Chapter 3 #3
Immediately, though, I was looking around the room for any threats as I inhaled her delicious scent.
After ensuring there were none, I turned my attention to the woman in front of me, her wolf right under the surface and having eclipsed her to an extent as well, although their connection was far different than Julian’s and mine.
I swallowed down a growl, noticing that she had a nervous, skittish edge to her that had me acting cautious for the first time in my life.
I had conquered entire civilizations… And now I was concerned about scaring my mate. Maybe if I mated with her, she would trust me more.
My beautiful mate’s eyes were bright pink instead of blue, the energy of her wolf curling against me as I reached forward before tugging her down.
She squeaked as I pulled her onto my lap and she instantly grasped my shoulders, the feeling of her tight frame causing me to harden underneath her.
I had the urge to not only lay her out on her bed but then to shift and mate her in the traditional sense.
My instinct told me that was the way to gain her trust.
“Julian…” Her voice was different than normal, raspier, and made me want to taste her lips even more.
I brought up a thumb to the plush pillow, and she inhaled sharply.
I didn’t want to rush this beautiful creature.
I knew wolves were far different than humans, but my instincts and Julian’s desire were telling me that we needed to take control.
I knew my human was upset I’d issued those commands, but her safety was so damn important to me. She had no idea.
“Don’t fuck this up.” Julian’s voice was faint in the back of my head, and I ignored him.
“Call me, Coffin, Effie.” My voice was rough as she trembled slightly.
“Coffin?”
I dipped my nose against her neck as her lips formed my name, hoping that she didn’t ask me why that was my name. I had a far older one as well, but not even Julian knew that one.
When her fingers hesitantly smoothed up my neck and ran across my bite, I let out a low groan.
I pulled back and looked at the other side of her neck, completely free of marks, and found that I wanted nothing more than to bury my teeth there.
My fingers tightened in her braids as she let out a small whimper of need, the heat between her legs growing as her breathing went fast. I could practically feel Julian banging on the barrier between us, yelling at me, but I struggled to remember why we were in this position to begin with. Then I remembered.
“You’re mad at us.”
Effie froze and looked away. “Not mad, exactly… But we are scared of your ability to control what I do. I have dealt with that my entire life, and I don’t want to experience that again.”
I tried to think through what she was saying despite not agreeing with her analysis.
I wanted to prove Julian wrong as well. I could be good at relationship ‘stuff’ if it meant making her happy.
I was capable of that…I think. I just was used to wolves and how goddamn straightforward they were. Humans were so complicated.
“I will try to not do that again,” I breathed out, “but you have to promise to trust me. If I tell you to move out of the way, you have to believe me that it’s for the right reasons.”
Effie’s eyes flashed with fire, and I could feel that it was her wolf speaking up. “It’s not the right reason when my friend is terrified, Coffin. They were trying to take her against her will. I don’t care if she is their mate. I don’t care if it’s how wolves work… I don’t care about any of that.”
I could see how strongly she believed what she was saying about her friend, and it made me want to comfort her, to assure her that her friend was okay.
I revealed my own thoughts on the situation, ones that Julian wasn’t privy to. “I don’t think Ruby is scared of them, she is scared of what will happen to them. She isn’t in nearly as much danger as they are, sweet mate. Trust me on this.”
Her eyes widened, and after searching my face for truthfulness, she relaxed a little.
“Promise me that you won’t force me to do anything again,” she murmured.
“I promise that I won’t unless I truly believe you are in harm’s way,” I bargained, and she eyed me cautiously before nodding.
Effie’s wolf was completely in the right to be cautious around me, to even view me as a threat, because despite being her mate…
I was dangerous. While both of them were clearly innocent to many things in wolf and human culture, that instinctual caution around a predator was one I wanted her to hang onto.
It could save her life. I would just have to prove that I was someone she could trust, and I was up for that challenge.
I cupped her jaw. “I can feel Julian fighting back for control. I need to know that we are okay and that you aren’t mad at us.”
Effie’s eyes swirled with blue. “I’m not mad anymore, but…”
“But what?”
“This won’t be the last time we will see you, right?”
“Any time you want me, just tell Julian. He has most of the power here.” I sighed, annoyed with the circumstance but also aware that I probably wasn’t made for this modern world… I would end up burning it to the ground if I got upset about something.
“It was nice to meet you, Coffin.” She surged forward and pressed a kiss to my lips, my mind filling with a roaring lust that allowed Julian to take full control.
Julian De León
“Shit.”
I groaned as I was thrown forward into my consciousness, gripping Effie in my lap, her desire surrounding me and making my cock harden to the point of being painful.
Effie blinked, her eyes fading from a glowing pink, before she blushed in realization of our position.
Luckily, she didn’t look uncomfortable and instead melted into me further.
“That was interesting,” she breathed out.
“He’s something,” I bit out in frustration.
“Coffin apologized,” she pointed out hesitantly.
He had, and the bastard had also told her his name… which was completely out of character for him. Tucking her closer into me, I thanked the Goddess she hadn’t been terrified of him, but I had no idea what to make of them connecting like that.
Coffin had never taken over my human form before… So what did it mean for me that he had the ability to?