11. Kato
Chapter 11
Kato
I didn’t think Elara would agree to stay with me, at least not without a fight, but she didn’t hesitate when she said yes—not even for a second.
Does she feel the same pull that I do?
Goddess , she’s never seen my house before. What an intimate thing it is to let someone into your home. Let your former lover see the bits and pieces of the person you’ve become in their wake.
My fingers tremble as I fight with the lock and key to my front door. I’ve never taken this long to open my door, not even the nights I came home nearly falling down drunk.
“Finally,” I mumble as the lock clicks, and I’m able to push the door open, stepping aside for Elara to enter. Once she’s inside and the door is shut, she lowers the hood of the oversized sweatshirt she was given by SPIU.
Her eyes roam around my house as I flick on a few lights and arm the security system once again. Elara will be safe here even when I am gone.
My home has a state-of-the-art security system and a few extra magical wards that a witch cast for me a few years ago after I rescued her daughter from a band of rogue wolves. It’s probably the best gift I’ve ever gotten. Not flashy but so practical.
“I could have installed a security system in my home and saved us all the trouble,” she teases.
“But you couldn’t have cast the same spells that I have cast around my house, could you have? This security system is more of a paranoid backup than anything else. Plus, the security cameras cover the whole property.”
“Spells?” She raises an eyebrow. “Don’t tell me that you got a witch to fall in love with you?”
“Close,” I wink. “These wards are the real deal, no one who intends harm toward myself or my guests will be allowed to enter the threshold and they won’t be able to cause any damage to the house like setting it on fire or even taking a wrecking ball to it.”
“That actually does give me a lot of peace of mind,” she says as her shoulders visibly relax.
“Good, that’s exactly what I wanted to do, that and to make sure that nothing happens to you.”
“Wow,” Elara says changing the subject, “Who knew you had a taste when it came to home decor? Do you remember when I visited you in your dorm? That decor was atrocious.” Her eyes meet mine, and a heat builds within me.
I can smell her arousal as her cheeks bloom pink. Goddess, I want to take her right here and now.
Breaking my eyes away from her, I sweep my gaze around the house, a halfcocked smile on my lips, “I was barely eighteen- some things take time to learn.”
“I suppose they do,” I bring my eyes back to Elara, and she shifts awkwardly under the weight of my gaze. ”It’s good to know that you can teach an old dog new tricks.”
If anyone else had said that to me there’s a chance I would have ripped out their throat simply for the act of being disrespectful. But for some reason when Elara says it, I actually find humor bubbling up within me until I throw my head back and let out a laugh that shakes the house.
Goddess knows I needed that. Elara laughs alongside me only silenced by the loud grumbling in her stomach.
“On that note, how does dinner sound before I get you settled in?” I set her bags on the couch and head to the kitchen. “How does steak sound? I’ve got some marinating in the fridge, and I think I could spare one for you.”
“Steak sounds good,” Elara says, settling herself into the chair at the breakfast bar while she watches me cook. Fried potatoes, asparagus, and steaks. It’s not the most intricate meal, but it’s delicious and sure to sustain us for the night. I aim to help Elara regain her regular, healthy, and voluptuous weight.
“I forgot how good of a cook you are,” she says her eye’s rolling into the back of her head as she puts a slice of steak into her mouth. What I wouldn’t give to see those eye’s roll into the back of her head from being stuffed with a different kind of meat.
“Allow your time here to remind you then,” I say with a wink as heat creeps across Elara’s cheeks once again. We are playing a dangerous game here.
After dinner, I show Elara to my guest bedroom and give her a small tour of the house. Since she’s going to be here for a while, she might as well know where to find everything. My body buzzes with each step I take.
“Kato, I can’t sleep.” Elara’s voice calls down the hallway.
“I have an idea…”
“What’s that?”
“Do you want to go on a run?”
“A run?”
“In the forest?” My house isn’t on the edge of a forested area for nothing.
The moon hangs low, its silver glow cast across the forest. Elara’s wolf is smaller than mine but solid, her light gray coat gleaming in the moonlight. Goddess, even now, I can’t take my eyes off her.
It’s been this way since we met, even before the bond snapped into place. Almost like I always knew she was mine.
My paws hit the soft earth with force. Each stride is hardly enough to burn off the frustration building inside of me. It’s been weeks. We’ve been tracking this killer for weeks, yet we still have nothing to help us find this guy.
It doesn’t help that something claws at my chest every time I am near Elara. That clawing, though not as strong, is still there even when I’m not near her. Why couldn’t she have officially rejected me? Why did she just walk away knowing I would still feel her every day?
That would have been easier. Rejected mates. A broken bond. A joke, right? It’s a cosmic screw-up. But I still feel it—every damn second. That bond. That pull. She’s right there, always just out of reach, and I’m supposed to act like it doesn’t drive me insane.
Breaking through the trees into a clearing, I can’t stop myself from letting out a howl. Frustration, desire, and fear mingle in my chest. Elara slows, shifting back into her human form, her long Auburn hair tumbling over her shoulder as she steadies herself, breathless, near a mound of boulders.
She doesn’t look at me, not right away, at least, but I can see the tension in her shoulders and the tightness in her jaw. It’s always there, just under the surface.
I shift back, rolling my neck and easing the tightness that never disappears. “Still uneasy,” she says, her voice soft, but a bitterness lurks beneath the surface. She’s talking about more than just the run, isn’t she?
I grind my teeth together, anger simmering beneath my skin. My blood at a low simmer like a pot of pasta sauce waiting for the seasoning to come together, “We’ll find him,” I say though it comes out as more of a growl.
She turns to face me, and for a moment, the world narrows. It’s just her. Her glowing eyes in the moonlight meet mine with that familiar mix of frustration and something else—something I feel, too.
Her gaze heats my flesh like she’s doused me in gasoline and then sparked a match. Those lips... I can’t take my eyes off her.
Elara’s breath hitches in her throat as she catches me drinking her in. She squeezes her naked thighs together, and the corners of her mouth lift as she fiddles with her hair.
She knows that she can’t hide her arousal from me. It was enough to cause me to want to rush forward and pounce on her right here and now, but after everything she’s been through, I don’t want to put her in an awkward position.
Despite this, I still feel in the throes of the war with my instincts. I step closer, and I can feel the heat between us, that constant push and pull that never lets up.
She flinches but doesn’t back away, pink blossoming across her cheeks and chest as she holds my gaze. We stand there, the silence crackling between us like lightning waiting to strike.
“I feel it too,” I finally say, my voice low but steady. “Every second I’m around you, Elara. It’s still there. You know it is. It’s damn near unbearable to keep myself away from you.”
I see it in her eyes for a split second—the same thing I feel. It’s the same thing I’ve been drowning in since the day we were bound and torn apart.
She opens her mouth, ready to refute my claim, but after a moment, her jaw snaps shut again. Her gaze falls to the forest floor, unable to maintain eye contact, unable to let me peer into the depths of her spirit.
The tightness in my chest is oppressive. Goddess, I can’t go on like this.
I risk another step forward. She does not step away again. One more step, and she’s so close to me that we are nearly one.
Reaching out, I press my hand against the smooth skin on the side of her face. With a jagged, unsure motion, Elara raises her eyes to meet mine again. The heat of her breath tantalizes my lips as she looks up at me.
Her heart races wildly in her chest, beating as though the entire percussion selection of a marching band has taken up residence there.
That’s when I see that spark of fire in her eyes. She wants me just as much as I want her. I can’t hold myself back anymore.
I lean forward, hand still gently against the side of her gorgeous head, as my lips press into her perfect mouth. She gasps against my lips.
And the world goes still around us.