I'm pretty sure that when I take off my shirt tomorrow, my back will be showcasing a modest amount of purple-blue bruises, considering how much Lina assaults it until we reach my office. As unhinged as it sounds, the fact that the marks on my skin would've been from Lina makes a ripple of satisfaction weave through me.
As we step into my office, the cool outside air is replaced by a stuffy, humid atmosphere, and I hit the lights on the way to the threshold. Placing Lina down with utmost care—which proves to be a struggle because she keeps up her adorable show of resistance—I pivot around and lock us inside.
Lina is seething, her fury a whole separate entity in the room with us, and I suddenly feel guilty about my actions. She raises her hands to hit me again, and I grab her wrists with one palm and slam her against the wall.
"Will you stop fighting me for one second and just listen to me?"
She recovers from her shock really fast and glares up at me.
"Let me go."
"No."
"Why?" Her voice is a little shaky now.
I run my fingers through my hair in frustration and give in. "I need to keep you here, so I can be sure you're safe. You've been... marked."
She swallows audibly. "What do you mean, 'marked'?"
I sigh. "It's exactly what it sounds like. The men who attacked you in the forest are from an enemy pack. They marked you because you interfered in their business. Now they want revenge."
Fear clouds her lovely eyes, and I suppress the urge to seek out those bastards and wring their necks.
"So they... marked me?" She says the words with difficulty, still processing their meaning.
I nod. Despite the onslaught of guilt washing over me, I keep up the lie with a straight face, reminding myself that it's not exactly a complete lie. Those bastards are really after her, but they aren't the ones who've marked her. The bastard who marked her selfishly is me. But she doesn't need to know that now.
My eyes drift—just for a second—to the faint shimmer at the base of her neck. It's nearly invisible now, but I can still sense the mark I left there. Mine. A part of me calms just knowing it's there, even if she doesn't understand what it means yet.
I loosen my grip on her wrists and release them cautiously, fully expecting another round of punches, but she lets her arms hang by her side—the fight suddenly gone from her.
I feel her hand over my chest and freeze in shock. I look at her—her form seems smaller than usual and her shoulders are slumped in defeat. I don't like this; the Lina I know has more fire in her. I grab her chin, raising it slightly, and peer directly into her eyes.
"I will keep you safe. I promise." My words are delivered with a low growl, as threatening as if I'd yelled them.
Lina seems to realize our proximity—and our reality—because her eyes widen in fear again. This time, it's for me. This makes me unreasonably angry. Of course, it'll take her some time to adjust to us belonging to different species. Despite her special situation.
I stroke her soft cheek with my palm and soften my voice considerably.
"I would never hurt you, Lina. That's not something you have to fear from me. I'll hurt everyone who hurts you—but never you."
I expect her to pull away, except she leaves me stunned by placing her own hand over mine on the side of her face. As if on instinct, I lean forward, dying to feel her sweet lips on mine, and right before we make contact, the door to my office swings open.
Lina wrenches back at the speed of lightning, and I want to hurl something at whoever the piece of shit was who decided this exact moment to interrupt.
"Lina? Is that really you? My word, now it all makes sense why this meathead has been so insufferable lately." My infuriating brother has a smug grin on his face.
"Get the hell out," I bark, except the little shit proceeds to ignore me and moves toward Lina.
She smiles at him. At him. She's been here three days and all I've gotten are glares, but him? She smiles.
I grab David by the collar of his shirt and slam him into the wall, ready to strangle him. He laughs out loud, enjoying the spectacle, but Lina frantically pulls at my shoulder and begs me to release him. I do. Even though I want nothing more than to pummel him into the ground, I don't want her to hate me more than she already does, so I step back instead.
Lina goes over to check him for injuries, but he raises his hands.
"Don't worry, don't worry. I'm really fine." His grin grows annoyingly wider as he looks at me. "The marking sure is strong, isn't it?"
I want to hit him again and step forward just to do that, but he picks up on my fury and steps next to Lina, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and using her as a shield. Dammit.
He turns to her. "You wanna get out of this room and get some air? It's stuffy enough in here without this ogre sucking all the air out of the room."
He meets my eyes, and even though he's still grinning, there is a serious resolution in them. Despite our clashes, my brother has always been on my side. I nod at him. It would be good for Lina to spend some time with him for a while. He's always been good at soothing people's nerves, and they've always been good friends. Not that I'm bitter or anything.
Lina nods at his offer. "Yes, please. I would rather be anywhere else than here." Her glare is back with a vengeance, and I suppress the urge to smile. At least the fire is back. I just need to make sure it never extinguishes—even if it costs me everything.