Demon: Book 1

Chapter 25: Treasure Trove of Junk

"He's serious, I can't leave?" I flopped onto my stomach on a stack of furs and old blankets.

"The alpha's word is law." Titus sat beside me and played with my hair. "Your parents are going to be furious."

I groaned and buried my face in the mound. "I'm going to be grounded until I graduate." Turning my head to the side, I scoffed. "I can already hear the lecture about making stupid, rash decisions that end up causing problems for everyone." I picked at one of the hides. "We're going to have to mate before I leave?"

Titus shook his head. "No, give my dad time. He'll reconsider."

"What if he doesn't?"

"Aden," he breathed, rubbing his forehead. "If we mate, you still won't be able to go home. You'll be a werewolf and under the jurisdiction of my father."

"Oh." I slid down the pile of furs and stared across the room. "There's no way around it, then?"

"Not at the moment." Grabbing my shoulder, he pulled me to him and kissed the side of my head. "Sorry."

"It's not your fault." I leaned against him and folded my arms. "You didn't force me. I made the choice myself."

A noise came from the hallway.

Darius appeared. "Let's go. The hunting party is heading out."

Titus nodded. "I'll be back in a couple of hours."

"You're leaving me?" I exclaimed.

"Only for a little bit. No one will come near you, so stay in the room." He kissed my cheek before hurrying out the door.

I scowled at the brothers as they walked away. The last thing I needed was to be alone in a cave full of werewolves. I really might die here.

After sitting there moping for a while, I decided to explore Titus's man cave of disaster. I ended up trying to organize some of it to pass the time. The boy had crates full of old ripped-up shorts mixed in with some that were half-decent. He had other boxes with shirts and shoes thrown haphazardly about. I may not be the cleanest person, but this was ridiculous.

I dumped out a nearly empty box and started filling it with anything I deemed needed to be thrown out, which was a good portion. I organized the rest of the clothes and stacked things neatly against the wall before turning to his treasure trove of junk. With an empty bin in hand, I started going through the rest.

It was weird to see that nearly all of Titus's books were about human history. The others, judging by their titles and covers, were werewolf literature. I put those to the side. If I had to be stuck in here all day, I found what I would be reading to keep myself busy.

Only one bin remained, placed separately from the others, with a lid on top. I was hesitant to open it. What if this was where Titus kept his stash of 'dirty' stuff? After checking to make sure no one was passing by, I pulled off the lid.

The smile that crept across my lips couldn't be stopped. Inside was the stick I carved the first day we met, and the two wolves. I placed them to the side and took out the papers. Every drawing I had given him was there, along with printouts of the pictures of us I had sent him from my phone. Each photo was placed in a clear protective covering. I thumbed through them, still smiling like a fool. For such an intimidating man, it was nice to see the cuter side of Titus. That werewolf really did love me.

"You cleaned?"

I dropped the stack of pictures I was holding. They slid off in different directions.

"Sorry, I was bored."

Titus walked around, examining everything. "Wow, you even organized my books." He gave me a grin, but his face fell, though, when he noticed the pictures. "I can explain." Hurrying over, he tried to get them away from me.