Chapter Eight
Lanche
Ireally wished I’d been brave enough to kiss Dain after our snowball fight, but… but I didn’t want to push him before he was ready. He was clearly not ready. So… this was better.
Dain’s eyes were wide when he put on the skates I’d brought for him and they fit.
“You seem shocked,” I said as I finished tying my own.
Dain grumbled a bit as he stood and mumbled, “Yeah, little bit.”
“Haven’t you heard of Mystic Soles? All their shoes are spelled for the best fit. That’s why they’re so expensive. They’re good quality, and they tend to last a long time.” I shrugged, standing to join him at the edge of the lake.
“Never been there. I knew they were expensive, so I just steered clear. I didn’t realize they were magical shoes.”
I hummed. “Well, now you have a pair of shoes—well, skates—from there.”
His eyes widened. “What? You can’t give me these.”
My brow furrowed. “Why not? I bought them for you.”
“What the… why the hell would you do that?”
I waved at the lake. “So we can go ice skating.”
He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “You can’t just go around buying me things.”
“Why not?”
He started waving his arms around frantically. “Because… because you can’t… you can’t just… spend money… on me.”
“But why? You’re my viramore. Who better to spend money on?”
His head dropped back, and he stared up at the sky with a long sigh. “I can’t be your viramore, Lanche.”
That made a stabbing pain pierce my heart, but I ignored it. I knew he wasn’t trying to hurt me on purpose. He was simply unsure and couldn’t yet feel our connection. I wasn’t happy about it, but I could be patient. Hopefully.
I knew humans had a harder time feeling their viramore connections, so perhaps werewolves did as well, since they originated from humans.
Hm. That actually made a good bit of sense.
“Why couldn’t you be?”
“Because… because I’m a werewolf.”
My brow furrowed. “Right. And I’m a snow yeti.”
He let out a small groan and rubbed a hand over his face. “I can’t be, Lanche.”
I cleared my throat. “But… you are.”
He sighed again and waved me off. “Whatever. Let’s do this thing.”
I sent him a small smile, ignoring the slight pain in my chest from his constant dismissal of our bond, and stepped forward onto the ice, skating out a few feet before I turned around to face him again. Dain hadn’t moved an inch. He was staring at the ice like it’d offended him. Hm.
“Dain?”
He glanced up with apprehension written on his face.
“Have you been ice skating before?” Surely, he had, right? We lived in Sedoba, for crying out loud. Ice skating was one of the few joys we had in this icy territory.
“Um… once.”
Only once? How was that possible? Everyone in our city skated. “Okay…?”
“Uh… when I was maybe… eight. And I fell… a lot. We were on a school field trip, and I ended up hiding in the bathroom for a long time so no one would see me crying over my sore butt.”
That was kind of adorable, but I doubted that was what he wanted to hear, so I skated toward him and held out my hands. “Hold onto me. I won’t let you fall.”
He bit the inside of his cheek for a few seconds before he let out another sigh and grabbed onto my hands.
A spark shot up each arm, our magics reaching out for one another, our souls igniting from the small touch.
My heart warmed with the knowledge that yes, Dain really was my viramore.
I was more sure of it with every passing second, and that jolt proved it.
I felt Dain jerk as if he’d felt it too. His wide eyes met mine for a moment, and for about two seconds, I thought he was finally going to admit that I was right. But then he shook himself out and said, “You better not let me fall.”
Disappointment rushed through me, but it was easy to push away when I had my viramore right here, touching me. So all I did was smile at him and give his hands a small squeeze. “I won’t.”
Gingerly, he stepped out onto the ice. His feet slid back and forth frantically, and his grip tightened, but even with all his flailing, I was as steady on skates as I was with my bare feet on solid ground. Holding him up was no trouble at all.
But I did have to stifle a laugh when he let out a little yip as his feet shuffled around.
I started skating backward, pulling him with me. “Just hold still and let me pull you.”
He did his best to listen, calming down enough to glide on the ice. His grip remained tight, and I was glad I was a yeti. Otherwise, he probably would’ve broken some bones with his werewolf strength.
“That’s it. You’ve got it.” I kept skating backwards, and when we neared the end of the lake, I started a gentle curve to turn around.
“Woah, woah, woah!”
“What?”
“What are you doing?” He sounded panicky.
“Turning us so we can start going around the lake since we’re almost at the end.”
He grimaced. “Don’t let go.”
“Dain.” I waited until he looked up from his skates and into my eyes. “I promise I won’t let you fall, okay? I never break my promises.”
His eyes flicked back and forth, searching mine for a moment before he gave a single nod. “Thanks.”
To my surprise, I winked. When the hell had I ever winked at anyone before? Let alone someone I was interested in. “Anytime.”
What looked like a hesitant and very, very, almost-not-there smile formed on his face.
We made it around the entire lake one more time before Dain finally relaxed a little and stood straighter. “Okay, tell me what to do. I want to try.”
I explained how to skate, and as Dain began trying, I stretched our arms out to give him more room. The last thing I wanted was for him to trip over my feet or vice versa.
After about twenty minutes of practicing, he said, “I think I’ve got it. Can we try with just one hand?”
“Sure.” Slowly, I released one of his hands and let him skate for a minute with me still facing him and skating backward. “Can I skate beside you?”
His eyes glanced up to mine. “Will you still catch me if I fall?”
