05. Bide our time
‘Why would our mate do this to us? I thought he came back for us, but he tricked us!’ Nuri's wolf whined softly as Nuri ran to the door and tried to open it. She heard the lock slide into place, but she couldn't just accept it without trying first.
"I don't know, but I won't just accept this, and you won't either," Nuri growled as she punched the door and crossed to the balcony, where she looked around, trying to figure out if she could walk away from a fall that looked to be about fifty feet. ‘How far do you think this is?’
‘I don't know, Nuri. It doesn't look that far, but he could have done that on purpose. I wouldn't put it beneath him after what he just did.’
"What do you mean?" Nuri asked, cocking her head to the side as she leaned over the railing, looking at the bushes beneath her.
‘He could have made it look like it's not as far as it is so you would attempt it, and seriously hurt or maybe even kill us. He said we weren't his mate; doesn't that mean he plans on doing something to us?’ Her wolf growled lowly.
Nuri could feel the anger boiling inside of her, threatening to come up whether she wanted it to or not. Though Nuri was glad that her wolf was done with crooning over Kalmin, she wasn't sure which was worse. Her wolf being pissed would make Nuri short-tempered and more prone to doing things purely out of spite, which could result in her doing something that she and her wolf would regret. But, if she was too busy crooning, it was annoying to Nuri, but she wouldn't have to worry about lashing out without meaning to.
"You're right, we need to find a way to test this," Nuri agreed as she went back into the room and began going through the drawers in the dresser to find that it was completely bare. The same for the closet and the side tables on either side of the bed. "What the hell!" Nuri growled, then gasped as she looked towards the doorway, remaining as still as she could to hear outside of the door, waiting to see if Kalmin would be coming back in, but after a few minutes of silence, Nuri was finally able to take a breath and continue her search.
‘Check your bags, Nuri. Maybe there's something your parents packed that could help you?’
"I doubt they packed anything but clothes, but there's no harm in checking, I guess," Nuri said as she sat down on the ground and opened her bags, one by one, tossing her clothes over her shoulders carelessly. "Nothing. Just clothes and the things out of our shower!"
"And just what do you think you're doing?" Kalmin suddenly boomed from the doorway, making Nuri jump with a yelp.
"I'm not doing anything," Nuri struggled out as she gasped for breath, holding her hand to her chest as she took a few deep breaths, eyeing Kalmin suspiciously. "What do you want?" she asked him, wondering how he’d managed to unlock the door without Nuri hearing it, or better yet, how long he’d been standing there.
Kalmin looked around the room at her scattered clothes, the drawers that were pulled out of the dresser and were now on the floor, to the wide-open closet doors, before finally landing back of Nuri who sat amid the mess. He watched her from between narrowed eyes for a few moments before stepping into the room and closing the door behind him. "What were you looking for, hybrid?" He asked her as he took a few steps towards her, looking down at her as she still hadn't moved from off the floor.
Nuri looked up at the man, unsure of how to answer that question in a way that wouldn't incriminate her, but she couldn't find the words to do so for a long moment. "My parents didn't pack any period things for me, and since you were planning on imprisoning me, I thought maybe you would have been smart enough to have some for me."
Kalmin was taken aback by this, as he honestly hadn't thought about having anything for her of that sort, but now that she said it, he didn't know how to respond. That was until he realized she was lying. "You aren't on your... time of the month, Nuri. Do you wish to try again?"
"How would you know, exactly?"
"Are you forgetting who and what I am, Nuri? Or better yet, have you forgotten what we are? Our wolves would be going insane if you were indeed in heat."
‘Damn, I didn't even think about that!’ Nuri swore as she stood so he couldn't tower over her any longer, but to no avail, as she still had to tilt her head to look up at him. "I didn't say I was on it, alpha. I said I was looking for it." Nuri challenged, glaring up at him, waiting for what his argument would be.
"Clean this up, then come downstairs for dinner," Kalmin said from between gritted teeth before he turned around and left the room, closing the door behind him.
"Are you still ignoring me?" Kalmin asked his wolf as he walked into the dining room and sat down at the table, pouring himself a glass of scotch as he waited. "I'll take that as a yes," he said after receiving no response from his wolf. His wolf had remained silent since he locked Nuri in the room, which was the only reason he'd gone into her room, as he hadn't planned on allowing her to eat dinner. But he wanted to see if allowing his wolf to see Nuri would make him start speaking to him again.
‘Why are you doing that to our mate?’ His wolf suddenly asked, taking Kalmin by surprise, as he wasn't expecting to hear him anytime soon.
“Because she is not our mate.”
‘She is our mate, Kalmin. You know it just as well as I do. Instead of trying to break her, you should be building her up. You should do what you told her parents you were going to do! Teach her how to be the mate an alpha like you should have.’
