15. Courting A Human
fifteen
Courting A Human
*TYNAN*
B e romantic, Tynan, be romantic. I try to go through everything Alana and Ita said, but every smart thought I had gets blown out of the window when Shayan opens the door. The attractive general, with the stern face and the deep brown eyes that hold a certain gentleness to them.
It makes my knees almost buckle and my wolf whimper.
Shayan looks at me with a frown. “Did something happen? Is Azadeh alright?”
“She is with the triplet princes,” I inform him. “They are showing her around.”
“At midnight?”
“Well, seems like no one can sleep tonight,” I mutter, feeling like the dumbest idiot ever.
We should have just gone for a hunt , killed a deer and dropped it in front of his door. My wolf Orion grumbles. We should have gifted him our prey!
“I saw that your light was still on,” I blurt out, deciding to ignore my wolf.
Shayan looks at me curiously. He keeps a black leather eye patch over his damaged eye, and it makes him look so serious and attractive.
“Ita, Alana and I made a small bonfire,” I tell him when he doesn’t say anything. “We are just enjoying the night… with some whisky.” I show him the bottle, noticing how his gaze gets more curious.
“That’s a rare brand,” he says.
“My father gifted it to me, and what’s better than to share it with my friends?” I say, slowly finding my confidence again. He seems intrigued. “Please, do us the honor of joining us.”
Shayan looks torn, but then, with a sigh, he retreats to his room, just to return with his thick coat. “I assume if everyone is out, I may just as well join you.”
Or maybe inviting him for a drink wasn’t the worst idea, Orion admits.
He has a one-track mind normally. Hunt, hunt, hunt. Now he has added Shayan to his priorities. Part of him wants me to just jump and claim our mate, and a certain part of me also has Shayan on our to-do list, but neither Orion nor I would ever put our mark on someone against their will, especially not our mate.
Shayan smells like cinnamon and dark chocolate, reminding me of the times when I was still a child and my mom used to make hot chocolate for me.
“Your parents aren’t living here, right?” Shayan asks.
My head jerks up. It’s the first time he’s shown an interest in my private life. “No, I’m from a pack far to the north,” I explain.
“Where an unknown force keeps attacking?” he asks in worry.
“No,” I shake my head. “It’s not in the mountains, fortunately. But still… pretty far away. My father and two brothers still live there. My mother passed away a few years ago.”
“I’m so sorry to hear that, Tynan,” Shayan says, sympathy and warmth in his tone. He always sounds so earnest. It warms my heart to know he can sound like that, too.
I swallow thickly. “Enough about me,” I say cheerfully while taking his arm and tugging him along. I notice his initial reluctance soon gives way to surprise. “I apologize. I didn’t mean to touch you against your will. It’s-”
“That’s not it,” Shayan says calmly and points at his arm.
I look down at it, confused. “So?”
“It’s my bionic arm,” he says.
His words confuse me even more. “And?”
“You don’t deem it disgusting?”
“Not at all,” I say.
Surprise flashes over his expression, but then he smiles slightly. “Alright, let’s go and have a drink.”
It doesn’t take us long to reach the little bonfire Ita and Alana prepared. It’s hidden from the castle and town, so as not to wake anyone up. Ita already cooked the rabbit I hunted.
“I see,” Shayan chuckles. “More food.”
“Wolves are always hungry,” Alana grins.
“I hunted it and the squirrel,” I say proudly. “Right before I picked you up.”
“Now, at night?” Shayan asks. “It’s fascinating how good your eyesight is at night.”
He called us fascinating , Orion boasts.
I want to tell him that he probably didn’t mean us, but wolves in general, but I can’t help it. I just have to beam at his words.
Goddess! Ita groans in my mind. Be glad that your general is completely oblivious. I bet he isn’t aware that he, as a human, could be a werewolf’s mate.
I’m just so happy , I say.
Yes, that’s kind of obvious . She rolls her eyes at me but gives me the thumbs up, too. Go get him, tiger.
I wait for the first pieces of meat to be ready before grabbing a plate and taking it to Shayan. He is sitting at one of the benches next to the fire pit, reaching his hands out towards the fire. Oh, shoot! I forgot that he is a human. He probably feels cold. “Here.” I hand him the plate first and then my second sweater. The one I carry around in case I have to shift spontaneously. “I forgot to tell you how cold it is at night.”
Shayan furrows his brows, eyeing me first and then the sweater, clearly battling his pride. Then, with a sigh, he accepts it, putting it on. It fits him although I am a bit taller than he is, but he still has a very muscular build.
And his god-like body is now covered in my scent.
Way to make your claim , Alana teases. What comes next… will you pee at his door?
Don’t tempt me, I growl. I know some of the maids have taken a liking to him .
If you do that, tell us , she giggles. I want to see how he reacts. It might end with you getting your ass whooped.
