True Eyes

Bambi

~Mrs. Jedrek.~

~Mrs. Jedrek, wake up.~

~You’re home.~

“Mrs. Jedrek,” a voice said loudly in my ear as I jolted awake, the dream slipping away from me.

Disoriented, I looked around at my surroundings. This wasn’t home.

I was still curled up in a blanket on Ekon’s private plane. I must’ve slept for hours after we left from Anchorage.

I remembered having the most bizarre dream. But I couldn’t remember for the life of me what it had been about. Only that it was important.

I peered around the plane cabin. An exceptionally tall man stood over me. He was handsome in an inconspicuous way, though a bit lanky.

“Sorry to wake you, Mrs. Jedrek, but you’re home,” he said politely.

“Why do you keep calling me that?” I asked, slightly annoyed.

I had no desire to hear Ekon’s surname as a replacement for my own.

“Well, you’re Alpha Ekon’s mate now. Would you prefer I call you Luna?”

Both options made me cringe, as if someone was running their claws down a chalkboard.

“You can just call me Bambi. Who are you to Alpha Ekon?”

“I’m his Beta, Ryland.”

Ryland. The name sounded so similar to my brother’s Beta, Ryan.

I suddenly felt homesick as the situation became real to me.

~I’m mated.~

~To Alpha Ekon Jedrek.~

~And when I step off this plane, it won’t be the comfort of my manor in Maine that greets me but rather the cold reality of Ekon’s estate in Alaska.~

“Are you ready Mrs…uh…Bambi? Alpha Ekon went on ahead, but I’ll drive you to the house.”

I nodded, and Ryland led me out onto the tarmac, where a car was waiting, already loaded with my luggage.

As I climbed into the car, I wondered what awaited me in my new home.

~Home. That word tastes bitter in my mouth now.~

~It doesn’t feel right describing this place that way.~

~I wonder if it ever will.~

***

I grew up in a palatial home, but as we pulled up to Ekon’s magnificent estate, my mansion was absolutely dwarfed in both size and style.

Ekon’s estate was more of a military compound with a castle aesthetic than an actual house.

It was so big it could’ve been its own town, and with the amount of security guards surrounding the place, it might as well have been.

“Why is there so much security?” I asked Ryland as we pulled through a towering electronic gate, flanked by armed guards.

“Alpha Ekon endured a lot in the Great War,” he replied. “He watched a lot of his close friends and family die. Everyone he cared about. He won’t let that happen again.”

Two of the people I cared about most had died in that war too.

~I wonder if Ekon ever crossed paths with my parents...~

An image of a woman’s face flashed in my mind for a moment, but it was gone almost as soon as it had come.

For some reason, it felt important to ask Ekon about my parents, but seeing the way he’d reacted when the king brought up war stories, I wouldn’t dare.

As we pulled up to the entrance, Ryland got out of the car and opened the door for me. Two servants immediately started unloading my bags.

“Where is Ekon?” I asked, though I wasn’t really eager to see him.

I was still unsettled by his half-shifted visage—those dark eyes creeping down my body.

I was shocked to find out he regained his sight in wolf form, though he couldn’t stay that way for too long.

~What did he think of me? I hope he wasn’t disappointed…~

I wanted to slap myself for caring about something so foolish. What did it matter if he thought I was pretty or not? We were mated for life.

“Ekon wanted to give you some space to settle in,” Ryland said. “He knows this is a big change for you.”

Ekon hadn’t said a word to me after he shifted. It was just silence and then sleeping.

Maybe he really was disappointed with me…

***

I slumped down onto my enormous canopy bed, thankful that we wouldn’t have to sleep together just yet. What would I have done if he’d tried to ~sleep~ with me?

I tried to push the thought out of mind. He didn’t seem like that kind of man, but then again, I hardly knew him.

I thought of my brother’s last words to me…

~Stand your ground.~

~Listen to your heart.~

Max…I needed to talk to him.

I needed to feel a piece of home, my real home.

I pulled out my phone, only barely getting service, and began texting.

Bambi

Max, are you awake?

Bambi

I miss you.

Bambi

I miss home.

Max

of course i am little doe

Max

how can I sleep knowing you’re there

Max

with that bastard

Max

how is he treating you?

Bambi

He gave me my own bedroom for now…

Bambi

But I don’t know what he’ll expect from me.

Bambi

Max, this place is like a fortress.

Bambi

I feel like a prisoner.

Max

be strong bambi

Bambi

I’m not a soldier

Bambi

Or an alpha

Bambi

I can’t do this. I’m emotional. I’m weak.

