounded.
Why was he there? Dressed like that? With that look in his eyes? Demi was sure she could still scent Obsidian on herself. It was especially true since she hadn’t used soap to wash. Bad but hey, she’d do whatever it took to avoid Cody. To avoid a moment like this, and so far it had worked. He had avoided her. Given her space. Allowed her to sleep in a separate bedroom. Was the reprieve over? She squeezed her eyes shut for a second before reaching for the sliced turkey.
“I was going to surprise you with lunch,” he sounded upbeat.
“Thanks, but,” she shrugged, “I beat you to it.” Her voice was a little shrill. “Do you want me to butter some bread for you?” She spoke too quickly.
“I…um…I could help.”
“No…that’s…”
He moved in next to her so Demi swallowed the rest of her words. He was wearing boxer shorts and nothing else. It made her feel uncomfortable. She realized that she’d put far too many turkey slices on her sandwich.
“Hungry?” Cody asked.
She could hear he was smiling but didn’t want to make eye contact. “Um…yeah…I guess.” She licked some of the mayonnaise off her finger.
“Looks good.” Then his hand was on her back.
Shit!
Oh no!
“You just tensed up.” He removed the hand.
She looked his way. “I’m…I…”
“You’re not ready,” he said it like an accusation.
“No! I’m not.” She shook her head. Shook it hard. “You said three days.” A stupid thing to say.
“Two days. Three days. What’s the difference? Will you ever be ready? Is this a waste of time?”
“If I said yes, would it change anything?”
“No!” he snarled, his features softening almost immediately. “We are together now. We need to act like it.” He put his hand on her arm.
“You’re pushing me again.” She knew she wasn’t being fair but at the same time, she couldn’t help her feelings. They weren’t going to just change. Cody had forced this on her. He’d used Obsidian to do it. Maybe it had just been desperation on his part, but she wasn’t sure she could forgive him for that. “I don’t like being pushed.”
He folded his arms. “We said vows to one another.”
“We said words, Cody. Only words.”
He stepped away from her. “They were more than just words to me. I’ve waited years to say those words to…” He frowned.
“Years?” She shook her head, turning around to face him. “You keep catching yourself. I’m not Brie!”
“I know.” Cody turned his attention to the food on the counter and threw the slices of bread on a plate. “I really do.”
“I’m not really sure you do.” She kept her eyes on him.
Cody remained impassive. He put down the knife he was holding and closed the distance between them, putting his hands on either side of her, trapping her against the counter. Her heart sped up and for all the wrong reasons.
“Your eyes have widened, and you scent of…” He sniffed. “Fear. You actually smell fearful. Are you afraid of me?”
“I don’t know.” She took a breath. “Should I be?”
“What kind of a question is that? You said it yourself, you know me. How can you be afraid of someone you have known your whole life?”
“I also said you had changed. The Cody I knew wouldn’t…” She bit down on her lip.
“Wouldn’t what?”
“Wouldn’t be like this.” She looked him up and down. At how his body caged hers. “So intimidating, so forceful…so manipulative.”
“It’s not like you left me much choice. You have no idea of the amount of pressure my father…both our fathers are putting on me. The elders in general.” He took a step back and she could breathe.
“You’re the Alpha. Ignore them.”
“I can’t! I can’t ignore the wishes of our pack either. There is a lot on my plate and a lot at stake here. Do you even comprehend that?”
“I have an idea. This whole mating is a farce though, Cody. It’s an unnecessary, outdated tradition.”
“It’s important to the packs. To our people.”
“It isn’t too late.” There, she’d said it.
“Too late for what?” His eyes narrowed. The muscles on either side of his neck corded.
“Too late to stop this. To put an end to this madness. We could—”
He shook his head. “We went through with the ceremony.”
She shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. We can renounce our vows and go our separate ways.”
“They may have been just words to you, but they meant something to me.” He touched his chest. “We are together now. It’s done! I am mating you, Demi. Deal with it! Tomorrow. Three days. We agreed.”
“Actually, you dictated,” she stated the facts.
“It’s happening,” he snarled. “Accept it or—”
“Or what?” She looked him head-on. It was her turn to narrow her eyes.
“Don’t make me…”
“Make you what?” She definitely didn’t know him anymore. How could a person change this drastically?
Cody growled, low and deep. His blue eyes glowing bright. His teeth were distinctly sharper. He took another step back. “I’m going now. I need to blow off some steam.” She could see dark fur sprouting on his arms. Could see his muscles rope beneath his skin. He stormed from the room and she felt nothing but relief. What the hell was she going to do? There was no one she could talk to. Her family stood with Cody. Her best friend was gone. The funny thing was that Brie would have known what to do in this situation. She’d have had some bit of advice. Something simple and yet brilliant. Demi had no one left. No one on her side. She looked down at the sandwich, her appetite gone. Demi got to work packing everything away and wiping down the counter. She was in mid-wipe when there was a knock on the door. The back door.
She frowned.
Chapter 12
Obsidian knocked again, taking a couple of steps back. He didn’t want to leave his scent on anything. Didn’t want to get Demi into trouble.
He waited a whole minute. It felt more like an hour. Then he knocked again. “Demi,” he whispered.
The door opened almost immediately. “Oh my god!” The she-wolf threw herself into his arms.
Obsidian caught her, wrapping his arms around her for a moment. She buried her face into his chest and held onto him. He breathed her in. It was as suspected, after catching the male’s scent. “I thought you were mated. My brother must have…” he spoke under his breath, not wanting to alert anyone to his presence.
She tensed in his arms and pulled away. Her eyes were misty with emotion. “I am. I mean, I will be…I…” she floundered. Not making any sense.
“My brother said that you mated that male. It would have been two days ago now. That can’t be though, since neither of your scents have changed.” He sniffed. “In fact, I still scent myself on you. It’s faint, but there.” He frowned. “I came because I wanted to check that you were fine. I probably shouldn’t have, but,” he shrugged, “I couldn’t get you off my mind. Mountain, my brother, he said you were fine and not my problem, but I feel differently.”
“How did you know I was alone? That I was here in the first place, since I moved out of my old cottage?”
“I have been watching the village.” He flinched. “I had to see that you were fine. I only came today, for the first time. I’m not some kind of freak. I’m worried, that’s all.”
“You were watching the village.” She narrowed her eyes. “Now that really is stalker behavior.” She folded her arms, pretending to be angry but he could see that she didn’t mean it.
“I sat waiting for a couple of hours,” he said. “Hoping to see you but instead, I saw your…” He couldn’t say the word ‘mate’. Couldn’t! “I saw the bear,” he grumbled. “I could scent it was him.” His voice turned rasping and deep as he thought of the male.
Savage Dragon: Earth Dragons Series: Book 2 Page 9
