Rejected by Alpha, Collected by Dragon

Chapter 3. Feeling a little cheesy

Chloe

Three days later, I’m camped out on his couch watching classic cartoons, eating a bowl of cereal. Before you judge me, I tried to leave! Somehow, a movie turned into several, and then dinner, and then binge watching some show about an old wolf who was funding his retirement by acting as a pimp, but he was super nice to his girls and kept losing money. It was actually pretty funny.

Anyway, by the time I realized how late it was, I was incredibly tired, so Duncan made a nest of sorts for me on the couch with a few pillows and a ton of blankets. The next day, before I could mention anything about leaving, he asked me if I would mind helping him put up a few more shelves. Then we watched The Lupine Horror Picture Show. He even made toast! What was I supposed to do? Tim Vindaloo looks hot in a corset.

Honestly, I’m not entirely sure why I’m still here. When he makes suggestions of things to do, it either seems rude to refuse, or I can’t think of a reason not to stay.

He pads out of his room and sighs as he looks in the refrigerator.

“You’re out of milk,” I say as I slurp the last of the milk out of my bowl. It’s that cereal that turns the milk to chocolate, which is the only reason I’m slurping up every last drop.

I see him shake his head at me out of the corner of my eye and he bends to inspect the contents of the fridge. “I’ll just make myself an omelet, then,” he mutters.

“You’re out of cheese, too,” I bite my lip to try to keep from smirking.

He straightens up and stares at me, but I keep my eyes fixed on the tv. “There was half a pound of cheese in here!”

“I needed a late-night snack,” I shrug. “Besides, Kit had a headache. She’s the queen of finding pills hidden in cheese, so it took a few tries to get her to swallow one.”

“Why didn’t you just take a pill?”

I glance at him and roll my eyes. “Because Kit had a headache, not me,” I explain, like that should be perfectly obvious.

He sighs again and closes his eyes. It’s a good ten seconds before he speaks again. “I suppose I should count myself lucky that you don’t eat as much as a typical wolf.”

“Kit’s pretty small,” I shrug.

“I am not small!” she snaps at me. “I’m dainty!”

“What’s the difference?” I ask her.

“There’s a big difference!” she whines. “Tell him!”

“What?” I love my wolf, but sometimes she makes no sense.

“Tell him I’m not small, I’m dainty!” she insists. “And use my full name.”

“What? Why?” normally I only use her full name when I yell at her, otherwise she’s just Kit.

“Because,” she says, sighing dramatically, “my full name is gorgeous! Like me!”

“Kitania wants you to know she’s not small, she’s dainty,” I roll my eyes, and try to get the last bite of cereal on my spoon without having to resort to using my fingers. Duncan makes a little snorting sound that may be laughter.

“See?” I smirk at Kit as she pouts. “He doesn’t care. There’s no difference.”

“I’m sure she’s a very cute little wolf,” Duncan says from the kitchen.

I close my eyes with a groan. There will be no living with her after that!

“Did you hear that, human?” she preens. “He thinks I’m adorable.”

“He said cute,” I point out stubbornly.

“Same thing.”

“Are you seriously preening right now?” I ask. “I thought you were still upset about our mate?”

“I’m a multitasker,” she shrugs. “I can be upset about my mate and happy about that hunk of sexy as f*ck dragon thinking I’m the most attractive wolf he’s ever laid his eyes on.”

I choke, and I see Duncan look over at me, but I keep my eyes glued to the tv. “I think that’s laying it on a little thick,” I tell her. “He said you might be cute.”

“We need to shift,” she muses. “Soon! If you let me take over, I can totally seal this deal and that gorgeous specimen will be ours!”

“Calm down there, you horny little freak,” I laugh. “He hasn’t even tried to kiss me.”

“Yeah, that’s my point!” she huffs at me. “I could get him in bed. Give me five minutes. Please?”

“You are on lockdown!” I shake my head at her as she sends me erotic images. I’m going to need a cold shower if she keeps that up.

