Ursanthropy
11. Bulletproof

Doreen

I quickly told Bertha that I was taking a break and walked outside, through the back door.

Without looking behind me, I knew that Jack was following me, closely. When the cold of the outside weather hit me, Jack pinned me to the wall, right next to the door.

“What have you done?” He asked me and I furrowed my brows.

Instead of him getting all touchy, talking with a deep voice or looking at me with a horny face, he just accused me of doing something! It was confusing me, but also angering me.

“What have I done? What did you do to me yesterday?” I snapped back. “What did you do, to make me feel so fucking horny, because I sure as hell don’t feel the same way right now!” I said angrily.

I didn’t want to approach our conversation this way. But before I could think about the words that I meant to say, I had angrily blurted these out. At which I had surprised myself when cursing those words to another person.

Jack took a step backwards, no longer caging me against the wall, in between his arms. His eyes grew wide, his mouth dropped open.

“You haven’t changed a thing?” He asked me now.

I could tell that he was genuinely thinking that I had done something to him. My initial thought, about him being confused because he lacked the same feelings, as well as I did, had been right!

He didn’t feel the same as last night either!

“No, I thought that the lack of sleep maybe made me feel that way. I don’t know.” I sighed.

“So, you don’t have the urge to want to be with me. At all?” He asked without having any decency about the fact that he just asked me this, so easily.

But there was also a hint of disappointment, as if he did want me to want him.

“Well, you are a nice person, and…” I took a deep breath. Should I say this? “…and you are very attractive…” I whispered while looking to my feet.

I could feel him stepping closer to me, leaning down his head.

“Am I now?” He whispered lustfully, and I could bet he has a smirk on his face from the satisfaction that I didn’t lose all feelings about him, although I didn’t look up to check that.

“Yes, but I don’t feel the same way. Not like yesterday.” I said hesitantly and with a soft voice.

He put his fingers underneath my chin, gently gesturing me to lift my face up to him.

“Doreen, I don’t feel the same way as yesterday either.” He said and I released a breath that I was holding in.

I was glad that he didn’t feel the same way either anymore.

I was glad that I didn’t have to push him away from me.

I was glad that I wouldn’t have to explain myself, if my father’s guards would come here for me.

“But there is still something about you, that draws me in. I don’t know what this mysterious thing about you is, and I don’t know what it is that is keeping me from feeling the same as last night, but I have decided that as long as you are in this town, I’m not going to let you go.” He said, no he stated.

Shit… Gladness just left the building!

“But…” I stuttered, completely hesitating about what I was going to say.

I pushed the hand that was still under my chin, to the side, and turned my face away.

“You don’t know me. You don’t know what I have been through. You don’t know about the…” I stopped, before I wanted to say more.

I can’t burden him, Vic or Bertha about anything from my past. It wouldn’t be fair to drop that onto them. Within the first sight of seeing the guards, I would just run away again, leaving this beautiful town behind me. I can’t risk the fact that the guards would hurt them, I like them too much already.

I should leave… before I become more attached to this place, to these people.

Jack

I have been sitting all day in that stupid booth, thinking over about how my pack would react to me mating her. But in the end, I had decided that it’s none of their business whether I would want to mate a human or not. Even though I doubt that she is completely human.

She truly didn’t know what the feelings from last night entailed, or in fact what happened that made us feel differently today. She was only telling me the truth.

I had smiled by her actions though, as her innocence, without the bold spark from yesterday, kept her hesitant in her emotion. Her body flinched when I had touched her chin, reluctant to submit to the feelings that she had before.

She knew how she felt then, and she knew how she felt now. It must have been confusing, just as it did to me, but I didn’t want to stop at this sudden change. I’m not going to give up, in replaceing the blissful feeling that I had yesterday.

Even though I thought, that she was no good for me or my pack, and that she didn’t deserve to be with any shifter, as that could cause her to have even more stress, I was drawn to her.

I am certain that she is my mate, because even with the blockage that is keeping us from acting the same as before, I somehow knew that my feelings weren’t foolish. Maybe it is my Alpha gene, that is stronger than anything that is blocking her from me, I’m not sure. But I was really hoping for it, that one day I would break through it.