Before I can answer anything, Alana has changed her attention to Ita, whispering with her, low enough for Shayan not to hear it, but loud enough for my sharp ears to pick it up. She tells Ita about what she just told me.
“Getting his ass whooped? Something tells me Tynan would like that,” Ita says slyly.
“Yes, he seems to like the hands-on approach,” Alana agrees.
Again, before I can react and tell my two insufferable friends to shut up, my wolf chimes in. I wouldn’t mind getting spanked by our hot general.
Are you serious? I huff.
Just look at him and his hands… his strong arms . Orion says, and I swear I can see him drool.
I allow my eyes to wander down Shayan’s body and to his hands. One of his arms is bionic, which makes him look just so captivating - and even hotter-, and the other… it’s obvious he was used to working and training a lot. Trust my annoying friends and my wolf to put ideas in my mind.
“Is everything alright?” Shayan’s voice pulls me out of my trance.
I put on my perfect smile. “Let me get you more to eat.” I hurry towards the bonfire and save the best pieces for Shayan, before returning to him and proudly handing him over my prey. Okay, it doesn’t exactly live up to my imagination of curling up to my mate after a night of hunting in a tent… in the wild, still sweaty and bloody from the hunt, after we ate my prey and then had wild sex.
But it’s still good!
And something tells me, my very attractive general wouldn’t be quite into this idea. So, this has to do.
*CAELAN*
It gets colder the further the night proceeds, and we decide to head back so that Aza won’t catch a cold.
“It was fun to spend the night with the three of you.” She pauses. “Wait a moment-”
“No, you can’t take it back now,” Flinn laughs.
“You said it,” Endellion teases.
I grin. “I heard it too.”
She smacks Flinn’s arm. “You know what I mean!”
“We should give you something to drink more often,” Flinn grins.
Endellion peels her fingers off Flinn’s arm and makes sure she grabs his instead. His gesture makes Flinn roll his eyes, but he doesn’t say anything. Ende has that look of determination on his face, a sign not to cross him. Despite his calm nature, he can be scary.
I sniff the air. It seems like something is burning. “Do you smell that?”
“Must be a bonfire,” Flinn says. “Let’s go and check it out.”
We follow the scent, and soon, my nose takes in the well-known scent of my sister and some others. Indeed, it’s Alana, Gamma Ita and Tynan sitting around the bonfire, and General Shayan. Azadeh’s face mirrors my surprise, while Flinn just raises his eyebrows.
“These are curious developments,” Endellion says quietly.
“No kidding, brother,” Flinn agrees.
Azadeh looks confused at first, as she eyes how Shayan and Tynan talk to each other, then however, her eyes widen slightly, and a beautiful smile lights up her face. She probably doesn’t notice it, but whenever she lets her guard down, her natural beauty and gentleness come through.
All my sisters are completely different from her in one way or another. It’s beautiful to have another person under my protection now. Soon, the others catch on that there are visitors and Alana waves at us.
“Fresh meat,” Ita hollers. When Flinn wants to comment on her words, she waves him off. “I was talking about the princess, of course, young alpha.”
Flinn, as usual, just laughs at her words and sits down between Tynan and Alana.
“And Ty?” he asks innocently. “Shared your prey?”
Alana giggles while Azadeh looks at us, confused. Endellion whispers something into her ear, making her laugh softly. She sits down next to the general, his stern face softening when he sees her. Aza refers to him as her family. I’m not sure how her family life truly was before she came here, but I doubt it was a happy one.
She is smiling a lot tonight , Endellion links me and Flinn.
She seems to be comfortable around us ; I agree. But doesn’t that mean we have melted her heart? Or however Dad voiced it.
Yes , even without looking at us, I can see Flinn’s eye roll. Trust the old man to be sly.
So, you also believe something is up? Endellion asks.
Wait a moment… I pause. Does this mean we all have the same thought?
Whatever our father wants from us… it’s not as simple as having the princess be comfortable around us, Endellion points out calmly. There is more to it. I just don’t know what he truly wants.
Trust the sly, old man not to share his true intention , I growl, not able to hide how annoyed I am. I love my parents, but both of them tend to talk in riddles and play their games. I, for one, hate games and just like things to be straightforward.
I normally like a good prank , Flinn says. But I have to agree with you on this. Melt the heart of a maiden… I can’t believe that he spouted so much nonsense.
Maybe he meant it literally? I ask. Like melting the snow or something.
Flinn stares at me. Are you serious? Not even you can be so-
Flinn , Endellion interrupts him sharply.
Flinn takes a deep breath. I don’t think so, he says. I bet it’s a metaphor for something we don’t understand yet.
There is no use in overthinking it , Endellion says. We don’t know what our parents are up to. I originally thought he just came up with this on the spur of the moment, but now I think he has planned it for much longer.
Azadeh is the key , Flinn agrees. We just don’t know what she is the key to.
I take my place next to Ita, looking at my extended family. At least it’s going to be an enthralling few months now.