Chapter 8

Rose's POV

Sitting on my bed, my eyes squeezed shut. Too many thoughts and emotions rushed through my mind. The bones in my hands began to crack and shake – drawing out a groan of pain from me. "No. no. no. no. no. Not. Right. Now." I willed. Breath in…1-2-3…breath out. Stop the emotions. Stop the pain. No time to think. 'Yeah, just use some of those zen life lessons, Dimitri was always trying to teach you.' My brain fucking revolting at the idea of not relaxing. Remembering who was down the stairs. Who was in my living room. My wolf growled within me, but I wasn't letting her out. Not now.

Standing from my bed, my legs wobbled under the strain of my body; my feet curled painfully, and I let out a whimper. Don't let them hear. Don't let them see you.

My left shoulder shifted, and my head cracked right. An agonizing scream tore from my throat and the sound of hurried footsteps ran up the stairs. 'Don't let it be him. Don't let it be him. Please, I can't handle that too.'

I fell to my knees just as my door flew open and a body crashed in. "Rosie. It's okay. Hush, darling. It's okay. You're going to be okay." My eyes shot up and stared into the eyes of Sebastian.

"Bass" I choked out through the pain.

"It's okay, Darling. You're having an emotional change. Control the emotion. Control the change. I believe in you." Bass' voice was slowly pulling me back from the precipice and the photoreceptors in my eyes weren't shifting as much anymore. Leaning down to the ground with me, he grabbed my hand and talked softly. "That's it. Very good. Just breath through it. Don't let it control you.". Breathing in through my nose and out through my mouth, I closed my eyes. Focusing my hearing, I could hear that no one was speaking. Various heartbeats filled my ears, but my heart zeroed in on one. His blood calling to mine. Downstairs. Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum. My wolf could smell his panic. He was scared.

"He's scared," I whimpered over the pain. I didn't want him to fear me.

Sebastian chuckled, "always worried about others. Of course, he is. You let out an ear piecing scream. Deacon had to grab him to prevent him from storming up here himself. He's scared for you, Rosie."

"Well, he shouldn't be. He made his feelings perfectly clear," I snapped, clarity slowly bringing my mind back, my wolf being reigned in.

"That man down there hasn't been able to take his eyes off of you since he whispered your name like a prayer. That man is clearly in love with you," Sebastian argued gently with me.

"Bass – I can't handle this right now, "I said slowly getting back to my feet. "Please, just for now, tell them I'm fine and that I'll see them in the morning. I need to get this blood off of me."

"I'll drop it for now, but you know how mating works. You can't avoid looking him in the eye forever" said Sebastian as he guided me by my non-bloody arm my bathroom. The pain ebbed completely I was able to stand on my own – having a forced change never felt good. Changing itself was painful, going through it without starting it yourself was fucking awful.

"I can damn well try. Now please, let me bathe, Bass."

"Of course, Rosie. Sleep well." Sebastian acquiesced – I could tell he wanted to talk more but was giving me the time, I needed.

Just as he was about to close the door, and the steam started filling the bathroom, I thought of something, "Bass" I called quickly. He turned sharply and looked at me without saying anything. "Thanks for helping me back there."

A small smile graced his face and he nodded. "You never need to thank me, Rosie. I'm always going to be here for you. You're my sister. I love you."

"I love you too" I said, and with that, Sebastian closed the door.

I stepped into the shower, sighing as the hot water washed away the blood and cleared the knots out of my muscles – almost producing an instant calm.

Thoughts drifting lower and lower, I could feel my stomach clenching in anticipation but without that mating bond, nothing was going to be inclined to happen. For the mating bond, I needed to look him in the eye; I could def avoid that, I think.

I let my subconscious take me away, and just relaxed. Washing my body, I just enjoyed the heat and steam. The feel of my hair following a wash. The feel of my skin after shaving. Everything was soft. Everything was peace.

Sighing, I turned off the water and grabbed my towel from the side bar. I stepped out and dried off, shivering as the cool air hit my overheated body. February in Pennsylvania, not even wolves could stay warm without heat, blankets, and lots of layers. I threw on a green flannel and a pair of black pajama pants before climbing under the covers. Rolling over, I faced my open bedroom door – staring hard at it, my mind wished he'd ignore everything and just waltz in and lay down beside me.

My eyes closed and my breathing steadied. Just before drifting off, a new wave of peace came over me, my body reviling in the fact that while he wasn't next to me – he was the nearest he had been in years. Seeing him today had me finally admit what I didn't want to; I missed him.

"Dimitri…" I murmured as I fell into a deep sleep.

Dimitri's POV

Nodding at Deacon's direction, I walked over to the couch, my legs uneasy and sat down. So much has happened and I…. well, I don't know how to process it. Roza would joke about how I was always so zen but even my "zen life lessons" couldn't prepare me for this. A cough interrupted my thought pattern, and I looked up into Deacon's eyes. He nodded at me with a raised eyebrow, and I subconsciously felt myself nod back without prompt. Like I didn't have control over my body. His eyes widened for a millisecond, so much that I wasn't sure it happened before he reschooled his face. He cleared his throat before looking back at Lissa and myself. "As I was saying, the basement is off limits. Some things you can't unsee and we value our privacy, so please as guests in our home; just respect that one rule and all will go swimmingly. Now Bass, could you please escort them to their bedrooms, while I ensure that Rose's mother is lead off of our property" Deacon stated strongly, keeping his eyes locked on me. I noticed that they flittered over Lissa but didn't stay on her for long before he walked out behind a fuming Mr. Mazur.

