Chapter 4
2075 Words
Wait a minute! She’s still angry at him!
She opens the shower tap, not looking at which one she is opening, and shouts when she climbs into the freezing water for the second night in a row. Strange enough, he doesn’t ask what’s wrong or tries to break down the door, like the night before.
She feels his presence near the door, but he holds back, and she has to appreciate that he is trying. She turns the hot water tap and yells again when the heat hits her skin.
“Tab, are you okay?!” His voice sounds strained.
“YES, Yes, I’m fine.” She rolls her eyes at her stupidity. At this rate, she is going to lose her skin before she gets the chance to decide whether she wants him or not!!
When she is ready, she walks out of the bathroom to find him pacing the room. The moment she steps out of the bathroom, he walks past her and closes the door behind him.
She’s the one who should be mad. Is he now not talking to her because he is mad or because he thinks she is still mad at him? Relationships are so damn hard, and they haven’t even started yet!
She slides underneath the covers without caring about her hair and closes her eyes when he leaves the bathroom. She doesn’t know what to say to him. She can’t be angry at him for wanting to keep her safe, but does he have to be so beastly about it?
“I’m sorry, Tabatha.” She hears his voice as he makes himself comfortable.
She isn’t angry anymore…
“Can you help me with my hair, please?”
She sits up in bed with her back to him, holding out the brush over her shoulder. He takes the brush, and she realizes that he is attempting not to touch her. He brushes her hair softly, and she feels like leaning back. Just as she’s about to give in to his aura, he moves away and puts the brush on the nightstand.
He takes his spot in front of the door, and it doesn’t take long before she hears him rhythmically breathing, making her think he fell asleep. She slides her legs under the covers, turning on her side. What is she going to do?
***
Tabatha wakes up feeling a slight breeze blowing on her face. When she opens her eyes, there is a single red rose on the bed next to her, but she can’t see Erik anywhere. She jumps up and calls for him, but the bathroom door is open, and he isn’t there.
Why would he leave her all by herself?
She looks at her watch and realizes that she will be late if she doesn’t hurry up.
When she walks into the dining room, he isn’t there either, but to be safe, she leaves the chair next to her open. Just as breakfast is about to be served, he slides into the seat next to her.
“Good morning, love. Sleep well?”
“Hi, yeah, I guess. Uhm. Where have you been?”
“Ah, did you miss me?” He winks at her, and she feels her cheeks turn red.
“I went to make some arrangements. I have to arrange for my stuff to be moved to your pack grounds, and I had to speak to my Alpha.”
“So, you are doing this? You are willing to move to my pack?”
He leans in and his hot breath blows just below her cheek.
“I told you I would do whatever you needed."
Suddenly, she feels as if she’s been a real jerk!
***
The rest of the week he is true to his word. He asked for a room next to hers, which their hosts graciously agreed to, but he no longer slept in her room. He hovered… And she could feel his eyes on her at all times, but he kept some distance between them, only stepping close when she wanted him to be close.
When the time comes to go back home, he says goodbye to his friends and opens the door of a black SUV with Shadow International written on the side.
“Sorry, I thought we should take a company car to the airport. We can go by bus if you want?”
“No, the car is fine.”
It is just the two of them in the car, and he starts to ask her some questions about her pack and their grounds, making her feel more comfortable. When they reach the airport, there is someone who takes the keys from him, and he grabs their bags from the back of the car, carrying them to the plane.
He takes his seat next to hers and continues to ask her questions about their history and how it feels to be a hybrid. The flight feels fast because he has her talking and feeling comfortable. She climbs out of the plane to see another Shadow International SUV waiting for them.
Only this time when they climb in, it’s full of stuff at the back.
“Wow.”
“Yeah, sorry, my family can move fast when asked to.” He laughs.
“I just want to show you that I’m here, and I mean what I say.” He shrugs.
***
He pulls the car in front of the Alpha house where she shows him where to park. He runs around to open her door for her before taking her bags out of the back of the car. They walk over to the buses where her parents and family get off and are all looking tired.
Her dad arranges with Gareth to make sure he gets a room in the packhouse with the warriors, and Erik drops a kiss on her cheek telling her he will see her in the morning. He pulls his car around to the rest of the official vehicles, and Gareth helps him to unpack.
Gareth shows him around the packhouse and Erik settles in his room. It’s smaller than he’s used to, but it’s rustic, and he likes it. When he finally gets done with unpacking, he goes downstairs to join the rest of the pack for dinner, and Gareth introduces him to the rest of the warriors.
