Chapter 9

True to his word, Dhruv stopped his car when he saw a hotel. It was more of a lodge than a hotel. It was a small two storey lodge which seemed to be old and not well maintained. Poornima looked at it from outside and gulped. She did not have a good feeling about it. They went inside and asked the receptionist for single room. But unfortunately there were no rooms available.

Dhruv heaved a sigh of relief. He did not want Poornima to stay at this dingy lodge. It had no security person outside and neither did have any camera for surveillance. "What if the attackers follow her here?" he thought. But if she wanted to stay here for the night, he did not have any right to reject it. Hence went in to enquire for available rooms.

As they went out of the lodge, the slight drizzle changed into heavy rain. By the time they reached the car, they were both soaked wet. Their clothes were dripping with water. Poornima was reluctant to get into the car and shouted above the pitter patter noise of the rain, "I think it will mess up your car seats."

"Don't bother. Hop on." Came his reply.

Though Dhruv switched on the heater, it was rather uncomfortable to sit in the car with wet clothes. Her long hair also got wet and grew heavy behind her back. It was 9PM now when Poornima's stomach rumbled impatiently. Dhruv glanced at her and said, "Lets grab some food first." And soon after he said that, he hit the brakes when he saw a restaurant. It was still raining heavily and though the road here had not drowned in water, the walkway to the restaurant was filled with huge puddles of water.

Since they were already wet, they did not think twice before getting out into the rain. Once out of the car, Poornima felt a sudden chill and started shivering as her skin met the cold wind. Dhruv noticed this and soon walked beside her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders to steady her. She wanted to shrug him away but she knew that given her condition she needed his support. Though his clothes were drenched, Dhruv's body was warmer than she had expected. She felt herself calm when his warmth spread across to her from where they touched. They quickly walked to the restaurant and sat at the table waiting for their food.

Due to the cold, her teeth started chattering. Dhruv, who sat across her at the table, moved his chair to position himself beside her. Since werewolves' body temperature was warmer than that of humans, he knew that he could make her feel better. He took her palm which was as cold as ice and rubbed it with both his hands. He continued doing this alternately to both her palms until her teeth chattering stopped. Poornima was too embarrassed to talk.

They quickly finished their piping hot soup and later ate some rice and left. The hot soup made her feel better. While they walked towards their car from the restaurant, all of a sudden Poornima yelped in pain. She raised her foot out of the puddle to find it bleeding. Dhruv bent low and guessed that some sharp object in the puddle might have jagged her foot leaving a deep cut. He saw a deep cut above her ankle. As she tried to put her foot on the ground to resume walking, "Stop! Stop!" Dhruv said. "If you put weight on your leg, it might bleed more due to the pressure."

He quickly carried her in his arms and walked towards the car. Her body was pressed across his chest and she could feel his strong muscles. The warmth from his body relieved her. She could smell the scent of mint and lime from him. It was soothing and for a moment, she forgot the pain raising from her ankle. He carefully placed her at the back seat sideways so that she could stretch her legs horizontally onto the seat. This should slow down her bleeding until it stopped in a while. He thought.

All the while none of them spoke. The way he took care of her seemed as natural as possible between a couple. She blushed at the thought. Since the heater in the car was on, she was not feeling cold. Slowly she dozed off cozily .

When she woke up after sometime, it took her few seconds to realize where she was. She looked out of the window and saw that the car was moving to a secluded area. "Where are we going?" she sounded alarmed.

Dhruv looked at her from the rear view mirror and said, "I did not find any hotels on the way. So I am taking you to my place. I thought of asking you but you were asleep. Don't worry I will drop you home the first thing in the morning. But before that, your injury needs some first aid. Does it hurt?" he asked concerned.

She looked at her ankle and saw that the bleeding had stopped. The blood surrounding the wound had dried. Her clothes were damp and smelly. She wanted to take a shower and change into a fresh pair of clothes. But she was intrigued at where they were headed and asked, "where do you live?"

He smiled. "I live at the city outskirts in a forest."

She was too shocked to close her mouth. Looking at her expression, he clarified, "It's the outskirts of the forest as well. I don't live in the middle of the forest. Don't worry it is safe there."

"But why would you choose to live near a forest away from civilization?" she asked annoyed.

"I like the place. You will see for yourself." He replied.

But she was angry with him for deciding to bring her to his place without her consent and equally furious at the thought of living in a forest. The day could not get any worse she thought. Just then, he pressed the brakes bringing the car to a halt.

"Oops! There seems to be a problem here." He announced as he peered out through the windshield.