Bound Book 2

Chapter 2 - Strangers

Dmitri

Skylar. My love. A stranger.

I look at her as she halts in her step, her hazel-doe eyes not looking for mine as I hoped they would. The breeze blows her scent towards me, one I have not smelt for days. I inhale deeply, cinnamon, jasmine, apple, and Sky's unique scent assaulting my senses. My eyes close and my fists clench, my Lycan forcing me forward.

I was having trouble controlling it. Hence my disappearance for the last couple of days. I had lost control yet again, Rene and Ivan forced to lock me in the cellar of my house for two days until Raina and Ally were able to come by. Ally had been making me a sedative which I was taking regularly to help keep my ever-raging Lycan at bay. The rate my body burned through the herbal medicine was causing issues, but Raina was able to reinforce the effects with some magic. It was not a long-term solution though.

The cure was standing just feet away from me wearing short denim jeans and a white cotton top with lace edging. Her hair was piled up on her head in an unruly mess, longer than it had ever been. The dreads wrapped around the rest of her hair, keeping everything in place. With her back facing me I couldn't see her face, but I knew her features off by heart. I see them often enough in my dreams and unlike her, she was imprinted in my memory.

Fuck I missed her. That feeling was driving me and my Lycan insane. Literally.

She had lost a bit of weight, her body much thinner than was healthy for her. Reminding me of my reason for coming.

"Ally and Raina are here, and they want to see you," I say, not approaching her. I can tell she is afraid of me, the memory of that day six months ago flashing through my mind. The look of confusion and fear drowning my joy at the occasion of marking my mate. My Skylar who could barely look at me let alone be near me.

"I will wait if you want to get changed or if you are ready, we can go now straight to my house." This grabs her attention, her head whipping around. Finally, brown eyes meet green. Eyes filled with emptiness.

"Your house? Why are we not meeting at the clinic?" She asks, her voice sending an involuntary shiver down my spine.

"We can't do renovations during the day, so it's undertaken at night. Meaning it's off limits at the moment." This was a lie, but she didn't need to know that.

Raina and Ally thought that her coming to the place where she lost her memories might crack the defensive wall she has erected. The one keeping everyone out and isolating her. I could tell she was lonely, but I don't think she knew how far removed from everything and everyone she was.

It was also time we found out what else breaking the curse had caused. Besides breaking my heart. Looking at her, she no longer scented as a human. She smelled like all the supernatural species combined. It was very perplexing and something we needed to investigate and understand. But that could only be done if Sky cooperated.

Raina also had some news on Gael which she wanted to share with us.

I wait for what seems like an eternity before Sky says, "Okay. Give me five minutes."

She spins back around, moving quickly towards her new home. As usual, I was not invited in.

I walk towards the tree she was sitting under, standing in the spot she was sitting in. She likes sitting here. I often come and sit in this same spot at night, her strong scent in this area comforting and torturing me all at once.

This tree reminds me of the tree I had proposed to Sky under, my eyes closing as the memory washes over me, a memory that is both my best and worst. The day my world fell apart.

The joy that had coursed through me when she said yes had been overshadowed by the look of sheer terror on her beautiful features a while later, once we finished the mating process. My bite of her neck simultaneously confirmed Sky was my true mate while also fulfilling the curse and wiping her memory of me. If I had been anything other than an Alpha, we could have been spared that fate as usually both parties were required to pierce the skin to complete and seal the bond. The exception to this rule was always an Alpha. His claim gave the binding a finality that could not be undone.

I sat in resentment of my position as Alpha. Anger once again surfacing as my eyes change from green to black. If I ever got my hands on the being that had done this, my restraint would not be found in the vicinity.

A nervous clearing of a throat brings me back to the present and when I turn around, I notice that Sky's gaze is on my hairy, clawed hand which is currently digging into the innocent tree trunk. I look away, well aware my eyes are still black as I force composure I don't feel. The only thing helping me is the fear coursing through the bond I share with Sky. My Lycan sensing this, relinquishes control, my eyes and hands returning to normal.

"I'm sorry," I say, looking back at Sky who is looking at me with concern.

"It's fine. Let's go and get this over with. Did you bring your car or are we walking?" She looks away from me, her eyes focused anywhere else but on me.

"We are walking. My car is in for repairs." Yet another lie. I wanted us to walk so I can spend some time with her. Something that was hard to do in her reluctant state.

She looks over at me in disbelief before heading off in the direction of my house. When I had been forced into allowing her to stay on the outskirts of the pack close to pack borders, I put her close to me, my house similarly on the border of the pack and Willow Falls. While not right on each other's doorsteps, it was close enough for me to get here in six minutes at Lycan speed.

I was surprised she remembered where I live considering she had only been shown once. I suppose she kept it in her memory bank as a definite place to avoid. Not that she wandered around much. I watched her numerous times on the cameras installed around her place and she rarely went anywhere. She would sometimes go weeks without leaving her small area. It wasn't healthy behavior in my opinion.

I quickly catch up, falling into place beside her. She tries not to make it obvious as she shifts further away from me, her attempt at creating distance between us not working as I keep the space between us tight. I wasn't going to make this easy on her. It was as difficult for me.

She looks up at me briefly, the flash of annoyance unmistakable on her face.

"So, how are you liking your new place, Skylar?" I ask her, ignoring the hurt I feel at her behavior towards me.

"It's fine." Her two-word response accompanied by her flat tone send a surge of anger through me.

"Have you thought about my offer? To train with us every morning?" This was my attempt at integrating her into the pack as well as ensuring that if anything should happen, she was at least prepared. It would also give me an opportunity to interact with her, something I desired immensely. Even this one-sided interaction would do. That just proved how desperate I had become.

"I'm still thinking about it," she says quietly, not looking at me.

I look at her side profile, the freckles on her cheeks and nose seem more pronounced, even in the dim light of sunset. Her lips are pursed, the smile I had seen on them so often before nowhere to be found. She had not smiled once since The Incident. It was like the old Skylar was gone.

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