His to Claim (Published)

Some Call These Baby Steps

Noah and I haven’t spoken to each other since that day in the woods and it’s been close to week since that day happened. I’ve basically been a prisoner in my room luckily Nadia and Lacey have been coming to visit with me everyday or else I would probably kill myself from boredom. My wolf has been pining for Noah but I know he isn’t going to answer her call after the things I said to him and honestly I am happy he’s stayed away because I still don’t know how I feel about the information that Kellan gave me. 

So I was appreciating the silence, sitting on my couch reading a book that Lacey had been kind enough to lend me earlier when there was a knock on my door, “Who is it?” I called out not bothering to look up. The door opened without another word and I looked up to see Dane entering my space. 

I frowned at him, “I could have been naked you know.” He chuckled, “If only I could be so lucky.” I narrow my eyes at him, “What do you want?” I close my book. He made sure to keep his distance which told me that Noah must have sent him here, “I only wanted to see how you were feeling…” 

I opened my book again and looked away from him, “What you mean to say is Noah was wondering how I was feeling and he sent you to check up on me because he was to afraid to come see for himself…” I say in a bored tone. 

“That obvious huh?” Dane teases playfully. I try not to smile but I can’t help myself. I look back up towards him to find him grinning, “You know your making it incredibly hard for me to sulk and that’s annoying since that’s what I want to do right now.” He moves closer to me with confident steps taking a seat on the couch next to me. I stare at him openly, “Feeling brave I see…” 

He looks down at the book in my hands, “What are you reading?” he changes the topic. I roll my eyes and close the book, “Some crappy teen romance that Lacey lent me…” I turn myself so that I’m facing him on the couch, “Are you planning on being here long? I have other things I need to do today like pace and pace and pace some more…all of which will be much more enjoyable to do without someone watching me.” I knew I was being mean for no reason but I was tired of being trapped in my room and the fact that I hadn’t been near my mate was starting to make me moody. 

Dane held up his hands in surrender, “Don’t kill the messenger—“ 

I glare at him, “Why not? It sends a message.” Dane quickly gets up off the couch and moves a small distance away from me. Which makes me smirk again even  though I want to continue to be angry. 

“Look Scarlett—“ Dane’s playfulness is gone, “I know you don’t know Noah like the rest of us and he hasn’t really made a good first impression…” 

“You think?” I say sarcastically. 

Dane gives me a look, “But he isn’t the monster his brother has made him out to be. We all have done things we aren’t proud of but I’ve never once questioned Noah’s love for Claire or his loyalty to this pack. He cares about all of us but he just doesn’t know how to show that all the time. It probably has something to do with his past—I’m not trying to persuade you to forgive him for anything—all I’m saying is maybe you could try to understand him a little and see where he’s coming from.” 

I look away from Dane and let out a small sigh, “You’re a good Beta Dane—but it’s complicated. This relationship between Noah and I shouldn’t even be possible—we both already had true mates…“