I don’t know why I thought opening my mouth and telling the whole world that I needed Toby was a good idea. Ariel thought as all pairs of brown, blue, and gray eyes were trained on her.
Can the ground just open and swallow me?
"Ariel?” Toby asked with a look of confusion, looking at her like she had lost her mind, and she agreed with him. Indeed, she has. “Alright everyone, training is over; you can go rest your lazy ass.” Toby said, and there was a collective sigh of relief from the lips of everyone.
Ariel moved to the side, making way for them as they began to file out of the room, but not before giving her a once-over.
Yep, she was sure they were judging her in their minds. Suddenly, the shorts she had worn were too short, the shirt too old, her posture too slouched, and she was sure there was a horrible pimple sticking out of her face, just ready to burst.
“Ariel?” Toby's voice was breaking her thoughts, and she was grateful for that. “Come in.” He gestured inside, and she didn’t hesitate before she entered, shutting the door tight.
“I think I fucked up.” She sighed, pursing her lips, and Toby shook his head.
“You don’t say. Now everyone would think we have something going on. I need to explain to him before he gets mad.” Toby said more to himself, but Ariel was quick to pick it up.
“Explain to who?” Ariel asked absent-mindedly; her eyes were all over the place, taking note of the training room. “How come I didn’t know that this place existed, and how come you have been scarce?”
Toby swept his hands around the room as if to say, ‘This is the reason why.’ “To answer your question, Kane,”
“Kane?” Ariel squinted her eyes, more confused than ever. “What has Kane got to do with this?”
Toby was almost facepalming; his muscles were aching, and he needed a bath. The last thing he wanted to do was talk. “You were asking who I needed to explain to, and I was just saying that Kane may misinterpret your words, so I wanted to clarify it.”
“Okay, hold up.” Ariel wagged her fingers around like a wand. “Why do you need to tell Kane everything? Who even cares what he thinks?”
"Well, I do, since he is the one in charge here. Now tell me, why are you even here?”
“Ouch.” Ariel clutched her heart as if she were in pain. “So much for a best friend.”
Ariel watched as Toby went to the fridge in the corner of the room, opened it, and removed a bottle of water, which he chugged down in seconds. “I thought Cloudy was your bestie.”
Ariel rolled her eyes, shaking her head. Staying in a place with all men has a way of ruining you. “News flash, you can have more than one bestie, and her name is Claudia.”
“Her parents should have done better,” Toby said underneath his breath, and Ariel heard it but pretended not to. “So, really, why are you here? As you can see, I just finished training, and I need to take a shower and get some food in my system.”
Ariel pursed her lips, wondering if she had made the right decision by coming here. “I was bored, and I needed company. I have literally been cooped here alone with no one to talk to, and I am slowly losing my mind.” Ariel didn’t realize how bored out of her mind she had been until she began to talk, and now there was no stopping. “I barely know anyone here, and the people I know don’t even bother to check up on me, something I wondered why I even came here.”
She tried to blink back the tears that had pooled in her eyes, but she was failing. Coming here was a cry from Australia, even though she was living alone there. At least it was by choice.
“Oh.” Toby’s mouth opened in a silent O. “I am sorry about that; I have never thought of that. It wasn’t our intention to make you feel left out. There has just been a lot of work around.”
“Yea yea.”
“Come on, I know you must be starving. Let’s get something to eat, and we could talk better.”
“Alright.” Ariel reluctantly agreed, wiping the tears from the back of her hand. She allowed him to lead the way while she dragged her legs around. She tried her best to ignore the pair of eyes boring into her as she made her way through the floor until they were standing in front of a room.
“Do you want to wait outside while I take a quick shower, or do you want to come inside to wait?” Toby asked, and Ariel gave him a look that he interpreted as really, and she was storming inside the room.
“Just make it fast before I come to drag you out.” Ariel declared, dumping her ass on the sofa.
“Aye aye.” Toby teased, and he was racing to the bathroom before she could uncover any secrets. He took the fastest shower known to man and came out, feeling refreshed.
“You must really like wolves.” Ariel commented offhandedly, holding a photo album in her hand, and Toby was frozen in place. He tried to rack his brain, thinking of any things he had left behind that might give anything away, but it came back blank, and he was relaxing his muscles.
“Yeah, I guess.” He replied, walking towards a part of his room that served as the kitchen. He placed a bowl in the microwave and set the timer before going towards him.