"Do you suppose I can teach her to stop being a hybrid, too?" Kalmin snapped, bringing his scotch glass down on the table with a loud bang. But before Kalmin's wolf could respond, they heard Nuri walking down the stairs and coming towards the dining room where she sat as far away from Kalmin as possible, on the other side of the table.
"I'm going to assume I'm not allowed to leave the house?" Nuri asked as an older wolf came and set a plate down in front of her, then set a plate before Kalmin, bowing softly before leaving the room.
"You assume correctly," Kalmin said as he began eating, internally rolling his eyes as his wolf growled at him.
Nuri looked down at the meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and corn on her plate, and although it looked and smelled amazing, she shoved the plate away and stood, walking back upstairs without another word.
‘Nuri, why would you do that? We're so hungry and we don't know when he's going to let us eat again!’ Her wolf grumbled unhappily as Nuri walked back upstairs, then closed her bedroom door, before laying down on the bed. ‘We’ll need our strength to survive this. Both mental, and physical.’
"I don't know," Nuri responded honestly, holding her stomach as it began churning, upset with her for not eating. "Eating that food would be giving in to what he wants to do to us, and I won't accept it."
‘We cannot and will not accept what the alpha wants to do to us, Nuri. We will stay strong, and we will prevail.’ her wolf mumbled as she and Nuri began to drift off to sleep, much too tired from the events of the day to attempt to remain awake.
________
‘Kalmin, we should bring her dinner, she needs to eat!’ Kalmin’s wolf cried out as Nuri stormed out of the room and went back upstairs. Kalmin felt his wolf wince as she slammed the bedroom door, then whined out as Kalmin remained sitting rather than chasing after her.
"She chose to storm off, she can deal with going without food. She's an adult, it's her decision not to act like one." Kalmin said as he bowed his head to eat, but after a few bites, he found he had no appetite left. "Calm down, I'm trying to eat!" He growled, knowing his wolf was the reason for his sudden loss of appetite. If his wolf wanted to, he could affect Kalmin's moods and even force him into feeling something he wouldn't have felt, to begin with. Like making him feel like he wasn't hungry, while in reality, Kalmin hadn't eaten yet today and was ravenous.
‘If you'll let our mate go hungry, why should you eat? I know what you're trying to do, Kalmin. You're trying to make her kill herself, which is why you gave her a room where her only escape is the balcony, knowing the fall would kill her.’ His wolf barked to him, filling Kalmin with an abundance of anger and regret.
"Fine, when I'm done eating, I'll bring her a tray. Happy now?" Kalmin asked, shaking his head. His wolf didn't respond, but Kalmin could feel his agreement and appeasement as his appetite slowly began to return.
Once Kalmin finished his dinner, he carried both of the plates into the kitchen and reheated the dinner that Nuri hadn't touched, before setting it on a tray and carrying it to her room.
‘She's so beautiful, how could you even think about hurting her?’ Kalmin's wolf mumbled when they entered her room and saw Nuri asleep on top of her covers. She looked so peaceful, Kalmin wanted nothing more than to take her into his arms and hold her to him, a realization that angered him. He shook his head and set the tray down on the bedside table, and started to walk away, but found he couldn't stop watching her, drinking in her beauty once again.
‘You're right, she is absolutely gorgeous,’ Kalmin thought, hesitantly bring his index finger to her cheek to brush her honey blonde hair to the side. He figured she hadn’t done it on purpose, but the moment his skin came into contact with hers, she mumbled softly and titled her head back, leaning into his touch.
‘I knew it! She does want to be our mate!’ Kalmin’s wolf whispered as if Nuri would be able to hear him, despite him being a voice that only Kalmin could hear.
‘No, her wolf wants us, just as you want her. But I do not want Nuri, and she doesn't want me.’ Kalmin thought as he cast one more glance at the woman before turning to leave. He didn't notice that the moment he turned his back, Nuri's eyes flew open, as she had woken up the instant, he’d touched her.
Nuri watched silently as he left the room, hiding her smile until the door closed, and she sat up, looking at the dinner that he had set at the table next to her. ‘How much do you want to bet his wolf made him do this?’
‘Does it matter which one of them had the idea? He brought our dinner to us, that means he does care about us, one way or the other. Are you going to ignore the way he touched us?’ Her wolf asked as Nuri eyed the dinner suspiciously, still undecided on whether she wanted to eat it or not.
‘Then all I have to do is bide my time,’ Nuri said as she took a hesitant bite of the meatloaf, letting out a small groan of approval. She didn’t know if it was her hunger that made her think so, but she could swear this was the best tasting food that had ever hit her tongue.
‘What do you mean by that?’
‘He's trying to break me, but all I have to do is wait, and I can break him.’