Chapter Fifty One

*Ariya*


“Every time he leaves, I feel more confused than I was when he came in.” I grumbled.
Ivan flashed his wolf eyes as he walked up to me laughing. I immediately felt relief and grinned at him. He stood in front of me for a minute, waiting. He was making sure that Boss was gone and wasn’t coming back. No one walked down to this area. I was basically in my own little world, the only ones allowed in here were Boss and Justin/Ivan.
We waited a few more minutes before Ivan closed the gap between us, wrapping his arms around me. He breathed in my scent as I snuggled my head into his chest.
“It’s kinda scary how fast the memory disappears and then comes back.” Ivan said.
“Imagine how I feel. At least you don’t remember who you are, I don’t remember you but I know that I’m missing information. I’m at least aware of that.” I laughed.
“I’m sorry, Ari. Can’t we just get out of here?” Ivan asked me.
“Not yet. I need to get all my memories back, so do you. Besides, I think I can learn a lot while we’re here. It’s not like Boss is being completely awful to me either.”
“I still don’t like it. I hate that you’re in chains right now and I know you have got to be hungry.”
I stiffened in his arms. I hadn’t thought about my hunger. So much was happening that I hadn’t had time to think about it. But now that Ivan mentioned it, I felt it. The hunger clawing up my throat. My breathing quickened and I pulled away from Ivan. I didn’t want to hurt him.
Ivan cursed, “Sorry, Ari. I didn’t mean to.”
I brought my hands to my head as I resisted my hunger. I growled as I was fighting a losing battle. I felt my eyes change and my canines form into fangs. I looked at Ivan as I was losing control.
Ivan held his hands up but walked closer to me, “Just breathe, Ari. You will feed from me, but it’s probably best if you don’t right now.”
That was enough to make me pause. Ivan closed the gap and held my face in his hands. His eyes changed to their blue. The blue that I got lost in.
“Come back to me.” Ivan whispered as he leaned down and kissed me softly.
My heart fluttered as I regained control. My fangs and eyes went back to normal as I wrapped my arms around Ivan’s waist.
Ivan smiled down at me, “Good now?”
I breathed in his scent, “How did you do that?”
Ivan laughed, “Do what? I didn’t do anything but tell you the truth.”
I blinked, “You didn’t flinch like you usually do though.”
Ivan growled, “I’m not Justin, Ariya. I’m not a coward. I’m not scared of you and I never have been. Justin only existed to get information and because as Justin, I didn’t have any memories, I became a product of my environment.”
I flinched, “I’m sorry.”
Ivan’s expression softened immediately, “I’m not mad at you, Ari. I’m sorry. I’m just angry about the way I treated you as Justin. You deserved better.”
I grabbed Ivan’s face and looked him in the eyes, “I have better. You said it yourself. YOU are NOT Justin.”
Ivan grabbed me by the face and kissed me passionately, “We may not have all of our memories yet, but I love you Ari. I’ve always loved you. I will always love you. I will never be afraid of you and I will always be here by your side.”
I kissed Ivan back passionately. I felt my legs buckle under me as I pressed against him. Ivan parted my lips and began exploring my mouth with his tongue. His arms wrapped tightly around me. A soft growl escaped from me and I heard Ivan growl softly in response. I broke from his kiss and began trailing kisses across his jaw and down to his neck. I scraped my teeth against his neck.
“Easy, princess.” Ivan breathed, “I need to shift again first.”
Hearing Ivan tell me that snapped me back to reality.
“I’m sorry.” I said, trying to catch my breath.
Ivan laughed softly, “Don’t you dare apologize for that. My body just needs to remember it’s a wolf again first.”
“What do you mean?”
“Caleb, Derek and I. We are all original Navi wolves. We’re the only ones that are able to feed you guys without dying. I haven’t shifted in 14 years. I need to shift again before we have you feed on me. It needs to happen soon though. I can feel my wolf getting restless and trying to claw its way out.”
I looked at Ivan concerned, “Ivan, you know that Derek is…”
“I know. I’m pretty sure Derek is dead. But who knows, maybe he’s alive too. We’re all extremely hard to kill, remember.” Ivan winked at me.
I laughed as I nestled my head into his chest again. I felt safest when my head was on his chest. I could easily breathe his scent in and it was just about the perfect height for me. Ivan was taller than me and he was built up too. Not in a super slender sleeper mode build. But also not in a body builder mode either. Ivan was strong and just by looking at him you could tell he was strong. But he was also fast too.
“Why haven’t you shifted yet?” I asked him.
“I’m a little worried about it. The first time I ever shifted I couldn’t shift back automatically. If that happens again suspicions will arise.”
“What should we do?” I asked him, concerned.
“We might just have to risk it. But at the right time. We have a lot we gotta figure out, Ari.”
“At least we don’t have to figure it out alone.” I grinned.
Ivan cocked his head at me, “Oh yeah?”
“Drake fixed the lock, we can talk to them as long as it’s just us.”
“Well we better get to it soon then. We should be alone for the rest of the day. So we should have a lot of time.” Ivan grinned at me.
My stomach growled in annoyance at being ignored for so long. Ivan and I laughed together.
“How about I go get food first and then we can get to work?”
“Yes please.” I laughed.
Justin kissed me and then went to go grab food. He told me his address so I could tell Keo so they could scope the area out and try to meet up tonight. Ivan told me he would be back in about 20 minutes. As soon as he left I started counting. I was worried every time he left.