After dinner, Gareth shows him the common room, and they play some TV games before Erik goes to bed. He wants to be ready for training in the morning.
***
Tabatha sits on her bed pulling at her bedding when her mom walks in. She wants to know why her daughter is so hesitant about accepting her mate. She explains that this should be the happiest time of her life, but she doesn’t look happy.
Tabatha keeps picking at her bedding before looking up at her mom.
“Mom, he is so possessive. I know he is trying his best not to be, but what if he turns out to be like Radagast?”
“Oh, honey!” Her mom holds out her arms, and she leans in for a hug.
“Your father was the worst when we first found out we were mates. He drove me insane!” She laughs.
Her mom tells her the story of how they met and how he wouldn’t leave her alone for a second until he was able to mark her and show that she was his.
“Honey, you have to understand that it’s not about being his property. It’s about showing how much he loves you and that nobody else should hurt you.”
Tabatha nods still feeling pretty unsure, but what her mom says is making sense. She wouldn’t be too happy if he was hanging around with other girls! Even if she’s unsure about their bond.
When her mom leaves the room, she gets ready for bed. It takes some time before she falls asleep, but when she finally does, her dreams are filled with hot kisses and soft touches.
***
Erik is up early and has gone for a run before preparing breakfast. The rest of the warriors start piling in, looking surprised when they find him in the kitchen with the women.
“Hey, bud, couldn’t sleep?” Gareth grins at him.
“No, I’m just used to a stricter set of rules, I guess. Training starts at five where I’m from.” He gives Gareth a lopsided grin.
“Well, around here, we take things a little easier.”
They sit down for breakfast and start teasing him that his food is so good, he shouldn’t be a warrior.
He will be shadowing Gareth today, meaning he will get to see Tabatha once they are done cleaning up in the kitchen. Then he is going to see the Alpha and find out when he will be joining in on warrior training and patrol. He plans on doing his part for the pack and not just hanging around so he can win Tabatha over.
***
Tabatha wakes up feeling confused after a night of dreaming about Erik. In some dreams, she is falling madly in love with him, and in others, he is chasing her, and she is scared of him.
She decides to take a shower before heading down for breakfast.
The moment she bounds down the stairs, she comes to a quick halt and Glinda nearly runs over her. Erik is in the house… What is he doing here?
“Hey! I could have broken both our necks!” Glinda shouts at her, sidestepping her before rushing into the kitchen.
She can sense him in her dad’s office, and his scent in the house is unmistakable. Oh, brother, she knows that he is going to be around all the time, but it’s going to take some getting used to. Having someone in her space when she’s used to hanging out with her friends. She never thought about these kinds of things before.
She always just thought about having the perfect mate, and then Isobel died…
“Good morning, girls.” Her father walks out of the office with Erik and Gareth right behind him.
The guys also greet them, and Erik walks up to her, sliding his arm around her before leaving a kiss on her cheek.
“I will see you a bit later.” He winks and leaves with Gareth who can’t seem to keep his hands off Glinda these days.
As soon as they are out of the house, she looks at her dad, and he shrugs, taking his coffee from her mom and walking out to the porch where he usually has his coffee. How can he not tell her what is going on?
“Tab… A little help over here?” Circe’s voice brings her back to the present, and she rushes to help with breakfast.
***
Alpha Frank spoke to Uncle Ant to find out the extent of Erik’s training and give official permission that he can stay on until it’s decided if he and Tabatha are going to accept or reject each other. Alpha Frank looked pretty impressed and arranged that Gareth takes him to warrior training to see if he could perhaps give them some pointers.
“Any help is always appreciated." These were his precise words, which made Erik wonder what he was talking about.
Until he joined the training. It looks more like they are playing at training compared to what they do at the shadow pack! He heard about their war against the witches, and from what he is seeing here, he is pretty surprised that they won!
***
Her dad explains their new routine to them all, and Tabatha takes a deep sigh.
“What?” Her dad puts his hands on his hips, frowning.
“Dad, I don’t understand. An outsider arrives, and you uproot the entire pack according to what he does! That doesn’t make any sense.”
“Tabatha, honey, you and Willow are about to receive your powers. Your dad and I thought it would be good for the pack to sharpen our defences, and what a better way than to get some fresh blood in to help us train?” Her mom grins.
She rolls her eyes at her parents.
“And I’m the one who is paranoid!” She throws her hands in the air.
- Writer
