Page 22 of Monsters Within (The Creatures We Crave 1)
Elwin
I’d always given our girl whatever she’d wanted in the past. I swear, it physically hurt me to deny her when she looked at me with those big, beautiful lavender eyes, pleading with me to give in. I was an absolute sucker with her, but I was completely at peace with my ego and masculinity, so I had no quarrels with anyone thinking I was “whipped.”
I saw the way my brothers rolled their eyes or laughed when I conceded to her at times, but you know what I also saw? I saw the love sparking in Alexandra’s eyes and the absolute faith that I would always be there for her. She would know that she could always come to me with anything she needed, and I would be there to support her, no matter how little or big the matter.
And to me? That was priceless. I needed to feel like my place in her life mattered. Being the quiet and somewhat shy one of the group was a tough pill to swallow at times. When she had kissed me earlier, it was the first kiss we had ever shared.
Sure, we had hugged, held hands, and I’d kissed her forehead more times than I could count, but wow… That moment would forever be etched into my mind.
I’d do anything for her, but this request? No chance. It was because of my love for her that when it came to her safety, things like that were completely out of the question. We had never experienced a moment like this, where my gut was churning at the thought of not following her. I couldn’t explain how or why I felt a tug to go after her, but there was no way I could deny it.
“Alright, let’s go,” I announced as I started towards the door, ready to follow at a close enough distance to not lose her.
“Wait, what?” Lucien asked incredulously, stopping me in my tracks. “You just handed her the bag and sent her on her way with no issue.”
Rolling my shoulders and stretching my neck, which had been cramped from the small bed, I sighed heavily. I hadn’t expected any pushback on this, especially from Lucien. I suppose this was completely out of my norm, so I could briefly explain.
“Because if we fought her on it more, she’d have been suspicious. Now there is no way she thinks we are going to follow her.”
His lips curled up in a grin as he slapped a hand on his leg and barked out a laugh. “You genius. I could kiss that brain of yours.”
My lips thinned as I thought of Lucien literally cutting my head open to do exactly that, and I cleared my throat. “Maybe let’s not do that.”
It wasn’t like I really thought he would do that, but I also couldn’t say with one-hundred percent certainty that he wouldn’t…
“You’re right,” Kylo finally chimed in, drawing my attention to him. “I wanted to honor her request, but something in my chest feels unsettled with letting her go out there alone. But how are we supposed to go unseen by her and the others at this school?”
Ahh, so I wasn’t the only one feeling this distrust for the situation.
Lucien let go of the hold on his human form, groaning in bliss as he stretched into our true form. “Did you suddenly forget we can travel in the shadows?”
Fighting the urge to slap my hand over my face, I cut in. “We don’t have much time before we lose her trail. Shift back, Lucien. The odds of there being shadows for the entirety of the way during daylight is slim to none. We have to go in our human form.”
“Without shirts?”
Groaning at the lack of understanding at the importance of not losing her trail, I snapped at Lucien. “Yes, without shirts. We’ll just have to risk it for now, okay?”
With a smirk and a mock salute to me, he gestured at the door. “Lead the way.”
Opening the door, I poked my head out to the hallway and looked both ways. I knew from being out here with Hannah earlier that the path on the left ended in a dead-end of dorms, so we’d be going right.
Luck seemed to be on our side with no one else out here so far, so I ushered Kylo and Lucien out and held my finger up to my lips to be quiet as we went. Kylo eased her door shut quietly and then we were off, speed-walking to the stairs and descending down the steps.
Fuck, I hoped we didn’t lose her. I could still smell her intoxicating vanilla and citrus scent, but I wasn’t certain that would continue outside of this building.
As we reached the bottom of the stairs, there were small groups of female students chatting and lounging in a small space with chairs and a few couches. I felt their eyes turn and land on us, and I let out a small curse beneath my breath. There was no way we would be following her without attention, so I guess we’d have to own it to not rouse suspicion.
Before I could think of how exactly to do that, seeing as I wasn’t the smoothest with social situations, Lucien seemed to understand without my explanation. He threw an arm around Kylo and me, trapping us in a slow walk as he tossed out in a casual tone, “Morning, ladies.”
I swear, they all perked up and immediately began primping and preening. I didn’t quite want this attention, but at least they wouldn’t think we were creeps, I guess.
“Who are you and where have you been hiding?” a voice called out. A leggy brunette in leather pants and a very low cut black top stood from her chair, smirking suggestively at us.
Oh, this was about to be uncomfortable. I didn’t want to be rude to anyone, but at the same time, I knew we would not be entertaining their flirting in any way. My brain was signaling that it would hurt their egos for us to blow them off, but I wasn’t sure how exactly I knew that. It wasn’t like I had a lot of interaction with women outside of Alexandra.
Kylo was quick to cut off her advance with a short response. “In our girlfriend’s room.”
Girlfriend? That was a new term, but it sat right with me as I mulled it over.
