24 | I Want You

"I surrender who I've been for who you are, for nothing makes me stronger than your fragile heart. If I had only felt how it feels to be yours. Well, I would have known what I've been living for all along."

~ Sleeping At Last, Turning Page

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Sophie turned to leave when a clawed hand reached out for her face. Ducking just a second too late, the claw nicked just above her eyebrow and the other hand gripped her forearm painfully tight, making Sophie hiss out in pain. Even without the use of her claws, Kendall's grip along would leave a mark. "Listen here, you pathetic waste of space. We will-" the words died in her mouth, her eyes now wide and directed at something behind her.

"Please, don't let me stop you." A deep voice calmly conveyed.

"Cillian..." Kendall drawled and quickly released his human. His father and a couple others backed him. "Alpha Andrew." Her eyes widened in fear, as did the two additional men with her.

Sophie clutched her arm to her chest and Cillian swiftly took a protective stance in front of his mate, separating her from Kendall and the others. His jaw ticked in restrained anger, his brows furrowed, and teeth bared.

He turned his back on Kendall and instead faced his wife. Sophie's breath caught in her throat at the proximity and she flinched when he brought his own hand up. With a touch as light as a feather, he hooked a thick finger under her chin to get a better look at her face and the evidence of a fight. He delicately swiped his thumb over her temple to wipe away the blood, but said nothing as he examined it.

With his eyes still on his mate and his voice low, quiet, and tense, his anger barely restrained, he ordered over his shoulder, "Finish what you were going to say, Kendall."

"I-It's just a misunderstanding, Cillian." Kendall pathetically dodged the order, her voice trembling nearly as much as her body was now.

A glare shot over his broad shoulder was all she got in return. Even still, he didn't get a further response from her. Instead, he returned his gaze to Sophie. "Tell me what she said to you."

Sophie's eyes widened, his hand now feeling heavy on her face. "U-Um- I..." her trembling voice died off.

Without taking his eyes off his mate, he said to his father, "will you handle them? My mate and I have things to discuss."

Andrew patted his son's shoulder as he and the others passed by the couple, gesturing for the three guilty lycans to follow. They did as told and were brought them elsewhere for questioning.

That left just Sophie and Cillian.

"Sophia." His deep voice urged in a warning tone.

Her head tilted to pull away from his grasp, but he just held on tighter. She released a shaky breath and kept her gaze downward. "I'm sorry."

He rose a brow. "For what?"

"You said... you said not to be by myself."

His expression softened and his hand dropped from her face to her shoulders. "Do you think I'm mad at you?"

Briefly, she glanced up at him, before her eyes flickered back down. "You look really angry." She admitted in a small voice.

Her eyes squinted and then completely shut as blood dripped down towards her eye. She brought her hand up to wipe it, but a bigger hand carefully caught her wrist before she could. He sighed and gently guided her with a big hand in the small of her back to their room. He sat her down on the bed and retreated to the bathroom where he knew a first aid kit was. When he came back, he knelt down on the floor on one knee to be more on her level, the kit bedside her.

"I am angry, but not at you." He quietly conveyed, his hands rising to her face. He cleaned the blood away and used another to add pressure to the wound. "Tell me what she said to you, baby."

She winced in pain, making him pause. With her voice equally as soft, she replied, "It doesn't matter what she said. I'm tough. I can take it."

He smiled, though it didn't quite reach his eyes. "I never said you weren't... still, it doesn't make this right. Especially not as their potential Luna. Especially not as you being a human, unable to protect herself against a lycanthrope. Especially not as my mate." He listed off.

She sighed, dejected, but said nothing more. Why would she? At her continued silence, she was met with a similar sigh from him. Gently, he brought his hands up to her face again. Though she was extremely tense, she allowed him to inspect her wound.

He cleared his throat and said, "you are a heavy bleeder, but I think I got it to stop."

A small huff escaped her lips. "My skin isn't as tough as yours."

"I've noticed it takes you longer to heal."

"Much." She confirmed. A small injury like this would scab over and scar overnight for a lycanthrope. As for Sophie, she might have to have stitches.

She stood and crossed the room to a mirror. She raised her eyebrow, and as suspected, it began to bleed again.

"I don't want stitches." She complained. "I'll try medical tape first. Do we have some?"

"We do." He confirmed and held them up.

She smiled the best she could in thanks and reached for them.

He was having none of that and quickly held them out of reach. "Sit, Sophie."

"I can do it myself."

He rose a brow and held up one of her trembling hands. "With these hands? Your adrenaline is too high. You could make it worse."

She took her hand out of his hold and he let her, but didn't lower the tape. Without another word, she went back to the bed and sat down. He took that as her permission to help. Assuming the same position he was in last time, he got down on one knee, this time, face to face.

Her cheeks reddened at the proximity, his face just inches from hers, but she remained still for him. With slow, careful movements, he swiped her hair off her shoulder and to the opposite side so he could see all the blood. He glanced at her a moment before he got to work.

It's difficult to say one is gentle when taping someone's slashed forehead shut, but he did his best not to hurt her and took as little time as he could. Not once did she move, only quiet exhales in pain. She remained perfectly still. He couldn't help but chuckle, thinking she took this better than the majority of men he served with.

"How's it feel?" He asked, setting the materials aside.

"Fine. Thank you." She murmured, quietly.

