You Want to Marry Me?

Mila

Ouch. My head is killing me. What happened?

My eyes feel so heavy that I’m not sure if they’ve been glued shut or something worse.

“You’re awake.” The sound of a familiar deep voice makes me startle.

I blink my eyes a few times and a blurry Julian-shaped figure comes into view. “Julian?”

The clearer he becomes, I see the worry on his face.

“What happened?” I ask and try to sit up.

“Don’t. You’re going to be weak for a while. Just rest.” His strong hands gently push me back down against the pillows.

I can see him clearer now and it looks like he hasn’t slept in days. Now I’m the one worried.

“Are you okay?” I ask.

He lets out a tired laugh. “You’re the one that’s been unconscious for almost an entire day, and you're worried about me.”

“Well, you don’t look well and…did you say almost a day? How? I can’t remember- “

A vague memory of me at dinner with Roman claws its way out, but no matter how hard I try, I can’t remember anything else.

“I can’t remember…how did I get here? Where are we?” I need some damn answers soon or I’ll start panicking.

“Roman drugged you and took you to a hotel,” Julian says.

I blink at him in shock. Drugged? Roman drugged me? Why?

“What do you mean? He drugged me? But why?” I blurt.

“I’m guessing he tried to make a move on you and you didn’t agree. He took the choice from you.” That last part comes out with a growl and I see his jaw clenching.

He isn’t happy.

“Wow. You…saved me?” I ask cautiously.

He’s been nice lately, but I don’t want to assume he had any part in helping me.

“Yes. My men saw him carry you into the hotel.”

“Your men? Were they…following me?”

He looks at me for a long moment, and I realize he doesn’t need to answer me. It’s something I could imagine him doing, but I’m not sure why. He’s so hard for me to understand and yet sometimes I can sense things about him and I don’t know how. It’s been that way since we met.

“I didn’t trust Roman with you.” He says, as if it’s a perfectly rational explanation.

“Why? What’s it to you? Why do you keep pushing your way into my life, Julian? I don’t work for you anymore, so there is no reason- “

“I have every reason and right!” He snaps.

I’m startled by the sudden shout and flick away from him. He stands abruptly and starts pacing in front of the far too-large bed I’m currently lying on.

“Julian- “

“You are my mate Mila! The one I was meant to find and to claim as mine for the rest of my life. You are my world and no matter how hard I tried to stay away, I couldn’t. That night it snapped into place, but I was a coward. I made excuses for leaving you alone but I couldn’t I can’t!” He yells.

I don’t flinch away this time. Maybe because of what he’s just said. I should freak out. That would be the normal thing to do. Right? Yeah, I mean, who says things like this?

“I don’t understand,” I say instead.

He looks at me like he’s shocked I’m not freaking out a little more. Maybe it’s the drugs in my system. Who the hell knows at this point?

“Which part?” He asks cautiously, as if he’s ready for me to scream and run at any second.

“Mates. What is that?” This one catches my attention the most.

He sighs and nods. “I’m going to tell you something that you might not believe.” Not a great start. “I’ll show you evidence if you’re open to it, but I don’t want to scare you.”

All I can do is nod. What exactly is he about to confess? Don’t we need a priest for life-changing confessions? From his tone, that’s exactly what this is about to be.

“I’m a shifter. A wolf shifter. Our kind stay hidden because of our country's history of destroying things they don’t understand. So we stay hidden unless we have a reason to reveal ourselves to others, not like us,” He explains.

Okay, that stuff Roman gave me screwed up my head worse than I thought. Because there is no way Julian just claimed to be a werewolf. I recall every movie and show I’ve seen with werewolves and it only makes me imagine Julian with pointed ears, sideburns, yellow eyes, elongated teeth, and claws. I tilt my head slightly as I add those things to him in my mind. He’s insanely handsome as it is but with a few animalistic qualities added in…well that is some image. I swallow around the knot forming in my throat and try to ignore the way my body heats.

He breathes in deep and his eyes slowly change, making me gasp and cover my hand with my mouth. What the heck?

“Part of you is not afraid of me. Does that mean you believe me? Or do you need more evidence?” He asks.

Part of me?

“What do you mean, part of me?” I ask.

He does something very unlike him and reacts by running his hand down the back of his neck. “I can smell your…arousal.”

Uh, what?! “You can smell me if I’m…turned on?”

He nods, and my whole body heats for a whole new reason.

“It’s perfectly normal for you to have a strong reaction to your mate.”

That doesn’t make me feel any better.

“Whatever. What is the evidence you were talking about? I want to see that.” I want to get off the subject of how much I want to jump his bones.

“Are you sure you want to see it? You don’t trust my word?” He asks, eyeing me.

“Oh my god Julian, I’m not in the right mental state to deal with games! Show me the damn evidence or- “

There’s a flash, and suddenly a giant wolf is standing where Julian had been. My eyes widen and my heart stops beating just before I open my mouth and scream.

I don’t know why I think what I do next is a good idea, but I grab one of the pillows on the bed and chuck it at the giant animal. He catches it in his mouth and throws it aside.

“Get out! Oh, my god! Bad dog!” I say frantically.

In my mind, I know that he’s not a dog, but I’m freaking out! So I grab another pillow and ready it, but another flash burst through the room and Julian is back. Another scream escapes me and I throw the pillow I had in my hand, ready to go. Julian knocks it aside with no effort and stares at me, looking unimpressed.

“Are you done?”

I gawk at him and grab another pillow. How many pillows are on this bed? Doesn’t matter, it serves my purpose, so who cares? So I throw my only weapon at him and he grabs it when it hits him in the chest and sighs.

“This is pointless, Mila. A pillow can’t hurt me.” He points out.

“I know that!” I yell at him, sounding a little hysterical.

Can you blame me? This guy just turned into a WOLF!

“Calm down Mila. You don’t have to fear me or him.” He says too calmly.

“Him? He’s like his own entity?” I ask and cringe at my wording.

Julian’s brows furrow. “Of course he is. What else would he be?”

“I don’t know!” I throw my hands up and drop back down on the bed, feeling exhausted again. “This is baffling. It’s a dream.”

“It’s not a dream. I can assure you of that.”

“How? How can you be so sure?” I’ve covered my face with my hands and am trying my best not to freak out. Well, more than I have.

I feel the bed dip and I drop my arms to see Julian sitting next to me on the bed. Him being this close should bring that fear back, but I’m too tired to be scared now. Now all I want is to go back to sleep.

“I know it’s not a dream because I can feel you. In my dreams, you were always too far away from me. No matter how hard I fought…I could never reach you.” He reaches out and runs one of his fingers along my arm, creating goosebumps in their wake.

“You dream of me?” I ask.

My voice shakes the higher his fingers travel up my body.

“All the time. It hurts when I’m not near you.” He admits and clears his throat, dropping his touch from me.

“So, what does it mean for me to be your mate? Does that mean we are supposed to get married or something?” I blurt out.

His lips quirk up in the corner and slowly changes into a smile. “You want to marry me?”

Uh oh. Why is he looking at me like he’s ready to devour me?