Kill of the Night [BXB]

Chapter 26

 I come out of the bathroom with my dirty clothes balled up. I'm surprised by Rion's presence beside the door, and he grabs the clothes out of my hands and trudges away once more. I stand by idly, half wondering if he's going to make a habit of this. He returns empty-handed and catches my arm, pulling me behind him—gently, this time—to his room. He shoves the sheets down and practically pushes me onto the bed. Confused, I watch him open his closet. A guitar falls out. He ignores it and rummages around for something. When he turns around, a stack of blankets in hand, his eyes are glowing. He kicks the guitar out of his way, and it spins on its axis into the wall. I wince. "That wasn't necessary."

"It was." He lays the blankets at the end of the bed and throws one over the bed. He pulls the sheets over me and pulls the pillow up behind me, invading my nostrils with his scent. I relax against it, watching him toss layer upon layer over the bed, and I think, Hey, this totally would be sweet if he wasn't an asshole. When every blanket stretches across the bed, Rion grabs the remote off the shelf and turns the lights off. He pushes himself onto the bed until his back is to the wall and turns the TV on, filling the room with light. He opens Netflix and starts scrolling through.

"So, uh, what is this?" I ask.

He looks at me, neon circles staring into my neck. "We're watching a movie."

"We are?"

"Yeah, unless you wanna go home."

"Uh, I'll stay."

He looks back at the TV and selects something. It's a horror movie. It's dark enough not to stab at my eyes, so I get comfortable and try to ignore Rion's occasional glances. The movie is alright—it doesn't look low budget or anything—but I can't focus when Rion starts staring. "Is there an issue?" I ask politely.

"What?"

"I can see you looking."

He blinks. The glow of his eyes shutters like a silent film switching to dialogue. He keeps staring, and I have a feeling he wants something from me that he's too self-conscious to ask about.

"What's up?"

A gun is fired in the movie. I look at the TV. A farmer has shot at something in the dark, and there's a protective snarl on his face. I look at Rion. I watch him stare. I'm not sure he knows I can see him, which means he doesn't know his eyes are glowing, which means it's unintentional, which means something is happening to make his wolf side react, which means it might have something to do with me.

"I don't know," he answers.

If it has something to do with me, it might be to do with our bond. That'd make sense. Mom told me about how wolves crave the touch of their mate, and alphas especially feel the need to protect theirs with all their strength. When I asked her how, she just looked at me and smiled.

"I'm fine," I try to reassure.

"Are you?"

"Yeah. I'm here, aren't I?"

He looks down. Faintly, I hear a ping. He gets his phone out of his pocket and looks at it, turning the brightness down. I see him open an app and type something. Three seconds pass by, lingering and excruciating. He taps his screen and brings it to his ear. "Yeah, what? . . . No, I'm busy." He hangs up and shoves his phone back in his pocket. It pings once, twice, thrice, and he ignores it, so I do too and watch the movie. The farmer's being chased by the monster through his cornfield, and I watch him get ripped apart seconds before he gets to the road. My mouth waters.

Rion glances at me again. His irises are fading, but I can still tell he's looking. He fidgets with his hands, and his eyes trail down to my hands, which are laced together in my lap. I slide them down to hug my stomach, feeling my face heat. He bites his lip and looks down again, and I feel a spike of pain in my heart that pulls me toward him. It begs me to pull him close and comfort him with my scent.