Dinner with a side of Tension

  Kaia's pov

  

   "No, no no." My words played in my head again and again as I stared at him, my heart racing. “Did he just…?" 

 "Yes, yes he did!" My wolf danced in excitement in my head, but I was pale with shock, my lips part in surprise.

 "Why?" I asked, my eyes finally drifted to meet with his blue ones, and my throat felt like there was a huge lump in there. 

  He wore a puzzled look, “Why what?” He asked. He inched closer, and my heart stopped. Maybe he was joking, maybe this was a plan to make me look stupid like Aiden did.

   “Are you accepting me now so you can reject me later or you just want me close enough because your Lycan needs his mate?” I snapped before I could stop myself. And I have been doing a lot of it lately.

  Kaieran's eyes squinted a little before returning to their normal size, and creased lines appeared on his forehead. “Of course not, Kaia." My name rolled off his lips softly. 

  “I'm accepting you because you are my mate, the only one who will complete me. Why would you think like that?" 

   I raised my voice screaming in my head. "Because I'm weak!" I thought, "I am not the person you want to be your Luna. I'm not strong…” 

  "I want you just the way you are. That's why you're mine. I'll protect you. Nothing else matters." He said, as if reading my thoughts.

  “You're only saying that now, you're going to change your mind when you see that I'm not what you want." My heart broke when I said that, but it was better now than later.

  He sighed and gently rubbed his hands on mine to comfort me. However, I pulled my hands away. I didn't miss the disappointment that flashed in his eyes before he covered it with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. 

   “Is that what happened with the mate you had?" 

  I looked away, I've never heard anyone call the word ‘mate’ with so much anger.

   “It's okay if you don't want to talk about it," he assured me. “I'm going to be right here when you're ready." 

  Closing my eyes, I shook my head, trying to shake off the memories. I wouldn't be wise if I didn't learn anything from the pain in the past. No one was to be trusted, and that was the truth.

"I'm sorry but--" 

He immediately interrupted me. "Give me a chance to actually prove myself Kaia. Don't write me off without getting to know me first.”

   At this point, I was fighting back tears. Nothing about him screamed ‘lies’ but it was still too early to tell and based on what I've heard people talk about him, he wasn't any better than Aiden.

  “Don't do this." My wolf yelled, “his Lycan wants us. He wants us." 

   "Aiden's wolf wanted us, but look where it landed us.”

  My wolf growled softly, "they're cowards, they didn't deserve us.” She said, and I desperately wanted to believe her, 

   “Kaia, talk to me, please." Kieran begged, when he noticed arguing with me was pointless because he heaved. His eyes looked deep into mine, and even when I saw sincerity, I didn't want to fall so easily.

  “I want to sleep." I said instead, looking away. 

  "Fine. I'll give you time to accept me. No matter how long it takes, I promise I'll make it happen." 

  Those were his final words before he left the room. Once he did, I sighed, feeling a heavy load being lifted off my shoulders.

 The room suddenly turned quiet, and I couldn't help but feel strange. Was I doing the right thing? 

  "You have got to be kidding me. Did you just deny him the right to accept you? Isn't that what you're wanted a few minutes ago when you found out about him?" My wolf instantly began to make complaints about my decision.

"I'm trying to protect us. You can't understand even if I explained to you. I suffered so much under Aiden, I don't want the same thing to happen again." 

"But..." 

  I didn't want to listen to her again, so I blocked her. Didn't really know how I did it, but I was happy it happened. I laid flat on the bed, my face towards the ceiling. However, his words rang in my head constantly.

"Was he going to be true to his words? Only time would tell."

 Not knowing how long I stared at the ceiling, I decided to do something else. I pushed myself off the bed, and moved towards the mirror in the room. 

  The bruises that formed as a result of my journey in the forest and in the dungeon were slowly fading away. It was funny I still had his shirt on, and his scent loomed over me.

  My eyes lingered on the mirror, and a smile slowly crept to my lips. However, my smile faded when I had quiet taps on the door and my head snapped towards the door to see who was there. 

   A few minutes later, a young girl, who looked like she was barely older than me, entered the room, holding some dresses.

  "Good evening, Luna." She started, not giving me a chance to correct her before she continued. “The Alpha sent me to you." Her voice seemed calm, making me ease my tense nerves. I also noticed her head was lowered. 

  “You're mistaken, I'm not your Luna. My name is Kaia." I responded back to make her feel welcome, but still her head was lowered. "What do you want?"

  "To prepare a bath for you. It's almost time for dinner, Luna.”

   I resisted the urge to groan when she used that title again. Being attended to instead of the other way around was already weird on its own. 

   “Okay." I said, knowing nothing I said would change her mind. 

  “What's your name?" I asked and her eyes snapped to mine, taken back by my question. 

  “Maria." 

  "Maria.” I repeated.

"Yes Luna, I'll get the bath ready now. Alpha Kieran said you would be resting, I'll be quiet so you can relax while you wait.” She explained, bowing before moving towards the bathroom. 

  Back home, I was the last to have dinner, scrambling the leftovers from the others. Most times, I was left hungry.

"Ma'am, it's ready..." She announced, interrupting my thoughts, and I struggled with a decision.

"Alright." My reply seemed fine, but deep down, I was overwhelmed. Nevertheless, I dragged myself towards the bathroom, and sank into the bath which relaxed me for a bit.

  Once I got out, I wrapped myself with the towel, and came out of the bathroom to meet one of the dresses already spread out on the bed.

  My eyes lingered on it for a while, and I was about to pick it up when his voice rang behind me, "You're just in time for dinner." I jumped when it said that because I didn't expect him to be in the room since the maid was nowhere to be seen when I came out of the bathroom. 

"What are you doing here?" I asked, my hand holding the towel firmly around me. 

   As I stood there, wrapped in nothing but a towel, Kieran's eyes locked onto mine, and for a moment, time seemed to freeze. His eyes widened as he stared at my body…my bruises. A part of me thought of escaping back into the bathroom but my leg was stuck. I expected him to look away, to pretend he hadn't seen me, but instead, he just let his eyes roam my body. 

    I saw the faintest flicker of surprise, followed by a hunger that made my heart skip a beat. His jaw clenched, and his eyes snapped back to mine, but I knew I'd seen something there, something that made me feel both vulnerable and desired.

   “Do you want something?" That did the trick as he cleared his throat.

  

  “I…uhm." He stammered, "fuck!” He cursed underneath his breath. 

  “You're beautiful." He murmured and a smile broke out on my face.

  My wolf snorted, announcing her presence again. “You're going to disappear if you hear what King thinks of us. I'm sure his human side is thinking of the position…” I didn't let her finish.

   “For a wolf, you're sure horny.”

 "You can't blame me, have you seen our mate?”

    "I'm going to bring your dinner…uhmm…once you're dressed." He looked at me once more before dragging himself out. 

   Without anyone telling me, I knew my face was a permanent shade of red.

   "He's so hot! And he definitely wants us.” My wolf said dreamily.

    This time, I agreed with my wolf.