Chapter 10

He got down from his driver seat and opened the back seat door. Before she tried to get up, he scooped her carefully into his arms, kicked the door shut and started walking. He realised that Poornima was running fever now. Her face looked weak. But her eyes were burning with fury. "What is it now?" she asked.

"I can't drive to the entrance of my house." He pointed at a villa with was around hundred yards away. She understood why he said so. A huge tree fell on the driveway blocking their path. Poornima felt too weak to argue with him. The cut on her ankle was burning and her ankle was swollen. Her entire body was aching and she was having chills due to the fever. But the moment he held her in his arms, she could feel his warmth spread across her body comforting her. She now placed both her arms around his neck for support and rested her head between the crook of his neck and shoulder before drifting into sleep.

Dhruv felt tingles all over his body. He couldn't fathom what this feeling was. He held her closer and smiled. He tread the muddy path to his home extra cautiously which not only slowed him but also meant he could hold her for few more minutes. He didn't want to let her go. He knew he was in love. He did not mind taking care of her for the rest of her life. If this is what it feels like to love someone then he could get used to it he thought to himself and smiled warily.

Dhruv shifted Poornima onto his shoulders with one hand while he unlocked the door with the other. He swiftly moved to the master bedroom and placed her on the bed. It was thrilling to see the love of his life sleep on his bed. But when he looked at her pale face his heart ached.

Few hours later, Poornima opened her eyes. The light in the room was on and from the window opposite to her, she could see it was still dark. She happened to see few pairs of glowing eyes staring at her from the window after which she heard howls of the wolves. She thought it was all a dream. She closed her eyes and fell asleep.

The sun was shining brightly when she finally woke up. The sun light filled the room. She jolted up from bed to check her surroundings. But cringed as pain shot from her foot which was now bandaged. She slowly limped to the window and saw all sorts of trees standing around the house. It looked like a forest for sure. It was no longer raining. But she could see few branches of the trees strewn on the grown. Apparently, the rains have caused havoc even in the forest. Suddenly she noticed her clothes. She was no longer wearing the same clothes that she wore yesterday. She was wearing a set of grey pyjamas which were too big for her. She was not wearing anything inside. Only the thin cloth of the pyjamas covered her body.

She froze at the thought of someone changing her clothes. Now she saw that her clothes including inner wears were hanging out to dry. There was no doubt who could have hung those there. She felt ashamed at the thought of a man touching her used clothes. She was thirsty and wanted to go out to drink water but she was contemplating how to face Dhruv. The door opened.

A curly haired tall woman stepped in saying, "Why did you miss training today? Did you .." she stopped midway after seeing Poornima. Though she had a fair complexion, there was no missing the liberal amount of tan on her skin. She was thin and lanky. Her short curly hair that was tied up into a high pony tail was drenched in sweat. She was wearing a two piece sports wear consisting of a crop top and tights that barely reached her thighs. She had a round face and prominent features but what caught Poornima's attention were her eyes. She knew another person who had those same grey orbs for eyes. Though she was covered in dirt, she was rather attractive.

After the initial shock, Myra spoke "Sorry. I didn't know my brother had a guest." She smiled radiantly and extended her hand for a handshake.

"Hi! I am Myra, Dhruv's younger sister." She smiled genuinely.

"I am Poornima. I work in Dhruv's team." Poornima said shaking Myra's hand.

Myra couldn't help notice that the woman in his brother's bedroom was wearing her brother's clothes. "What are these guys upto?" her imagination soared to no good thoughts.

"So what Krish and others said was true. There is indeed a woman in Dhruv's room." She thought. Earlier that day at 5 AM which was their training time, Krish and his friends came to look for Dhruv and peeked through his bedroom window to find a woman sleeping on his bed. They also howled in unison to call him out. But they left after waiting for sometime in vain. Back then, Myra did not believe them and thought they were lying. Now that she has seen it with her own eyes she knew the truth now. But she had to hear it from her brother.

Dhruv, who was in the kitchen making some hot chicken soup, heard Myra's voice and sprinted to his room in hurry. He knew Myra was bad at restraining her thoughts and he did not want her to blurt out something embarrassing in front of Poornima.

"Myra! Can I have a word with you?" he pulled her out of the room and whispered urgently, "Due to yesterday's floods, she couldn't go home and I brought her here. She doesn't know we are werewolves. So be careful and she doesn't know that I am her mate."

"Oh! Is she your mate? Now I understand why she is in your bedroom rather than the guest room. And she is wearing your clothes." she squealed in joy as she connected the dots and added, "I can't say how exciting this sounds!" And ran out before he could clear the misunderstanding. This made him angry. The last thing he wanted was to start a rumour about his love life.

He went in with a sour expression and asked Poornima. "I have prepared chicken soup for you. Do you want it here? Or Will you have it at the dining table?". Poornima looked at him. His black silky thick mane of hair was ruffled. His face looked tired and he had dark circles around his eyes indicating he didn't sleep well last night.

She pointed at the clothes she was wearing and asked "Are these your clothes? What happened yesterday after I came here?" her tone was suspicious. It irritated Dhruv further. Though he tried to help her and give her the best, she was doubting him. Or worse may be her suspicions were planted in her head by Myra's silly talk.

Until now, he wanted to take care of her until she healed and felt better. But somehow he was put on the spot now. He wanted to leave without giving any explanation. But he knew if she did not know the truth she would hate him further. So he explained, "Yesterday I carried you here because you couldn't walk without aggravating your injury. You were weak due to fever but got up when I placed you on the bed. Since your clothes were soaked wet and required a change of clothes, I gave you my clothes. You changed into them yourself and fell asleep. But your hair was still wet so I dried it for you." he said pointing at the hair dryer lying on the dressing table beside the bed. Poornima got it that he was seething with rage. She was now feeling sorry and ashamed for doubting him. She wanted to quickly get away from his sight. So she excused herself to the washroom.

No sooner she entered the bathroom, Dhruv heard a thud and a scream. Poornima stepped over the oversized pants and fell down. Unfortunately, she also twisted her ankle during the fall. Dhruv rushed inside and picked her up. Bringing her to the bed, he scolded "For once, can you do something without getting hurt?" soon enough, his anger seemed to dissipate at her touch. He could feel her cold skin beneath the clothes. Though she looked weak and pale, she was still beautiful. Her hair that was always held in a braid, hung open swaying behind her back. The stray hair on her forehead and locks at her ears added to her already charming face. His anger was replaced with adoration for her.

Poornima was in a very embarrassing situation now because there was just a thin film of fabric separating both their bodies. Also she was aware that without a bra, the shape of her breasts and nipples could be seen. She wanted to disappear into thin air at the moment. Additionally, she was in lot of pain due to her twisted ankle and when she heard Dhruv scold her like that, tears poured down her cheeks.

"I did not ask you for help in the first place. And for your information, I did survive all these years without being carried around by you. So YES. I can do a lot of things without getting hurt. Please send me home now. I want to leave." She shouted back amidst the sobs and tears.

Now it was Dhruv's turn to feel sorry. "Damn it Myra!" he thought. He shouldn't have lost his cool he thought. He regretted his sudden outburst of anger. Until now, he wanted to cherish every moment he spent taking care of Poornima. But the situation reversed in a blink of eye.

He sighed and left the room leaving Poornima alone on bed.