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“No, not this. The pretending. It’s exhausting. I do not have it in me to play this game,” he says, getting visibly annoyed. I lean forward on the couch, feeling the muscles in my body tensing up. What’s going on? Bobble pops his head up to watch Sunder take a step towards where I’m sitting.
“What do you mean?” I ask neutrally. I glance around, spotting my new phone on the kitchen counter. A little too far away for comfort.
“Don’t you remember me from Tuesday night? You were obviously heavily inebriated walking home.” His voice is clipped and agitated. The alarm bells in my head ring loudly as his demeanor and tone shift dramatically.
My heart thumps against my chest as I search my patched memories from the night. Did we sleep together or something? Is he stalking me? I thought he seemed familiar at the coffee shop. Panic creeps into my chest as my eyes widen in fear. I need to casually find my way to my phone. If I say no, will he murder me?
“Now that you mention, yeah, I remember you. Uhm. I need more wine. Do you want some?” I ask, scooting to the edge of my seat.
“Don’t get up. Listen to me.” His voice commands me, and I obey. My breath hitches at his tone as I lean back on the couch clutching my half empty glass nervously. I flip through my memories of a self defense class I took in college.
“Okay, Sunder. Take a deep breath. We can figure this out,” I say, trying to sound soothing over the roar of my racing heart.
Sunder lets out a subtle sigh as the tension in his shoulders fade.
“I am not here to hurt you, Mira. The opposite, actually.” His voice is still annoyed but a little softer than before.
“What’s the opposite of hurting me?” If I scream for help, will my neighbors come? I need to defuse this situation and get him out calmly.
He puffs out a huge breath of air. “I am your fated mate.”
Chapter Seven
Mira
He leaves a dramatic pause in the conversation as if waiting for me to say something. I run my eyes over his looming body and swallow thickly. How can I turn him down and keep him calm? He’s obviously crazy. Fated mates aren’t real; hearing him say that we’re mates is so jarring, I actually forget for a moment to be shocked.
When I am shocked, the fear comes quickly after.
He’s nuts. I have to figure out a way to get out of here without having this giant of a man apply any of his considerable physical strength to keep me here. I need an exit.
I need to call Lisa.
“What makes you think that?” I respond as if stating that one is a ‘fated mate’ is totally normal. My tone is careful and weighing, as if I’m not scared out of my mind that he’s going to cut me into little pieces and feed me to Bobble. I rise to my feet, edging subtly closer to my phone in the kitchen.
He lets out a huff and quickly grabs my wrist. I yelp and jerk away instinctively, spilling my wine everywhere. His strength and speed send a scream from my lungs, calling for help. It’s happening. It’s actually happening. I’ve been warned my whole life that I’m too trusting, and now I’m finally being murdered.
Bobble jumps up, hissing and swiping at Sunder’s hand, hooking his claws into his skin. Sunder ignores him, tightening his grip. I kick out frantically, aiming for his groin but landing on his thigh. I slam the empty wine glass into his arm, but it doesn’t even break. It bounces off him, shattering on the floor instead.
I struggle against him, beating against his hard chest. Screaming for help, I hope my neighbors are home. He just stands there, holding my wrist tight in his ham fist.
“Let go of me!” I yell into his face. Bobble’s climbing his leg, biting and clawing ruthlessly.
Sunder’s chestnut brown eyes suddenly glow a faint sky blue light. I gasp, frozen in place, watching as he raises his other hand, palm up. A small ball of light forms, hovering an inch above his hand. The sphere grows, turning from a light blue now to a deep sapphire.
My eyes dart from the sphere to his glowing eyes, and down to the hand grabbing me. I try to scream again, but nothing comes out. It dies in my dry mouth as I watch wordlessly as the sphere takes another shape. A small, glowing rose drifts upwards from his palm. I gape at it, looking for some mechanism or source of fuckery, but there’s nothing.
He releases my wrist, and the glow fades from his eyes. The rose dissipates into mist. I drop onto the couch, rubbing my arm where he held me. My body trembles as he stands over me.
Bobble launches himself off Sunder’s leg and stands protectively in my lap.
“Mira, listen to me,” he says calmly. The edge in his voice is gone, like it dissipated with the rose. “I understand this may be beyond your human mind. I’m not a demon or any such human lore you might think of.”
I stare up at him, wide eyed and scared.
“You look pretty fucking demonic to me,” I whisper breathlessly.
Sunder kneels in front of me, laying a hand on my knee. I flinch as he touches me, and something like sadness flickers across his eyes.