“Of course.”
“Then sure.”
I turned and let him catch up to me without jostling his arm, then began skating side by side with my viramore. Doing one of my favorite activities with the man I knew I’d spend the rest of my life with was… absolutely amazing.
My smile was wide, and my chest was filled with warmth, despite the cold.
He was hiding a grin, so I knew he was enjoying himself too.
I heard his stomach grumble, so I said, “Do you want to go get something to eat now?”
“Um…” He seemed reluctant to stop skating.
“We can come back here anytime, and like I said, the skates are yours. You can even go to a skating rink in the city, if you want.”
He huffed, his breath making a puff of smoke in the cold air. “Alright, fine. Let’s go eat. At a restaurant, right?”
“Of course.”
To be honest, I’d wanted to bring him back to my home and cook for him, but I knew he wasn’t ready for that. He seemed rather reluctant to be alone with me, which wasn’t a nice feeling, but since we didn’t know each other yet, it was understandable.
And besides, I didn’t want to send the wrong message. I didn’t want him to think I wanted a one-night stand or anything like that.
So restaurant it was.
I gently pulled him over to the side where our boots were, and once we were off the ice, Dain surprised me by giving my hand a gentle squeeze and nodding at me before he let go.
We switched our skates for our boots, and I pulled out the extra bag I’d packed, plus some blade covers, passing them over to him. “This is for your skates. Oh, and don’t put the blade covers on without wiping the ice off first.” I handed over a small towel after I wiped my own skate blades off.
“Thank you.” He seemed hesitant to use the extra items I’d given him, but after a few beats, he sighed and went about wiping the blades and putting the skates away.
Once we were all packed up, we headed back to Dain’s car. I really wanted to take his hand again, but I wasn’t sure it’d be welcomed, so I refrained and climbed into the passenger’s seat once we made it there.
“Where to?”
“There’s a nice place on the outskirts of the city. Ever been to Polar Paradise?”
“Oh! I’ve heard of that place. Everyone says it’s really good, but I’ve never been there.”
I nodded. “I haven’t either, but everyone says it’s very… romantic.” I felt my cheeks flush at that.
Dain glanced at me and hummed. I couldn’t tell if it was in agreement or only in acknowledgement, and he didn’t say anything to help clarify.
I entered the information into the GPS, and Dain drove.
After a few kind of awkward minutes, he said, “I didn’t even realize anyone lived out here in the, uh, trees.”
The fact that he was trying to talk and learn more about me made me smile to myself. “I think it’s mostly yetis and some polar bear shifters, but I’ve lived out in the woods my whole life.”
“Oh, your parents live nearby too?”
“Yep. You would’ve passed their place when you picked me up. They’re technically my next-door neighbors, although I can’t even see their house from mine.”
“You like living that close to your parents?” He seemed surprised by this, and I wasn’t shocked by his opinion. I knew most people didn’t live as close to their family members as I did, especially those that came from a human family.
“I do. All my siblings are nearby too. We kind of share our land, I guess, although we all have our own small territories.”
He was quiet for a moment before he asked, “Are yetis territorial?”
“Not in the way you mean. We like having our own space, but I’m not going to grumble if my brother or sisters all decided to run around on my land or anything.
And I don’t actually care if other people come onto my property as long as they’re respectful to it and the animals that call it home.
But it’s nice to have a dwelling of my own to come home to at night. ”
“That makes sense.”
“What about you? Are you close with your family?”
“Uh… not really. I have a younger brother who I see on occasion, but our parents aren’t really… present. They never have been.”
My heart felt sad at hearing that. No wonder he seemed grouchy so often. He didn’t have a family.
“How did they feel when they found out, um, that you’re a werewolf?”
He thought for a while before he answered. “My parents didn’t really say anything. Like I said, they’ve never been present, and finding out what happened to me wasn’t actually on their list of things they care about.”
“And your brother?”
He sighed. “He was upset, to say the least. He was worried about me, worried I wouldn’t learn to control it since so many weres are put down these days. He was… scared.” He paused and cleared his throat. “Once I was able to control myself during my shifts, he was relieved, but…”
“But what?”
“I think he might be jealous. Not really of the actual werewolf part, but of my longer lifespan. And to be honest, it’s something I’ve worried about too. I don’t want to outlive my brother, you know?”
I couldn’t even imagine thinking—knowing—I was going to outlive one of my siblings. That was a horrible fate. “What about Anton? Or Jed? Couldn’t they turn him?”
“I’ve thought about asking them, but… I don’t want to put them on the spot and make them feel obligated, you know? A sire-fledgling bond is a very intimate thing.”
“I’m sure you could ask, though…”
“Yeah… yeah, I probably will eventually. It just sucks there isn’t an easier way, you know?”
I honestly didn’t really know since that had never been a legitimate concern for me or my family.
But I could imagine. Trying to navigate through that was horrible.
But I supposed it was something I’d have to figure out because I was determined to help navigate it with Dain.
We’d find a way to keep his brother around for a very, very long time, I was sure of it.
“Yeah, that does suck. Maybe we can look into other alternatives, though. Surely there’s something in the magical archives at the history museum.”
“Yeah, but how the heck would we get our hands on that?”
“I may know a person or two.”
He sent me a small smirk. “Yeah?”
“Yep.” And for him, even if I didn’t, I’d find a way.