Chapter 10: Closer But Still So Far

Priscilla’s POV

“Do a head count. Secure the territory,” Wyatt ordered to the two shifters as he ushered me inside the lodge. His deep gashes had shallowed substantially on the way back, clotting and closing slowly. I turned away as he pulled on some shorts.

I’d seen him naked already, but the sight of his bare skin still pinkened my face.

The two shifters bowed their heads and took off toward the woods. I still didn’t know who they were. All wolves looked the same, except for Wyatt. I could pick him out easily. “Who were they?”

“Rob and Tanner,” Wyatt answered. He grunted suddenly in pain, and I turned back around. Even though his wounds already looked astronomically better, the skin around the claw marks were puckered and red hot.

“Are you okay?” I asked, eyes fluttering across his chest.

“I should be asking you that,” he replied, opening a cabinet in the kitchen where he kept the first aid kit. He snapped it open, finding some alcohol to sterilize it before it got infected.

The house was unusually quiet. “Where is everyone?”

“I sent everyone out to secure the territory including Oriana to be on the lookout for rogues.”

Wyatt didn’t even wince as he cleaned the gashes. My fingertips twitched, wanting to do something. “Let me help,” I offered before I thought better of it.

He didn’t have time to argue when I snatched the cloth from him, wiping the raw flesh that wasn’t even weeping anymore. This was the second time that I had found myself staring at something’s fangs and Wyatt got me out of it.

My fingertips brushed across the planes of his chest. He leaned against the kitchen island, letting me touch him. I heard him sigh and I looked up to meet his eyes. To my surprise, those mossy green eyes had fluttered closed, almost like he was savoring the sensation of my fingertips.

“How did you find me?” I asked.

Then his eyes opened and met mine, only intriguing me further as I couldn’t place the expression in his gaze. “You were distressed.”

“The bond tells you how I’m feeling?”

He shrugged, maintaining eye contact. “Only strong emotions. When I first laid eyes on you, it provoked the bond. Now I can feel when you’re upset.” He paused. “What happened tonight?”

I pulled my gaze away from his, feeling vulnerable and most of all, stupid. “I got a surprise visit from a family friend, and she told my sister a secret that wasn’t hers to tell.”

A long fingertip stroked the underside of my jaw, sending a wave of heat down to my thighs. My eyes met his again. Dios Mio, he could look right through me, causing an uneasy coil in my stomach. “What else?” he asked, his deep voice dropping even further into a gravelly rumble.

Maybe it was the alcohol buzzing in my system that made me so talkative. “I shouldn’t be telling you this,” I murmured, trying to pull away, but he wouldn’t let me.

“You can tell me anything, Priscilla.”

I didn’t know what scared me more. The fact that he said it or the fact that he meant it. Judging by the stutter of my heartbeat and the quivering in my legs, I knew it was the latter.

As much as I wanted to pull away, escape to the confines of my secrets, I could feel the tether between us tighten. I couldn’t pull away from him. The hot coiling breath of desire wouldn’t let me. His lush lips beckoned my touch, crying out for me.

I gulped, finding the strength to look away from his byzantine eyes. My walls came back up as I stroked the cloth over one last nearly gone claw mark. The skin knit back up before my eyes once it had been disinfected.

Wyatt’s chest rose and fell with a sigh. “When my little sister died, I felt like I had lost everything.”

My eyes met his again.

“Even though Emma died in my arms, I couldn’t grieve her. I had a pack to lead. So, I let Rob grieve enough for the both of us. He needed me to be strong, so I was.”

A moment of silence passed between us before I confessed, “When I was eighteen, I tried to kill myself. It wasn’t Astrid’s fault, but the timing didn’t help anything.”

He gazed at me, the fingertip under my chin trailing up to the side of my face, testing the waters as he tenderly cupped my cheek. “A moment of weakness does not define you.”

How does he always know the right thing to say? The fated connection between us tightened even further, drawing me even closer to him. My mouth felt dry as I stood there, shamefully basking in his gaze.

Dios Mio, I loved the way his hand felt against my skin. The realization causing my cheeks to burn. I didn’t want this. To feel so helplessly drawn to him. If I didn’t say something soon, I was going to kiss him and if I kissed him, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to stop myself.

I took in his face, noting the stubble across his jaw, his high angular cheekbones, those eyes that were so much older than he was. I knew that Wyatt was a handsome man. I’d be blind not to see that.

But I had never looked at him long enough to see how delicate and full his lips seemed compared to his strong features. A heavy pulse of longing settled on my shoulders, sliding down my extremities, leaving me flushed under the collar.

Suddenly, my heart thudded with fear. This scared me. My feelings scared me.

Wyatt scared me.

That was enough to break me free from the tether, pulling away from him completely. It almost hurt to take a step away, that longing feeling not dissipating like I thought it would.

