~Chapter Twenty-Seven ~

Humans were a species that I should have known quite well, given that I was half human like any werewolf. But, sitting there in the middle of a bar, it had never been more clear the divide between us. Most of these humans didn't know each other; there were so many, after all, that it would be difficult to have any knowledge of every single person, while in the wolf world, most people had at least heard of the different families or packs filling the woods. Even if Dimitri had never met me or my father, he had known of the Kellers as doctors, and especially he'd known about Roger. For humans, it was like other people didn't exist outside of their own little bubble.

Dimitri took me to a couple of bars and "hang-out" spots, including a typical date idea that I'd been quite unsure about at first: bowling. I'd never played before and was worried that our increased wolf strength would make us stand out in the crowd, but a couple of throws in, all I could focus on was how to win the next game. Despite Dimitri's experience with bowling - from all the time he spent with humans growing up - I won two of four games, and we decided to settle the score in the arcade, which was also new to me.

"I'm gonna kick your ass," I snapped, midway through an intense race.

He laughed. "Sure."

From the beers, the fact that we were away from the pack, and the general good feeling of the evening, Dimitri was looser than he had ever been. There was no pride or reputation to hold up out here with people we didn't know, and I could always see the genuine grin on his face because of it. I didn't want to be the girl who tried to change him still, but as I watched, I couldn't help but wonder if this *was* the real him, if Alpha Stone was the phony. I never voiced these thoughts, though, in fear of ruining the evening.

With no mercy for my beginner status, Dimitri destroyed me in the races, and I relented to giving him the winner title of the evening. "So, what is it that you won?" I asked him, my hands resting innocently on his chest. He looked down at them and then back into my eyes without saying anything. An incredible pull drew us slowly together, so strong that I was thinking about scarring the few teenagers left behind - leftovers from the evening rush of the bowling alley - with something that was definitely not for their eyes.

But something flashed across Dimitri's face, like he'd snapped out of a trance, and he shook his head. There was an edge to the way he looked at me. "I don't need to win anything."

"Come on, you won fair and square. Although I wouldn't call merciless battle against a beginner *fair*..." I tilted my head to the side, casting a glance up and down his body. "What did you win, Alpha?"

His jaw clenched. "Don't call me that in public."

"Why?" I teased.

"Humans don't know about us, in case you forgot."

I rolled my eyes. "Wouldn't they be more likely to think it's some kind of... kink? I doubt they'll hear me say alpha and immediately change their views on the entire world as they know it."

"It's just precaution," he muttered, spying the people around us. When he found no threats - because there were no threats in the human world - he took my hand and nodded toward the door. "Let's head back to the house, we need to watch that movie that kid suggested earlier." There was something off about what he said, but like before, I brushed it off. I figured it was personal, maybe he'd realised how free he had been with me tonight and was retreating into his little hole of an ego. I couldn't say I'd be surprised.

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A quiet but not empty house waited for us at the pack grounds. I walked ahead of Dimitri, looking down at my phone as I went inside. I didn't notice anything at first, until somebody shifted. Everyone who lived in this house was sitting in the living room, staring at the TV, pretending not to notice our return. I would have rolled my eyes, but Dimitri started to guide me toward the stairs too soon.

"Are they waiting up for us?" I asked incredulously.

"I guess so." Dimitri shrugged. "We can just watch the movie on my laptop, I don't feel like being around them all."

He pushed open his bedroom door, and I glanced into his eyes. "Yeah, me neither." We stared at each other for a second, the bond drawing us closer, feelings stirring in my stomach. I slowly reached out for his waist and closed my fist around the fabric of his shirt, pressing my lips together. I was about to speak, but he suddenly pushed me against the wall. His lips crashed onto mine in a passionate kiss filled with the memories from the evening we'd spent together. It felt almost normal, like any other date was supposed to be, to slowly back into his room, shut the door, find our way to the bed and fall onto it together. This kiss was a little more than 'welcome home' or 'that was a nice date'; it was 'I want you'. And I really did.

But he pulled back, kissing at my cheek and jawline. As he drifted toward my neck, he whispered, "I need to go downstairs for a minute."

"Why?" I tangled my fingers into his hair to tug him back up to my lips, to hold him there where he couldn't leave.

"I just need to tell Dylan off."

"Can't that wait?"

He hesitated. "Yeah, but there are a couple of other things, too. I should have taken care of it before we left, I just didn't have time."

"Okay." My jaw locked in place. "You know the mood's going to be *a lot* different when you get back, right?"

"I know and I'm gonna hate myself for it for the rest of the night." Dimitri got off of me and headed for the door, and I didn't argue with him. My whole body was tingling with want for him, with the inescapable need that now plagued my every thought. It was just the bond forcing me to want him so much, but for the first time since we left my old pack, I felt like we could actually do this, like *us* was possible. It was exhilirating and only made me want him more.

Until too much time passed by without him returning, and I finally changed out of my clothes into something more comfortbale to lie in his bed. It'd been a long day, so I lay down under the covers, pulled my laptop toward me, and started to watch a different movie to the one we'd been suggested earlier that night. An entire hour went by with no sign of Dimitri; I dropped off to sleep after another twenty minutes.

But I wasn't mad, because I didn't think there was anything to really be mad about.

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