He inspected his work a second more and leaned back, giving her some breathing room, and she did just that- releasing a breath she didn't know she was holding. A suffocating silence filled the room, at least for Sophie. While it was suffocating for her, Cillian was just silently admiring her.

Her eyes searched his before she asked, "what do you think about humans?"

His eyebrows raised in question. "How do you mean?"

She shrugged and distracted herself by playing with the rings on her fingers. "They were horrible to you. I mean, you would have been Alpha of this pack the whole time if it weren't for humans."

He opened and closed his mouth, mulling on his answer. "That's true, but that doesn't mean I hate all humans. Not all humans are the same." He replied, slowly, cautiously. "I like you and you're a human... and your family. They're good humans."

She let out a hmph in thought and rose from the bed.

"What's wrong, Soph?" He spoke up. "Why won't you tell me what happened?"

"Nothing is wrong. Let it go." She sighed and crossed the bedroom.

Unbeknownst to her, he was hot on her heels. She gasped when he grabbed her arm and spun her around to face him. "I want to help you." He challenged.

She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "You don't have to protect me just because I'm a human. Just because I'm a human doesn't mean I can't stick up for myself."

"I'm not protecting you because you're a human. I'm protecting you because you're my human." He sternly responded. "I refuse to let anything happen to you. Not because I see you as weak. Not because you're a human. Not because I see you as less than. It's because you're mine, just as much as I am yours."

"But you could have literally anyone in the world. Why me?"

He rose a brow and tested. "I can have anyone I want in the world but you can't?"

She laughed. "You and I are very different, Cillian."

He knew that, but not in the way she was thinking. She was a better person than he is. She's prettier, smarter, more funny, more brave. She has so much to fear or to be angry about, but yet she treated everyone with a kind and gentle heart and a smile on her face. She had her walls built up high and almost impenetrable when they first met, but slowly she was letting them down. Cillian did his best everyday to climb those walls and soak in everything he could that she was hiding behind it.

"Why not Kendall?" She blurted, steam blowing from her ears. "What's so wrong with a strong, perfect in every way lycanthrope like her, that you didn't go after her? What could she possibly be lacking? You can't say she's not pretty enough. Did you want her to have-"

"She's not you."

And just like that, her jaw snapped shut and she stared at him as if she was a deer in headlights. "What?"

He ducked his head and leaned in closer. "She's. Isn't. You."

When she didn't say anything, he continued. "She's pretty, but she doesn't take my breath away when she laughs at something stupid I intentionally said to get that reaction..." his eyes wondered over her face, even though she was struggling to maintain eye contact with him. "She's funny, but not spit out your drink kind of funny. She's opinionated, but not so stubborn headed to the point where no one could ever change her mind. She's loyal, but not 'I'd follow you to the ends of the earth' kind of loyal."

Her eyes flickered from his bright golden eyes, to his lips drawing closer to hers, and back to his eyes. "So what are you saying?" She said in a whisper.

"I want you. I thought I've been pretty clear about that this whole time." He said with a halfhearted chuckle. With a touch as light as a feather, Cillian hooked a thick finger under her chin to get a better look at her face. "Look at me."

Slowly, her eyes cracked open, but she didn't dare meet his eyes, her gaze glued to his broad chest. His grip tightened ever so slightly, a warning.

Her breath caught in her throat when she looked at him- I mean, really looked at him. His golden eyes were as direct as expected, not even blinking as much as the average person. They glistened in the moonlight that peeked through the blinds, bringing an inhuman shine to them. A satisfied smile stretched across his lips until his prominent canines made an appearance.

A finger tugged on the collar of her shirt and dragged it down- just enough to reveal the mark that was imprinted forever on her delicate neck.

"You remember what this means?" It was this speech, this deep, heavy voice of his that immediately set him apart from everyone else.

No longer able to hold his gaze, her eyes fell. A blush tinted her cheeks.

His hand caught somewhere behind her neck and base of her jaw to tilt her head back so her eyes met his. Once he had her gaze, he persisted, "I think you do." His other hand came up to lightly brush the hair back away from her face. "What are we, hmm?" He let out a low hum in question.

His fingers trailed down the curves of her body until they settled on her hips to gently tug her closer, pulling a sharp inhale from her. With their bodies pressed together, hearts racing in sync, and butterflies fluttering in both of their stomachs, she peeked up at him once more.

A shudder shot down her spine as he leaned in to nuzzle her neck, his hot breath fanning against the mark. "C'mon, say it." He breathily taunted.

With a shaky breath, she whispered, "we're mates."

Gently, his lips pressed against the mark in a featherlight kiss. "There's no one else I want." He whispered, sincerely, pulling back to rest his forehead against hers. "I told you, whatever you're willing."

His hands came up to frame her face as he brushed one of his thumbs across her bottom lip before replacing it with a gentle press of his lips. The kiss was so gentle that she just melted right into him, her shoulders sagged, and a peaceful feeling spread through her entirety. She was never truly at peace when she was away from him.

"I'm willing." She murmured against his lips. "For anything and everything. I want you too."

He smiled. "I want to take you somewhere soon. When all of this is behind us."

"What for?"

He shrugged, being nonchalant about it. "Something for just the two of us."

"Like a..." she drawled.

"Yes." He confirmed, his smile only widening. "A date."

With a matching grin, she decided, "who says we have to wait?"

•••

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Question of the chapter: did anyone remember this scene from the story description??

Clues for next chapter: chapter 9, "touch me" part 2

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