Beauty and the Were~Beast

Unwanted Attention

Gareth studied himself in the mirror. He looked good. Movement behind him made him watch the reflection of his companion. She was starting to stir. He would have to be more careful going forward. He couldn't let Lilium find out if he wanted to succeed in garnering her affections again.

"Why are you up so early?" Belinda enquired sleepily.

"I have somewhere to be. You can let yourself out when you are ready to go." I took one final look at my reflection. There were only so many times you could smooth and straighten a tie.

"Do you want me back tonight?" She asked. Her eyes watched me hopefully. She knew I was also sleeping with her sisters Edina and Diedre. She was hoping she was enough to win me away from the other two. Then I had an idea.

"I'll tell you what. I'll leave the key under the matt in front of my door.' Her grey eyes started to light up.'But you are only to come over tonight if its all three of you. Understand? I want all of you. Also dinner should be on the table at 10, and my shirts properly starched, and I do not want to see a single dish in the sink when I get back."

I just smirked at her while her expression crashed into one of despair. Women usually did anything I asked of them. It was a benefit of being the ideal male speciman. 6'2", 250 pounds of lean hard muscle, dark hair, dark eyes, dark skinned. My request was not as shallow as it would seem on the outside. It was dual purpose. No self respecting woman would let me treat them like that. Either this would get rid of her and eventually her sisters when they realized I was serious, or I would come home to dinner, a clean house, and a warm bed. It was a win-win for me.

Women having self respect around me was a new concept. I just could not wrap my head around the fact that any woman would reject me. But she did. The first time I had her meet me somewhere for a date and she arrived to find a woman under each arm. She had stood there confused until I told her to join us. Then she had been irrate. Even with all that rage she stayed quiet. She simply turned around and left. I had to know why of course. So I followed her. If she was asked out I made sure the guy disappeared. Eventually someone got through to her and told her what I was doing. She came to me and told me to stop it. That's it. Just 'stop it'. She was so weak and submissive. It made my inner animal stir. Those two words must have taken so much out of her. I gave her a choice. She would give me a second chance and I would stop chasing everyone away from her. Of course she complied. She wanted to be with me, she just needed a reason to come back.

I was all the way to my car when I realized that I never waited for Belindas reply. Not that it made any difference anyway. Either they would be there or they wouldn't. I had to stop by the local garden center. I hope my car didn't get to dirty. It was such a nuisance pretending to be sorry and groveling at her feet. That was her job. On her knees at my feet, taking orders. And that is exactly where she would stay. She would be mine, she would do my bidding, and she would do it quietly. Every man needed a woman to take care of all the tedious daily necesseties. My mind strayed and started thinking over what our life would be like together. I didn't care for kids either way but with her I knew she would be having them back to back so everyone knew she was taken and that she was mine. There was always daycare and boarding schools. I may let her keep one around to make sure she didn't try to leave. I even had her wardrobe picked out in my head. It was nowhere near as conservative as she would normally wear. I would come home every night to the smell of a homemade meal. The meals would all be gourmet because he would make sure she learned to cook them. Then she would massage my feet while I enjoyed a nightcap. Not that I needed foot massages. I just like the idea of having her looking up at me, always on her knees.

I almost missed the turn for the garden center because I was so far gone in my imaginings. Fortunately it was a slow day at the garden center and parking near the entry was easy to get. I grabbed a cart and headed straight for the potted plants. I had no idea what her opinions on plants were but I had seen their house and it was surrrounded by plant life. If she knew how often I found myself outside her house watching her, she would never speak to me again. Once she was mine I could stare at her all I wanted. She would learn to take it as a compliment. I carefully placed all the plants I could find that I thought she would like in my cart. Once this charade was over he would never buy another plant again.

Standing in line while all the women around me kept shamelessly stripping me with their eyes made me think of her again. She never did that. She always looked him in the eyes. As much as he had been offended by it when he first met her, he quickly realized he preferred to look straight back into her eyes. She was so expressive. Instead these woman would never look him in the face they were to busy fantasizing about him. It was when the cashier cleared her throat and greeted him that he realized he needed to get to Lilium soon. He needed to see her and smell her and hold her. It was so bad he was obsessing. He handed to cashier his money and a card. If all else failed tonight he was willing to bet she'd call him. She wasn't half bad. He didn't say anything to her, he just grinned and walked out.

