06. Kiss me

When Nuri woke up the next morning, her surroundings initially surprised her until she remembered she now lived in the Alpha's house and not in her own. When this realization dawned on her, she couldn't help the lengthy growl that escaped her throat, until she remembered Kalmin might have been home, and he may have heard her.

After getting dressed, she walked around the house, looking in through the different doorways she passed, but found no hint of Kalmin anywhere. "At least he didn't lock us in the room today," Nuri said with a shrug as she turned around to head back to her room, to find that Kalmin was standing just behind her, leaning against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest. His green eyes were void of any emotion as he stared at her with nothing short of utter disdain, waiting for her to notice his presence.

*'Why does he do that to us? Is he trying to give us a heart attack?'* Nuri's wolf asked with a growl, shaking her head.

*'It's obvious he is trying to kill us, that much he's made evident.'* Nuri responded to her wolf, holding her chest as she took a few deep breaths, watching Kalmin.

"If you'd rather stay locked in your room, I can arrange that," he finally said after a few moments, laughing maliciously.

"I would rather not do that," Nuri responded, rolling her eyes as she marched past him and went down the stairs before she went into the kitchen.

"And where exactly do you think you're going?" Kalmin asked, following her into the kitchen as she browsed the cabinets.

"To school." She said as she settled for cooking herself scrambled eggs with toast.

"Who said you would attend school any longer?"

Nuri whipped around to face him, her eyes wild with bewilderment as she glared at him unbelievingly. "You won't let me go to school?"

"Why should I? You'll tell your friends about our arrangement, and I cannot allow that." He said with a shrug as he pushed Nuri to the side to tend to her eggs, which she'd long forgotten about and were now burning.

"Kalmin, I won't tell anyone!" Nuri gasped as she watched him put the bread in the toaster, shaking his head.

"I'm to take your word for it, then?" He asked her with a scoff, then separated the eggs onto two plates, and took one to the table where he started eating.

"What do I need to do to prove it to you?" Nuri hesitantly inquired as she sat down at the table, eyeing him curiously. *'I know that I won't like his response to this, but I don't have any other choice. I'll go insane if he keeps me locked in this house. I'm already losing my mind, and it's only been a day.'* Nuri thought before she began eating, too hungry to keep herself from eating any longer.

Kalmin didn't respond as he watched Nuri eat, trying to hide his smile as he considered what she said. *'I know what I could say, that would make you second guess your decision, though I'm not sure just yet if it would be worth it. Maybe I should make you suffer a bit first.'* He thought but refrained from saying anything until they'd finished eating.

"What exactly do you think I'd gain from telling anyone? It's not like anyone can or will do anything about it! I need some normalcy in my life, and being locked in this house is far from that." Nuri said after washing her dish and turning around to look up into his deep green eyes.

"You want to go back to school, and you want to know what you can do to prove to me that you aren't going to tell anyone of our... Arrangement?" Kalmin asked her as he took a few steps forward, blocking her from escape and pinning her against himself and the sink.

"What do you think you're doing?" Nuri asked as she tried to escape, but couldn't, as Kalmin put his hands on either side of her and leaned forward.

"You want to prove it to me? Kiss me." Kalmin challenged with a smirk, knowing that she couldn't even consider kissing him, let alone doing it.

"As if!" Nuri exclaimed with a groan as she tried to shove him away, but to no avail, as he didn't budge in the slightest.

"That is your answer as well, then," Kalmin said with a smirk, but didn't move from where he stood, as he continued to look down into her eyes.

"Are you serious? That's insane!" Nuri exclaimed, shaking her head. *'I know he's doing this to test me, but he can't be serious!'*

"How else am I to know if you're truthful, then?"

"I- I don't know, but I know there are better ways than a kiss, and you know it too. After all, a kiss doesn't prove anything."

Kalmin snorted and took a step back, finally giving Nuri the room to breathe, as she felt like she couldn't when he had her pinned against the sink. "Regardless, you aren't going. It's not a risk I will take, so you can go see your little friends."

"My little friends?" Nuri asked as she followed Kalmin out of the kitchen and towards the front door. She stopped a few feet away when she saw that he was opening the door to leave, and saw a few huge men standing there with their backs to the door, guarding it.

Kalmin laughed when he saw her reaction, then nodded. "At least you have common sense, hybrid." He said before turning and pulling the door closed, locking Nuri in the house.

*'At least we aren't locked in our room anymore?'* Nuri's wolf offered softly. Nuri knew that she was trying to help, but it didn't make her feel much better, not to mention the fact that being confined in any space was maddening for any wolf.

"We will find a way out of this hellhole. Does that asshole think he's gotten the best of us? He thinks just because we are a hybrid that we are less of a wolf than he is?" Nuri mumbled as she stalked up the stairs and began looking through the rooms next to hers, hoping to find something, anything, that could aid in her escape.

*'I thought we were biding our time? Once he falls for us, we're free.'*

"Based on what just happened, he's not going to let it happen. He wants to make sure we fall with him, and that isn't going to happen."

*'We could use bedsheets?'*

"And what happens once we hit the ground? I know I will need to let you take over, so we can run, but did you see those guards? We need a foolproof plan."

*'Nuri?'* Her wolf softly asked like she was afraid of something.

"What's wrong?" Nuri gasped as she looked around the room, but found nothing that would scare her wolf, which confused her further.

*'I'm sorry, nothing is wrong. But I was thinking about what you said not long ago. Nuri, I want a name, please?'*