Evelyn
"What should I wear today?" I asked Eva while checking the wardrobe.
I was eagerly waiting for today's training, well more excited to spend time with Damian. Not that I'd ever admit that out loud.
Whatever, she replied grumpily.
'Why are you angry, Eva?'
'Is it me who should be angry with you for the stunt you pulled yesterday?'
She had literally shifted without warning me, and before I could process anything, I was lying naked on Damian's chest. I could still feel the memory and warmth of his hard chest against mine. His body was cold like ice, which felt surprisingly good against my warm skin. The embarrassment hit me all over again, especially the way his eyes had roamed over my body like he wanted to devour me whole. I shivered just thinking about that intimate moment.
'You are rude to our mate', Eva huffed, her voice yanking me out of my very unholy thoughts.
'Oh please, Eva. I'm behaving with him exactly the way I should. And you should not forget that he forcefully brought us here.'
'No he didn't. He stopped the war because of us.'
After dropping that bomb she shut me off completely.
Great. Now she's going to fight me because of him.
I sighed. Talking to her was pointless because she was already gone for him. The mate bond is everything to wolves, it blurs every rational thought in your head and Eva was not immune to that.
I walked out of my room and made my way to the dining table.
There he was.
Damian sat at the head of the chair, a glass of blood in his hand, lost somewhere in his thoughts. But the second he heard my footsteps, his head turned toward me.
"Morning, little wolf."
"Good morning," I replied as normally as I could manage, desperately trying not to replay yesterday's incident.
"You look tense, little wolf."
"No I'm not. It's just my wolf, we had a small fight."
He set the glass down on the table and leaned forward slightly. "What did you say to Eva to upset her?"
I narrowed my eyes at him.
"Why are you assuming I'm the one who started it?"
He chuckled. "I know Eva. She's a sweet, loving wolf, she couldn't be the one who starts fights." He paused, that teasing smile spreading across his face. "About you on the other hand.., I cannot say the same."
My fists clenched. Fake anger, mostly. The truth was I couldn't really be angry with him.
"You only met Eva yesterday for an hour. How are you so confident she's sweet and I'm not?"
I still hadn't forgotten the way he'd treated Eva, with such genuine respect and affection. The kind any wolf dreams their mate would show them. His touch on her fur had been so soft. And then he'd kneeled in front of her, which had genuinely shocked me, because for a king to kneel before anyone is considered disrespectful, but he hadn't hesitated even for a second. Every one of those gestures had made me like him a little more than I was admitting.
This man was driving me crazy and I was very much at risk of crashing.
"Relax, little wolf, I'm just messing with you." He leaned back with that calm ease that irritated me to no end.
"So why did you two fight?"
I shrugged. "It's fine. We'll sort it out."
He didn't push further. I went back to my breakfast.
"Little wolf." His tone shifted slightly. "Tomorrow I have to go somewhere."
This made me stop midway. "Oh. When will you be back?"
Everything in me was screaming to ask where he was going but I held it together.
"Maybe only for one day. You don't need to worry about training, Catherine will teach you."
I nodded, but my head was already running through every possible worst-case scenario. Was he going after my pack? Planning something against other wolves?
"I hope you won't break your promise," I said, more of a challenge than a statement. "About not harming wolves."
"You think I would break my promise, little wolf?"
I hesitated, then nodded slowly, even though some part of me genuinely felt like he wouldn't.
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
"I promised I would not attack wolves. It was a king's promise. It won't break." He said it firmly, no room for doubt.
"Okay, I trust you," I said quietly.
Something shifted in his expression. I quickly changed the subject because I didn't like that tension sitting on his face. He already looked like something heavy was weighing on him today.
"So you're still training me this evening, right?"
He nodded and rose from his seat and walked toward me. My breath caught. He stopped just close enough to make my heart do something embarrassing.
"See you in the evening, little wolf."
He stole a kiss and left.
I sat there for a moment.
Why couldn't he stay just a few more minutes? I liked his presence. I liked his scent. It was annoyingly comforting.
