04. "You're kidnapping me?"
Nuri was stunned to silence when she saw her suitcases by the front door, waiting for her, like a slap to the face. 'My parents are okay with this man just taking me away? What kind of parents are they to stand by idly while this man takes me?' She thought incredulously as she kicked the suitcases with all of her strength, causing them to go hurtling into the wall with a loud thump. "Mom, Dad?" She called out as she looked into the living room, then the kitchen, but couldn't find her parents anywhere.
"Nuri, let's go. I've things to do." Kalmin snapped after watching her search for her parents for a few moments, rolling his eyes. 'She didn't hear them leave while we were outside? Jesus, this hybrid doesn't even know how to use her hearing.'
'We can teach our mate to be fearsome, and she will be!' Kalmin's inner wolf said with such conviction, Kalmin couldn’t find it in his heart to argue, though he wholeheartedly disagreed.
"I don't care what you have to do. You aren't the boss of me!" Nuri growled as she whipped around to face him, narrowing her eyes as she glared at him. 'Just who the hell does he think he is?'
'He's our mate, and the alpha. He could make you do as he says, so it might be better just to oblige before he takes away our choice.' Nuri's wolf reminded her gently.
"Damn it." Nuri said with a sigh as she picked up her suitcases and tried to carry them to the car, but Kalmin refused to move from in front of the doorway. "You said to come on, and now you're blocking me?"
"Set down the bags," Kalmin responded dryly, pursing his lips as he looked down at the girl. ‘What kind of man would I be if I allowed her to carry those? I don’t have to like her to show basic chivalry.’ Kalmin thought as he watched her struggle to keep the bags up in her arms.
Nuri glared at Kalmin for a few moments, but when she realized, he wasn't going to move until she did as he said, she rolled her eyes and dropped the bags, then shoved past him and sat in the passenger seat of his car, crossing her arms with a huff.
'I know you meant to look upset, but from the look in his eyes, he thought that was adorable.' Nuri's wolf commented as Kalmin chuckled softly, carrying all four bags with one hand, closing the front door behind himself, then walking down to put the bags in the trunk. 'Our mate is so beautiful and strong, why don't you accept him? He's perfection!' Nuri's wolf gasped out in a wooing tone, making Nuri groan in frustration.
"You aren't very helpful. You know that, right?"
"Our inner wolves aren't usually the most helpful thing to have in our heads. If they aren't always complaining about being hungry, their making useless comments on things we didn't ask their opinion on." Kalmin said as he sat down in the driver's seat, and backed the car down the driveway, giving Nuri a sideways glance, noticing she was trying her best not to look at him.
"Well, complaining about our inner wolves isn't going to solve anything," Nuri said with a sigh, then cocked her head to the side as she began to ponder a question she’d always had in the back of her mind. "What do you think it's like in a human's head? Or, a full human, I mean."
"I can only guess it's absolute madness. Our soul has a voice, and a consciousness all of its own, but humans only have themselves to converse with." Kalmin responded with a shrug, then turned to look at Nuri, finding it hard to look away. 'It seems like every time I see her, she's more beautiful than the last time.' He thought as his eyes fell to her soft pink lips, then realized that she was talking, and he'd forgotten to listen.
"Did you name your wolf? I know some people do, and some don't. Like my dad, he calls his wolf Alvin, and he told me that his wolf hates that he gave him the same name because our wolves are in us, but we are two separate beings." Nuri asked, then rolled her eyes as her wolf kept cooing about how beautiful Kalmin was, and how amazing his green eyes were. ‘Shut up, please. I’m trying to concentrate.’
‘Why are you trying to concentrate, Nuri?’
‘I’m hoping that if I talk enough to pique his interest, he won’t drive us to a remote location to kill us.’
"No, I didn't. Did you?" Kalmin asked, raising a curious eyebrow at her, finding himself intrigued by the girl.
"No," Nuri responded with a shake of her head, and looked out her window, remaining silent for the rest of the drive. ‘Never mind. He’s worse at holding a decent conversation than mom.’
Nuri didn't remember falling asleep, but the sudden feeling of Kalmin's strong arms wrapping around her, and lifting her out of her seat, woke her up almost immediately. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" She growled at him, shoving against him so he'd release her.
"You were asleep, I was only taking you into your bedroom. Calm down." Kalmin growled back as he let her go, shaking his head while he gathered her bags out of the trunk. 'My god she's difficult. Makes the biggest deal out of nothing.' He thought as she followed him in the house, and up to the second floor, where he set the bags down at the foot of the bed and motioned to the room. "Welcome home."
Nuri looked around the room for a few moments, taking everything in, before walking to the balcony where she had a gorgeous view of the packs hunting grounds and the river off to the right. 'Wow, this is an amazing view!' She thought, then turned around to face Kalmin, crossing her arms across her chest, narrowing her eyes. "And what are you hoping to gain by this, alpha? Do you think you can force me into wanting to be with you? I don't care what we are, I'm not going to have accept you, so don't bother trying."
Kalmin chuckled as he walked to the door, taking the handle before looking back up at Nuri, shaking his head softly. “You will not accept me? I do not accept you.” He said with a sneer, then took a deep breath to regain his composure before continuing. “Our decision not to accept one another changes nothing, unfortunately. You must learn to live with me, just as I must learn to live with you. As much as I wish I could, I cannot change who I was mated to, but I cannot allow you to stay in that house with your parents, the scum of the pack. God forbid I was seen entering that place.”
“Oh, god forbid” Nuri said sarcastically, waving her hands back and forth in fake awe. “So, you kidnapped me?”
“I did nothing of the sort. I told your parents I was taking you, and they packed your bags. Not to mention, you are eighteen. I’m not sure why you were staying in that house any longer than you had to.”
“Some people aren’t obsessed with the way others see them. I love my parents, and they love me.” Nuri said, biting her lip to stop herself from cussing him out. ‘I don’t care who he is. Where the hell does he get off insulting my parents?’
‘If they loved you, they never would have subjected you to a lifetime of ridicule.’ Kalmin thought as he nodded, then pulled the door closed to Nuri’s bedroom, staring at the door for a long time before deciding to slide the deadbolt into place, locking Nuri into her makeshift prison.