“Human?”
Marlo let out a small sigh and Aaron could begin to note the singular scents in the butler’s essence. The smell of fine cotton, silk, suede. The scent of salt in sweat and the notes of blood still caught between the man’s teeth. He had fed recently.
Suddenly, his stomach lurched, igniting a desire to run, to shift and to hunt.
Aaron took in a sharp breath, clenching his fingers over the arm rests of his plush seat. Marlo waited.
“Please,” the old man whispered.
“Consider going out for the night, just for a few hours until you’re certain that you can control this.”
Aaron’s lips peeled back over his teeth in a half snarl, “I already said I’m-”
In the distance, a howl rose in crescendo among the noises of the night and Aaron could feel his blood beg him to sing along. No. Forget it.
“Sir, please do not deny this part of yourself.”
Damn you Lucas. The bastard didn’t know when to quit.
“Lock the door, Marlo.”
Aaron ordered, focusing his energy on the single opal sitting innocently on his desk.
The butler said nothing else before disappearing into the dark, the sound of the door locking clicked as a final warning to Aaron’s ears.
Aaron fell back against the seat, gasping as he was overwhelmed with urges that battled and made war in his chest, threatened to split him in half between multiple desires. Without warning, they conjoined into one image.
The unexpected desire in his blood shot straight to his groin as he pictured Cecilia, snorting out a laugh that grew in energy.
He had been surprised, his eyes falling to the way her pulse that thrummed in her throat, and the way the sunlight had curved over her cheeks and bounced off within the hazel irises of her eyes.
Hazel… like the essence of the opal sitting on his desk.
I…want her.
Aaron let his hands fall quickly toward his crotch, fingering the edge of his pants to slid open and allow himself to spring into his palm. Aaron tugged and pulled at himself, savoring each touch on his member as though it were her palms grazing him.
Her scent was sweet, intoxicating to him and making his mind spin.
The moonlight continued its symphony within his blood, singing dark notes of lust into his ears that made his hips buck and his teeth dug into his lip, urging him to take his desire from his palms and into hers.
I want her.
No. he couldn’t afford behaving like a beast… Lucas had saved her from the less controlled animals… he would not become one of them.
With a grunt, Aaron found himself becoming enraptured by the single image of Cecilia’s smiling face, the way her lips has parted into pretty bows of cherry red when she had seen the stones in his desk.
She was a gentle soul, a woman who had retained innocence in a small speck of a town.
She was beautiful…
And…
I want her.
With a low growl that rose in his chest and escaped past sharpening teeth, Aaron allowed his body to spill into his fingers.
He did not want to risk her… anymore than he wanted to risk himself.
This wasn’t wise, but Aaron wanted to approach her a little further, hope that her presence would continue to encourage his heart to seek a more human style of life.
Maybe… just maybe… he would be able to wipe away the wolf that howled in his blood, and become something closer of a human. Less like an animal.
There was little else he wanted more than that.
--
Cecilia woke in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat and shaking from nightmares that threatened her. She startled awake, frightened and crying out for Rocko, but when no one came, she remembered where she was.
The only light that remained this late in the evening belonged to the moon, and the silver cascade only made her more unnerved.
Nerves singing incessantly, Ceci pushed herself from the bed and headed toward the balcony of her room, hoping that some fresh air would calm her.
She had barely taken a step outside into the cool stone of the outside before her eyes fell over a broad body sitting, more like hunched, on top of the stone railing that towered over the heads of trees below.
Cecilia felt the air rip from her throat before she could stop, but the figure of Lucas on top of the rail was unmoving.
He remained so still, she vaguely wondered if it was just a statue and she had gotten scared for nothing.
“Having trouble sleeping?”
The words startled her to flinch. He shifted then and Cecilia nearly backpedaled toward her room.
“I’m—no, I’m…” Cecilia stammered, swallowing down anxiety.
Lucas’s head turned, green eyes glowed beneath the moonlight so brightly, Ceci froze beneath them.
“You’re afraid,” he stated. Was it obvious? Ceci dared not move an inch.
“I don’t blame you. Most people would’ve pissed themselves after seeing me again.”
Ceci clenched her fists tight at her side to keep from hyperventilating.
“W-Why are you here?”
The question fell from her mouth before she could take in a soothing breath. She kicked herself, but Lucas shrugged instead of attacking.
“I was concerned.” He was—what? Then he turned away to look back at the moon.
“I also know what it’s like to be unable to sleep easily.”
His words took her by surprise, stilling her enough to make her relax somewhat. He was not speaking gruffly like he did with his brother, his voice was careful, gentle even.
He sounded nothing like the monster that had torn other wolves apart.
“How come?” she asked, muted.
His body shook, as though entertaining the motions of laughter without uttering a sound.
“Monsters can also be afraid of things.”
There was nothing more sobering than the words he spoke. Cecilia felt the air return to her chest, made her shift uncomfortably on her feet but edge in a bit of curiosity in her chest.
“What could possibly scare you?”
“You’d be surprised.”