“So... you train people.”
“Yeah, I guess. We have to find people who are fit, and I love working out, so it was only fitting that I train them.” Ariel was regarding him as he talked, and her eyes widened almost like a saucer as a crazy idea came to her. “No, no. I don’t think I like that look, and I don’t want to hear that idea.
“Come on, you don’t even know what I was going to ask.” Ariel folded her arms, pursing her lips in a pout.
“I don’t want to know, because it is going to be a no." Toby stated firmly, refusing to back down.
“I just want you to train me; it would at least occupy my mind from a lot of things.”
“No, no, no.” Toby was shaking his head, and luckily for him, the timer went off, and he was running to get his food.
There was no way Kane would be in support of it. Training leads to a lot of injuries—injuries that Kane would kill him for.
He was still yet to find his mate, so he wasn’t going to risk his life before that.
Ariel watched Toby as he came back, holding a bowl of what she thought was food. “What did you cook?”
“I just microwaved some Mac and cheese; care for some?” he asked, handing her a fork.
“Hell yeah. I am starving, and I need food if I am going to convince you.”
“We shall see.” Toby said with a smile, and Ariel's lips widened.
She liked a challenge.
Ariel didn’t know how she was able to do it, but somehow she was able to convince Toby that training her was a good idea, and she couldn’t be any happier.
She couldn’t wait to tell Claudia; she was going to be so jealous.
***
Enough was enough.
Ariel was tired of Kane avoiding her; the man had practically vanished into thin air since the last time she saw him, and she couldn’t take it any longer.
Maybe she was going to pin him down the next time and tie him, but he was going to have a piece of her mind when she next saw him.
She stumped to his room with this thought, letting the anger fuel her, but they were deflating into thin air when she got there, and the door refused to give way.
“Shit! So much for nothing.” Ariel sighed.
Dejected, she began to drag her foot down the hallway, about to take the staircase, when her eyes locked in with brown ones.
They both froze, regarding each other, until she broke the silence.
"You have been avoiding me."
"You have been avoiding me." Ariel grumbled as she looked at Kane. The latter looked at her like a deer caught in a trap, and Ariel had no plans of letting this deer go.“I don’t think so.” Kane argued, doing everything in his power to avoid looking into her eyes. He knew it only took one look before he was sucked into the hole that was Ariel, and he didn’t think he was ready for that now."Yes, you are.” Ariel repeated, tucking her arms into themselves to appear menacing while she inches closer to him.“No, I am not; if you would excuse me, I have some things to attend to.” Kane said, and he moved to the other side, trying to pass around her.“At least, you should have the decency to look me in the eyes if you want to lie to me. Don’t you think?” Ariel huffed, not at all impressed with his performance.Kane’s patience was already hanging on a thin thread, but he took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. He needed to keep reminding himself that Ariel wasn’t a werewolf and that she h
Kane had been working around the clock for so long that he decided to take a break today before he collapsed. There was a war brewing between some Latina gangs, and it meant good business for him, so he had been trying to supply them with the weapons.But right now, he is stretched thin.The suppliers were acting up and refusing to keep the end of their deal, and he had to go there physically to solve the issue.He thought that was all it took for him to receive a call from Mason that the American government was becoming strict with their rules and he could no longer operate business as usual.Last week was a whole lot, but he had managed to keep his end of the bargain, everyone was happy, and he had decided to give himself the day off, and maybe he could go and see his mate.Kane had been so busy that he hadn’t allowed himself to think of her; otherwise, he was going to be taking the next available flight to run back to her.But now that he was around, he would try to get to know her
Ariel looked at the door as Kane left, and she was almost foaming from her mouth. Her fist tightened in anger, and she wanted to do something.Like punch the wall or scream her lungs out."Gosh, I hate him.” Does he think he owns her just because he is her caretaker? Newsflash, she didn’t ask to be adopted.She may seem like she is ungrateful, but that is the truth.“Shhh, don’t say that.” Toby tried to caution her, but Ariel was not hearing anything of it.“Oh, what is he going to do?” She asked, rolling her eyes. She was tempted to open the door and give him a reply, but she held herself back and turned to Toby. “I am sorry for what happened.” She apologized to him, but he was shaking his head.“It is fine; I should be the one apologizing. I knew it was going to cause trouble, yet I still allowed it. I will be taking my leave now.” Toby didn’t even give her a chance to reply before he was walking out of the room and leaving her alone, speechless.Ariel stared at the empty space; her
