"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 had no idea about their world or how it worked.
She just needed to learn her place.
This time, Kane raised his head to meet her before he opened his mouth. “I wasn’t avoiding you, Ariel; if I was, you would know. Now, can you excuse me?”
Ariel’s breath caught in her throat as he looked up to meet her eyes, and suddenly she was speechless. Why was she just realizing his eyes were deep brown? They were so brown that they could almost pass as black, and she had never seen something so mesmerizing before.
Shit, the man was beautiful.
His jawlines were so sharp that they could cut her in half, and she could say thank you.
“Uhm, thank you for the compliment; I think you are also beautiful.”
“W-what? Shit, did you hear that?” She asked, and Kane just shrugged his shoulders. “You weren’t supposed to hear that.” Can the earth just open and swallow her now to save herself from unnecessary embarrassment?
However, Kane was already one step ahead of her, and he used her distraction to get past her and walk towards the room. Ariel looked up just in time to see that he was almost at his door, and she was seething.
“Coward!” She yelled after him, just as he shut his door tight. She was tempting to walk back to his door and kick it open, but she refrained herself and instead went the other way.
Somehow, she was just realizing that they both shared the same floor, and she hadn’t seen anyone else on their floor.
Does it mean he thought she was special enough?
Don’t think too much about this Ariel; hell, he is housing more than 50 people. You are just one of them.
It was brutal, but that was the harsh truth she needed to hear, and she was heading to her room. Her training with Toby was starting tomorrow, and she needed to prepare for it.
Ariel grudgingly went back to her room and spent the rest of the day brooding. If not for the man who had been assigned to bring her food every time, she wouldn’t have gotten anything to eat.
She was so done with everything here, and she couldn’t wait for the next day.
Eventually, it was the next day, and Ariel was beyond ready to start her training. Toby had told her that her training was going to start early in the morning, which was why she was waking up early.
He had training with others later in the morning, so he had opted to train her specially, and there was no way she was going to complain about that.
She walked towards her wardrobe, picking her best sports bra; it showed the least skin and covered her up so well, so it should be appropriate, and she paired it with a jogger.
Ariel wasn’t sure how intensive the training was going to be, so she picked up an apple, biting into it before she took her leave.
This time she walked down the stairs in a proud gait, strutting like she owned the place. She would feel eyes starting at her, but she chose to ignore them and focus on what she had come for.
She located the training room and held the door knob, twisting it and pushing it until it gave way. Toby was already inside, warming up, and he raised his head to look at the intruder.
“You came.”
“Of course I would; why are you surprised? I already told you I was interested in learning.”
“Most people would not have bothered, and I assumed you would too." Toby replied, shrugging his shoulders. Actually, he had been praying; she didn’t see through to it, but who was he kidding?
Ariel shook her head, not at all impressed. “Toby, you should know that I never back down on my words. Never. Now shall we?”
“Yeah, but before that, we would have to do a little warm-up to get your blood pumping.”
“Why?” Ariel whined aloud, but she got into the position Toby was showing her. “I thought I was going to be knocking off someone’s teeth today or something.”
Toby could only shake his head. “No knocking on anyone’s teeth for now, young lady. Now you just need to loosen your bones and get your blood pumping.”
“You should be the one getting his blood pumping." Ariel tried to joke, but Toby gave her a sharp look, and she wished she had not opened her mouth. “Geez, y’all can’t take a joke. Fine, what do I do?”
***
“No, no more. No more.” Ariel held a hand up, signaling him to stop.
Fuck! She had no idea she was so unfit until they began exercising, and 5 minutes into it, she was already panting like she had just run a marathon.
“We haven’t even started the training.” Toby quipped, a little too happy for her liking, and one look from Ariel was enough for him to burst into laughter.
“Ha ha, keep laughing. You win this time.” Ariel said, rolling her eyes.
“Don’t worry, cutie; with time, you will get used to it. I am releasing you early today so you can catch your breath. We will continue tomorrow, same time, same place.” Toby said, and he was walking out the door, leaving her alone.
Ariel was still flopped on the floor, trying to catch her breath. She stretched her hands to grab a bottle of water lying on the floor, and she opened it, chugging the contents down her throat.
She glanced at the wall, and she was jumping up almost immediately. She had just five minutes before the occupants of the house began their training, and she didn’t want to be in their way.
She picked up the bottle and was dragging her weary body up the stairs because someone thought it was wise not to have an elevator.
Ariel managed to make it to her floor in one piece, and she was dumping her ass on the bed, all sweaty and not giving a fuck. She laid down for some minutes before dragging herself to the bathroom to wash off the sweat and grime.
For the rest of the week, the routine was basically the same. Wake up, exercise, eat, sleep, rinse, and repeat.
And in all those activities, she had only managed to see Kane for a total of zero minutes.
But she wasn’t bothered about it, right?
***
Ariel had just finished her training for that day, and she was beat. It was nothing too complex, just some basic exercise to keep her in good shape, but it had a way of draining her.
She was going to start proper training next week or whenever Toby felt she was ready, but she didn’t care anymore. As long as she got the opportunity to leave the confines of her room, she would gladly take it.
Ariel bopped her head to the music that was playing loudly on the stereo before turning to look at Toby. “Do you dance?”
Toby tilted his head in confusion, trying to determine if she was joking. “Uhm, no. Why?”
“Do you want to?”
"No, I don’t think so.”
“Come on, it will be fun.” Ariel pouted, taking his hands and trying to get him to move. “Don’t be a killjoy now, Toby.”
Toby released himself and let her move him to the rhythm, even though it was awkward as hell. He was taller than her and everything, but Ariel could be a little more determined, and she made it work.
He wasn’t going to lie; the song was fire, and before long he was moving himself without her prompting and was actually enjoying it, and suddenly he was freezing.
“What the fuck is going on here?”
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
Ariel staggered back to her room; her limbs had suddenly lost the ability to perform their functions, and she was holding the walls for support. After all she had just heard, she needed a breather.She managed to get to her room, and she was beelining straight to her bed, slowly lowering herself on it. She lay on her bed, her eyes fixated on the ceiling, but she wasn’t even seeing anything.All she was doing was replaying everything that had happened a few moments ago, trying to determine if he was really telling the truth or if her mind was just playing tricks on her.But she knew Kane; the man hardly jokes, especially on a serious matter like this. It had to be the truth.She needed to tell someone, just in case something bad happened to her, so they could trace her or, if the worst happened, get revenge for her.There was only one person she could think of, and she was picking up her phone to call her. The heavy silence was pierced by the noise of the ringing tone, and she was comi