Chapter Six
Lanche
Dain rolled his eyes at me, and for some reason, even though he thought I was being ridiculous, my heart leapt at the reaction. He was so adorable, and despite being grouchy as hell, he was also kind of… sweet. Or at least caring.
The fact that he wanted to hand me my icicle back rather than keep it and use my magic any way he wanted was a major green flag in my book. He didn’t want to take advantage of me, which was all I needed to know about his character.
Most people would’ve acted nice to my face, then turned around and forced me to do something I didn’t want to.
Dain wasn’t most people.
He cleared his throat. “Are you sure you won’t take it back?”
“I’m sure.”
He sighed, letting his breath out slowly, and looked at me for a long moment. “Are you hungry?”
That surprised me, but pleasantly so. “Um, yes, I am.”
“Okay… okay.” He blew out another breath. “Let’s order something to eat so we can talk for a little while.”
I knew my smile could light up the entire night’s sky.
After he ordered our food, Dain carefully placed my icicle on a bookshelf beside the TV stand, and as he released it, I did my best to hold in a gasp. The second his fingers left it, I could no longer feel him.
And I hated it.
The pull to be with him was still very much there—the proof that he was, in fact, my viramore, no matter what he said—but his essence mixing with my magic was no longer there.
Dain gulped loudly and glanced at me. “Did you feel that?”
I nodded. “I… I can sense you when you’re holding it.”
He frowned, then gave a nod before he walked into the kitchen. “All I have is water.”
“That’s perfect.” I wasn’t sure where to go or what to say next, so I slowly made my way to the kitchen doorway. I watched him move around the kitchen stiffly for a few moments. “Are you alright?”
With a small groan, he faced me. “I’m fine, just… tired. It’s been a long few days.”
“Do you want me to leave?”
“No.” He said it quickly.
That made me send him a shaky smile. “Okay. I… I want to stay.”
“Good.” His lips twitched, and I had a feeling he was holding back a smile. “Let’s… watch something while we wait.”
Okay, that would work and hopefully make me a little less awkward. Maybe.
Ha, yeah right. I was always awkward.
Always.
Sigh.
Our food arrived, and I helped Dain set it up on his table before we both sat down.
He’d ordered from a shifter-owned restaurant, so the portions were big enough for us.
I appreciated that since some people I’d dated in the past didn’t realize just how big an appetite I had.
Shifting took energy, so I needed to fuel that, but also, I was just a big guy in both forms.
I figured Dain was in the same boat, being a werewolf.
A werewolf was different than a shifter. Shifters had full control of themselves and could transform into their animal counterpart at any time, day or night.
Werewolves were infected with the were curse, usually from a werewolf bite. Every werewolf I’d ever met had a tragic and scary tale about being bitten, and then their fight for control of themselves was even more difficult.
A werewolf’s shift was controlled by the moon, so they only shifted for a few nights before and after the full moon. But some were able to call on different aspects of their shift at any time, like their teeth, claws, or eyes.
Many weres had so little control that they had to be put down… or at the very least, they were tied up and caged during their shifts.
I really hoped Dain wasn’t one that needed to be chained up.
The last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt him, and being chained or caged sounded…
horrifying. But I knew it took time for weres to be able to control themselves during a shift, so Dain had likely been chained or caged at some point, even if he wasn’t now.
Thinking about that made me frown because it meant that Dain had a difficult introduction into the supernatural world. Tragic. And probably terrifying.
Hopefully one day, he’d tell me the story, but I didn’t think it was a question I should ask the first time we were spending time together.
We were quiet while we fixed our plates, but it wasn’t exactly an easy quiet. I felt awkward and unsure, and I had no idea whatsoever what to say.
Luckily, Dain didn’t seem to have the same anxieties as me. “So… how long have you lived in Sedoba?”
“My whole life. I grew up here and never wanted to leave.”
“And how long is that?”
“Are you asking my age?” I surprised myself by sounding playful, maybe even a little flirty—yay, me!
He smirked. “Sure am.”