Was this okay? For her to be speaking to him like this?
Cecilia didn’t know, but she didn’t know what else to do and she didn’t want to anger him by leaving.
Finally, after a strange moment of silence, Lucas turned around and inhaled deeply, his long and broad legs dropping him from the stone so gracefully.
Cecilia felt her muscles seize up as he looked at her.
“I take it you’ve become well acquainted with my brother?”
“Oh!” Ceci rubbed at her arm.
“Yes… a little.”
“What do you think of all this then?” Lucas asked, lips parting into a smirk.
“This mansion big enough to house a small village? Do you like it?”
“It’s nice.”
“I bet,” he said.
“Has he explained the nature of your stay?”
Cecilia nodded, “Just that you’re hunting down the pack that attacked me.”
“Nothing else?” Lucas’s eyes flashed.
Cecilia felt a shiver course through her skin, making her skin pucker with goose bumps.
There was something… enthralling in his gaze that lit her blood like a spark.
“Did he explain anything about our territory? The reason why I am out there at all?”
Cecilia shook her head. Lucas let out a snort, “Idiot. Alright, did he at least explain how our pack works?”
Again Ceci shook her head. Lucas let out a groan of irritation, muttering something that sounded like useless human-lover.
“Alright, here’s the deal. First off, every pack has an Alpha—a leader of the pack that ensures the safety and watch of the territory. That leader is me. While you may doubt that considering how Marlo and Saria stopped me from tearing him to pieces earlier today, they all know I am the leader and follow my or
ders. One of those orders is to protect Aaron from anything and anyone—that includes me. So even though I may want to kill him at times, Aaron remains alive to handle the matters of our family that I have no patience for. There’s that lesson.”
“Lesson number two is the deal with the territories. Your town, as it so happens, belongs to mine. I’ve been getting reports from neighboring packs about this scrap of mutts that have been harassing towns and taking human women. They are the reason why my kind has now become exposed to yours, and how we are now experiencing more harassment from humans lately. It’s a real pain in my ass.”
He added this with a roll of his eyes.
“While I make sure to never bother your people, you still belong to my territory, and the only way I can ensure peace among other packs and clans is to make sure those humans in my territory are safe. Which is why I saved you.”
Cecilia took his words in, unable to speak as he laid information quickly and without pause.
“So…” she began.
“You saved me because I belong to your territory?”
“In short, yes.” Lucas explained, but his expression softened for a short moment.
“I’m not just a beast, despite all you believe. I was raised to respect your kind, to protect you because once…a long time ago… our kind used to be good allies with yours.”
“We’re not now?”
Lucas let out a small mirthless chuckle, “Yeah, you could say that.”
Suddenly, he took a few steps closer, closing in on her space and making her freeze in alarm. He paused just a foot away from her and she was so taken by the way the moon surrounded him, how the silver light broke and shattered within his eyes, she remained stunned.
Lucas fixed her a certain look.
“Two weeks,” he said, switching the conversation so abruptly Cecilia struggled to catch up.
“In two weeks, you can leave, and you can forget about this place. You can forget about me, about my brother, about all that’s made you lose sleep.”
He paused, and there was a change in his eyes that she swore she could also feel. Something like an understanding, something like a strange warmth that not only made her feel strangely safe, but also deeply disturbed by how right it felt.
Just like that, though, the moment was gone and Lucas’s gaze turned flat.
“Try not to get comfortable, Cecilia. Once I find the last of that pack, you’ll be well on your way home.”
The conversation was as strange as the breeze that played with her hair, cold and blistering all in the same caress. Cecilia managed to tear her gaze away for a moment, considering Lucas’s words for a moment.
When she glanced back up, he was gone and the answers and confusion stirring angrily in her stomach left her feeling cold.
Chapter 4
Rocko had been insanely upset when Cecilia called the following day, having launched into a massive rant of expressed fear and concern for Ceci’s well being. The entire time that Cecilia had spent in that phone call had been in a guilty silence, expressing soft and heartfelt apologies for well over half an hour.
Gratefully, Aaron had given her enough space for her to make the call without hovering, and so for that time, Cecilia felt comfortable enough to cry somewhat as Rocko demanded for her to tell him where she was.
She almost did tell him, but paused when she realized she didn’t exactly know where she was either.
Even if she did know, she couldn’t forget Aaron’s warning.
“This situation may be a little more dangerous for your family to be aware of.” Aaron had expressed as he handed her the phone, their fingers just barely grazing.
“If you want to ensure their safety, try to explain as little as possible. That’s all you can do at this point.”
The suggestion was sound in theory, and Cecilia had hoped to appeal to Rocko’s more pragmatic nature.
However, he didn’t take kindly to being told very little of the situation, only that she had been attacked but was now safe. Rocko was not convinced, but Cecilia did manage to calm him by promising to call him every single day for the next two weeks to at least let him know how she was doing.
It took almost two hours straight before Cecilia hung up and after that, she nearly sunk into the floor.
