58: Calista

**Tristan**

After our first weekend spent clearing out Lucien’s old house, the weeks began to pass by quickly, and soon I began to look forward to spending all of that time with him at the end of each week. But eventually as the time passed us by, the rogue attacks grew more frequent and news about them had spread like wildfire. With it, I began to feel a new type of emotion- fear. Judging by how close the attacks were getting to Damon’s pack, Ambrose had definitely gotten the hint, and I now feared that distancing myself from him would become harder and harder. As much as I wanted to keep my secret regarding my involvement in the rogue pack, I slowly realised that I’d soon need to warn Damon and Jasmine about what was to come, and the fact that Jasmine’s belly had started to grow only emphasised this.

Throughout the weeks that had passed, Lucien and I had managed to get the house into a liveable state, and we’d managed to replace most of the items on my long list which had needed replacing. Even the garden looked less wild and overgrown and all that was left to do was to plant the seeds which Lucien had bought all those weeks ago. Which brought us to what we were currently doing- digging.

The sun was harsh against my skin, I was covered in sweat and panting heavily as I dug my shovel into the soil and then tossed the sand into a pile near the side of the designated flowerbed. Lucien was in the same state as me, and although he’d rolled up his shirt sleeves, he took care not to expose anymore of his body. I had noticed that he did that quite often. He was quite secretive about his body which was strange considering his… sexual appetite and reputation. But slowly I’d begun to wonder if the problem was me, because there clearly *was* a problem which the both of us had started to ignore in order to keep the peace between us. He and I were in a good space. We cared for each other… but I was beginning to worry whether it was enough anymore. I was right when I said I’d eventually become impatient. The truth was that my feelings for Lucien had grown stronger, and with it, my desire for him.

We hadn’t had another moment like the one in the rain. In fact, Lucien had gotten more cautious after that little episode. He made an active and conscious attempt not to get himself in situations that would involve too much of physical contact between the both of us. But the more he tried to avoid contact with me, the more I tried to create contact with him. My impatience grew by the day, and I was afraid that eventually I’d be driven to tying him up to the bed just to force the issue. I knew sex and physical contact was not everything in a relationship, but my body was craving him more and more and it was not just my human instincts driving me lustfully insane, but my werewolf instincts as well.

“Hey, do you wanna come over to my place after this?” Lucien asked as he dug his shovel into the sand.

“… Just us?” I asked suspiciously. Ever since I started smiling, a fact which Damon had let Jasmine know the second he saw the happy expression on my face at work, Jasmine had made sure to see my smiling face almost every single day. Although I loved my sister dearly and had grown very fond of Damon, London and Amber, I just wanted a break from them. Not to mention that Damon’s overprotective behaviour regarding my sister had now gone up to a level I could only describe as frantically paranoid which only annoyed and frustrated Jasmine to the point where I began to fear she’d commit murder. Between the two of them, I didn’t know who to feel sorrier for: Jasmine who was constantly being smothered or Damon who was constantly having his head bitten off by Jasmine.

“Yes, just us.” Lucien said, catching onto what I was throwing. “You know you *can* say no when Jasmine invites you over for dinner.”

No, no I could not. Only people with death wishes said no to my sister. All this time I thought that next to Ambrose, I was the scariest person in the world, but Jasmine was doing a good job of giving us a go for our money.

“We both know that Jasmine doesn’t take no for an answer.” I said, wiping sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand.

Lucien chuckled in response and then began planting the seeds into the ground. Once done, we covered them in soil and watered down the area.

“All done!” Lucien said with a satisfied sigh.

I took a step back and took in all of our hard work. The broken windows had now been repaired and framed with beautiful new curtains, the walls had been repainted, the fences bordering the property had been replaced, the garden had been replanted, the lawn trimmed, and stone paths had been embedded into the ground leading to various parts of the yard. It was hardly the same old dilapidated house Lucien had initially brought me to.

“Are we not the greatest team in the world!” Lucien said as he joined me in ogling at the results of our hard work.

I smiled and nodded. Lucien then clapped his hands together, sighed deeply and said with a smile, “Right, now why don’t we lock up and head home. You can freshen up at my place.”

It was a request I couldn’t possibly deny, especially since it involved me being naked in his shower. I couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity to get under his skin.

***

When we arrived at Lucien’s home, I could tell that something was up with him. He had this silly grin plastered on his face and refused to let me enter the door first. Then, when he eventually unlocked the door, he gripped at my hand and led me excitedly towards the sitting room.

“What the hell is going on Lucien?” I asked rather nervously.

He refused to answer me. Instead, he gently pushed me onto the couch and said, “Close your eyes!”

“What, why?” I protested.

He huffed, gripped at my hands- and I’d be lying if I said just that little bit of contact didn’t get me furiously excited- then placed them up against my eyes. “Stop asking questions and listen to me like a good girl.”

I fought the urge to bite my lip at the phrase “good girl” which had now slowly become one of Lucien’s “power words” and he was more than aware of it. And so instead, I stayed silent and kept my hands tightly against my eyes, preventing me from seeing anything besides the gentle orange glow of light which attempted to squeeze through the closed spaces between my fingers.

I heard Lucien shuffle away from me and then leave the room. He was gone a short while before I heard the familiar sound of his footsteps echoing back into the room. Then, everything fell silent for a moment.

“You can open your eyes,” Lucien whispered gently into my ear, making goosebumps form on my arms. I could feel the warmth of his breath against the side of my face and when I removed my hands from my eyes, the first thing I saw were his bright golden eyes. I could feel my cheeks heat up at the proximity between the both of us and I gulped involuntarily as a wide variety of dirty thoughts invaded my mind. But all of those thoughts came to an abrupt halt when I caught sight of what he held in his hands.

“Surprise!” He said softly before gently lifting the soft ginger kitten he held in his hands and holding her out for me to take.

“Oh Goddess, she’s adorable!” I uttered before taking her from him. She let out a soft meow and nuzzled into my touch as I let my hand rub against the side of her head. I brought her closer to me and held her gently in my arms as I stroked her soft fur.

“Lucien… don’t tell me that you got her for me,” I said as I looked up at him. He smiled and nodded before taking a seat next to me.

“But I can’t keep her. Remember, I’m not allowed pets.”

“I know. That’s why I’ll keep her here. It gives you one more reason to come over as much as possible.”

I was left speechless. I couldn’t believe that Lucien had gone out of his way to get me a cat. The entire gesture was more than just sweet and if I thought my feelings for him couldn’t get any stronger, I was wrong. There was this heavy and tight feeling in my chest. It was warm and pleasant and soft and made my heart beat rapidly in my chest.

“Thank you…” I said softly.

“You’re very welcome, Love. Have you thought of a name for her?” He asked as he also began stroking at her soft orange fur.

I thought for a moment and let my mind race with possible name options until I found one that I really liked.

“How about Calista?”

Lucien nodded. “Perfect.” Then he moved his face closer towards the kitten and said softly, “Hey there little Calista.”

Happy- that’s the word I used to describe the emotion I was currently feeling. It was one I’d become used to feeling, but none of my previous happy moments could compare to this one.