Chapter Ten

Elena was discussing adoptions with Bill in the front waiting room with the door opened with a clang. Dmitrei strode through and she put a hand to her forehead as she realized he was coming straight for Bill, who was currently holding an adoption application.

"Do you do home studies?" he asked giving her a look with his dull green eyes that he seemed to think was flirtatious. "I wouldn't mind having you over. Let you tell me if my place is right for a dog."

She frowned, "I mean, we don't typically, but--"

"I told you, you aren't adopting," Dmitrei roared and Elena gasped as the man was hauled off his feet, literally dragged to the door and tossed out on the sidewalk. They all watched as Bill clambered to his feet, fuming and stormed away from the shelter. He got in his expensive car and drove away without a word. It all happened in seconds, and the waiting room was dead silent. Dmitrei let out an angry breath, staring at the place where the man had been, then turned on his heel and paced back in with the cages as if nothing had happened.

Oh, no you don't.

She chased after him, giving a look to the other workers that told them to get things moving again, to make people forget the scent that just happened.

"What was that about?" she snapped when she found him standing in front of Sebastian's cage.

Dmitrei looked over his shoulder, his blue eyes cold, "I told you he shouldn't adopt."

"And I told you that wasn't your call."

"Can you read minds?" he asked arrogantly, standing at his full intimidating height. It was odd to see him cocky with how quiet he usually was. "Maybe if you could, you could tell me what you saw in him that made you want to let him take an animal."

She sighed in frustration, clenching her hands into fists, "Of course, I can't see into everyone's minds. There is always a reason to judge people, but I need every adoption I can get. Many people aren't perfect yet can still take care of a pet."

"So that's it. You think I threw him out because he's not perfect?"

"I think it's because you're jealous," she said marching over to him. "And I'm beginning to think you're impulsive. Do you think about what you do, or just do it?"

"When I know it's right, I just do it," he said, his voice little more than a low growl. "I don't know why you're harassing me instead of thanking me for throwing out that creep."

"Thanks to you, I have to call and apologize," she said. "And hope he doesn't sue us."

Dmitrei looked stymied at that, but shook his head, "He shouldn't be anywhere near this place. Trust me on that."

She threw up her hands, "I want to trust you, Dmitrei. I really do, but you don't tell me anything. You make love to me and… ugh!"

He took her by the arms and turned her toward him. "So this is what it's really about. You are mad I left."

"I'm mad you just walk in here like nothing happened. I'm mad that I feel used. I'm mad that you didn't even text to say you got home. You don't just get to make love to a woman and hop out the window!" Her chest heaved and she tossed her hair again, looking like an angry, glorious Amazon.

Her words struck him. "We didn't make love. All the way."

Her face went stormy, her gray eyes darkening to the shade of angry rainclouds, "Oh, I see. You stopped it midway so you wouldn't have to feel guilty." She started to stride away, but he caught her gently around the waist, pulling her against him.

"Wait," he said feeling her body respond to his heat.

She shook him off, and he let her go, his jaw dropping in astonishment. "No, Dmitrei. You're so damn persuasive, and sexy. I get that, but I need more than that. I can't have someone so volatile around. You can't just throw people!"

"So is this about throwing people or about you feeling rejected because I didn't sleep over?"

There was a sneer in his voice, and it made her want to throw dog bones at his stupid head. She was a patient person. She tried to give people a lot of leeway. But, if she put aside everything else, she was hurt. She had been hurt the moment he had left, because she had been looking forward to somebody holding her for the first time in a long time. And he had gotten what he had wanted and left instead.

"You didn't look mad when I said I needed to go," he told her with a frown. "I didn't think you minded."

"I didn't want you to stay if you didn't want to," she said softly in defeat.

"Then, I don't see what the problem is."

She curled her hands into fists again. A wave of pain went through her. "I don't have time for this. I need my meds, and you need to go home and think about how to be more professional."

He narrowed his eyes as he put away the cleaning supplies, shaking his head, "I don't get what you want from me."

