~ Chapter Sixteen ~

My training was less than half as long as the others’, yet I was not able to simply walk around as if nothing had happened afterward. I was exhausted, wheezing when nobody was looking. Jessica had opted to train me out of sight, behind a tall rocky hill that I almost broke my face on the moment I got close to it. She asked me to run seven times, each time for longer than the last, and then she pushed for me to move faster. I was already struggling, but the constant… aggressive support from my trainer actually forced me into completing more. I felt awful but I’d done it, I’d completed one of my personal training sessions in cardio. Jess definitely would have to put me through it again next time, though. Improving my stamina and speed was my first task.

I was soon sleeping through lunch, dragging myself into the shower, and then reluctantly putting on clothing I thought might be a good idea for this mysterious place Dimitri wished to take me. I had to admit, I wasn’t really up for it. Perhaps one good thing could come out of Dima’s unusually possessive and controlling nature: I wouldn’t have to do anything. But I ‘didn’t’ want that, it was the exhaustion talking.

Dimitri met me at the front door, which was almost always left open since pack members were in and out constantly - it was less disruptive for the door to simply be open. I walked past Jessica, who, despite going through two training sessions that took up her entire morning, was as filled with breath and life as ever. She didn’t notice me, though, so I had no excuse to postpone whatever travel I was about to undertake.

“Hello,” I said, as I stopped next to Dimitri. My legs already didn’t like me.

“Hi, how was training? I came to ask but you were sleeping?”

“Does that not answer your question?”

A ghost of a smile tugged at his lips. “I suppose it does.”

“But don’t go thinking I can’t handle training, *Dima*. I can, it was just my first time. I need to adapt to it. And it was cardio, for fucksake.”

“I know, I wasn’t going to say anything about that. I think it’s best we steer clear of everything that pulls us apart for today; we should find our similarities instead.”

“That’s a great idea,” I agreed, thinking about earlier. “So, this place I’ll like, where is it?”

“Not too far. We can travel as wolves, so you don’t get too tired. I’ve prepared this for you.” He handed me a backpack. “It’s one of our to-go backpacks; basic clothing, water, a couple of snacks. Usually we put phones in there, too.”

“That’s a cute little idea,” I teased as I slid my phone into the front pocket. “Are my clothes inside?”

“Yes - and I put in one of my t-shirts… in case, I don’t know, you want to wear it. Dylan said you might.”

I smiled. “That’s sweet.”

He nodded, uncomfortable, and motioned me toward the door. I walked ahead out onto the front porch. He led me silently away from the pack grounds, toward the trees. We stayed human until we had cover from the rest of the pack, then stripped down without looking at one another and shifted. I took my backpack strap into my mouth, which wasn’t the most comfortable thing in the world, but was better than ending up naked at the other end of the run. Dimitri led, his large paws pounding into the ground. I noticed that we weren’t exactly moving away from the pack anymore, but around it, back toward the mountains. This pattern continued until we leaped - one more enthusiastically than the other - over a rocky hill. My paws crunched on stabby spikes at the other end, but this didn’t stop Dimitri. He stormed ahead as if his paws weren’t being cut open by stubborn little rocks, and slipped between two trees. I almost unwillingly ran after him.

On the other side of this seemingly small set of trees, I found a wide, open field covered in beautiful flowers of all kinds. A small, bright blue pond complemented all of the greens, violets and pinks surrounding it, creating a magical atmosphere. I didn’t typically enjoy things like this, but it instantly reminded me of my safe haven when I was at my old pack house, and one glance at the pride on Dimitri’s wolfish face told me he knew that.

Without shifting, I ran and jumped into the water. My backpack was left abandoned at the bank, as my fur soaked in the cool liquid. I couldn’t even be mad at the temperature, I just felt so at home. An interesting thought crossed my mind, which became even more interesting when I noticed Dimitri standing in a pair of gym shorts at the edge of the pond, looking in at me. I chose not to move from where I was, shifting, letting my bones crack and my body start to ache. But then when I stood up using the bottom of the shallow pond to stand, the water reaching just below my collarbones, and I saw the look on Dimitri’s face, everything - the cold water, the aching, the little part of me that was insecure - became *totally* worth it. The water was clear but not completely see-through; I knew he was only getting a taste of what was underneath.

“The pack are right over that hill,” Dima warned quietly, staring down at me in the water.

I stood on my toes, causing a gentle wave to pull the water away, revealing a little bit more of my chest. Dima started to growl.

“Erika…”

“I can shift if I hear someone,” I replied, turning my face in another direction.

“Aren’t you… cold?”

“No.” That was a complete lie.

He narrowed his eyes, and then looked down at his feet. “You know, I know I said we should find our similarities, but expressing how hot we both are probably shouldn’t be our first priority.”