The whole thing had been so exhausting and emotionally draining that all she wanted to do was sink into the mattress in her temporary quarters and just wait for the next couple of weeks to pass by.
When she finally returned to the dining room where Aaron was waiting for her, her host offered her a sympathetic smile that she returned with a smaller, meeker version.
“Did he take it well?”
“As well as he could,” Ceci sighed.
“I felt so bad.”
Aaron’s lips quirked, “Well, we can’t have that.”
Her host had proven to be beyond gracious. He was sweet, caring, always asking if she needed anything. Aaron was what Cecilia had pictured the perfect guy to be, and she honestly found herself enjoying his presence.
Their conversations were so natural and easy-going, it had become almost supremely easy to forget that there had been a pack out there that had tried to kill her. She trusted him with a little more of herself and was pleased to find he returned the sentiment with equal fervor.
He invited her to a vast and impressive home theater, where they sat and ate popcorn and watched movies and talked well through the hours of the day. She sat belly down on a long cushion, giggling as Aaron told her a story of when he had been young and nearly got mauled by a moose that had wandered in their territory. It sounded like a terrifying ordeal, but he had laughed it off and made it seem so funny that she couldn’t help but laugh whenever he made moose like impressions.
Eventually, he found his way next to her, bumping shoulders as they watched yet another movie.
For the first time in Cecilia’s life, she felt like she had a friend.
The days followed similarly. She would wake and speak to Aaron, they’d eat breakfast and sometimes he would tell her he had business to work on and so allowed her to wander the mansion under the careful watch of Marlo’s presence.
Cecilia moved about slowly but surely, discovering a wonderful library and a room filled with artifacts that Marlo explained had been things Aaron had gathered from his travels.
A week in, Cecilia had found herself finding a small spot in the library, enjoying a book that was simple enough for her to read comfortably. With each passing page and each study of the artifacts she had seen, a strange new hunger began to burn in the bottom of her stomach.
“You know,” Aaron had said after Cecilia explained the setting of the book she was reading.
“Venice is actually really nice around this time of the year.”
Ceci’s eyes went wide, “You mean Venice is a real place? It’s seriously a city built on water?”
Aaron looked at her with surprise, “Jesus, Cecilia, what did they teach you in that school?”
She scowled, muttering darkly, “the Pythagorean theorem.”
Aaron reared his head back and let out a laugh, and Ceci couldn’t help but giggle along with him. She liked the way his lips parted in an eager smile whenever she asked him questions about a new place or a different artifact.
She liked how he never looked at her as though she was overbearing. She felt like she belonged when she was with Aaron.
Ceci found herself hoping that Lucas would never find the last of the pack—as awful as that sounded—because little by little she found herself wanting to stay in this place more and more.
It was a week and a half into her stay, and Cecilia was beginning to feel her nerves sprout tendrils of disappointment at the thought of leaving.
She couldn’t think much about Lucas’s words those nights ago, finding her stomach fall the more she considered being away from Aaron. She had never felt like this with anyone before, and frankly, she doubted she would feel like this with anyone ever again.
--
Teeth bared at her sharply, biting at her elbow and drawing out a painful shriek from her throat that slammed against her teeth. Suddenly, the teeth weren’t just at her elbow but pulling at her clothes, dragging her back into a void of fear and the unknown.
Cecilia let out a scream, tried to yank her arms from the pull when her eyes pulled upwards towards the sky, tried to find solace in the moonlight.
Instead of a whole face, the moon was a cruel smile that cut into the black above. It split, exposing jagged ends and piercing eyes that laughed at her.
“NO!”
Try as she might she couldn’t escape the pain, she couldn’t escape the way it threatened to swallow her whole.
“Pathetic bitch,” the moon laughed.
“You thought you were better than them… all those women who disappeared into the night.”
“I didn’t! No!”
“Your own self-deprecation betrayed you, little human.” Suddenly the smile exposed the face of Caleb.
“You can hide all you want but I will find you.”
The image of Aaron appeared, ripped apart like the wolves had been after Lucas’s huge wolf form dug its jaws against their bodies.
“I will find you.”
“Aaron!!” Cecilia reached for him, saw how his blood dripped into the shape of a rugged forest canopy. Hands dug around her shoulders, digging into claws within her skin.
“I will find you.”
“No! No!” Cecilia shrieked.
“Wake up, wake up!” she heard, feeling the force of the claws on her shoulders tighten firmly and shake.
Finally, her eyes snapped open, taking in the sight of the ceiling, the high paned windows and the rest of the room within the mansion.
She glanced down, seeing a pair of eyes—green and focused—before she let out a gasp.
“Hey,” he spoke and Cecilia froze. Lucas.
The last of the nightmare faded away, dribbling through the tears that cascaded from her eyes.
“Hey, calm down. It was just a nightmare.”
“Aaron…” Ceci began, reaching out to grab on to Lucas’s collar desperately.
“Aaron, he’s not safe—he’s…”
Romance: Tied To The Wolf: BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance (Werewolf Romance, BBW Paranormal Romance, Shifter Romance) Page 4
