Book Two – Ch.#14
Over the next few days, I found myself feeling anxious. Under the constant watchful eye of both my father and Gavin, I continued to play along with my usual daily routine. Acting as if nothing was amiss. Doing all the training that was asked of me. But, inside, I was thinking back to that keycard.
The one I‘d hidden under my mattress. Waiting for exactly the right moment for when I‘d be able to use it.
…A moment I found finally presented itself on the night of the third day.
With my father expected to be staying overnight elsewhere for a late meeting and Gavin only working until seven o‘clock, I saw an opportunity to take advantage of the soon–to–be quiet house.
And I devised a plan to leave as soon as the sky grew dark.
A few hours later, I was slowly scaling to the ground from my bedroom window. This being something I did with ease and without being seen. And though I never thought to use my abilities to go behind my father‘s back, I certainly couldn‘t deny that it came in handy.
Soon, before much time had passed at all, I found myself facing the door I‘d been thinking of so incessantly. The door I‘d been wondering about every day, contemplating all of the things I could possibly discover once I entered through it. A door that might just possibly change my life forever.
And I stared at it.
…And stared.
…….And stared.
And I kept staring, even while my hand reached out several times to knock, failing every time to go through with it.
…I‘d been so certain in my decision and come all this way, only to But then, suddenly, the door opened in front of me.
“...Are you just going to stand out there all night?” came a voice from inside.
It was his voice. I recognised it well now.
“I ah…,” I started, feeling a little awkward for being caught. “I‘m sorry. I just… I—.” “It‘s okay. No need to be sorry,” he said, his face then appearing from the other side of the door.
Instantly, that same effect started to hit me, a reassurance spreading throughout as his presence held me. “I get it. If you need more time to think, I can just leave this open. I‘m not pressuring you to d–.”
“No!” I quickly blurted out. “No, it‘s okay. Everything is okay… I‘m ready.” I came here with determination to get answers. I couldn‘t back out now. Whatever happened tonight, at least I could say that I tried. My mistake would only lie in wanting to hope for a better life.
“Okay… well, come on in,” he said.
I was ready to step through the door but was stopped as he held a hand out to me. Just as he had done so once before.
However, the last time he‘d done that, I had been too overwhelmed to reciprocate. Too many thoughts and questions holding me back, so unsure of everything that had been happening at the time.
Now, when I looked at his outstretched hand, I saw a possible beginning.
(*“I just need you to trust me,“*‘ he had said to me that day.
Well, I couldn‘t be sure if I was ready for that just yet, but I was at least willing to believe. Believe that there was a chance of this being real… if only for a moment.
along my skin in greeting upon contact. “I‘m really glad
as my cheeks
him. I
doesn‘t mean I trust you,” I clarified. “And I… I‘d like some sort of proof. I‘m risking a lot by coming here and I feel it‘s only fair that you prove you are what you say you
From where I stood, he towered over me, something
I can manage
looked at me only intensified. As if he were somehow devouring
it was just
“Make yourself at home.”
quickly I walked around him into the living room. Desperately trying not to let myself become too comfortable around
I‘d suspected the other day, the place was definitely some sort of penthouse. Honestly, it felt larger than some people‘s houses in here. Room enough to host an elaborate
see,” he said as he walked behind me. “We‘ll just have to make do with the space we have
I had to fight the urge to just spin right back around again. Because he stood to the side as
stop myself from looking. He didn‘t seem phased in any way though, his lip twitching into a smile. “It‘s my favourite shirt,” he said, as if it were obvious. “I
unbuttoning, his actions undeterred from my cries in protest. The skin that was revealed seemed moulded around perfectly sculpted ‘muscles underneath. A sight I never would have expected to be hiding behind his shirt. Sure, I knew he was strong… but
quickly tried to refocus my
I
for the shift?” he said, almost a little confused.
he? And my mind immediately recalled the massacres I would wake up to post–change. “Isn‘t that… dangerous?” I quickly asked. “Do I need to lock
immediately made him laugh,
was here for answers. Right now, I could only make assumptions based on the knowledge I had. And
of me. And, instantly, a shiver ran through me involuntarily. “Raven,” he said quietly, drawing in my attention. “I
me wanted so badly to
respond though, he moved past me to start pushing couches and other pieces of furniture out the way, clearing an area in the middle. By the time he was done, there was a semi – large open space in which he stood looking at me expectantly. “Are you ready?” he asked. I
then… something unbelievable
shift forms in a mere matter of
wolf that stared at me knowingly, a look embedded within those familiar hazel eyes. But I didn‘t feel like running or feel even remotely afraid, as I thought I would. Instead,
of him. And,
if he instructed it to? He looked at me as if he knew exactly who I was,
I decided to trust that instinct… reaching out hesitantly to touch his
I mused
closed upon contact, allowing me to continue feeling the different textures. And though I didn‘t feel the same
really be something I
bloody murders to anything even close to this
he raised his head and gave me a nod, confirming that this really was
this,” I whispered. “I don‘t
me and was willing to help me learn about who I really was… It honestly
I had were apparently completely normal. Natural. No lies or nefarious intentions… just purely a
so
stood up, shaking his fur and running off into a room I couldn‘t see. I was taken a little off guard by the
he was back to
said,
immediately made me
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