"And why should I do that, Dorian? You don't know him," I shot back. "So, what's your problem?"
"He's a vampire," Dorian replied, blunt and without saying anything further, which made me shake my head and continue walking.
"He's tamed," I grumbled, and Dorian continued walking with me.
“He’s avampire," he said again, stressing the word vampire as if I hadn't heard him the first time or didn’t know the species of the man I'd just been sitting with.
Yes, I was aware of what Dorian was getting at. That tamed vampires were capable of slipping up and hurting people but weren’t werewolves capable of renouncing their goddess and becoming dark creatures as well?
I wasn't going to be told what to do by this man. He wasn't going to fly in on some imaginary white horse he'd dreamt up and be a savior to me. I didn't need saving or his judgmental bullshit. I felt it coming, my pent-up rage, and I stopped and turned to him.
"What's your problem, huh? Didn't you only come to find me to deliver a message?" I took a breath. "Well, you delivered it, so why are you following me? We haven't spoken in years, and the first thing you think is wise to do is try to tell me who I should and shouldn't speak to?"
Dorian's jaws visibly clenched, and he moved his hands to clasp them behind him. He looked every bit of the soldier he was. His posture was perfect, his body like a wall of muscles, and those damn tattoos, what was with those tattoos?
I hated that he looked good. He looked damn good, and it was pissing me off!
"You know what I did for a living, Marian," he finally spoke, and I noted he'd referred to his work in the past tense. “I know what I’m talking about. You’re my Luna’s best friend and essentially a part of the pack. I’m only trying to protect you like I would with anyone else.”
He stepped closer. “Vampires can’t be trusted, especially tamed ones. The untamed you can expect to attack you, but you won't see it coming with a tamed vamp.”
I stepped back and crossed my arms over my chest. His eyes roamed up and down my body after my reaction, and he, too, stepped back to put distance between us. I pulled a face when his nose crinkled as if he smelt something. What the hell was that, although more importantly, it looked like he'd mastered the art of saying the wrong thing, I thought.
"Let's get something out of the way right now," I said. "I don't know if you're back for good, and I don't care. You don't get to show up and drop this bullshit attitude on me. I speak to whoever I want when I want and whatever species I want to speak to. Understood?”
"I don't need looking after, and I most definitely don't need you pretending to care about me. Protect whoever you want, Dorian, but stay away from me just like before. That should be easy enough, right?"
I walked away before he could respond. “I’ll go to Killian myself, thanks.”
I continued walking without looking back even once. I made my way back to my house, my morning of peace ruined and my mood ruined for the day.
***
I entered the packhouse and made my way to the living room around 1 pm.
“Hey,” Killian exclaimed when I walked in, a laptop resting on his lap.
"Hey," I said while sitting down. "Sorry, I'm late. Rough morning."
He bobbed his head and closed the laptop. “That’s okay. Would you like something to drink?”
"Water, thanks," I told him, and he left the room.
I held my head back and exhaled. After speaking with Dorian, I'd been so pissed that I simply couldn't leave home until I'd calmed down. I thought he was plaguing my thoughts before, hence my morning jog, but now it was worse. I couldn't stop replaying our encounter in the woods.
He was as blunt as always, but now he was so unnervingly cold. Talking to him, anyone on the outside would have never known we were people who once looked at each other with love. I was right in that I didn't know him anymore. Before, I could read him quickly… easily; now, he looked different, sounded different, and was all-around more of an ass!
I’m only trying to protect you like I would with anyone else.
Those were his words, and I hadn't needed a reminder from him that I wasn't special to him. To Dorian, I was clearly just someone else to protect, but to me, he'd been my entire life. Maybe he thought what he'd said was sweet, but it was so far from it.
God, I wished Diana was here, but she knew nothing about Dorian and me.
Dorian and I got together after she’d left Wolfcreek, and talking about him wasn't something I liked doing. I'd relive everything with Diana as if it had only just happened, and I didn't want to feel that pain I had years ago.
The words,too late, were whispered in my mind tauntingly, and I bit down on my lip.
It was too late because seeing Dorian was enough to reopen my wounds. Now, I was contemplating leaving Wolfcreek even for a little while to get away from him. I simply couldn’t deal with this right now.