Imogen is her pack's runt. She was a surprise to her family, and a disgrace. Her father is the gamma of her pack so her existence as the runt is a disappointment and disgusting.
Her family wait for the moment when she can find her mate, leave the pa...
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When I wake up I feel groggy and confused. My head aches and my muscles burn, as I sit up I jolt when I discover I'm not in my room.
Only then do I flashes of the day before fly into my head. Me screaming in pain, a cold bath and Tobias' arms. Glancing around the room, I find the clock which tells me it's seven o'clock in the evening.
My stomach begins to growl and I eagerly climb out of bed. All the pain of the day has been forgotten and now I'm hungry... and missing Tobias. My wolf yips happily in the back of my mind at the thought of seeing him again but I ignore her. I can't get attached.
Hanging on the bedpost is a large hoody and a pair of sweatpants which I assume Tobias has left out for me. I stand, my legs admittedly feel a little unsteady, and walk over to pull them on. Whatever sickness or fever I had has gone and now I'm grateful for the warmth.
"Hey." Tobias grins as he looks up from a pile of books on a desk in the sitting room.
"How're you feelin'?" He questions as he quickly shuts whatever book he is reading, a fact that doesn't go unnoticed in my eyes. I'll have to ask him about these old books he's reading.
"Great." I reply as I walk over to the sofa nearest to him and settle down. "It's like it never happened."
This makes Tobias frown for half a second and his eyes fall back down to the closed books. Ok, all this mystery is starting to irritate me.
"Can I check for fever?" He asks with worry furrowing his forehead. I nod without hesitation but feel a slight clench in my stomach at the thought of Tobias touching me.
He stands from the desk and walks over to me where he sits down close to me, but somehow still keeping his distance. His hand raises to my forehead but pauses before he touches me, I frown as he takes a deep breath before touching me.
"It's all gone that's good." He says flatly, acting like he didn't feel the sparks fire between us when his hand reached my skin.
I'm not sure what these tingles mean, but it would help me to understand more if Tobias would at least acknowledge it to me.
"Good." He says curtly, standing from the sofa, "you hungry?"
I nod my head, keeping my mouth shut like I'm used to. When Tobias begins to head over to the kitchen, I get up and follow after him. I'm not an invalid, I can help Tobias and maybe if I help him more, he'll trust me enough to tell me what's going on.
As I pad past the desk Tobias was sitting at, a tiny voice whispers at me to open the book that Tobias was reading. I almost walk past, truly I do, but the temptation for me is too much.
The first page reveals something that makes me jolt back in surprise and guilt. There is no title page, because it isn't a book at all, it's a handwritten book, presumably a family heirloom.
Guiltily, I skulk away from the book, I shouldn't have looked at that. It was rude and sneaky. Before Tobias comes out looking for me, I pad over to the kitchen and push open the heavy wooden door. Honestly, it's like everything in this cabin is built for a giant, but as I look at Tobias hunched over a chopping board I realise that the giant is Tobias.
"Hello." I whisper, trying not to make him jump, until I realise that he already heard me coming with his beta sharp ears.
"Hello Immy," he murmurs softly, his face looks distracted and heavy. Biting my lip, I move over to stand next to Tobias- I want to help out more around here. I'm not an invalid and I'm good at cooking, years of cooking for my family have made me very adept at food. It would be lovely to repay Tobias' kindness one day so maybe that could be it.
"Do you need any help?" My voice raises hopefully and it makes Tobias look down at me with a soft smile. His hand reaches up to my face and absentmindedly winds one of my curls around his finger. With all my might, I try to blank his affectionate gesture... but I fail.
Sighing, I lean my body closer to his warm body, I'm still wearing his clothes and both myself and my wolf love being close to his scent far too much. As if Tobias can read my mind, he lets his hand fall down back to his side and he clears his voice before speaking.
"I'll go into town and get you a few items of clothing tomorrow, is there anything else you want?"
"Oh..." My jaw drops and my mind goes slack as I suddenly realise that I've never been asked that before.
"What?" He asks through a chuckle at my blank face.
"I've just never been asked what I wanted before." Immediately, Tobias' face falls and he sighs heavily. He puts the knife down on the chopping board and leaves the onion uncut. His hand finds mine and he gently tugs me away from the kitchen.
We end up on the sofa, Tobias has already covered me in a blanket to keep me warm, and he sits opposite me with an expectant look on his face.
"What?" I ask, letting my eyes drop down to my hands as I start to feel unsure about his stare on me.
"Oh shit!" He exclaims, laughing as he reaches behind him to grab something from the table.
Finally, I'm starting to feel less unsure as he hands me a notepad and a pen.
"Write down everything you've ever wanted in your life... within reason." He adds with a rueful smile as my heart soars in my chest. No one has ever done anything close too this for me before, I don't know how I've ever come close to deserve him.
"Really?" I laugh in disbelief, "You're serious."
"Sure." He nods and stands up from the sofa. "I'm going to start dinner, you start writing." As he leaves, Tobias leans down close to my forehead. For a second I think with a pounding chest that he's going to kiss my forehead, but then he seems to collect himself at the last moment and he stiffens his back.
Tobias walks off without a backward glance in my direction but I don't let it bother me. He's given me so much more than I could ever have dreamed for and he's not even my mate.
I turn my attention to my imagination and the pen in my hand. There is one thing I desperately want but I fear it will be too ridiculous to even put on the list, reluctantly but with hope I write it in tiny lettering at the bottom of the page.
