Chapter Ten

Dimitri’s POV.

Although I had given Willow an extra hour off, my mind was still stuck on her. I could not help it. With the news of Vladimir’s mate still fresh, and my wolf feeling even more testy, all I wanted to do to her was hold her. The urge was becoming so strong that I was not sure if I could trust myself around her anymore. Not that I would hurt her. No, not at all. But that I would finally give in and tell her the truth. This was not how I wanted to do it.

I knew I had to tell Willow about her being my mate. And I also knew she would hate me as soon as she found out. What exactly was I going to tell her when she asked me why I treated her like crap? That I wanted to push her away? Even to my ears, that sounded like a load of shit. I was supposed to be working but I could not concentrate. So, I stepped out of my office and went closer to her desk.

Her scent was still very powerful. For some reason, it had been even stronger these days. I felt like I was going crazy. And I would deserve it. I closed my eyes and stood there until I heard the ding of the elevator. She was back earlier than I expected.

I turned towards her and our eyes met. She flushed and she averted her eyes. I stifled the urge to chuckle. I knew Willow disliked me - for good reason - but if there was one thing she could not hide, it was her attraction towards me. Every time she got aroused looking at me, I could smell it. And I could not count the number of times I had suppressed Adrik, so he didn’t just pounce on our mate.

“Oh, Mr Rustanov,” she said almost breathlessly. Then she smiled and lifted a bag. “I know you said you did not want anything but I got you lunch.”

She came towards me and I fought the urge to scoot back. She was so fucking tempting, and it was taking me all I had not to pull her into me and kiss her. Sometimes, I wondered how things would have been if I had just been honest with her from the start. I did not have to mate with her because the Goddess would know. I should have been nicer to her, prepared her for what was coming.

With how great she was being, even with everything that I had put her through, I could imagine how we would have been if I had just told her the truth. I took the bag from her and raised a brow.

“What’s in here?” I asked.

“Your usual. A medium rare steak with a side of asparagus. I honestly do not know how you manage to eat that and not fall asleep right after.”

The last part was muttered but I chuckled as I heard it. Unknowingly or knowingly, Willow moved close to me. I finally did what I had been trying not to do all day, take in her scent.

I frowned. Usually, her scent was a mix of the people she had interacted with. But it was different that day. There was one scent that seemed more pronounced, almost as if she had interacted a lot more with whoever had the scent. I shook my head when I saw that Willow was looking at me with a concerned expression on her face.

“Sir? I’m sorry I just assumed. I’ll just…”

“No, that’s fine, Willow. Excuse my bad manners. Thank you,” I said.

Adrik was going crazy in me because of the scent and I had a precarious hold on our self control. I wanted to take her hand and ask her about whoever the scent belonged to. But I would be out of place. I had already done so much that had scared my little mate. Now that she was finally warming up to us, there was no point making her terrified once again.

I took a deep breath, which turned out to be a big mistake because of how deep the scent went.

“Sir,” Willow whispered, taking my wolf and I out of our jealousy-crazed spell. “Are you alright?”

I tried to muster a smile but I was sure the only thing she saw was a grimace. “Perfectly fine, Willow. Did you have lunch already?”

I knew she would not give me a definite answer if I asked her who she had had lunch with. She would probably see it as me trying to control her. From all indications, controlling Willow was an impossible task. She was extremely stubborn and once she had her mind set on something, she tried her best to get done with it.

“Yes, I did. I wasn’t really hungry though. Plus, if I eat too much at lunch, you’ll probably just fire me. The only thing I want after lunch is a long nap.”

I was tempted to tell her to go back home before my wolf took over completely. But I could not. I wanted to look at her. I needed her to stay. I carefully considered how to phrase my next question. “Did you meet up with any friends?”

For a minute, Willow hesitated and I almost saw blood. I knew it was not an answer but I wondered why she was being hesitant. Was it a boyfriend like I thought initially? The same person with whom she was sharing ‘I love yous’ with over the phone?

“A friend would be a stretch. I…” Willow seemed to regret sharing that piece of information and she shook her head. “You know what, Mr Rustanov, let’s just say it was a friend. For clarity’s sake.”

“Dimitri,” I said impulsively.

“Excuse me?” It was clear that Willow had understood what I was trying to say.

I repeated it anyway. “Call me Dimitri.”

I was playing a dangerous game. I was stretching my limits so far that they were going to come back and hit me in the face. There was a perplexed look on Willow’s face and it was normal. I had never once encouraged any kind of familiarity between us. For some reason, Vladimir’s announcement had changed everything. I wanted to be as close to her as I could possibly be. I could not tell her the truth now, that much was certain. But I could soften her up.

“That’s new,” she muttered.

“What do you mean?”

I knew exactly what she meant but I did not want the conversation to end. She probably thought I was some sort of bipolar monster. And she would not be very far off. I was beginning to realize that I did not care. I had spent way too much time pushing her away. I still had the chance to remedy that.

“I mean, sir, you’ve always been so adamant about the fact that boundaries should not be crossed. The first thing you mentioned to me when I started was how you wanted me to remain formal with you at all times. So, I’m just wondering how that changed.”

“Things are meant to change, aren’t they Willow?” I asked softly.

I remembered the encounter she was talking about clearly. When she came in, I was so elated I had found my mate. That was before realization set in and I understood that I needed to set boundaries between us if I wanted to survive. She was probably having whiplash and wondering what had gotten into me.

“Of course they are,” Willow answered. “I just… adapting to the change is what is a bit difficult. But I will try my best.”

I hummed my agreement. “That is all I ask from you. Let me not keep you any longer,” I said, “I’ll be in my office.”

“Okay sir, see you later,” she said softly and I nodded.

Then I walked to my office and placed the lunch bag on the table. I closed the door and leaned against it. My terrible choices were catching up with me. And there was nothing I could do about it. I had brought all of this on myself. There was no one else I could blame. I could not even bring myself to resent my brother.

Vladimir had always wanted to be Alpha. He had been raised to be Alpha, and if the Goddess worked the way we wanted her to, then I would have been on my way for his coronation. By some sick twist of fate, I was going to become everything I did not want.

It was such a sick twist of fate and I was so tired of the Moon Goddess playing with our lives like ping pong. I left the door and went behind my desk and sat, but not before pouring myself a glass of scotch. I could not wait for all of this to come to an end.