I bit my lip for a moment. I’d tell him the truth, obviously—I’d never lie to him—but he was a lot younger than me, so hopefully this wouldn’t turn into a… thing. It had in the past with other dates. Although, those dates hadn’t been my viramore.
I cleared my throat before answering, “Um, somewhere around three hundred years.”
His eyes widened. “What? Really?”
I nodded.
“Holy shit, I never would’ve guessed. I thought you were closer to my age.”
“And how old is that? Thirty-something?”
He sighed. “How’d you guess?”
He did look younger than that, but most supes looked young, even when they were hundreds or thousands of years old. “It’s something I sensed, I guess. I’m not sure how to explain it, but I can usually gauge how old someone is.”
“Even Anton?”
That made me grin. “Yep.”
“Hm. Pretty cool. I’m thirty-five, if you’re wondering the exact number.”
I nodded, unsurprised, and offered a smile. “If you don’t mind me asking, how long have you…” I trailed off, cringing as my mind caught up with my mouth.
I did not just try to ask him how long he’d been a werewolf, did I?
Dain lifted a brow in what I assumed was disbelief.
Yeah, I couldn’t believe I’d said it either.
After a second, he snorted, looking amused, and said, “I don’t mind sharing. I was twenty-five when I was bitten.”
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked. I—”
He held up a hand to stop me. “It’s fine. It’s a fair question, and if we’re really going to date, I suppose things like that aren’t off the table.”
“You’re not upset?”
He shook his head. “Nope. I’m good.”
From his expression and the look in his eyes, I was pretty sure he was telling the truth. I blew out a relieved breath. Phew. I’d almost ruined our night. Our first night together.
The last thing I wanted to do was scare him off.
“Do you have any siblings or anything?”
I nodded. “Four older sisters and a younger brother. My parents had their hands full when we were young.”
“Wow. That’s… a lot.” His head tilted to the side. “Coming from a big family, I suppose you want to have kids someday too, huh?”
My eyebrows rose. Wow, asking about kids already, are we? “Maybe one day. I’m in no rush.”
He hummed.
After a few seconds, I asked, “What about you?”
“Maybe one day. I’m in no rush.” He smiled at me and winked.
I snorted. “Touche?.”
He chuckled lightly, and the sound sent butterflies swirling in my belly.
I hadn’t heard Dain laugh very often—he was generally a little grouchy, although he did try to smile at patrons at the bookstore, but it was easy to tell when the smiles were fake.
So hearing that lovely sound here, knowing I had some small part in bringing it out of him, made me a tiny bit giddy.
He said, “In all seriousness, I think I want kids at some point, but not anytime soon.”
I nodded, happy we were on the same page about something so important. “That’s cool.”
He met my eyes for a moment before he glanced down at his food. “Have you ever lived anywhere else?”
I shook my head. “I… like the cold here.” I shrugged. “I’ve traveled to other places, went on vacations and things like that over the years, but I’ve never called another place home.”
“Me neither.”
“Is that something you want to do? Travel?”
He shrugged. “I wouldn’t mind seeing other places, but the thought of having to travel through the territories with all their different rules and all the different monster threats makes me…” He dramatically shuddered. “I’m happy to stay put.”
For some reason, that didn’t quite ring true. He clearly wanted to go to other places, but he seemed kind of… scared to step outside of his comfort zone.
I couldn’t really blame him. Some of the other territories in Gauhala were very strict or had strange and sometimes even cruel laws. Gauhala in general wasn’t really what I meant, though.
“What about going to Brinnswick?”
His eyebrows rose. “That would be pretty awesome. I’ve heard so many stories from Anton, Jed, Keryth, and the rest of their family. It sounds like a really pretty place.”
“It is. I’ve been there a few different times over the years, and I’ve always enjoyed it. Maybe we could travel there one day.”
He lifted that brow again, but he looked more amused than annoyed as he said, “I think you’re getting a little ahead of yourself there, buddy boy.”
I shrugged. “I’m confident that you’ll see things my way… eventually.”
That made him snort out another small laugh before he stifled it and took a big bite of his food, clearly trying to hide his reaction. But I’d seen it, and that little peek at his sense of humor gave me hope that things really would work out in the end.