Chapter Five

This was by far the WEIRDEST day of my life.

Me and the big bad wolf, helping my grandma out around the house.

Well, I was helping around the house, meanwhile Red sat by the fire with Grandma, helping her with the banner for her booth at the festival. Red, white, and blue.

Why did he get the easy job? I grumbled to myself as i climbed up on a chair to try to reach the fancy serving trays my grandma had requested down from the highest shelf.

All 5'5" of me stretched as much as I could stretch, my fingers just brushing the trays enough to push them back out of reach.

I cursed under my breath.

"Here, let me." Red was suddenly behind me, breathing on my neck as he did so well.

He squeezed my butt and I yelped and toppled off the chair.

He caught me, chuckling, and set me aside.

Reaching past my head he fetched down the stack of trays easily, without needing the chair.

He must be a few inches taller than Braiden, who was 6'5".

I blushed when he looked over at me and caught me sizing him up.

He handed me the trays, pushing in a bit closer than he needed to. 'Like what you see?' He asked without speaking.

I glowered up at him. 'Stop DOING that!!!'

His grin only widened, showing more teeth. They looked dazzling white against the rich bronze tan of his skin, his glaciar-like jawline shadowed beautifully today with russet red stubble, the same color as his shaggy locks of hair.

'Why? It's fun.'

"What are you two kids whispering about over there?!" Grandma shouted, breaking the spell of the moment.

Shaking my head, I walked away from him.

But I felt those golden eyes on me all the while, and I knew he was thinking about tearing me apart...

***

Before I knew it, I looked outside and saw that the sun was going down.

"Crap."

I'd forgotten what Braiden had said about being back at sundown.

Grandma had made her delicious beef stew and a fresh loaf of rustic bread with sweet butter that smelled divine, but I told her I couldn't stay for dinner.

"Braiden is expecting me back..." I avoided Red's gaze as I said this. "And he's in a mood."

"Yes, dear, you run along now. Red, walk her back up the lane, would you, my love? It's not safe for a lady to be walking out alone at dusk these days."

She patted his cheek.

"I don't need-!" I began to protest, thinking how I could NOT be seen out in the woods with him again or Braiden would ACTUALLY murder me, but Grandma shushed me gently.

"Be still child." She draped her best red cloak over my shoulders, and stuffed boughs of aspen into the pockets. "Here, that should do the trick." She muttered, and sent us firmly on our way.

* * *

The walk back up the lane with Red couldn't have been more awkward.

"Well! Interesting that my grandma wants me to be raped and murdered in the forest!" I finally said, trying to be glib, but speaking perhaps a bit too loudly and just coming off as weird instead.

He looked at me with raised eyebrows. "Such DARK thoughts you have, my dear!"

"I wonder who could've put them there!"

He considered me quite seriously for several silent seconds that made me start to feel rather unatease indeed.

"If I was going to rape and kill you, Little Mouse, I would have done so by now."

I swallowed. "Unless you just like playing with your food..."

WHY couldn't I stop talking?!

'I do have fun playing with you...'

His voice in my head sent shivers all thru my body.

"Aaauuuuggghhhh! PLEASE STOP doing that! How are you even doing that?! I've only ever had my alpha do that...speak in my head like that...!" I leapt back from him, looking him over suspiciously. "You're NOT my alpha!"

He cocked his head and his eyes glittered a venomous gold. He seemed angry at this.

"But you want me to be, don't you?"

"What?! No!" I scoffed.

"Don't lie to me!" The snarled command hit me like a wild winter wind.

Frission consumed my flesh and I felt my panties dampen.

Traitorous feline.

I felt something stir and start to waken inside me then, as his eyes bore into mine. As he tried to WILL his Dominance over me.

I had never felt anything quite like this before.

"You feel it, don't you?" He licked his lips and eased a step closer to me. "That's your Wolf, waking up. Braiden is NOT your true Alpha. He hasn't been able to wake your Wolf, or your power. He hasn't even been able to knock you up, I know you've been trying to get pregnant for a while now."

I flushed crimson. "How-?!"

"I could give you a baby the first time I mounted you." He took another prowling step closer and I stumbled back one. "Is that what you want? For me to take you and mount you and mate you proper?"

My throat was dry as kibble as all the liquid in my body seemed to flood south.

My heart wasn't just pounding like a drum anymore, it was going off like a cannon.

"I think you do." He challenged, running the tip of hus tongue lightly along the edge of his teeth. I saw the Wolf in him move, shifting restlessly behind his yellow eyes. "Want me to chase you and take you in the forest. Go on, Little Mouse, run. I'll give you a head start."

I didn't waste another second, I turned and fled, my blood red cloak furling out behind me along the ground as I ran.