Beauty And Her Beast

Chapter 10

Lydia's POV:

It took a few more seconds of making sure that the threat was gone for me to be able to relax.

Dropping the stick that in hindsight wasn't going to be much help to begin with, I turned to face Angus.

I ran my hand down his neck to try to calm both of us down.

I needed a moment. Just one moment of not freaking out to some degree, but I haven't been able to accomplish that ever since Luka showed up and I think almost getting mauled by a wild cat is what pushed me to my limit.

That and the fact that the only comfort that my body decided it needed was that warmth I got from Luka.

I just needed a second to compose myself before I even turned to face him.

The soft crunch on footsteps on leaves sounded behind me, seeming like they were coming from two legs instead of four.

That just barely noticeable heat ignited within me, letting me know that he was looking at me.

Which somehow made me crave Luka's actual touch even more.

Dammit.

My hands clenched into fists against my horse.

There was so much going on and it didn't even feel like my emotions were my own anymore.

Well, I knew they were my own, but I just wasn't usually like this.

They felt right to a certain degree, but it was such a strange and quick change that I hadn't caught up with myself yet.

And the fact that I didn't fully know what was causing this only added to my frustrations.

"Lydia," Just my name leaving his mouth caused a shiver to run up my spine.

I slowly turned my head to see him standing a few feet away, seeing that he's already put on the trousers I had given him prior.

Except now one of the pant legs had three long tears in them from the claws of the cat.

He worriedly looked me over, eyes pausing on the small amount of blood on my arm before he wiped the feline blood off his lips.

That feeling inside me grew stronger as he met my gaze, as well will the subtle relief that he was finally in front of me again.

Which still didn't excuse the frustration I felt from him running in the first place.

It looked like he was taking a few seconds to decide what to say.

"Are you... Okay?" I guess he settled with.

Which in turn caused all of my pent up stress and confusion to finally burst.

"Am I okay?" I turned to face him completely, "The wolf I caught turned into a man who not only makes it so I cant have rational thoughts but also tells me I too can turn into a wolf. I can't even disagree with him because in its own messed up way it makes sense, I've barely slept in the past 37 hours because I've been trying to make sense of it all, the wolf I've been trusted to keep track of ran off, I was just three seconds away from being mauled by a cougar, and now the only thing my brain can come up with to calm me down is to get close to you!" My anger slowly melted into distress as my sentence continued.

I hadn't realized my arms had crossed until I felt my grip tighten onto my own biceps.

This too added onto my new behavior.

I'd never voiced my problems with someone that I just met.

Luka just stood there for a moment, his brows pinched together showing he was trying to process something.