71

Before I could even open my eyes, I was mentally back with the man from last night. He just wouldn't let me go and I wondered who he was and if he even had the right to be here. After I came back into the room from the bathroom, I actually wanted to ask Killian about it, but he was already asleep and it was so sweet that I didn't want to wake him.

That morning he was no longer there. I was alone again and he had taken the aura of his security with him. Tired, I pulled myself together and searched the bags for suitable clothing, then carefully made my way to the bathroom, careful not to encounter another snarling stranger.

It annoyed me that the question about this man overshadowed my evening with Killian. I wanted to feel the warmth again and experience the tingling again. Just go through everything step by step in my mind. But again and again the growling of the man came into my head and drowned out everything good.

Angry about this, I threw my toothbrush in the sink and stomped down the stairs in my black jogging suit to the first floor, where I was annoyed to find that, as always, there seemed to be no one but me in this big house.

Angry about this, I ran over to the kitchen to pour myself a glass of milk and reflect on the past few days. I realized that I had changed. The time I spent here was short, but very intense. I faced desire, faced an alpha, and learned to overcome my shyness when it was really needed. It all made me stronger, especially he made me stronger. I couldn't deny my feelings for him anymore, because he was different than you know from alphas and even showed consideration for me.

A sudden slamming of the front door startled me from my thoughts and my glass fell out of my hand out of sheer shock.

"What's new?" Resul asked, flashing his best smile until he saw the shards in front of me and his eyes widened. Before I had a chance to clean it up, he gently pushed me aside and shook his head no.

"I scared you, so I'll clean it up too." He winked at me and grabbed a hand brush complete with dustpan.

"Thanks! You pulled me out of my thoughts," I admitted, embarrassed.

"What are the thoughts that make you wince?" He kept an eye on me as he tossed the shards into the trash and put everything back neatly away.

"There was a man upstairs in the hallway last night," I told him, but he just cracked a silly grin.

"Did it happen to be floating and have a slightly translucent white shell?"

"That's not funny! I don't see any ghosts!" I snapped at him, slightly irritated.

"He was tall and wore a black suit."

"Caleb," he breathed at me with a cold look.

I had heard the name before. I tried to remember it, but my head was full of too many new names and impressions for me to forget that name.

"You don't remember who that is, do you?" the curly head asked me and couldn't help but smile.

"Catch Sherlock and now please give me a hand."

He took a deep breath and I waited curiously for his answer.

"Killian and Damiano left with Brando yesterday morning. I told you where to go. They're with Caleb, our Ober Alpha and Killian's father. He actually lives in a secluded little house by the sea, but Damiano told me that he was dying to come and meet you."

I frowned in irritation because it made absolutely no sense that my mate's father would growl at me. I had disrespected neither him nor his son. Well, maybe a little towards Killian, but surely Caleb couldn't have known about the middle finger. Without being able to explain his dislike of me, I pushed my thoughts away from him and then Brando came to my mind again.

"And where's Brando now?" I asked Resul, who had grabbed an apple while I was mentally absent.

His eyes dropped sadly and I heard a soft whimper, which made me run towards him worried.

"Resul?" I gently put my hand on his shoulder and looked at him sympathetically.

"He was cast out," he whined, looking at me sadly.

"Just because of me?"

"Only? Alicia, you're Killian's mate. He treated you roughly. Of course I miss him, but I can totally understand Killian's decision."

I took a few steps back to lean against the fridge. That didn't seem right to me and I felt really bad because he couldn't have known that my arm was already hurting.

"It would have been enough to tell him not to do it again. I just took his cell phone and nobody complained about it. So I was partly to blame for the situation."

"You're really too good for this world, Alicia. Do you think Killian felt you were partly to blame? He could have ripped his throat out right there. But he needs his father's advice on such decisions," Resul told me and tried to soothe my conscience.

I found it all to be completely exaggerated. Was his protective instinct so strong that he would cast out a friend just because he grabbed my arm? I just couldn't believe it. Shaking my head, I walked over to the window and was amazed to see that the sun was gone yesterday. It poured torrents as the wind swayed the trees and the sky turned dark.

"Want to go for a walk?" Resul stepped to my side and gave me a challenging look.

"If you go ahead." I arched an eyebrow provocatively and he looked outside again.

"Is someone too cowardly?" I asked him amused, because suddenly he didn't look like he wanted to go out in this storm anymore.

"Me and cowards? I have to disappoint you there. Whoever gets to the edge of the forest first wins."

He ran knowing that I didn't know my way around and could only follow him anyway, which was pretty stupid of him, but I went for it anyway.

Barely out the front door, the heavy rain pelted down on me while the fierce wind blew in my face. Resul was just a little ahead of me, which spurred me on to pick up the pace a bit. He was either going extra slow for me or he was a pretty slow werewolf, but I believed in the former.

When he suddenly stopped and shook himself, I took in my surroundings for the first time and realized that we had arrived at the edge of the forest, where the heavenly smell of the forest gave me a beautiful feeling of home.