MATE AND HIS LOVER 11

7. Stare At Him

It is rather anticlimactically easy to catch dragons, Helena found out today. They can be hypnotized with gold dust, and tricked into gilded cages, and transported safely under the influence of anesthetics.

That's exactly what Ethan did, along with his friends, and a small army of well built werewolf men who arrived this morning.

By early evening, the occupied cages have left with those men.

Helena watches everything from the window in her room. She's too scared to face Ethan, after the earful she got last time from him.

But it's entrancing to see him work.

It's also somewhat disturbing. He's only a teenager like her. Yet men take orders from him with a bow. He speaks to them as if he had never second guessed anything coming out of his mouth.

It's amazing what he can do, but depressing to realize she's no match for any of that.

Sighing, Helena rests her head over her hand on the window frame, still watching Ethan who's on the street, instructing the last few of the men left from the party that came in the morning. Once he'd done talking, they leave, too.

He then takes out his phone and starts talking into his phone. The more she watches him the more she's attracted to him. To his voice. The broad shoulders. Wavy hair.

When he smiles during his call, she smiles, too. She imagines what it would be like, if things hadn't gone the way they did in the past. She could've been down there with him now. Wrapped around his arms. And he'd be smiling at her. Gently. Sweetly. And her fingers would be fiddling with his soft hair. And—

She gasps and crouches down out of his sight as soon as he saw her.

Ethan glares at the now empty window. Just how long she was planning to stare at him. Probably was thinking of a way to get back at him for the Cauldron incident. Cooking up another lie to tell everyone.

It doesn't matter. They are no longer kids. Back then her words were against his, and she won. But, now, his words are the law, and she can't do anything about it.

An hour later, there's a knock on Helena's door. "He wants us down," Bess says.

At the restaurant Ethan tells Helena and her friends that they'll need to do another survey. Just to be sure.

With the dragons gone the Cauldron may not be dangerous but is still a terrible place.

"And make sure you don't get lost this time," Ethan says, rising up from his seat.

After he's gone, Helena mutters a few curse words towards her mate, before the three of them leave for their dreaded work.

Late at night, Helena turns in the survey report. He drops the report aside without even a glance at it. Helena does her best to not look angry, but it's proving difficult.

"Chocky will drop you three at the station tomorrow morning. Get the time from him," Ethan says before emptying his glass. He and his friends have had a couple of drinks. Their much needed downtime after a busy day. Tomorrow evening they'll head back to their pack land, too.

"Tomorrow?" Helena says.

Something in her voice makes him look up at her. She seems disappointed.

"What? You want to leave now itself? In the middle of the night?" He slurs out his words, while his friends move to the bar for refills.

"No. I- uh, I didn't mean it like that."

"Then what? You don't want to leave tomorrow? Tour the Cauldron again?"