Rosalie

13

Sammy agreed to let Seth drive me home. We rode in silence. Seth focused on the task at hand, driving through the dark streets of three in the morning London, while I gazed out into the dark. Watching as trickles of rain sped down the tinted glass of Seth's Jeep. A comfortable silence seemed to wrap around us like a comfort blanket. The heat of his body misting across the gap between us and into my skin to warm me.
I'd never seen Seth so attentive, relaxed and gentle before. Not even with Foxy. With her he was always holding himself at a distance with how he spoke to her and if he could get away with not looking at her he would. I'd noticed the little things between them that suggested he wasn't as satisfied with her company as she was with his. But having him alone he seemed content.

Peering from the corner of my eye I quickly take in his sunken shape in the dark leather of the drivers seat. His large calloused hands holding the wheel at ten and two, his eyes never leaving the road and his lips thin in concentration. His broad chest rose and lowered with each relaxed breath he took and his legs hung open slightly as he switched pedals. His thick hair fell into his eyes a little and with a huff he brushes it aside casually.
"Like what you see?" He says scoldingly, but I notice the corner of his lips curl. His focus is still on the road and, surprised at being caught in my state of quiet admiration, I quickly clear my throat and shuffle in my seat.
"Thank you for driving me home." I skip over the question that had made me blush and tried to move into more respectful and safe territory. "And for saving my life."
"I'm surprised Olly didn't offer." He changes gear and turns down a side street to my house. "He is to be your mate, after all." He pulls up outside of my building then turns to me moving a stray hair from my lip. The warmth of the connection of his thumb over my bottom lip makes me shudder.
"Nothing is set in stone." I mumble, enchanted by his blue eyes. His thumb lingers and for a moment time stands still. His other hand moves to cup my cheek, "have you accepted him?" He asks, a look of curious uncertainty shadowing his features.
"It's complicated," I sigh. The spell broken I sit back in my seat with my heart broken and pounding at the same time. A strange sensation which made my breath catch in my chest in a tight tingle.

What is happening to me? Why do I feel this way?

My body ached, my heart raced and everything was on fire and cold at the same time. My neck throbbed from the attack and my head felt heavy. Everything tingled from my lips to the tips of my toes. My cheeks flushed crimson. Noticing my discomfort Seth leaned in to capture my chin in his palm, "I can smell your arousal, Rosalie." His soft growl of a whisper made me squeeze my thighs. I was so confused. "You feel it don't you?" He continued, his lips inches from mine. I could smell the earth on his skin, the leaves in his hair mixed with the faint tang of blood. Blood that he had spilt for me. Because of me.
"But why now?" My breathing quickened as the heat seemed to rise higher. Steaming the car windows so only a white mist could be seen. Seth's lips moved closer as his body adjusted to lean into mine. "Why are you being this way now?"
"What?" He leans away to look at my face.
"You only want me because of Olly." I state breathlessly. Offended he shakes his head and cups my cheeks with both palms, pressing his nose into my hair and taking a long sniff. "You're wrong."
"You promised me to another." I begin to regain my composure. My voice strengthening as the realisation dawns on me that what I had wanted before Olly had come too late. I'd been bartered with like a common animal.

Gripping the handle of the jeep I force it open. Dragging my legs out, down the road and up the couple of steps to the door. Seth didn't follow. He didn't need to. He could hear the words dripping like venom from my lips as I mumbled them while fumbling for my keys. "You sold me off like a pet and hurt me and now you're expecting me to fall into your arms! You're just as bad as he is. Like I told Olly - I'm not a prize to be won."

Happy to be home I throw my bag to the side, kick off my shoes and head straight for the shower to wash away the chaos of the night. I scrubbed hard over my skin to get rid of the musk of alpha males and tried to soothe the pit of fire that rumbled in my lower tummy. Standing beneath the cold water I gently run my hands over my plump stomach. Allowing tears to roll down my cheeks and mix with the water as the evenings emotions overloaded me. It was too much. The sensations, the emotions, the pain were heightened as a wolf. Everything was much more intense. What lingered in my mind, however, while I stared at the bruised face before me in the mirror, was the heat I had felt for Seth compared to the heat for Olly.

The heat had been passionate there was no doubt about it. But for Olly it had been a gentle, tame heat which, when compared with Seth's was very different. The heat with Seth had been all consuming, all fire, all mixed emotions into an explosion of tingles and butterflies. Both were going to be trouble. Of that I was sure and also scared of. I didn't know what these sensations meant or how to control them. The only thing I knew was if I acted on either one of them I would be mated and owned. And I wasn't completely sure that was what I wanted.