The evening took its sweet time arriving. I killed time scrolling through the most pointless things on my phone just to stop myself from thinking about him.
It didn't work.
When Damian finally appeared, we made our way to the training ground. Just like the day before, he moved me there at vampire speed, not wanting anyone to see me in training clothes.
"Ready?" he said, and casually shrugged off his coat.
His hard, muscular chest was on full display.
Fuck he wanted to distract me. I was convinced.
"You can teach me with clothes on," I said, keeping my voice flat and unimpressed like this did absolutely nothing to me. Which was a complete and total lie because standing there watching him and not touching him is one of the hardest things I ever did. I don't know about vampires but we wolves already have a difficult time with self-control around their mates since we have a large sex appetite.
'Why are you controlling yourself? He's ours. We should have claimed him by now'. Eva's irritated voice rang through my head.
I ignored her.
"Why so shy, little wolf?" Damian's mouth curved. "Yesterday you were drooling me like I was your favourite meal."
"Don't flatter yourself," I shot back, "I've seen better."
The words left my mouth before I could stop them.
In the next second, he was right in front of me. I hadn't even seen him move. His arms wrapped around me, his red eyes fixed on mine, his face so close his nose was almost touching mine.I gulped.
"What did you just say, little wolf?"
'Why are you provoking him, Evelyn!' Eva's angry voice came.
Wow so now I had two very angry people staring me down, I'm an innocent one here. Great.
I smiled nervously. His eyes were too intense, more dark.
"I just meant," I started carefully, "I've seen plenty of alphas without shirts. When wolves shift, it's normal. That's all."
"Why?" he angrily snapped. Damn he was really angry now.
We are wolves Damian, it is normal when we shift. To be honest right now I don't want to argue with him.
"And they saw you too?" His hold tightened, his voice dropping dangerously low.
"No," I said quickly. "I always shift behind a tree. I make sure of it."
The storm in his expression settled slightly.
"Good," he said. "Don't ever shift in front of anyone."
He stole another kiss before stepping back like he hadn't just given me a minor heart attack.
I stood there for a second.
He doesn't even know I'm his mate, is it because I'm part of the deal?, If not then where is all this possessiveness coming from?
We moved into the training session after that. He taught me techniques specifically designed to read and counter vampire moves, things that were actually useful.
By the time we finished I was exhausted. He gathered me against him and carried me back.
After dinner, he walked me to my room. I stood at the door ready to say goodnight but he didn't move.
I frowned. "What?"
"What, what, little wolf?" He raised an eyebrow. "Can't I come inside?"
"It's your castle, my king, of course you can come," I said.
He walked in. I could feel he was so close to me. I cleared my thort.
"Umm sit," I said. Because I didn't know what else to say.
Then I stood there like an idiot, should I sit too or just hover awkwardly by the door for the rest of the night?.
"Come, sit," he said, with a low voice this time, something beneath his voice like he was clearly trying to suppress something.
I moved toward the other side of the bed.
Before I got there, his hand caught my waist and he settled me directly onto his lap.
I froze.
I tried to get up. His arms didn't let me.
"Hey what are you doing," I said, faking anger while internally celebrating like a traitor. What I became, a two faced person.
"Can't you sit closer, your body is warm," he said simply, that teasing edge back in his voice. "I spent the whole evening training you in the cold like a selfless teacher and this is how you are treating me?"
He stole two more kisses, what a kiss stealer.
Damn I needed to get my arousal under control immediately.
"You know what," I said, "you are the most selfish teacher in the world. You steal kisses constantly. I'm going to call you Damian the Kiss Stealer from now on."
He threw his head back and laughed. Loud, genuine, completely unguarded. It was a good laugh.
"Why are you laughing, Kiss Stealer?"
"Is that so, little wolf?" he said once he'd settled down, but now his expression shifted into something a little more serious.
"Yes," I said firmly. "That's exactly what you are."
He looked at me for a moment.
"Ok then. Let me steal the real one."
Before I understood what he meant, I felt his cold lips press against mine.
Everything stopped.