Oceanside

Chapter 24

Silas

In the morning I woke up to Odette sleeping beside me. I had my arm over her waist with her back tucked into my chest. Her hand held mine.

This was probably the best feeling I've had in a while. Well, a while was an overstatement. I always had good feelings when Odette was around. But to wake up with her beside me made my heart squeeze.

I hated how it happened. I hated to hear that she was having nightmares about the wolf. Moreover, I hated that it was about me too. It nearly killed me last night when she whispered how the beast in the woods came for her too. I wanted to crush her to me and tell her I would never hurt her. I nearly blurted out the truth because of it. Seeing her terrified of me, of my Lycan form, hurt. I wanted to tell her it was me and that I was protecting her. That she would never have to fear me because I would never harm her.

I didn't though. As the words bubbled up my throat panic seeped in. I thought about what her reaction might be. She wouldn't take it well, not after the nightmare. She would most likely be scared of me. Maybe she wouldn't even believe it at first. But when she did...she'd pull away.

I was hoping that with more time between her and the incident she would calm down. And in a lot of ways she has. This was a minor setback. One I tried to look at with a positive perspective.

For instance, she had come to me to comfort her. Out of all the things she could have done to feel safe after the nightmare, she chose to come to me. She knew that I would make her feel safe. Knew that I would keep her safe. In that moment of need she knew to find me. I held onto that, hoping she would remember that feeling when I told her the truth.

In the meantime I would focus on making sure she felt secure again. Nightmares usually leak out from a subconscious fear or doubt. I knew what she saw scared her, but I wanted to assure her that she wasn't in any danger. The wolf in the woods was dead. And while the beast was always close, he was never something she should fear.

So in the moment I had to choose to reveal a secret, I chose a less scary one. It was humorous to see her embarrassed about the books. I figured she would be. I was glad it didn't take much convincing for her to accept I liked it. That was another thing that was odd to me but I understood. She had gone for so long without telling anyone, probably do to the stigma around it, so telling me was out of her comfort zone. However now that she knew that I knew I planned to use that to our full advantage. I wanted to see if I was right, would she blush and fidget while reading erotica or did it turn her on?

My guess, when she was alone it did. It would only be if others were around that she would get flustered. I wanted to see for myself if I was right. I knew that might take convincing. She would have to let me see her in what she considered a vulnerable state.

My eyes picked up from my phone as Odette's figure came into view. She was wearing a sea green sundress that fell just above her knees. It had a V cut with relatively thin straps at her shoulders. Her hair fell around her shoulders in soft waves. She had on one necklace and an anklet on her left ankle. She wore her usual sandals. And like always, she looked beautiful.

She smiled at me as she walked up. I pressed send for the message about training this evening with Trey then slipped my phone into my pocket.

"Ready?" she asked.

I nodded. Fuck how did she have the ability to make me lose my voice? Shouldn't I be used to this by now?

I placed my hand on the small of her back and led her towards the door. "Yeah I am," I said as I tried to shake off her effect. It was impossible. "You look beautiful."

It was an understatement but I knew I should say it. I never wanted her to think for one second I wasn't attracted to her or that she wasn't incredibly beautiful. The whole truth would have been she was gorgeous and I wanted to push up her dress as I bent her over the couch.