She gritted her teeth together feeling like she shouldn't have to explain. Did she really seem like the type of girl that would do that with a guy she didn't care about? Someone she just wanted to kick out after? But for him, it must have been casual. Disposable. She had been dumb for thinking this was a fairy tale and not another guy using her, like always. Ugh, she hated that she had been so dumb and gotten herself swept off her feet.

"If you didn't want me to go, you should have said so," he said walking past her, a look of frustration on his face.

"If you didn't want to stay, why would I make you?" she retorted, turning her back as he exited.

She heard his footsteps pause at the door and glared over at him.

"Can we talk later?" he hesitantly asked. Damn, he was so handsome he took her breath away. And he really didn't seem to know what was going on. Did that make it okay to toy with her feelings?

She tapped her foot a few times. "Not tonight, okay? I need some rest." She put a hand on her back, "And some meds."

He opened his mouth as if to offer something but then shut it. Which was good. She didn't want him trying to do anything nice right now.

"You aren't really going to call that guy, are you?" he asked.

She sighed, "Thanks to you, I have to."

"What do you mean thanks to me?"

"Look, you may be from another planet, but I live on this one. And here, we need money, donations, and not to be sued. Here, when someone physically hurts another person, there are consequences."

"Well, if you had listened to me, I wouldn't have thrown him out."

"And violence is always the answer for you, is that it?" she asked tersely.

His eyes went deadly cold and he turned away from her, silent.

"Look, this is just… We're both tired. Clearly, we both need some space. You don't need to worry about my work. I'll handle it, just like I always have."

He said nothing, he walked out the door and let it shut behind him with a loud, resounding clang.

She sat on a bench and looked over at Sebastian, "Damn it, what should I do?"

Sebastian didn't say anything. He curled into a little ball and looked over at the door like he already missed Dmitrei. She did, too.

*************************

Dmitrei paced the living room, anger unfurling in him as he stomped angrily over the now frozen carpet.

"Can you stop that?" Ann asked leaning back in her chair and watching with mild annoyance. "Elric, make him stop."

Elric was perched next to her and shook his head, "I don't know if I can. Dmitrei's strong."

"Ha!" Dmitrei let out a bitter bark of a laugh. "Strong. Strong is useless with women."

"What happened?" Ann asked. "If you just calm down and tell us, maybe we can help."

"There are evil people all over this fucking planet. That's the problem," Dmitrei said. "And my human won't listen to me and gets mad when I protect her. That's the other problem." He pulled at his hair, "I mean how am I supposed to do this if she won't even listen?"

"Elena has always seemed like a reasonable woman to me," Ann said thoughtfully. "So I don't know what you mean."

"There was a guy at the shelter today. A complete creep. Coming on to her, touching her." He ran his hand through his hair, messing it up further, knowing he looked ridiculous, but not caring as long as he and Elena were fighting. "And he wanted to adopt, but he was thinking about hurting puppies." He glared at nothing in particular, "How evil can you get?"

"Wait, so is this about the puppies, or is this about the guy hitting on Elena?" Elric asked.

"Both. I don't know," Dmitrei said waving a hand. "What it's about is she doesn't trust me. She's angry with me, and I have no idea why."

"What happened on your date?" Ann asked. "I don't know a lot of details, but Elric said it went well."

Dmitrei shook his head. Should he share that with her?

"Go ahead," Elric said. "I'm okay with it."

"It went well, I think," Dmitrei said. "I mean, I got in a fight to protect her and showed her some things I can't really explain, but I felt like she accepted me for me. And we… did stuff. Good stuff. I mean, I care about her, but I don't know what mating entails and didn't want to screw up, so I left."

"Oh," Ann said.

"And she said it was fine," Dmitrei said whirling on his heel. "I mean, she looked slightly disappointed, but--"

"Wait, you slept with her and then left immediately after?" Ann asked.

"You didn't tell me that," Elric said putting a hand over his face. "Dude, not cool."

Dmitrei raised an eyebrow, "What was the problem? She was a temptation, and I needed to get far enough away that I could think things over. And plus, I knew we would be seeing each other the next morning. Why should one night matter?"

"Because you were just intimate," Ann said looking aggravated. "And to a woman, especially a human woman, that really means something."