"Let's get you both settled into your rooms now. Sound good?" Sebastian asked – or Bass, I guess was his nickname. Interesting. Lissa and I both stood but she wobbled, not used to being awake for so long. I grabbed her bag off the floor from her, she made a sound of protest, but I just shook my head. I wasn't going to make her carry something when she could barely carry herself. It was the least I could do after she healed my leg anyhow.

A whimper carried its way down the stairs – it was clear that it was muffled. I didn't think anyone else was up there except Rose and Sebastian's daughter. I was startled but noted as I was looking at Sebastian that he was too. His eyes darted up the stairs, worry at the forefront of them.

Deacon walked through the door looking disgusted. Guardian Hathaway more than likely made another comment about Rose that didn't sit right with him. It was clear he cared for her and as much that thought comforted me, it also made me irrevocably jealous. It should be me.

Deacon's disgust immediately switched to concern as an agonizing scream tore through the house. Roza. I dropped the bags and went to run up the steps, but Sebastian was already ahead of me, and Deacon grabbed my arm to hold me back. "She'll be fine. Bass has got her.". I tried to twist my way out of his grip to no avail – my heart pounding in my chest. Fear spread fast. I strained to listen again and all I heard were a few groans, nothing as notable as the scream. He sighed tiredly and rubbed his face before he said "Guess I'm taking you to your rooms. Follow me.".

After he let me go, I rubbed my arm (he had an impressive grip, I'll give him that) and picked up the bags once again. Gesturing with my head for Lissa to go first, she gave me a small smile and followed after Deacon. He started to climb the stairs and my heart started to pound. Roza. Roza. Roza. Vlad, I need her to be okay.

Taking in my surroundings as we walked up the stairs, I noticed that it was lined with picture frames. There were various men and women I didn't know, a few children scattered throughout them as well. A few had Roza – one was a picture of her and Deacon, in the woods going…fishing? Rose looked gorgeous as always. There was one of Sebastian in a tux and a woman about a foot shorter than him, she had brown hair and blue eyes, she wore white – it was a wedding photo. Everyone looked so happy around them. The final photo made my breath catch. It was Roza and she was holding a young girl, about 3 years old. The kid looked so much like her; she could have passed for her daughter. Rose clearly didn't know the picture was being taken at the time as she looked down at the girl and the girl looked at her – what stuck out was the little girl's eyes. They were the same gold as Roza's eyes were.

Thoughts assaulted me as I thought of what our kids would look like; quickly though I shook that from my head. She'd need to forgive me for that; and even then, there is no guarantee as we both dhampir. Theoretically, we shouldn't be able to have children together.

"Okay, this first room on the left is Sebastian's with his daughter, Amelia. Rose's is on the right here" Deacon said, I swiveled my head to look but the door was closed, low voices were murmuring inside but nothing beyond that could be heard. "Lissa, you will be staying in the room next to Sebastian, it borders with mine. We will share a bathroom; I hope that won't be an issue." I looked over to see Lissa looking down and blushing quickly, before she shook her head in a negative fashion. "Okay, good. Dimitri, you'll be in the room next to Rose, you will also share a bathroom. Now I know some shit went down between you two so…. just don't make me regret it." Deacon finished, practically growling towards the end.

I shook my head vigorously, "No no no. Never again."

A smile that could only be described as devious took over his face. "Good. Now, I'm exhausted. Night". Deacon said as he walked away from us down the hall a little way before entering a room at the end.

I followed Lissa into her room to drop her bag for her and she gave me a grateful smile, followed by a hug. "It's not just you, Dimitri. I need to apologize too. We both hurt her, but we have a chance to make things right again!"

"She'll easily forgive you, Lissa; I'm not so sure it's easy to forgive someone who stomped on your heart before running it over with a mower," I said sadly after I let her go and turned around.

I got to her door before she said two words, "have faith.".

Walking out, I went to my room and dropped my bag. The room wasn't large, but it wasn't small either. A little smaller than my room at the Academy, but that was fine as there wasn't a kitchenette in here. There was a bookcase, a queen bed with a thick comforter, dresser and a desk. As tired as I was, I knew I would need to unpack and didn't want to waste time doing it tomorrow. I grabbed all my clothes out, hanging all my work shirts, and putting my pants and pajamas away in the dresser. I took out all my books and placed them on the bookcase – I wasn't anal enough that they needed to be in alphabetical order or some shit.

I couldn't handle the worry in me anymore after hearing that horrific scream come from Roza. I didn't know what happened, but I wanted to make sure it never happened again. My heart longed for her and for her happiness.

I peaked out into the hallway, looking left and right as though I was a kid sneaking out after curfew. When I saw no one, I crept out and down the hall towards Roza's room. I was planning on just standing outside her door, listening to her breathe. I needed some sort of proof that she was okay as I hadn't seen her since earlier. Now that I knew she was alive, I didn't want to let her out of my sight.

A new level of surprise hit me when I realized that her door was open, and she was cuddled up in bed. Her eyes dropping closed heavily. Goes to show how comfortable she is here, back at the academy and court, she never would have dreamed of having the door to her bedroom opened, no matter who was around.

She looked gorgeous. I wanted nothing more than to lay down beside her, hold her all night and whisper in her ear how much I love her. That I lied that day in the church; that I wanted to break her heart because I didn't believe I was worthy of a light such as hers.

For now, I settled for just watching over her, making sure she was safe as she fell asleep. Just I was turning away I heard her call out my name and I knew that I would never hurt my Roza ever again. I am hers. Regardless of anything that might try to separate us.