Max

not all strength is physical

Max

your emotions aren’t a weakness

Max

you have a different kind of strength within you

Max

you’re compassionate, caring, and creative

Max

use that…you’ll make ekon respect you

Max

you made me a better person bambi

Max

maybe you can soften him too

Bambi

Thank you, Max.

Bambi

I needed that.

Bambi

Talk soon, brother.

As I clutched my phone to my chest, I drifted off to sleep, wishing that I would wake up and be back in my old bedroom…

My dreams were restless, full of mud and fog and strange pools of water.

***

When I awoke, the sun was already setting again. Had I really slept the whole day and night?

I wasn’t used to traveling, but it wasn’t just the physical exhaustion. I also felt emotionally drained.

I got out of bed and padded to the bathroom, where I peeled off the outfit that I’d been wearing for the past two days and turned on the water in the claw-footed bathtub.

When it filled, I let my body sink into the scalding water, feeling all my muscles relax.

As I closed my eyes, a million thoughts began swimming around my head.

I hadn’t seen my mate once since arriving, and while part of me was relieved by this fact, the other part was insecure about it.

I was really beginning to think he had no interest in me.

Did I want him to like me? When I was around him, I felt drawn to him. I just couldn’t help it.

Maybe it was the mating bond…

Or maybe the idea that he might’ve known my parents…

Or maybe I just found his scars and rugged, muscular body attractive?

I shuddered at the last thought as my face grew red. Despite being nearly twice my age, I found him to be very pleasing to the eyes.

I stood up and stepped out of the bathtub, wrapping a cozy robe around myself.

I put on a pair of slippers and headed out of the bedroom on a mission to hunt down some food for my poor growling stomach.

Beta Ryland was waiting at the foot of the stairs.

“Ah, Bambi, you’re just in time for dinner,” he said, eyeing my robe, slippers, and wet hair warily. “Are you hungry?”

“Starved,” I replied. “Will Alpha Ekon be joining?”

“He will. He’s already seated, but perhaps you’d like to change your…”

Before Ryland could finish, I was already striding into the dining room, eager to eat.

Ekon’s head tilted up as I walked in and sat down across from him.

“Did you sleep well?” he asked. “Are you settling in?”

“Yes, thank you,” I replied, not knowing how to interact with him. “I’m making myself comfortable.”

“I can see that,” he said with a tone of disapproval. “Next time you come to dinner, dress yourself first.”

My jaw dropped open. How did he…

~Of course, his wolf.~

“Just because I’m blind doesn’t mean I can’t feel your disrespect. Would you dress this way for your brother?”

“I meant no disrespect,” I said quickly. “I just didn’t think that—”

“That I’d care about my mate’s appearance? Because I’m fucking blind? Well, I do.”

I noticed an empty wine bottle next to him as he drank from a newly filled glass. He was already drunk.

“Don’t think that my eyesight is a limitation, some kind of weakness for you to exploit. It only makes me stronger,” he growled.

“You’re overreacting,” I said, starting to feel defensive. “I only thought you wouldn’t care because you took one look at me in the car and didn’t say a word to me afterwards. It’s clear that you’ve already decided that I’m hideous.”

At first he looked surprised, but his shock quickly turned to anger.

“You think I don’t feel the way you look at me? Because I do. I feel the disgust. The fear. The loathing,” he countered. “You’re the one who has already judged me.”

As Ekon swiped his claws through the air, he accidentally knocked his wine over, spilling it all down his white satin shirt.

He immediately looked embarrassed, but before he could get up, I was already at his side with my napkin, dabbing at the stain.

“Let me take care of this,” I said calmly.

“I don’t need—”

“I ~said~, let me take care of this. Your eyesight is not a weakness. Neither is my empathy.”

He relaxed as I slowly unbuttoned his shirt. As I removed it, I couldn’t help but stare at his bulging muscles.

I blushed at the sight of his bare torso. It was scarred like his hands and his cheek, but I didn’t mind the scars. They made his masculine body look even more rugged and strong.

As I lightly touched his scars, his hand glided over mine, and he gave me an affectionate squeeze.

“I never thought you were hideous, Bambi. The moment my wolf saw you, I was overcome by your beauty. I just knew you didn’t feel the same when you saw me.”

He thought I viewed ~him~ as hideous? Was he…was he actually being vulnerable with me?

As I continued to run my fingers across his scars, courage welled up inside me.

“These scars…they’re from the Great War?”

“Yes,” he replied softly.

“Did you…did you fight alongside my parents in the war?”

I braced myself for a volatile reaction, but instead he just remained silent.

I waited with anticipation until he ~finally~ made a move.

His eyes went black, and his claws dug into the chair as his muscles swelled even bigger.

Ekon’s wolf looked at me with his true eyes.

“Yes. I knew them.”