Twenty minutes later he was making his way down the road towards pack lands and Liliums house. Why did she have to live so close to them? He had to admit to himself that their archaic way of governing was very appealing to him. An entire group of people having to bow down and obey his every command. He would thrive in that environment. The downside is that he would have to make sure everyone was housed and fed. That part alone kept him from considering the possibilities. As he approached the house he could see Robert was still home. How fortunate Robert never knew what went on between his daughter and I. She never told, and I never missed a chance to make a good impression on him. That way he would bring me up in conversation and tell his daughter what a catch I am. Once I parked out front I made a great show of struggling with all the plants, and sure enough Robert came running. Only, when I turned around it wasn't Robert.

"Let me help you with those, where do you need them to go?" I was met with a pair of totally innocent male eyes that genuinly thought he was being helpful. Since when did Lilium have a boyfriend and....how? I was careful about diverting any attention directed towards her.

"The porch?" He simply nodded and helped me carry the plants towards the house. That's when Robert walked out.

"I got that Jesper, Thank you!" Jesper simply nodded and wandered towards the garden in the back of the house. "I haven't seen you in awhile Gareth."

"I have been busy with work. Trying to build that empire!" Robert chuckled.

"What's with all the plants? Did Rose get you to bring them over?"

"No. She always said that she could never have enough plants in the garden. I figured these would be a good groveling gift for disappearing like I did." I tried to use the most regrettable tone I could think of and smiled weakly at her father. "I just want to make sure I can support a family in the future. For that, I need to have money."

Robert look genuinely torn, and possibly sympathetic. It was hard to tell. I was never any good at reading the more complex emotions in people. Greed, lust, hate and anger. Those I could pick up a mile away.

"I'll go get her. She'll have to be the one who says where they go in the end. I'll just kill them by placing them next to the wrong plant or something." Robert grumbled and walked to the back of the house. Now that I was alone I could hear them in the woods. The wolves on patrol. They were starting to congregate at the edge of the woods just out of the line of site of humans. They could smell me and I them. I had no interest in their Beta. I could smell her all over the property. I let our a low gutteral growl in warning. The human town was my territory. This was a part of it so they could piss off.

"Gareth...?" Her voice drew my attention back to her.

"Hello my lovely Lilly." The pet name I had given her the first day we met used to make her blush, now she remained unchanged and silent. She was thinking of something.

"Gareth, I came back home to get away from you." She said tiredly.

"I know. But you need to know that I will follow you anywhere, because you are mine. I brought you presents to express how I feel. Plants. Wasn't sure which one you would like the best so I grabbed a variety."

"I am not yours Gareth." I didn't let her say anything else. I pulled her into a hug. I needed her father to think we were making up.

"You seem to forget what I am capable of. So let me remind you that your father is only as safe as you are willing to make him. Remember that and stop trying my patience." I whispered into her ear. I grabbed her chin and tilted her face towards mine and gently kissed her lips as her body tensed. She didn't resist. She didn't dare. Her father always was her weak spot. As gentle as I was being it was hard. I wanted to crush her lips with mine and claim her now. IF I did that, I would have a hard time manipulating the people around her. They had to believe I was a great guy. That way they would stay on my side if she ever tried to leave me. To everyone else it should look like we were sharing a tender moment. My phone vibrated. I crushed Liliuam to my chest and pulled it out to look at it. It was a text from Belinda. 'Here at your place cleaning, what would you like for dinner?' The picture that accompanied it was all three sisters in negliges posing all together in the kitchen. Well then, I guess they were desperate enough to keep me around.

"Goodbye, lovely Lilly. Remember what I said." I kissed the top of her head and took in one last deep breath of her hair before I left. I texted the girls back what I wanted. I would swing by the office and then back home. It looked like I had a busy night ahead after all.

Lilium Rose watched as he drove off and out of site. She took this time to compose herself. She had to hide everything she was feeling from the people around her. Then carefully she walked up the stairs to her room and locked the door before she collapsed into her bed and cried.