GARRICK’s POV
I told myself I was checking on a household matter.
That was the reason I gave myself as I walked through the mansion that evening, even though I knew perfectly well there were servants who could handle whatever household matter supposedly needed my attention.
I was looking for the Oracle.
I found her in her room.
She was sitting beside the window, staring outside while the evening wind pushed strands of her wavy, silvery-white hair across her face.
I paused at the doorway and watched her, and there was something about seeing her like that that made it difficult to remember what I had originally intended to say.
She turned when she heard me, and the moment our eyes met, she sprang to her feet.
She looked nervous, and of course she did.
I had spent most of my life making people nervous, even without trying.
I was one of the most powerful Lords in the country.
People lowered their voices when I entered a room, and even other Alphas chose their words carefully around me.
I was used to it.
The problem was that I did not want my mate to look at me that way, and I had no idea how to change it.
I had never needed to make a woman feel calm around me, nor had I cared enough to learn.
“Relax,” I said, but she remained standing.
I sighed.
“That was probably not very convincing.”
Her mouth twitched, and I stepped farther into the room.
“What is your name?”
She looked at me warily, as if still trying to guage if I was angry at her, before reaching for the paper and charcoal pencil on the table.
She wrote something down and turned the paper toward me.
I stared at the name.
“Selah,” I repeated, and she nodded.
“It’s a beautiful name.”
The words sounded strange coming from my mouth, and I almost regretted saying them.
I was not a man who went around complimenting women.
I had no practice with gentle words.
Then Selah smiled a small smile, and the awkwardness inside me eased up.
At least I had done something right.
I looked away briefly, wondering why a simple smile from her could affect me so much.
“Did Vera or Mira warn you about the beast?”
She shook her head, then picked up the charcoal pencil again and wrote: Beast?
What is the beast all about?
“It’s an animal.” She looked at me, and I could tell that answer had not satisfied her, so I added.
“It is locked away somewhere in the mansion. You want to know where?”
She nodded.
“I’ll tell you when you need to know.”
She gave me a look that made it obvious she did not like that answer, and I almost laughed.
Instead, I walked farther into the room and took one of the chairs while she remained by the window.
“Sit down,” I told her, then gestured at the note pad.
“You can ask me questions.”
She wrote something: Why did you buy me?
I leaned back.
“Simple answer is, it was because of the mate bond. Or do you want the whole answer?”
She nodded, and I considered lying.
I was good at lying when I needed to be.
But when I looked at Selah, lying suddenly felt wrong.
“I’m going to be very honest with you. It’s because you are dangerous.”
“Not because you have done something wrong. It’s because of what you are.” She looked down at the paper, then back at me.
“You are an Oracle,” I said, “and your existence can either save this country or destroy it. I mean everyone. Werewolves, humans, shadowwalkers, everyone.”
She slowly lowered the charcoal pencil, and I could see the confusion on her face.
I knew more than I was telling her, a great deal more, but I also knew that giving her everything at once would only make things worse.
“You don’t understand,” I said.
She wrote quickly: Then explain.
I almost smiled.
“You are very impatient, Selah. I will tell you more when you are ready.”
Her expression said she did not like that answer either.
“You can glare at me all you want. It won’t change my mind.”
She looked down at her paper, then wrote another question: What does the Luphiran Court think of me?
I leaned forward.
“They are afraid of you. Some want you taken back to the Shadowwalkers who specialise in your kind of magic, while others want you dead.”
She scribbled another question: What do you think?
I paused.
“I think they are all idiots.”
Her lips curved again, and I found myself watching that smile longer than I should have.
“You asked what I think,” I said.
“I think nobody touches you without my permission. Nobody will take you anywhere if I don’t have a say in the matter.”
And what about you?
she wrote.
Why do you care so much about me?
I stared at the words.
“Because you are my mate” was the obvious answer, but it was not the only one anymore.
“I don’t know,” I admitted.
