Chosen by the Goddess

Chapter 10

“s**t” he mumbles, before setting me back down on the ground. I have to grab the ceiling behind me as not to stumble. My legs feel weak and I did not expect to be standing on my own again so soon. I look up to find out what happened, only to see Rhys staring past me into the dark. 

“Dude, I know you’re there.” He says out loud. 

“Sorry I didn’t want to interrupt.” I turn around to see a man emerge from the dark. He has a dirty grin on his face. His very beautiful face. He wears grey sweats and nothing else, he seems older, probably in his thirties. 

“But clearly, you did so anyway.” Rhys responds, laughing it off. He wants to make it sound like a joke, but I can see that it bothers him. 

“Don’t you want to introduce me to your little friend?” The stranger inquires.

“This is Delta, my -mate.” He hesitates before saying the word, then he continues. “Delta this is Christopher, he is commander in charge of of our troops and pack security.” I raise my eyebrows and look back and forth between the two men. That sounds so serious I think to myself. Then I give the new guy a bright smile. 

“Well then Christopher, it is so nice to meet you. I was told earlier that you don’t do handshakes.” I say, as I salute to him like soldiers do. He chuckles, then walks over to me and extends his hand. I lean over the railing to shake it. 

“You can shake my hand anytime” he says laughing, then turns to Rhys. “You’ve got yourself a funny one.” Before climbing the steps and making his way past us into the house. I cant help but smile. He seems nice. I would probably be bothered knowing what he just witnessed, had I been sober, but now, I just shrug it off. 

It is again just us, I raise my head to look at Rhys. His eyes are fixed on me, as they always seem to be. I let myself drop forward, knowing I would pound into him. He doesn’t move, but I can feel tension in his muscles. I lean against his chest, and with my eyes closed, inhale his scent, mixed with the fresh, cold air surrounding us.

I had not left the city for a while before I came here and it felt like a weight being lifted off my chest that I didn’t know was there, and I could finally breathe. I don’t know how long we remained like this, but Rhys had started to relax too. At some point, he started stroking the back of my head, causing me to let out a sigh. 

I don’t know what it is with this man. I don’t know why I trust him, why I doesn’t feel strange to be with him, after I’ve known him for a solid two days. I cant explain it, but being close to him feels so right. I don’t know why and I decide that I don’t need to think of a reason right know, all I want to do, is enjoy this moment. 

As my eyelids grow heavy, I feel the long day creeping up on me. Our little fight this morning, the long long drive her, and all the excitement of the evening. Before I can say anything. I hear his low voice. 

“Do you want to go to bed?” As if he had read my thoughts. I only nod. 

“Wait, where is my backpack?” I ask, after remembering that I hadn’t seen it since we left the car, sounding more tired than I had anticipated.

“We’ll get it on our way up.” Rhys declares as he grabs my hand and we make our way back into the house. 

The party had died down a little. Many people were already gone, a few groups are still sitting around, talking quietly. A couple of them raise their heads as we walk past, but the excitement about me from earlier seems to be gone. I am glad about that. We walk towards the big door where we came in earlier. I see my backpack lying stashed to the side, behind the big staircase that the alpha had used for his big entrance. Without stopping, Rhys sweeps it up, and we make our way up the stairs. 

It feels like the stairs don’t end, maybe I’m tired, maybe these steps are endless, maybe both. The man walks in front of me eagerly, while I struggle to catch my breath.

“Almost-“ he says smiling while turning back to me “-one more.”

“Really?” I stop.

“No this is it.” He says, laughing. After I make my way up the last couple of steps, he takes my hand and leads me to the right into a hallway. It’s a long one and I pray that we don’t have to walk all the way through. Before I can finish that thought, Rhys opens a door on our left, and enters the room. 

For some reason, the lights are already lit, and they are brighter than in the hallway. I blink to adjust my eyes. The room is big. Dark floor, light walls. Not much in it, except for a big bed on the wall ahead, a desk and a seating area to the right. What catches my attention is a set of glass doors, leading to a small balcony. I walk over and push them open. 

From here, I can see over the surrounding area, a huge lot of land and the woods. If I look right down, there is the patio where we were earlier. I look up at the moon, it is almost full. I sense Rhys' presence behind me, he is so close, I can feel his breath. 

“You have quite a nice room.” I remark.

“Thank you, you can have your own though, if you want. I think there is one ready for you down the hall.”

“No thank you. I got the feeling I’m gonna end up here sooner or later anyway.” I say with a wink, before turning around and walking past him to the bathroom, grabbing my backpack on the way. I hear him chuckle behind me. 

The bathroom is equally big. The entire back wall is made of glass and it allows the moonlight to flood the room. I decide not to turn the lights on. I pick some fresh clothes out of my backpack and slip out of the old ones, before I make my way into the shower. I didn’t expect a hot shower to feel that good, but washing a long day off really helps. 

I don’t take long. I wash my hair and use the shampoo residue to clean my body before I hop out of the shower and into my sleep shirt. It isn’t really my shirt. It is the one that Rhys wore last night, but he would have left it at my place, so I figure, finders keepers. 

As I walk back into the bedroom, I notice a small pantry kitchen, that couldn’t be seen from the main door. How thoughtful, no one would want to walk all those stairs back down just for a snack or a glass of water.

“You done?” Rhys inquires. He had taken a seat in one of the chairs and was looking at me. I nod. He gets up, and stops again, just as he walked past me. He sniffs audibly. 

“Did you use my shampoo?” He asks with his eyebrows raised. 

“Of course I did, I didn’t bring any” I smile, he laughs while shaking his head, before walking into the bathroom. 

I try to choose which side of the bed I would like, and decide for the one on the right, closer to the balcony. The door is still open and I want to be able to smell the fresh air. I climb in, the sheets are soft and cool. My eyes are closed before my head hits the pillow and I can barely hear the shower turn on, before I drift off.