Bound to love |BxB|

Chapter 10

The night fell over Viorna's Castle like a heavy blanket. The hills turned quiet and the wild-life hid from the nocturnal dangers lurking in the shadows, air chilly enough to bristle even a werewolf's tough skin. It was strange how at daylight the packed lands were boiling in heat, but when the moon circled over the sun, you couldn't walk outside without lined boots and thick clothing.

That's what happened to the interiors of the castle as well, the marble walls radiating coldness sharp enough to raise the hair on my neck all until the sky would turn bright again.

I was shivering when I stepped into a dark room, the sheen of the blueish half-moon carving the horizon barely shedding any light through the tall windows. But it was all I needed to evade the countless items on the floor: clothes, beer bottles, wrappers, a toothbrush, lotions, and who knows what. It was like a hurricane would've passed the guest room, far from what I had expected from such a neat guy like Atticus.

Though the more he kept talking in his delirious state, it became clear that he probably wasn't always as composed as it seemed.

"I told you I don't like raspberries. And it's even worse when it's soup! Whoever likes soup should be charged with jail time! Jail! Abhorrent non-humans!"

I listened to his one-sided bantering patiently, like I had been listening for the whole way up here, lowering him down to the double bed at the furthest corner from the doorway, "Too bad you're still drinking it."

I said gently, stepping back just a little to take a look at him. He didn't provide me much space to begin with, due to his iron hold on my sweatshirt's hem that forced me to stand between his spread-out legs as he swayed and tried to stay upright.

"No, I am not."

The man gave me his toughest glare (that I could only deem as adorable) and then closed his pretty golden eyes like you did when you were one second away from passing out. He blinked furiously, squeezed them together, blinked again, and then uncoordinatedly swung his head against my stomach when all of that didn't work.

Only a frustrated grunt heard from the impact.

I smiled at him tiredly and grabbed his barley-coloured hair between my fingers, gently moving them away from his forehead.

Soft. Beautiful.

"Hmh. Let's take a sip and then go to bed, okay?" I suggested, earning another disgruntled sound of annoyance.

"You're stupid."

Atticus slurred, not a part of me hurt by his words. I knew he didn't mean it, and if anything, it kind of amused me.

Who knew a man like him could be such a baby.

"I appreciate the feedback, now– here," I lifted his head from his hair, offering him a glassful of raspberry soup that I had been carrying with me since we had passed through the apartment's kitchen. It had been a hefty task in a way, given I had been bearing a whiny man of around two hundred pounds on just one of my arms. Fortunately, I was strong enough to endure it, though not without a cost.

The workout, practising with Ronan, and meeting Atticus had all brought me to the brink of exhaustion. I swear I could've closed my eyes and been knocked out in an instant, sleep heaving my movements pretty much the same way alcohol did to Atticus. I was tired and stressed, but I tried to push it off until I knew my mate was going to be safely stuffed under the sheets.

"Ugh," the man in question grimaced at the glass I had reached out for him, trying to squirm further away from me. I suffocated a sigh and tightened my grip on his curls, pushing the cup to his firm lips despite his protest.