She is my gravity, and I’m constantly being pulled towards her, and I’m not willingly going to let her go.

Besides, I don’t care that I don’t know her, or her past.

I heard her sniff, and upon turning my head around hers, I saw a tear running down her cheek.

She hadn’t finished her last sentence, which probably held more to it, than she initially wanted to let me know.

“You can tell me.” I said to her, and she turned her face back to me.

“No, that’s the thing. I can’t, it would be dangerous.” She said.

“You do know that I’m a strong man, who can take care of his own people, right?” I said to her, trying to reassure her of what I’m capable off, without actually telling her a single thing.

Tears were running intensely down her face now, instead of calming her, I actually made it worse. Have I said something wrong?

“But you are not bulletproof!” She yelled at me, and rushed herself inside, locking me outside as the door fell in the lock.

What the hell? Bulletproof?!

My initial thought that she was fleeing from something or someone, had been true all along. But who on earth would want to shoot her? She is tiny and harmless! Sure, she has a strong character, who was living all on her own, who could even make Big Max sit on his ass; But she was still a hesitant and innocent creature who hasn’t faced someone like me in her past.

There wasn’t a hair on her body, that would think of hurting someone, so it must be something else that made her assailant want to hunt and shoot her.

“Dennis, run a perimeter check every morning and evening, and let me know if new people come into town.” I linked my Beta.

“Are we in for trouble?” He asked me.

Sometimes I get annoyed by his questions, but I can understand the worry in his voice.

“I don’t know, just keep me in the loop.”

“Yes, Alpha!”

I wanted to walk around the building, to get into the diner at the front again, because I wasn’t going to let Doreen behind, teared up and all.

But suddenly the door opened, and out came an angry Bertha.

“What have you said to the poor girl?” She asked me, looking rather displeased by my supposed actions.

I raised a brow, and lifted my finger, ready to make her step down her statement.

“Boy, don’t you dare lift your finger to me! I know you are the Alpha, but I have been here longer than you, and you know you couldn’t live another day without Erol’s pancakes!” She said, fearless of my power and position, yet cute to mention her mate’s pancakes.

A breath left my throat, sighing I looked to her. I can’t become angry at her; She was right and she knew it.

“I don’t know Bertha, I just said that I wasn’t going to let her go. And then she started to cry.” I said.

“Not let her go, as in, taking her captive first?” She asked me, confused.

“No! As in that I wouldn’t give up of making her mine!” I shouted, surprised at my sudden outburst and acknowledging the fact that she is my mate.

Bertha is the second one to know this, as only Vic knows about my feelings towards Doreen. Suddenly Bertha got a smile on her face, from ear to ear, and she stormed inside again.

Was she so happy that I had found a mate? I mean, my pack would be delighted to have a Luna, after all these years of not having one, but there was something odd about Bertha’s reaction.

Quickly I ran after her, and closed the outside door behind me.

“Erol, you owe me a red velvet cake, with strawberries on top!” Bertha shouted in the kitchen.

It took Erol a few seconds, but then looked my way, surprise written on his face.

“Great, now we are going to lose another good waitress.” He mumbled and shot me a scowling look. “And I have to bake a stupid red cake!” He grunted and continued to flip some burgers.

“You knew?” I asked Bertha, who was gloating at herself.

“Yes, the moment you had made her eat breakfast, and pushed Dennis away. The look on your face told me exactly what I assumed, and you falling in my trap, was just golden!” She chuckled.

Trap? Shit, she did… She asked me if I would lock her up, which one of our kind could never do to our mate. So, of course I would reply to her that it was something else!

I rubbed my face with both my hands, trying to wipe away the frustration.

“Where is she now?” I asked her.

“Can’t you sense her?” Bertha asked me.

“No, that’s the reason why this is all so strange. She had a scent yesterday, but today she doesn’t.” I told her, as there is no reason to keep it from her anyway, as she would replace out eventually.

“But please don’t tell anyone, I need to do this carefully, because she isn’t used to our kind.” I said to her.

She made the movement of sealing her lips and throwing away the key. But then she spoke up, telling me where she is. “She ran upstairs and Vic is with her.”