“You are sleeping here? I won’t run aw–” her words got cut off
“It’s my duty to keep you safe, and I’m tired. So stop talking and go to sleep.” He said as he tried to fall into sleep. Selena pretend to talk inaudibly, mocking him but she had one more doubt to be clarified.
She moved swiftly to the chair opposite her and sat with knees pulled up to her chest before scratching his arm. He snapped his face up to see the girl had moved closer to him
“What?” his voice low and descending
“Have you, you know… found your mate yet?” Selena is now biting her lower lip in excitement. He let out a low sigh and covered back his forehead
“None of your business,” he said nonchalantly. She stuck out her tongue irritated at him
“I saw that!!!” she stiffened up at his stern note but in the next minute, she scratched him again.
“What if you find an ugly mate, with crooked teeth, small eyes, or maybe a virgin?” Selena questioned. Zaden dropped his hand, turned sideways, and hoisted himself halfway up with his elbow supporting below him. He still had to look up to meet her eye, making his chest muscle flex and more prominent.
“What if I find a cute, bubbly, mesmerizing round-eyed girl with tiny lips and a tiny waist? And I don’t mind virgin because I’m not one and I know how to handle one.” Selena opened her palm in the air indicating surrender and then walked away from him to her bed.
She sat there on her bed against the headboard, fiddling with her thought in silence for a while before she pulled out the turquoise chain from where it has been hiding all this time, the depth of her chest. Ever since the chain came, her life took a drastic turn. Even though she had a crush on the man in her dream, she wasn’t ready to face another terrifying night with him, especially with all that she had gone through today. Plus, Jewel is not here to save her this time.
She took it off with a sigh and placed it in a drawer next to her. Zaden was watching all this, frowned in silence before he snoozed off to sleep. Selena tossed and turned on her bed but she couldn’t get anywhere near sleepy. Thousand thoughts invading her mind at the same time. After about an hour or two, she gave up and paced to the window.
It was a beautiful night, the moon is nearing its fullest, and the sky was filled with bright stars. She climbed up and sat on the windowsill, pulled her legs to her chest as she clasped her palms in front of her knee. She then leaned back to the wall while her head touching the glass, taking every bit of the night sky into her heart; remained hypnotized for a long time.
Zaden stirred out of his sleep due to the uncomfortable couch. With his blurred vision, he saw a girl with a floor-length white chiffon dress, sitting on the windowsill. Part of her skirt flowing below the windowsill and she is hugging herself with her head against the glass surface. He wanted to go confront her but couldn’t move his eye away. He allowed himself another minute and another minute and another minute to admire her.
With his wolf’s eyesight, he gazed upon her eye and the natural thick eyelashes fanning over it. Her not too sharp cheekbone, her nose– sharp but small, her eyebrow perfectly parted and the most tempting pair of lips he could have ever meet. She was exotic beauty, not only to him but to anyone she could have come across. It was now 30 minutes and finally, he had the willpower to get up and approach her
“Hey,” he said casually, leaning on the wall at the end of her feet. She rubbed her arms as if she is cold. “Hey” she replied
“You are not sleepy?” they said simultaneously before letting out a chuckle.
“I couldn’t sleep…” Selena said looking out of the window
“Any specific reason?” Selena face turned sorrow. How can she admit that she is actually afraid to fall asleep? Taking off the necklace to stop dream is a theory. She doesn’t know if it will work or not.
As if he understood her issue, he asked “Want any help?”
“I don’t think you can. It’s… complicated” she dropped her cheeks onto her knees looking out of the window. Zaden stepped next to her, took her hand, and placed it on his bare chest. Selena snapped her head towards him.
“See, I have the ability to warm people, just like a wolf. ” they chuckled before he scooped up Selena in his arms. Selena gasped and spontaneously wrapped her arms around his neck for added support.
“Zaden, what are you doing? Put me down” she said. A hollow already formed at her throat making her collarbones more prominent as she looked at his eyes.
“Relax a bit, would you?” he placed her gently on her bed, bringing their face too close as her lips accidentally grazed his cheeks a little.
He then slides into the bed next to her. Selena held herself up with her hands behind her, looked at him in shock, analyzing the deed’s outcome when he grabbed her arms and pulled her to lay next to him
“This is a bad idea,” she said with a scared looked in her eye. He pushed her shoulder to the opposite side, making her back facing him, wrapped a hand to her waist
“A puffy-eyed Samrat’s daughter is not ideal. Don’t overthink and close your eye” whether it’s his instructive tone, or his warmth or the little safety of a company– she doesn’t know what soothed her–what made her cozy as her eyes felt heavy.
“Can I ask you just one more question?” Selena in a low mumble. Zaden sigh out heavily that his breath fanned the top of her head.
“Just one,” he said and Selena nodded
“Why did you kiss me today?” it is a question that has been at the tip of her tongue the whole time and finally she blurted it out, making Zaden stiffen his back. He was hoping to avoid this subject but he quickly came up with an answer to manage.
“There is only two way to calm down a rambling woman. One is to give her a tight slap or another is to kiss her. Which one would you choose?” annoyed, Selena tucked a palm under her head with a huff while mumbling curses inaudibly.
“By the way, was it good?” he asked while his eyes were still shut, above her head.
“No!!! Bad” Selena replied coldly. He tilted his head slightly to look at her and pinch her waist
“And how would you know which is good and bad, you Virgin Mary?”
‘Filthy filthy filthy mouth’
She thought to herself before drifting deep into a rabbit hole of sleep.