18 Red

I had no idea who she was talking about, I was so immersed in my thoughts, I didn't register that we arrived until she pulled over.

I jerked my head behind, checking for the alleged two cars that were on our tail.

'Honestly you belittle me too much.'

I stared at her in plain confusion.

"Why do you insist on speaking to me in my head when no one is around us?"

She turned her head away from me and reached for the door handle, ignoring both me and my question that hung in the air between us.

But then she froze, her grip on the door handle loosened and she turned back to look at me.

This girl changed her mind like crazy!

"One of the cars was for the wolves, that one couldn't go past the mutual territory,"

But there were two of them.

"And the second one?"

"That one was ours, I outrank them, so I shooed them away." She frowned, "It doesn't mean that they won't tell on us, so let's hurry up now." She was out of the car the next second.

I was unable to move immediately, my brain was overloaded. I slapped my face with both of my hands hard, trying to snap out of it.

Then I stepped out of the car, my eyes started looking for her. I registered the scenery while I was at it. The forest we were currently at consisted mostly of pines, spruces, and larches. They were the main characteristics of taiga, or boreal forest, not everything can handle Alaska's harsh cold after all.

The same could be said about the animals around here.

An image of a magnificent white wolf passed through my vision, I recalled its long fur, thinking that it could camp in the middle of the forest right here and probably think nothing of it. I vaguely wondered if I'd be able to see that creature again, the pretty white werewolf.

'I wonder who that was'

"Coming or leaving?" She sounded annoyed.

"Coming," I hurried up in her direction, she was on the other side of the monster truck, waiting for me.

We walked a while through the pine trees, I didn't know if we were supposed to stop somewhere in particular, or if she was just gathering the courage to give me the answers she promised a while earlier.

She was leading the way, and to be honest, I was enjoying the chase.

Her beautiful wavy hair was moving left and right over her off-white winter coat that stopped above her waist, it was hard to keep my eyes up.

I heard a low chuckle that vibrated softly like a bell, not sure if I imagined it, I refrained from asking her whether she saw into my thoughts or not. I secretly hoped I'd be able to block some stuff that ran in my head and keep them away from her, the sooner I learn how to do it, the better.

Elizabeth suddenly came to a halt, and when I almost bumped into her, she turned, facing me. We both froze right there and then. My heart was racing the next second, her big doe eyes danced between mine, and her moist lips parted slightly.

"Hey shorty," I said with a smile, but my voice was filled with desire, and my eyes were on her lips. I didn't want to hide my feelings, why would I? It was my chance to finally make a move on her... That was what I thought until she looked appalled.

Not the reaction I was quite hoping for.

'I'm not backing down, Elizabeth.'

My words were confident, but my moves were not. Hesitantly, I reached down and stroked her hair with the back of one finger, marveling at the satin texture, when she didn't stop me, I reached the middle of the strand and took it between both my thumb and my index finger, I held her eyes with mine as I brought the strand to my nose and breathed in. Her big eyes were the widest I had seen.

She wasn't completely immune to me.

"This is not what we came here for," Her tone was urgent, I sighed and took a step back. I needed to put some distance between us if she wanted me to focus on something other than her.

"I'm all ears, Elizabeth," Saying her name out loud in front of her shouldn't give me this much exhilaration, it reminded me of bungee jumping with Liam in the Marble Canyon...

This girl that changed her mind like crazy, maybe I should do the same.

I grabbed her and pulled her closer to me.

'Let me kiss you.'

She put both of her hands on my chest, and a jolt ran through my body. I hated the clothes between us.

"Theo," Her tone demanded my attention. And I unwillingly peeled my eyes away from her lips and looked into her eyes.

I misread everything.

She firmly held my eyes in hers as she shook her head slowly, to the left, then to the right... Making sure I got the rejection.

She didn't want me. My blood started boiling in my veins.

"You need to fight this shallow attraction, she doesn't want this for you... None of them do..."

... I couldn't believe she was bringing another girl into this conversation right now!

Elizabeth's features changed, she looked frightened. And she was right to be... I didn't know what she read on my face, but I was scared of what was boiling inside of me too.

She removed her hands but there was a wall between us, "Your mother... she did not want this. It all starts with her; so ignore the pull you feel for me because you will change your mind once you know the truth."

"I will be the judge of that," I warned, sick and tired of people deciding my life for me.

"I know why you aren't fully awakened, why you acted like you demanded answers but didn't really."

Nonsense.

"You don't know what you're talking about," I said.

"I know your every move. I too, have eyes on you." She admitted shamelessly.

"Well, then you know that my stubborn brother refused to talk to me."

She rolled her eyes.

"If you REALLY wanted answers, you could've come to me, or you could've kidnapped one of the Johnsons and questioned him. Is that what you think I'll say?"

I frowned at her, totally lost now.

She smiled at me... but it was disturbing. She looked like a vampire again, her eyes losing the brown in them and becoming red. I felt conflicted, my heart thumped wildly.

Was this denial or attraction?

I wasn't sure.

"If you wanted answers, you would've demanded them out of the minds of anyone in this city,"

She took my hand and planted a cold kiss on the back of it, her red eyes closed as her voice rang in my head.

'My king.'