“He feels the same way about you,” she whispers, and I shake my head with hesitance, or maybe resistance.
“He doesn’t—”
“Good morning!” Damian beams from the doorway, and I purse my lips, mulling over what Dianna just said and my response to it.
Why do I feel insecure about his feelings for me?
Maybe it’s because, with everything that’s been happening, Damian hasn’t attempted to—
“I'm sorry….”
Damian's voice, his apology, pulls me out of my thoughts and prompts me to lift my head.
“Huh?”
“I’m gonna get back to class,” Dianna says, offering her brother a smile. “James is showing the kids how to fly kites today.”
“Have fun,” Damian tells her, wiggling his brows suggestively, which earns him a jab to his ribs before Dianna leaves. Damian chuckles as he turns toward me, but a frown flits over my face because I’m confused.
With his sister, he’s so playful, but when it comes to me, he’s so…so serious.
I probably only have myself to blame for that. I was the one who put a mountain of distance between us.
“I’m sorry that I didn’t come to the clinic sooner. The council…” his voice tapers off, and he sighs with relief. “The council is convinced that you don't need training anymore,” he continues, pausing to give me some time to process this.
Just a few days ago, they'd been adamant that training was a requirement, but now they've changed their minds. I return my eyes to my hands around the coffee mug, frowning.
I can't blame the council for changing their minds, and neither can I blame them for wanting me to train initially. This firepower is unknown territory for everyone involved—myself included—and we can't be sure about how it works.
Not unless I gain some form of control over them.
“I still want to go through with training,” I respond with a sigh, curling my fingers toward my palms. “I have to understand these powers better. I can’t rely on the threat alone to trigger them. Conan is right—”
“You don’t know Conan the way I do. Don’t listen to him.”
“But he has a point, Damian,” I insist. “I am a danger if I don’t know how to control my powers. You know how to control yours. So, teach me.”
Damian stares at my face for a long moment, and I’m not sure if it’s because of reluctance or hesitation, but he nods slowly. “If it’s what you want, Sophie…I mean, you have to be sure, and not feel pressured.”
“It’s what I want, Damian,” I assure him, to which he nods.
“Then we’ll start with training tomorrow.”
“Good.”
There’s a moment of silence that stretches between us, as we stare into each other’s eyes, and the mate bond seems to hum beneath my skin, my heart pulling as if there’s a magnetic force that wants to draw me closer to him. It takes every ounce of consciousness not to cave and set the mug down and walk over toward him and fall into his arms, but there’s a restraint he’s showing that keeps me away.
“I should get back to the patients,” I say, and Damian clears his throat.
“Yes, right, the patients,” he stammers, blinking as if he’d forgotten how to blink altogether. “I’m gonna go check up on my soldiers at the training camp. See you back home tonight.”
I nod, the silence nearly deafening with all the things I want to say, combined with the things I hope he wants to say. Maybe I’m just making things up in my mind, or letting my insecurities get the best of me, but I look forward to our training.
Chapter 21 - Damian
Something oddly familiar twists in my gut, but it’s not my instincts kicking in to warn me of danger. Instead, it’s my inner wolf stirring with heated desire, simply because Sophie and I are alone in the meadow.
She stands a few feet away, but the evening draws her scent through the air with its gentle winds, filling my airways with the delicious sweetness that beckons to the beast inside me. Like bait, I’m being drawn to her, aware of her every movement, every breath, every blink.