“Ok, I’m giving you some money to go to the store to get some milk and cheese,” Duncan’s voice makes me jump slightly, pulling me out of my horny wolf’s ideas.

“You need some more pain killers, too,” I say.

“How many did you take?” he asks, sounding a little worried. “That bottle was practically new!”

“Umm… well, after Kit ate the cheese and spit out the pill, it was all slobbery and gross. I didn’t want to touch that!” I shudder at the memory of slimy pills covered in wolf saliva. Yuck.

This time when he closes his eyes, he rubs his temples with his fingers. “Ok, yeah, definitely get more pain killers,” he mumbles. “I think I’m going to need them.”

“Wait, are you seriously going to let me leave?” I turn to face him fully for the first time this morning. He’s standing in the kitchen wearing a pair of loose gym shorts, his chest bare, and it makes my breath catch in my throat and a conga beat starts between my thighs. He hasn’t made any overt attempts to touch me since the first day I came here, even if he has made a few flirtatious comments now and then. I’m not really sure if he wants to breed with me or if I’m just another item in his collection of broken things. I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to seeing so much of his skin, though.

His muscles have muscles. His tanned chest is relatively hairless, except that intriguing little happy trail that leads to the promised land beneath his shorts. And I know from drooling on his shoulder last night that he’s warm and solid, but still makes a surprisingly comfortable pillow.

“Of course, you can leave,” he blinks at me like I’m the one not making any sense. “You’re not my prisoner here, Chloe.”

“Ok! Because I really need to go to my place and get a change of clothes,” I hop up, and skip to the kitchen to rinse out my bowl and put it in the dishwasher. “Plus, I should probably go into work. Brenda’s probably really worried about me.”

Duncan watches me, frowning. “I thought we were having a good time,” he pouts.

I turn to look at him, and feel a little guilty at how eager I sounded to be able to leave. It’s been three days of the same four walls, though! And I’m wearing a pair of his boxers and one of his t-shirts. At first, it felt a little odd to be wearing his clothes, but all I had was my short skirt and low-cut shirt. His clothes are a lot more comfortable. Besides, his clothes smell like him, and he smells yummy!

“I’ll come back,” I promise. “I just need to get some of my stuff if I’m going to spend a few more days here, and let Brenda know I’m ok. Then I’ll swing by the store and get some groceries and come back. Deal?”

Without waiting for an answer, I skip into his room. I change back into my skirt, but my t-shirt smells kind of funky, so I raid his closet and pull out a light blue cotton button-up shirt, tying the front of it at my waist since it’s longer than my skirt. I turn around to find him watching me from the doorway. “What?”

He hands me a wad of cash that looks like enough to buy the entire store. “Get some cookies, too.”

“Double stuffed?” I smile up at him.

“Is there any other kind?” the gleam in his eyes makes me pause and I feel like he’s up to something, but I shrug off the feeling and hunt around for my shoes. I manage to find one, but the other one is playing a particularly good game of hide and seek.

“By the way, should I take a cab?” I ask as I crouch on my hands and knees to look under the bed.

He makes a strangled sound behind me, and I glance over my shoulder to see his eyes are fixated on my butt. I blush and try to straighten up, realizing I probably just showed him a lot more than I probably should have, but at the last second, I spot my shoe half-way under the bed. I stretch out, hooking my finger in the heel and haul it out. Victorious!

I stand up and slip my shoes on, waiting for his answer. He just continues to stare at me, swallowing a few times. I incline my head, trying to will him to rejoin our conversation and forget whatever goodies I just flashed at him. “Cab?” I prompt.

He shakes his head and clears his throat, blinking rapidly. “If you walk that way for two blocks,” pointing out the window, “you’ll reach the river. It’s a shorter distance that way than driving.”

I nod, but bite my cheek as I remember the rough looking wolves I saw out the window of his car while we drove here. “No one will mess with you,” he says softly, seeming to read my thoughts. I should probably question this a little more, but right now I’m just eager to stretch my legs and feel the sunshine on my skin.