Okay, Kane didn’t actually fuck her, but his lips inched closer to her, sounding like a warning that she failed to heed. “D-don't come near me, Kane; don’t you dare?” Ariel was stuttering, yet she couldn’t deny the hint of excitement she felt as he got closer to her.Is this what they call sexual tension, because she was definitely experiencing it now?However, she took a step backward, trying to move away from him, but Kane wasn’t letting that happen. With each step she took from him, he took one towards her, and like that until her back met the wall.“Kane. Don’t.” Ariel whined, although she had no idea why she was telling him not to. His gaze dipped to her lips, and she looked into his eyes, wondering just how long his lashes were.He caught her off guard for a moment when he stared into her eyes, and she was whipping her head to the side in a bid to avoid him, but his hands held her jaw firmly, and he turned her to face him.“Never hide away from me, love. I want to see those beau
Something wasn’t just adding up from his explanation, but Ariel ignored the questions that had been plaguing her and decided to put them away. She didn’t totally forget it, but right now, her mind couldn’t think of anything but rest.Kane had managed to push her body to the limit, and while it was fun then, she needed to rest her weary limbs before she collapsed.She dragged herself to the bed and managed to take a short nap, but even that one proved difficult because she was just turning and tossing on the bed, reliving the minute they kissed.It had been long since she had been kissed like that, after her first relationship, which had pretty much failed, but even that couldn’t hold a candle to what she felt.Kane was a grown man, and he kissed her like one, holding her close and pressing into her and- “Arrggghhh.” Ariel grabbed the pillow in front of her, screaming into it as she could barely contain her happiness.It had happened in a way she didn’t expect, but she couldn’t have ha
“Ariel?”“Oh my gosh!” Ariel couldn’t help the sigh of relief that left her when she recognized the intruder at the door. There was no way she could forget that voice, and she was running towards him as soon as she heard him. “Kane.” She cried out as she saw him, running to his embrace.“Ariel.” Kane said with a humph as she collided with him, but he welcomed it, wrapping his hands around her. He felt at home as the familiar sparks developed between them, and he inhaled her scent, letting it wash over him. But as soon as their bodies touched each other, she was inching away from him, and he let his eyes roam over her, trying to determine the cause of her discomfort. “What is wrong?”Ariel couldn’t bring herself to open her mouth; instead, she nodded towards the room, where the strange man was still standing there.“Mason? Really?” Kane said in a monotone voice as he regarded his beta. “Why are you terrorizing her? Come on, Ariel, he is harmless.” Kane said, leading her into his office
Kane had just gotten back from a meeting with his pack member, and he was losing it. He grabbed at his collar, tearing the button that seemed to be choking him, and only when they were undone did he feel relief.“Why now?” He sighed as the last button snapped from his force, scattering all over the floor. He dumped his body on the sofa, his hands massaging his head as he tried to ease the headache away.He could still remember the events of the day, and they played in his head like a movie clipped.It all began when he came back from the last raid. As usual, it was a success, but they weren’t able to host their regular party because of the new addition to the pack.Kane had called a meeting with his members prior to Ariel’s arrival, and he had advised them to tone down their ‘wolfiness’ as she was a human.As usual, the news was met with uproar, and a lot of them were quick to voice out their dissatisfaction with the new rule, but Kane had grabbed the neck of the nearest man who had b
Kane was racing to grab the trash can before she would make a mess in his office. That was the last thing he needed right now.He came back, holding it out for her, and had to bear the agonizing seconds that it took him to stay still while his mate emptied her breakfast.He moved the trash can away from his eyes, putting it in the back of his mind to call someone up to throw it away. He was walking up to the tiny compartment that served as his kitchen, and he grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator.“Here.” Kane stretched out his hands, and Ariel received the water with thanks and poured some into her mouth, gargling it about before spewing it out.“Is there a bathroom I can use?” Her voice was barely recognizable as she spoke, and if not for his sensitive ears, he wouldn’t have heard it.“There is; just walk straight to the end of the room, and you will see the bathroom.”“Alright,” Ariel stood up to go, but she had underestimated how weary she was. Her legs crumbled under he