Chapter 13

Mira

For a moment, the only sound I could hear was the beating my heart in my chest. I turned the emotion to anger at Dominic and felt my body go rigid underneath him.

“Get off of me!” I shouted at my captor.

“No,” he said calmly, “not until you explain what’s going on with you.”

“What’s going on with me?” I was losing control of my sanity, and started to fight back again. “What about you? You arrogant, self-righteous asshole— always forcing people to do whatever you want and never taking responsibility for manipulating others!”

“Manipulating?” he seemed genuinely confused. “Mira, what on earth—“

“I heard what you said,” I spat. “How dare you accuse me of saving your life only to become your Luna?!”

“Mira, what—“

“Let go of me you—“

“Mira if you don’t quiet down I will stop your mouth myself!” Dominic shouted back, bringing his face and lips and breath away from mine.

I was so shocked at the idea of his lips on mine that I went immediately silent. I realized my mouth was hanging open, and shut it tight as if that would protect me from contact.

“There,” he whispered. “That’s better. I’m going to let you go now, if you promise not to try to run again.”

I nodded my head and his nose brushed mine, giving me goosebumps all over my body.

He smiled, and gently lifted his weight off of me and moved to the edge of the bed. He gave me space to sit up and get comfortable, and then he simply waited for me to explain.

His ability to switch from rage to patience so quickly was still unsettling and annoying.

I gave myself a moment to adjust myself after being flung around like a sack of potatoes. My heart was still racing and I needed to catch my breath. It was a bit unnerving to do so knowing he was still watching me intently.

Even after I felt composed once again, I kept looking away as I tried to gather my thoughts on how to recount the events of the day. I focused on the facts, trying to push down the residual humiliation at being the target of workplace gossip.

“Take all the time you need,” Dominic said patiently, “but I will insist on hearing the truth, from your lips.”

My head whipped around to look at him, and I noticed that without thinking I was staring at his mouth. I looked up into his eyes, and gulped down my slight embarrassment as I saw his cocky smile.

He was trying to get a rise out of me, and it was working.

“I was at the hospital,” I started slowly. “And first, that place needs some work. Do you know that some of the patient records are still on paper and kept in disheveled folders?”

“That feels like a separate conversation, doctor,” Dominic said with a knowing look. “Tell me what happened.”

I sighed. If I wanted him to be open and honest with me, I’d have to do the same with him. “Well,” I chose my words carefully, “as I was finishing up my rounds and heading back to reception, I overheard a conversation about me, about us.”

“Okay,” he urged me on.

“Lila was there,” I finally looked him square in the face. “Apparently she knows everybody and everybody’s business. She was telling the nurses there that you had chosen me as Luna because I had saved your life, and you owed me a debt.”

Dominic was silent for a moment, his face unreadable. I couldn't tell whether that meant it was a nasty rumor, or he was upset that I found out the truth.

“Lila said this?” he asked eventually.

“Yes, she said you’d told her directly,” I said, and dropped my eyes. “She said there was clearly nothing intimate between us, so I must’ve tricked you into this relationship. I know you’ve been close since you were children, so…”

“She lies,” he said firmly.

“Oh?” I looked up again.

“Mira,” he cocked his head slightly to the side, with a serious expression. “Do you really believe that anyone who saved me could become Luna?”

“Well, I don’t know…”

“If that was the case,” he said with a smirk, “Lucas, Wyatt, and many others would have been leading the Pack years ago.”

He chuckled softly, thinking his little joke would settle it. I must’ve made some disagreeable face, because he changed tactics quickly.

“You are not like any of the others.”

I made the mistake of looking into his eyes, and his piercing gaze made me dizzy. What was he implying? That I was his soulmate?

“And,” he cleared his throat, “your medical skills make you an invaluable member of the Pack. These things combined are why I chose you to be my Luna, not just because you saved my own life.”

“Right,” I said quickly, taking a deep breath.

“And you have already proven that you will save many others,” he added, and the battle in the woods came back to my mind. “Besides, an Alpha would never marry someone simply out of gratitude, that would be humiliating. A match of this importance must be advantageous to the future of the Pack.”

Of course, it always came back to his own pride. He was always thinking of his public image, keeping the world convinced of his strength and power. The members of the Pack could never see his weaknesses or think him overemotional.

He needed a Luna to be the nurturing yin to his dominant yang, and thus keep balance in the leadership of the pack.

I tried not to take offense at this, reminding myself that this was all a formal business agreement and nothing more. I knew he respected me, and vowed to protect me, and that would have to be enough.

Even if my heart was trying to tell me that I wanted other things.

“So,” he pulled me back into the room, “now that we’ve cleared that up, do you think you can unpack your things once more? I know this living arrangement isn’t to your liking, and I will continue to do my best to give you the space you desire.”

As my body left it’s “fight or flight” mode I came back to the reality of the situation, and decided I wouldn’t let these gossip-mongers get to me.

“Yes, I’ll stay,” I said to him.

“And will you come to me when you hear these rumors swirling, instead of immediately doubting my loyalty to you?”

“I’ll try,” I said with a hint of sass. He deserved to be on his heels a bit, since I was more often the one thrown off-balance by this new lifestyle.

“Good enough,” he responded.

He stood up from the bed, and made his way to the door. I watched as he pulled out his phone, sending a quick message before replacing it in his pocket.

“But,” he said, “this rumor does act as a good reminder. We need to convince the Pack that we are a good match for one another as Mates, not just Alpha and Luna. They need to think we are in love.”

“Ha!”

I caught myself from laughing too hard when I saw his face. He was serious.

“Um, okay,” I settled down. “And how do you propose we do that?”

“I just told Wyatt to have your schedule cleared for tomorrow,” Dominic said. “You won’t be going to the hospital.”

“Where am I going instead?” I asked.

Dominic had opened the door to the hallway, and stopped holding it open.

“We,” he corrected, “are going on a date.”