people die.
She made a face, and then got to her feet, stretching with a silent yawn. It was a remarkably human gesture, except for the glimpse of fang. She scribbled down a few words before moving toward the kitchen, looking at him over her shoulder.
I am going to make tea. Would you like some, or can I get you anything else?
“I’ll try some tea,” Christoph said. “I don’t usually drink it. Thanks.”
The differences between vampires and werewolves had unsettled him. He wondered about Royce and if he loved his pack, or if he just considered himself the ruler of it. Amberguard had no love of itself, but other packs like Walker and Goliath had an alpha that truly cared for their packmates.
Christoph couldn’t see Royce loving anyone like a werewolf could love someone.
Mouse made a thick, black tea sweetened with honey and lemon, the hot mug pressed into his hands as she settled back down beside him. After taking a sip of her drink, she set it aside and wrote again, brows knotted to little furrows. She’d delayed long enough.
You and Analie have said before that your pack has a lot of bad stories about vampires. I’m sorry if I scared you before. I’m sorrier that you had to deal with John.
I thought about what you said and how hard it must be for you to be here. If you don’t want to let me bite you, you don’t have to. You can stay my donor in name only so John will stay away.
While unhappy to give this to him, she kept any signs of her displeasure hidden under a neutral mask, waiting patiently for him to respond to her offer. As much as she liked the idea of sinking her fangs into him, she didn’t want it to happen under duress.
Christoph stared at the note. Now that was tempting. He took a sip of his tea before answering. He really couldn’t believe he was going to say this.
“Well, that’d be kind of crappy to you, wouldn’t it? I’d rather not be a dick. Thank you for the offer, though.”
‘Congratulations! You’re officially crazy!’
Mouse had resigned herself to the inevitability that he would jump on the offer, so wasn’t expecting his reply.
She stared, mouth agape once it hit her.
He wasn’t rejecting her!
The written word wasn’t going to do her any good here. She pulled the mug he was holding out of his hands, put it down on the table, and rapidly followed up by throwing her arms around him. Never mind that it would terrify the living hell out of him, she was just too excited and happy to be self-conscious. She simply hugged him to show him how pleased she was with his answer.
Christoph hadn’t expected it either, but his reaction wasn’t very surprising at all.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaha, hahaha, ha, oh, it’s a hug, okay, that’s cool, hooo... okay... hahaha... ha... hoooooo...”
He returned the hug, his heart smashing against his ribcage.
As much as Mouse was very much aware of his fear, she was too pleased to be put off by it. She had practically thrown herself across his lap. Her grip tightened marginally when he returned the gesture, shifting to place a light kiss on his cheek before pulling back to beam at him. To keep him from being more uncomfortable than ever, she settled in her own seat, taking up her tea once more and watching him with bright eyes over the rim as she took a sip.
He was too afraid of her to risk making him regret his decision. She thought about it for a second, then took up her pad and scrawled a new note.
Go and get some sleep. It’s been a long day, and we can always talk more tomorrow.
He seemed happy enough to be given the reprieve, quickly rising to his feet. She smiled despite herself, nodding at his hasty goodbye, gathering up the cups to take to the kitchen as he rushed out.
Now, she wondered, just when would he lighten up enough to let her do it?
Chapter 17
The day had started out well enough. Christoph was a little sore, but that loosened up as he moved around. He wasn’t surprised to see that Ashi was already up, showered, dressed, and had finished doing forms. He was sitting on the couch and looked agonizingly bored.
“Hey,” Christoph said.
Ashi grunted.
“How’s it going?”
Grunt.
“Can you teach me more stuff?”
Ashi shrugged. “What do you want to learn?”
“You’re the master.”
“Choose something or get out of my face.”
“Monkey boxing.”
Ashi snorted. “Right. Well, you put