Estimable

(adj.) worthy of great respect

♡

"It really isn't that hard." A humored voice interrupted my struggle.

Puffing out a frustrated breath, "Clearly you can see me struggling, therefore it IS hard. Stop pissing me off, Arrax."

I was helping Lilly with the chores around the house, anything to rid myself from the boredom of being here for an entire day with literally nothing to do. Right now I was cleaning the windows in Arrax's bedroom, but it was almost impossible to get it without those ugly ass lines. Arrax had apparently heard my frustrated grunting every time I got it wrong and decided to come in here and piss me off.

"You're struggling because you're horrible at it." Once again a cocky remark, even though his smirk was distracting I refused to let him taunt me like this.

Dropping the equipment on the floor like a child, "Let's see if you can do it better then, shouldn't we?" His confident strides in my direction were annoying, and as he picked the things up from the floor, my eyes zeroed in on his firm butt.

'Truly a gift from above' My wolf purred making my cheeks redden and eyes widen.

Arrax's skilled hands started working on the windows, cleaning and wiping. His arms strong and with small hints of veins running under his skin. So dangerously sexy and I really was having a hard time keeping my dirty thoughts to a minimum. Of course, the windows were perfectly clean with no visible lines after he worked his magic, and the cocky smirk on his lips told me that he was aware of how annoyed I was.

"There you have it." He said, only rubbing salt to the wound.

As I left the room I yelled over my shoulder, "Great, you're amazing at it so keep up the good work, I'll ask Lilly what else she needs help with."

Not waiting to see his reaction, I went on a hunt for Lilly and eventually found her in the laundry room. She was dancing along to some music in her earphones, the scene actually quite sweet. Leaning against the door frame, I waited for her to see me. Not even three seconds later, she did a dramatic turn and our eyes met, mine humorous and hers filled with shock, probably also a little embarrassment. Stopping mid-turn, she straightened her back, trying to compose herself while pulling the earphones out.

"Hey, what's up?" She breathlessly asked, with a smile on her face.

Crossing my arms in front of my chest, I took a step closer to her, "Why'd you stop? It was just getting to the good part."

"Don't tattle on me, Aspen."

Acting shocked, "Oh, I would never."

Her laugh filled the room by my comment, and I found myself smiling along. This could very well become a friendship and the thought of leaving suddenly felt like an even heavier weight on my shoulders. Lilly really was one bubbly werewolf and I had no ill feelings towards her at all, so the want to create a friendship was boiling inside of me. I hadn't had any friends for so many years and right here in front of me was my one opportunity of doing so.

Removing the doubts from my mind, I met her eyes again, "Did you need help with anything?"

She seemed to ponder for a second before shaking her head, "No, we've done it all. Just relax and get to know the premises before dinner in two hours or so." That could actually be a good idea, I needed an escape route when the time came. Agreeing to her idea, I saluted her and left the laundry room. Ready for an adventure in the woods.

Walking in this big house I tried to remember the door to the backyard, I was pretty sure it was placed underneath the staircase, or perhaps next to it. Somewhere in that area at least, I thought, as I began walking up the stairs from the laundry room in the basement. Spotting the door I walked outside, the wind calmed my entire being, it had been a long time since I'd spent an entire day inside a house.

Nature was my escape and exactly what I needed to relax. Removing my shoes, I walked around in the beautiful open backyard. It was more like a forest though, the grass field was long, but the trees surrounded it and cast a dark shadow over the entire backyard. This was my dream, to be able to run directly into the forest from my house one day. It gave some sort of freedom and with being an Aurelia I definitely needed that.

A sudden tugging from my insides made it hard for me to breathe.

'OUT!' My wolf yelled in despair.

I shook my head and kept a hand on my stomach, the pain was rippling through my torso and goosebumps erupted on my skin. She tried to force a shift upon me, but I couldn't give her what she wanted. This was the downside of having such a strong wolf, I was constantly fighting against her. She didn't know the danger of us shifting, it was my responsibility to make sure we stayed in human form. They'd be able to smell me immediately and then I'd be dead on the spot.

A shock slapped me from inside my stomach, making me drop to my knees.

'OUT, now!'

"NO!" I screamed into the air while hugging my body, the coldness from the grass seeped through my clothes and made me aware of my surroundings again. Finally, my wolf gave up the fight as the pain was gone in a second, I was still stronger than her luckily for me. It would be a problem if she ever got the upper hand, but I didn't plan on giving her that, never.

"What's going on?" A voice carried through the air, evoking jitters in my body. I knew who it was and I was scared of how much he just witnessed. The pack was so incredibly aware of every suspicious thing happening because of "The Aurelia", this didn't help my case.

Quickly standing up, I met his questioning gaze. Bad excuses were flying around in my mind, too fast for me to catch one, which ended with me standing like an idiot and completely dodging his question. "That's not really any of your business."

He took a threatening step closer to me, standing so close that I could feel the heat emit from his body. Tingles spread through my arms and into my fingers, the need to touch him so overwhelming I struggled to resist.

"The pack is my business actually, now I'd like for you to explain yourself." He snapped, the iciness to his tone slapping the little smile off my face, that had somehow appeared without my consent. It was clear that he didn't trust me yet, it wasn't an excuse that I was his mate, he valued his pack higher.

"I don't have to explain myself to you." I spat back, crossing my arms in front of my body, trying to create a wall between him and I. It was true though, if he didn't trust me he could throw me in a cell or let me leave the pack, he wasn't entitled to an explanation from me.

"You know, I could very well just kill you and get over it, nothing is stopping me." He threatened with a sinister smile on his face, it was clear to me that I was the intruder here, he really did not trust me at all. This was such a shift from the teasing he did in the bedroom while I was cleaning the windows, this was a vile form of hate and I had no idea why.

Looking away from him towards the trees, I longed for my old life for some reason. Running alone through the woods, even though it was lonely, I knew how to hold my own. It was much better than standing here and being threatened by my mate anyway.

His fingers grabbed my chin and forced me to look at him, the skin on skin shocking every fiber of my being. He hadn't touched me before and I'd kind of hoped he never would, it would make things easier for me, much easier. Therefore I quickly slapped his hand away and took a step away from him, "Don't ever touch me again."

Arrax seemed shocked by my snappy remark, "Don't talk to me like that."

My blood was boiling at this point, I refused to be the submissive mate like every other werewolf, I deserved better than that. I was a freaking Aurelia and I owed it to my species to be stubborn and proud. Stepping closer to Arrax, I got all up in his face looking him dead-on in the eyes.

"Do not, ever, think that I'm some bitch you can control. I am not affected by your Alpha voice, I don't care how many werewolves you've got in there protecting your ass, I don't give a fucking shit about you. But you will show me the respect I deserve, or so help me god, I'll rip your dick in two." My voice was threatening and with a sinister snarl on my lips, he knew I meant every word I was saying. He didn't know just how strong I really was, mentally and physically, so he shouldn't test me.