Chapter 69: Chapter 69

Miatta

“You're late,” I announced, hearing his footsteps coming closer. I had been there for more than three minutes and I hated being kept waiting. Oddly, he didn't say a word and I was beginning to doubt that it was he behind me but I knew his scent. Lycans had a distinct scent but his was different; I could tell it from the rest. It reminded me of fresh wood and pine cones, a nostalgia of home.

“You came. I didn't think you would,” he opined, coming to stand beside me. He was at least two and a half heads taller than me, an edge over me it appeared. He hid his hair underneath that pile of cloth again and it was done so precariously that if I tugged hard, it would come undone. My perusal continued below, observing that for they four times he and I had met, he had been wearing the same clothes, which either meant he was a stranger or an intruder.

I ended my examination and sighed ostentatiously to get his attention. He stared blankly at me, like I had woken him up from some dream or something. “Well, you have something of mine and I want it back. I could get in serious trouble if someone discovers it's gone.”

“Someone like whom?”

I remembered the monster who had forced the collar on me and my mood darkened. I did not want to imagine what he would do to me when he discovered the collar was missing. “The Lycan Prince. I hate him so much. He must not find out you took it off. Just give it back to me and all will be forgiven.” I was polite and demure for once, skills I never thought I would ever need. He cocked his head, brandishing a silly grin that was pissing me off. “Do you have it or not?”

Luke left where he stood and walked over to me. I took one step back and he took a menacing one forward. We kept going until I hit a wall and I groaned in pain, rubbing at my sore back. He replaced mine with his and massaged the spot gently with the right amount of pressure required.

“I’m sorry. I– I get rough sometimes when I'm excited,” he apologized, his low burr distracting my senses. He nuzzled his nose against my ear, my hands by my side. “Can't you feel this too, Miatta? Am I the only one suffering from this attraction?”

The words he was saying to me were strange but for some reason, I didn't want him to stop talking. His masculine scent surrounded me like a cloud and I didn't know when I held onto him for balance. His palms were on either side of me, flat against the wall and he blocked every means of escape.

“I– don't know you. How am I supposed to be attracted to a man I don't even know?” I found myself struggling with my words and my body was on fire. He made a sound of disapproval deep down his throat when I tried to slip my fingers away from the collar of his shirt and I instinctively kept them in place.

“You know me, Miatta. You know me better than anyone,” he declared, his hot breath warming my face. A hand fell to my waist and I neither encouraged nor dissuaded him. Luke's eyes were as dark as a bottomless well and I was drowning in its murky waters. His hand traveled upwards from my waist, leaving heat wherever it touched. He was trouble and I had willingly walked into his playground.

Lucas

Miatta was driving me crazy with her scent that I would have dug my face in her bosom but for fear of offending her. It was unconventional, an affair between a werewolf and a lycan but I had lost my head. The scent of lilies filled my senses and I had to touch her or I would die for want of what was mine.

“Tell me who you are,” she whispered when my fingers hung at the back of her gown. She inhaled sharply, moaning breathlessly. Her nails scraped off some thread from my disguise and got stuck in the holes she had created. I fought within myself, wondering how she would react if I ripped apart my costume. She would probably slap me in the face and run away too. I didn't want that but I didn't want to lie to her too. It was a lose-lose situation with unwanted conclusions.

“I told you I'm Luke.”

“That's not enough,” she whined, touching my skin through my garment. I withdrew from her immediately, wanting to keep my secret intact. She hated the real me and had said so herself. No matter how much I wanted to know how loud she screamed in bed, losing her completely was a greater nightmare. I reached for the collar underneath my garment and handed it over to her, looking away. Her cool fingers touched the leather tool but in lieu of relieving me of it, she locked her fingers with mine and pulled me back towards her. I foolishly went with her, following her lead.

“Luke?” she began, slyly, hiding a lock of hair behind her ear and leaning against the wall again.

“You have to go back to the dark room now. You have the collar back. It's not safe for you out here,” I tried to reason with her but she was far gone. Something was wrong and I checked her temperature, jumping back when I discovered that she was burning up all of a sudden. Her eyes were half closed and sultry, my heartbeat picking up the pace instantly.

“I think – I think I am in heat,” she announced, falling on my shoulder. “You must have triggered it somehow. Who are you, Luke and what are you doing to me?” Her once strong voice shook and I was terribly worried. It was my first time of seeing a wolf in heat and it was both arousing and disturbing. I put the collar around her neck and locked it in place smoothly.

“There you go. This rendezvous is over. I'm taking you back to your room. Good night, Miatta,” I murmured with reluctance.

“Don't play dumb, Miatta. Everyone saw Yvette talking to you. What did she want?” she repeated, cocking her head towards mine. I wasn't totally comfortable with sharing the truth with Addy anymore ever since her transformation but she knew things that I needed to know.

“I’ll tell you all about it later. Right now, I need you to tell everything you know about a wolf being in heat.”