Thirty

DEARIL POV.

The conflicted look on her face made me stop, even though I wouldn't have cared in the past. It was as if the longer we stayed together, the more I could feel her emotions, and the more I wanted to put her at ease even tho my wolf wanted the opposite despite being enthralled with her.

Her fingers shakily wiped at her lips as if she was trying to get rid of my kisses and I wanted nothing more than to crush our lips together again. My wolf and I were in total agreement on the matter.

"I haven't eaten" she got out, her chin pointing at the tray as she walked past me.

I watched her, feeling complete just by seeing her move about me with no fear or hate in her gaze.

She sat down and her sweater rode up drawing my attention to her bare thighs. I swallowed as lust slammed into me with such force it was unbearable to ignore. The damn heat was approaching and I had to do my possible best to keep away from her. Jade was human, and most wolves I knew who got mated to humans lost their mate after marking them. They couldn't withstand the bite and ended up dying through the transformation.

Jade wasn't even my mate and my bite, with how potent it was would kill her in a matter of hours as it did the last girl, and she had been a wolf. I was cursed, it was my burden to bear.

"Seat" she ordered and it brought a smile to my face. I guess old habits died hard. She was used to giving orders, so it came naturally to her and I found it amusing whenever she slipped.

Raising a brow, she stared at me before she realized what she'd said. Jade rolled her eyes making my wolf rear its head.

"Please seat Master Dearil" she got out and I shook my head as I took my seat. Her lips twitched with a suppressed smile as she started to eat. I watched, mesmerized. Her aura was dazzling.

The raging thoughts in my head gave way to more peaceful ones.

Her eyes widened as she scooped a spoonful of dessert into her lips. "This taste really good".

"Make sure to finish everything on that plate, you look paler than you did yesterday" I observed and she scoffed as she stabbed the fork into her meal.

"Yes sir," she replied, her voice dripping in sarcasm. She ate and I watched contently. "How did the meeting go?"

The damn council meeting. It had gone in a completely one-eighty direction. Vaughn and Black had a plan set in stone, and it all involved Jade Alvarez, but there was no way I would ever allow them to touch Jade.

Father must have noticed that I cared more about her than I've done anything in the past, there was also the fact that I wasn't growling and trying to snap the head off everyone I came across anymore. Did he feel threatened?

I'd always known that my father didn't want me around. He knew I was a threat, there was a power that resided within me that he couldn't tame, and not being able to control me was something that made him fear. I knew because they couldn't even wait for the stipulated time that the witch had given me to become a monster.

Father was not one to take chances, so I knew that anything that changed the normal routine of our old life, and threatened to bring about normalcy, or make me seem more like an Alpha in control of his emotions, his wolf, and his pack, Vaughn would do whatever it took to take out the menace.

"It went better than I thought it would".

A smile touched her lips as she stared at me. "But I don't see blood on your hands".

"I am not a feral beast that goes on a killing rampage whenever I get mad"

"I know that, but sorry to say, your parent and the other Alphas suck big time. I'm impressed with how you show so much restrain. I'd have blown their head off if I were in your shoes".

I chuckled. "You must have blown up a lot of head".

She shrugged, "I've had my fair share and they all deserved it because they were the worst set of scum. A bullet to the head is my favorite way of taking an enemy out and you'd have had a demonstration in the woods, but you were damn too fast, no one has ever overpowered me that easily before" she said, holding my gaze, a look of awe on her face. The stare sent a surge of fire licking through my veins.

"Somehow I don't doubt that."

"You shouldn't, and you might be my Master now, but there is a hundred percent chance that I would still put a bullet in your head the first chance I get," she said casually and I knew she meant it, but her eyes, her emotion told a different story and that made me pause.

Did Jade Alvarez care about me, or was I just projecting my feelings onto her? Did I care for her? Was there something to our dynamics?

"I'm done," she said, dropping the spoon, her eyes coming to rest on me as she waited for a reaction.

I reached to pet her hair and she flinched, her eyes squeezing shut as if she thought that I wanted to smack her across the face. I paused, her reaction triggering the wolf within me. Who dared to lay a hand on her, who was it that made her recoil In fear? Was it me? Damn it!

Her eyes opened slowly and when she met my gaze, I unhurriedly let my hand drop to her soft curls. My fingers trailed through her hair and she sighed, her stiff shoulders sagging as she relaxed into my touch.

It pulled at my heart, and my body grew warm and fuzzy. I wanted to freeze the moment forever. I also wanted to ask about her past but anything that threatened to break the spell of the moment, I tried to push off as far as I could.

Jade was the first to break the connection. She pulled back, away from my reach, and got to her feet, a frown etched on her pretty feature.

"I heard about the upcoming moon festival. It sounds fun. I'll love to come with you if you'd be attending, It'll be a chance to go outside, and also get a feel of your world."

Her words were like a bomb dropping on my lap. I got up, my height towering over her smaller frame, the contrast distracting.

"How did you hear about that".

"Your rogue ex-girlfriend told me" she crossed her arms.

"She was never my girlfriend, and you're not going to attend the moon festival. It is not safe, I don't want you in harm's way".

"Let's spin the bottle".

The word died on my lips. Damn her persistent stubbornness. "No!"

"You said I could ask for anything I wanted if we spun a bottle and it landed on me, so why are you going back on your word, and why are you forbidding me to go out of here? Am I a prisoner? Someone for you to discard once you find your one true mate" she yelled, her voice increasing in volume as she rushed through the words.

Mate? Who had she been talking to?

"You're all bloody the same, you make promises that you can't fucking keep, you lay down rules that you don't follow".

It was time to put my foot down. "Enough Jade! You cannot attend the moon festival and that is final. I'm doing this to keep you safe, you just have to trust me". My wolf was becoming agitated as Jade stared at me, the anger In her eyes blazing.

"I'm done with this bullshit" she spat and turned to walk away from me. My hands reached out instinctively and grabbed the neckline of her sweater as she tried to Storm off, but thinking better of it, I made to let go and bring back my arm to my side.

Her sweater caught on my finger and the pressure of my grip on the neckline of the sweater made it rip to the bottom, the sound of the tearing fabric resounding through the room.

The momentum threw her off and she crashed to the floor, the thorn sweater almost coming off her skin.

Rushing to help her up, my gaze slipped to her exposed back. My eyes widened and my chest burned as I took in the faded whip scars that littered all over her back. It looked old, so I knew it wasn't from the night she fought those men, it had been done when she was much younger.

My wolf bore its fangs. Just as we'd killed the men that night and chopped their bodies into pieces and fed them to the birds of the air, it was the same way whoever was responsible for those scars was going to end up.