Boris and the Vampire (Legends of Pinewood 2)

Let the Mosquito Out of Your Sight

I arrived home only a day after leaving for what I thought would be an entire month. I hadn't been excited at the prospect of being in the fey woods for that long... but I was even less excited to be back.

In my haste to leave, I'd also left some of my favourite sweaters at the tree house. But I was certain Ivana would send it my way later—it'd been a conscious choice to leave my suitcase anyway, considering I didn't want to look Etienne in the eyes and tell him I was leaving.

And now I was in my living room again. Alone.

I spent most of my days in Pinewood alone, and it wasn't something that bothered me most of the time. Having to keep a certain distance from the townsfolk was part of the protector job. Unfortunately, being alone also left me a lot of room for ruminating, especially after fucking up as royally as I had. The empty living room acted as a constant reminder of what I'd done.

When Aquila had moved out to live with Xavier, my house had also felt empty the first few days... yet, it wasn't entirely the same this time. I knew I'd see Aquila again. And Etienne had demanded a lot of attention from me, even more than my nephew. I stupidly kind of missed it already. His presence in the house. Having someone to pester.

Not that I'd ever admit missing a vampire. It simply wasn't in a werewolf's nature to live alone, and I was fully dedicated to blaming this unexpected hollow feeling in my stomach entirely on that. I simply reacted this way because living together for a few days reminded me of preferring community over solitude deep down.

Maybe it would not be a bad idea to talk to Ivana about it. Not wanting to live alone, that was. It wasn't good for me to keep suppressing my natural instincts to safeguard the humans if it led to mistakes. I'd always assured my pack leader it was no problem for me to be alone, but maybe it was.

If a pretty vampire with a hint of tragedy to him could fool me this easily, I was clearly on my own too much.

Even with my fellow werewolves, I often fell into the observer role. I was the one who noticed long ahead what things could go wrong, and I was the person people ran to if they needed someone trustworthy to fix a mess.

I was not the one in peril; I was the one who stayed calm and stopped the crisis.

It was strange to be the one needed 'saving' this time. I'd rather not think of it at all, and thankfully, I didn't have to. Etienne was no longer my problem, and I would probably never see him again. After I'd removed every trace of his presence in my house, I could continue with my life as if we'd never spent time together.

Resolutely, I walked to the stairs and up to Aquila's former room where Etienne had slept the past few days. I marched to the bed and plucked all the bedding off. I bundled it all up in my arms and brought the entire pile to my washing machine.

Etienne had slept underneath these sheets and despite his extremely subtle scent, I could still smell his scent on the fabric. After opening my washing machine, I hesitated.

I'd probably never see Etienne again. Was it really so bad to keep something with his scent in it... just a few days longer? The sheets would lose their scent in time anyway, so there was no need to already get rid of it.

I scowled. Exactly for even thinking this, I should get rid of the sheets as fast as possible so I could start forgetting the vampire. Cursing under my breath, I threw the sheets into the washing machine with far more force than needed. Then I immediately added some scentless detergent and turned the machine on before I could change my mind.

With balled fists, I stomped down the stairs and plumped down on the couch. I grabbed a book but already noticed I wasn't really reading after a few minutes. With a sigh, I put the book away again to make some tea. On my way to the kitchen, I caught a glance of my scowling face in the mirror and the sight made me chuckle.