"It means something to me, too," Dmitrei said. "It means I care enough to be careful and not lock her into something she didn't want."

"Have you explained that to her?"

"No," Dmitrei said. "I thought she would trust me."

"Doesn't sound very trustworthy to me," Ann said. "I mean, you've been trying to spend all the time you can with her ever since you met her. You took a job there for Pete's sake, and then you get her in the sack and you can't run away fast enough? I can see why she doesn't trust you."

When she put it that way, Dmitrei had to admit it sounded bad.

"And then with this guy, she said it wasn't my business because I wasn't her boyfriend. As if I even know what that means." He continued ranting.

"Oh," Ann said. "So that's what she wants."

"Huh?"

"Some women really want commitment," Ann explained. "I wish the two of you had been more upfront with each other."

"Commitment?" he asked. "I'm committed. Committed as hell. I want to follow her everywhere and make sure no one touches her."

Ann cocked her head, "Well, I guess that kind of means what humans call a boyfriend."

"So I am one, then?" he asked hopefully.

"If you want to be, you'll need to ask her," she said. "I don't know. What happened today when you went in?"

"I sort of… threw the guy out of the shelter because she wouldn't listen, and he was evil and he was touching her…"

"So you're sending really mixed messages," Ann said.

He threw his hands up. "I don't think so. I took her on a date. I kissed her. I protected her. I took space so I could keep her safe even from myself, and I showed up the next morning to see her again. Then I did what I needed to in order to get filth out of her way. All of these are the same message to me," he said stubbornly.

Ann looked at her mate in exasperation, "Elric, can you handle this?"

Elric stood and brushed off his legs before walking over to Dmitrei so they were face to face. He rolled his shoulders once, hauling back and punching Dmitrei in the face so hard it sent him spinning. When Dmitrei regained his balance, he lunged at Elric, knocking them both to the floor. He heard Ann gasp but he didn't care, he grabbed Elric by the collar of his shirt and raised a fist.

"That's right. Fight back," Elric snarled. "I'm so sick of your bitching and whining. Fight back and be the person you were. No, but a mix of that person and this one, but stop bottling it up and exploding. For once, just fight."

Dmitrei sagged back, letting Elric go. Elric brushed off his hands and crawled out from under hum. He sat up a couple of feet away, staring at him. "Look, I know it's easy to fight evil guys. I get you can just throw people around, but that's not why you're here." Elric poked him in the chest, "You're here to fight this. To fight the fear that keeps you running from the kind of life Elena can offer."

Dmitrei sighed, "I'm more worried about the kind of life I can offer."

"So you hate yourself," Elric said. "Well, fight against it. It does no one any good. Square off with what's hurting you and let it go. Move on and be happy. Now that you know what will and won't mate someone, you don't have to run from your woman."

Dmitrei put his hands over his face, "I don't know what I want. I mean, I know, but I don't think I deserve it."

Elric put a hand on his friend's shoulder, "I wish you would tell me why."

"I can't," Dmitrei choked out as the memories flooded him. He had been a good person once. He could remember a time without guilt, a time without self-hatred. A time when he wouldn't have been worried about fleeing the bed of a woman he loved just because he feared what he would do to her.

He let out a low breath. The village. The dying. Could he really let it all go? Not yet.

"But in the meantime, what do I do with Elena?" he asked Ann more than Elric. "How do I make it right?"

She sighed, "I don't really know. I mean, I guess you could go the Elric way and just stalk her until you get what you want. Women like to be pursued, and after all, she wants to know you want her. Not just for a one-night stand."

"One-night stand?" he asked in confusion.

"Think about it, dipshit."

"I did not only want her for one night," Dmitrei said.

"Then go tell her that," Elric said reaching out a hand to help Dmitrei up. When they got to the door, Elric opened it and as Dmitrei walked through, he got a boot in the butt, shoving him out. "And don't come back tonight. We'll be busy, all night long."

Before Dmitrei could screw his face up in disgust, Elric was gone. Why had the Oracle awoken him again? Dmitrei brushed himself off, rolling his shoulders as he rose to his full height and cracked his knuckles in anticipation of the task at hand.

He had a mate to stalk in order to prove his love.