“I can’t,” I whispered, barely audible, but I knew Wyatt heard me.

*****

Wyatt’s POV

Feeling Priscilla in his arms, just a breath away, made his wolf howl with contentment. So, having her step away, regret on her tongue, hurt more than getting slashed up by that rogue. Priscilla retreated again, leaving him in the kitchen.

Wyatt’s shoulders sagged for a moment, a sigh on his lips as he shut the first aid kid and returned it to its appropriate place. He felt his heart soften for a moment as he thought about how Priscilla melted just slightly, offering Wyatt a little piece of herself.

His mate opening up to him, dropping her walls if only for a moment was the beginning of letting him in. How he cupped the side of her face and her lips parted only slightly. She didn’t know how badly she ignited that fire within him. That reckless desire that swam through his veins.

It took everything in him not to pull her flush against him, legs pulled up around his hips as he swallowed every cry that spilled from her lips. He would have ripped the fabric from her, kissing all the deliciously tan skin he could reach.

He imagined how her eyes would roll back with every stroke of pleasure. Wyatt wanted her to let go, give into those sweet fantasies that she dreamed about. He would do anything she asked and more, giving more than he received.

But he couldn’t. Priscilla had to make the first move. He couldn’t take that from her.

Wyatt’s heart squeezed as he recollected how it felt when Priscilla was in danger. That debilitating terror. He couldn’t even control himself as he sought her out, even with Rob and Tanner on his tail.

He almost didn’t get there in time.

That rogue cursed one was snarling in Priscilla’s face, all intention of taking her life away. When she looked at him, it was like she was looking at rain in a drought, an answer to her prayers. If only she looked at him like that all the time.

As they walked back to the packhouse, Wyatt couldn’t smell her blood, so he knew that she wasn’t marked by the werewolf. Rogues being in Venice spelled bad news. Wyatt would need to set up a meeting with Eva to address the issue.

Werewolves are a plague. Hardly in control of themselves. They instinctually turn anyone that crosses them. On the full moon, they are more animal than man. Unlike experienced shifters that don’t turn under the pull of the moon.

Yes, a full moon tends to make his pack antsy and more reckless than usual, but they still wouldn’t go out and hunt people regardless.

Where there is one werewolf, there is likely to be more. Dangerous to the locals. The Romano’s probably don’t even know about it yet.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the lodge door.

He could scent the pureblood and human just beyond the threshold before he even answered it. Wyatt wasn’t surprised to see Astrid. The woman with her must’ve been the family friend Priscilla was talking about.

His eyes narrowed and he leaned against the doorframe, an uncharacteristic spike of anger settling into the lines on his face. “Astrid.”

The small pureblood looked up at Wyatt, very clearly related to Priscilla. “Did Priscilla get back okay?” Astrid asked.

“She’s safe,” Wyatt answered. He looked next to Astrid at the mortal. The woman held herself with grace, exuding confidence. “And you are?”

“This is Jessica, a family friend,” Astrid said, gesturing to Jessica. “Can we come in?”

Wyatt didn’t offer Jessica his hand, feeling protective over Priscilla. Even if he didn’t show it, Jessica was the woman that upset Priscilla to the point of getting inebriated and almost killed, and that pissed him off. “No.”

And there was no way in hell he was going to invite a pureblood into his home.

An expression of surprise crossed Astrid’s face, “This is family business. Can you just tell her that we’re here?”

“No,” Wyatt answered again. “Leave.”

Jessica scoffed, “Excuse me?”

Wyatt stepped out of the lodge, closing the door behind him quietly before stating firmly, voice full of authority, “I said, leave. Priscilla’s been through enough for one night.”

“What happened?” Astrid asked. “Where is everyone?”

“That is on a need-to-know basis, and you don’t need to know,” he replied, summoning Tanner through the mindlink. “I’ll tell Priscilla that you stopped by, but you’re not welcome here.”

The mortal nearly jumped out of her skin as Tanner appeared by the porch, still in his wolf form. His tanned coat had greenery hooked to it, a few brambles, but no blood or trace of combat. “What the fuck is that?”

“Make sure they get back to the villa safely. The roads are dangerous tonight,” Wyatt ordered out loud to make his intentions clear to the pureblood. “Have a good night.”

Tanner bowed his head, gesturing for the women to follow him off the land. Astrid clearly wanted to argue but decided against it. Wyatt went back inside the lodge, passing by Priscilla’s room.

She was still awake. He could tell by the hammering of her heart. He knocked briefly, announcing, “Your sister stopped by. I sent them away.”

He could hear a whispered thank you.

“Goodnight, Priscilla.”

“Goodnight, Wyatt,” Priscilla returned from behind the closed door.