“I know I should reject you and be done with it. I mean, I have a woman I have been betrothed to already. I know what you are, and I know what is at stake. But that doesn’t explain everything. I’ve known you for only a short time, and somehow I’ve already become responsible for whether you’re safe or not. But,”
I paused and turned to look at her.
“Even if I don’t protect you, I have a feeling that you can protect yourself. You’ve come this far, after all.”
That earned me another small smile.
The conversation went on longer than I expected.
She asked questions constantly, sometimes using signs, though I could only understand some of them, and when she could not remember a sign or did not know how to communicate what she wanted, she reached for the charcoal pencil and wrote it down.
I answered almost every question, and found myself being more honest with her than I had ever been with most people.
Even Cynthia did not know some of the things I told Selah.
That thought bothered me.
Cynthia was my betrothed, and Selah was my mate.
I knew that some time in the future, this would pose a problem.
By the time I noticed how dark the room had become, night had already settled outside.
I stood to my feet.
“It is late. You should eat, Selah, you need food.”
She shook her head, and I frowned.
“Come with me to my chambers. We can have dinner there.”
I watched as the fear returned to her face immediately, and she shook her head.
“No?”
She shook it harder, and I stepped toward her.
She moved back until she was near the window, and I stopped when I saw her face.
She reached for the paper, and I waited.
She wrote: What about the breach in the walls?
I stared at her in confusion.
“You are worried about that now?”
She nodded, then wrote again: What if an enemy already came through and they want to hurt me?
I shook my head fleetingly at her.
“Would the enemy come in to kill us while we were having dinner?”
She broke out a smile, lowering her head as I felt something strange happen inside me.
Affection, undeniable affection, for this girl.
She was shy and perhaps frightened of me, she barely knew how to use the signs everyone else seemed to understand, yet she had asked me more questions in one hour than almost anyone I had ever spoken to.
Anyone except Ronan.
Not even Cynthia my betrothed was like this around me.
I stepped closer, and Selah remained still.
I reached out and touched her hair, the silvery strands slipping between my fingers, and tucked a loose strand behind her ear.
“You’re safe,” I said quietly.
“I won’t let anyone hurt you. I know you don’t trust me yet, and that’s fine. You don’t have to. But I’ll give you time to”
The more I spoke to her, the easier the words became: nice things, gentle things, things I would normally struggle to say.
I had never understood men who became soft around their mates.
I understood them now, because suddenly I wanted to kiss her.
The urge came without warning.
I leaned down and pressed a short kiss against her lips.
The moment I pulled back, I wanted more, much more.
Every part of me wanted to kiss this girl again, but I forced myself to stop.
Something inside me warned that this was a very bad idea.
All of a sudden, all walls went up inside me.
This had to be the first time I was being vulnerable around any person, and I hated it now.
I hated that she had turned that part of me on with just one conversation.
“Why?” I snapped at her, so hard that she jumped slightly.
“Why did you do that to me? Why….”
The words trailed off.
Selah went still, not the way she had in the courtyard…
this was different.
There was coldness in her eyes now, hostility, and I had not noticed it before.
The sight made me defensive immediately.
“If you don’t want to have dinner with me, fine. You can eat in your room alone. And I want you to remember something.” I was colder now.
“You are not to walk around outside the mansion again. I permitted it today, but that does not mean you have permission to do it whenever you please. You will stay inside from now on.”
She did not ask why.
Instead, she raised her hands slowly, making sure I could see every movement.
I watched her hands, then understood the meaning.
Don’t fall in love with me.
I laughed bitterly and saw the fear on her face, but I was way past caring now.
I wanted to punish her—and myself—for doing this.
“Falling in love with you isn’t something I plan on doing.” I told her.
“The only obligation I have toward you is to protect you as a person.”
The words sounded convincing, but I already knew I was lying.
I turned toward the door, and as I walked away, my wolf spoke from somewhere deep inside me.
You Fool!
On a scale of 1 to 10, how doomed is Garrick?
And who’s already obsessed with the guardian wolf?