From Rougue To Luna novel Chapter 3

"So you can look at me, but I can't do the same? That hardly sounds fair." His voice came out with the slightest hint of humor, like he was mocking my anger.

I rolled my eyes and sighed, hugging my arms tighter across my body. "Yeah well, life's not fair. What else is new?"

He let out a scoff and stepped back to give me some much needed space. I relaxed slightly and loosened my iron grip on my arms.

"So, why are you back after so long? Why did you come back home?" His voice was smooth and low and I felt my body grow warmer as he spoke. What the hell was happening to me?

"Home? I wouldn't necessarily call it that, but I came back to request to rejoin the pack. Or I guess I should say join. I never was part of it to begin with."

His eyebrows rose and he gave me a quizzical look.

I muttered quickly, quieter than I intended to, "I don't have anywhere else to go."

"Hm," he grunted as he dropped his arms from his chest. "Normally, I'd say it's not up to me, but now I'm forced to let you in."

My eyes shot up to stare into his eyes, the warm glow radiating inside of my chest. I pushed it down and tried to focus, moving my lips to form words. "What do you mean?"

He let out a tight laugh and ran a hand through his dark brown hair. "The pack has no say on if I allow my mate to stay or not. There's no room for negotiation in this. You're staying solely because of what you are to me."

My jaw dropped as he spoke, the words floating heavily in the air above us. "Your-your what?"

"You heard me. Trust me. I'm as shocked as you are."

I didn't know what to say. This couldn't be true. "That's impossible."

He shrugged and shifted his weight, peering down into my widened deep blue eyes. I had been told it was not allowed for me. How could this be possible? "Hell if I know, but it's true. I know you feel it Thalia."

He nodded and continued walking toward the clearing ahead. "Hm. And why is that?"

My chest tightened and I realized I had not thought this far ahead. I wasn't prepared to answer questions about where I'd been since I walked away so soon. My jaw clamped shut and I tried to hold my expression neutral as we entered the clearing. The sky was darkening as the sun slowly moved behind the trees and I hoped he couldn't sense my internal panic. I wasn't ashamed of what I'd done, but I wasn't ready to just spit out my entire history to someone I barely knew, regardless of who he thought he was to me now.

He let out a low chuckle and stepped in front of me as we came to the main house. He placed a hand on the handle of the large wooden door and looked down at me with a smirk. "You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to, but you will eventually need to talk to me. Otherwise it will make this all much more difficult."

As his hand moved to open the door my legs stopped, freezing in place as my stomach tightened into an anxious knot. He paused and his hand reached out to gently touch my shoulder, sending a jolt of energy through me beneath his touch. I jumped and his hand dropped like his hand had been burned against my skin. I felt my heart thumping in my chest and I could hear his was doing the same as we both tried to control our breathing. "It's ok. No one is here right now. They're all in the dining hall. If you'd like, I can have dinner brought up instead."

I nodded stiffly and met his warm gaze. He nodded and gave me a small smile before opening the door and letting me walk through, guiding me down the hall and up a set of stairs before landing in a short hallway with only four doors lining it. One was separated further down from the other three.

He motioned to the one at the end. "My room is just there, and this is where you'll be staying for now. It's this room closest to mine." He opened the next door from his and my eyes widened at the view in front of me. It was a large master room with a king sized bed and floor to ceiling windows looking out over a huge section of the forest, the rolling hills scattered behind the trees. A door stood next to the window, opening out on to a small balcony. Across the room was a small sitting area with a love seat and two leather chairs. I walked in and placed my bag onto the bed before following the wall to an opened door leading to the bathroom. I turned the lights on to reveal a large room lined with white marble tile and a huge walk in shower. In the corned sat a claw foot tub big enough for multiple people and thick fluffy towels hanging above it.