I rolled my eyes. “No, but at least we’ve found our first difference: I don’t have a massive ego.”

His gaze flashed up to meet mine, a tug at the corner of his lips.

“Maybe I should add our sense of humour to the list,” I added, moving toward the bank he stood on. He backed up, and I grinned. “What, afraid of a naked woman?”

“Normally, no, but I’m trying to make things work with this one, and seeing her naked right now will only make things a *lot* more difficult.”

“How so?” I challenged. Dimitri’s jaw ticked.

“How so? I don’t have any reason to avoid temptation anymore, Erika. You’re here, at my pack, with me. Right now we’re also alone…” He trailed off as he checked around us, and then leaned forward on one knee, so that our faces were almost close. I stared directly into his eyes meaning for it to be fearless and stubborn, but found myself getting lost in the vast depths of warm, soft brown.

I gulped. “Well, I would say no, there’s your reason.”

He glanced down at my lips. “Would you?”

“Yes?” I spoke in a whisper.

Dimitri dropped onto his other knee and reached out just one hand, caressing the side of my face with his fingertips. A trail of tingles followed in his wake, travelling down my arm and into my chest way ahead of him. I found my hands yearning to reach out for him; for his face, his body, his hair; anything I could grab onto. He stroked his hand across my cheek under my ear and tugged me closer. I pressed against the edge of the pond, which felt more like a pool, and looked completely up at him. He held eye contact.

“If I” - he brushed his thumb over my cheekbone - “leaned forward right now” - he leaned forward, but not enough to close the gap between us - “and kissed you” - his eyes flicked down to my lips - “are you really saying you would be able to say no to me?”

I opened my mouth to answer but no words came out.

“I-I know... that if you…" He paused and tilted his head to the side. "If you *asked* me to kiss you right now, I wouldn’t be able to- to resist that.”

“We don’t work outside of our own little world,” I replied quietly, cutting through the tension. “I think we both wish that we would but we don’t.”

He blinked out of the trance. “Maybe.”

“It’s not a matter of maybe, Dima, it’s for certain.” I brushed away the hand on my face and swam backward, for my own sanity more than anything. The water reached over my shoulders now, safely covering me. “I mean, honestly, you can hardly let me train and you’re going to be so controlling because you think I’m just another one of your subjects, I think I’d end up wanting to kill myself - or at least to run away from you so I can live my own life.

“We can’t say we would work. You need someone who *can* follow your every order. Everyone keeps saying I should just try to help you change, but I don’t wanna be that girl who thinks her man will change just because of her; that she can ‘fix him’. I’m simply not that sort of girl.”

Dimitri crossed his arms over his chest. “I know you aren’t that kind of girl, and I don’t know who’s been saying that, but I’m not happy.”

“I won’t disclose their names.”

“I can guess,” he interrupted as he glared back toward the pack.

“Tell me you think we would work,” I suggested.

He looked at me. “We don’t have to play this game, Erika. We know the truth.” His eyes flicked to the field surrounding us, and I peered into the beautiful water. “I brought you here because I thought it looked like the garden at your old place, you know. I thought maybe we could - I don’t know - pretend we were still there. But I guess it just proves that we have to be in our own little bubble for this to work, doesn’t it?”

“I’m afraid it does.” I sadly nodded. “*But* it is beautiful and I’m so glad you’ve shown it to me.”

“Would you like your clothes now?” he asked as he reached down for my backpack.

“You know, I would, but I kind of like the naked thing.”

He looked at me sharply

“What? You would too if you were in here.”

“Am I invited?” He sounded almost hopeful.

I gave him a deadpan look. “Did we not basically just reject each other, Dima?”

He smiled a little bit for me.

“You’re not invited,” I stated clearly, and he sighed. “That reminds me, actually… *should* we reject each other?”

“If you want to.”

“I think we should.”

He nodded. “Okay, then come out and get some clothes on and we can.”

I hesitated, but agreed to come out of the water. Dimitri left my clothes on the bank and stood facing away so I could change without him seeing. After all, he wouldn’t be seeing it eventually anyway like I had thought when I shifted. Once I was dressed into a pair of leggings and a hoodie, I told Dima to turn around, and we sat down among all of the flowers.

There was something so depressing about this, but we both knew it had to be done. He wouldn’t change for me and I wasn’t going to settle for something I wouldn’t be happy with. So we said the dreaded words and dealt with the discomfort of our wolves’ agony.

“I, Dimitri Stone, reject you, Erika Keller as my mate.”

“I, Erika Keller, reject you, Dimitri Stone, also as my mate.”

We nodded at each other and got up to head back to the pack.

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