Forest Pack: Tristan Ch. 02

Rhea watched as Tristan jogged back to her in just a pair of loose jeans. She was surprised that he had actually found a pair of jeans in the forest but she figured werewolves thought ahead about these things. He was much taller than her, probably around 6'3 and he oozed strength and masculinity. Her eyes were drawn to his defined abs and pectoral muscles and she immediately felt the urge to run her hands and her tongue over every inch of his body. Rhea blushed at the direction her thoughts were travelling in. She was still a virgin at twenty-four years old and had never been interested in anything physical with a man before. Granted, Tristan was not just a man, but he was still a stranger who had suddenly awoken primal thoughts and urges within her and she didn't know what to make of it.

Tristan gazed at his mate as he jogged towards her and noticed that she was lost in thought. He took the opportunity to absorb every detail about her that he could. She was of average height for a woman, around 5'6 but not petite. She had long wavy brown hair that he itched to run his hands through and a curvy figure. Tristan had to fight the urge to groan aloud as she bit her bottom lip while she was thinking and he finally met her heated hazel eyes before she blinked and seemed to shake herself back to the present. He jealously wondered what she had been thinking about that caused her to get that sexy intense expression on her face and decided to get to the task of changing her tyre before he started demanding that she divulge every thought that passed through her mind.

"Pop the trunk my sweet. I'll need to get the jack and the spare tyre."

Rhea did as he asked and then watched as he quickly and efficiently replaced her blown out tyre with the spare one. Within minutes the car was ready to move.

"Thank you Tristan. I appreciate your help," she said sincerely.

"It was a pleasure Rhea. Now let's get you to the hospital."

"Tristan, for the tenth time, I'm fine. I really don't need the hospital. And I'll be there later on anyway so I'll get looked at then, ok?" she said somewhat impatiently.

"Why will you be there later on? Are you alright?" he demanded.

"Yes I'm fine. I work there. I'm a nurse, which is how I know I'm fine. Is there anything else you need to know?" she asked sarcastically. Rhea wondered why she was being so prickly with him and then realised that it was because she was so intrinsically drawn to this man that it scared her. Everything about him called to her and she hated the fact that she actually liked his demanding tone and the way he seemed to expect obedience. The easiest way to deal with it was sarcasm and anger. She wasn't naïve enough to imagine that this divine creature would actually be interested in her so it would be safer for her to just part ways with him now and keep her heart secure from any possible future pain.

Tristan grinned at her annoyed tone before replying, "Just one other thing... What time do you get off work?"

"Noon," Rhea answered distractedly.

"I'll see you then Little One."

Rhea cursed herself for being so preoccupied and actually telling him the correct time that her shift would end but then realized that he would not know which hospital she worked at anyway. Nonetheless, she wouldn't be encouraging him regardless of how quickly he set her pulse racing.

"Look, I appreciate your help Tristan but I don't think it would be a good idea for us to socialise. You seem like a great guy and everything but there would be no point to us becoming friends."

Rhea looked up into his twinkling eyes and her breath caught in her throat even as she dreaded his response.

"I don't just want to be friends with you Rhea," he said in a deep voice full of promise. "You will be mine whether you know it yet or not."

Ignoring the fact that her heart had literally just skipped a beat, Rhea narrowed her eyes and got into her car. "We'll see about that Mr. Forest. Have a good evening."

Before Tristan could stop her, Rhea started the car and drove off. She kept her eyes on him for as long as possible before breathing a sigh of relief and trying to calm her erratic heartbeat. She had no idea what Tristan had meant by his possessive words and she had no intention of finding out. Even if he did, by some miracle, come to the right hospital, she would not allow herself to be drawn in by him. She would be a notch on Tristan's bedpost no matter how much he drew her in.

Having resolved to avoid Tristan at all costs, Rhea headed home to shower before starting her shift. She worked odd hours at the hospital, taking the shifts that everyone else tended to avoid. Rhea had nobody to spend her free time with and wasn't inclined to meet new people since she had learned from experience that the people closest to you had the ability to hurt you the most. So she instead focussed her time and energy on the children in the Paediatrics ward of the Forest Hospital and it was by far the most fulfilling aspect of her life. Children were still innocent and loving without having ulterior motives. Rhea loved the simplicity in the way kids thought. It was so much easier dealing with them as opposed to the endless mindless games that adults played.

Rhea arrived home a few minutes later and allowed her mind to wander as she stepped into the shower, ignoring the throbbing heat between her legs that had been caused by Tristan's intense unwavering stare and sculpted muscles. The man exuded a powerful sexuality that Rhea could not help but react to and she wished that she had enough time to relieve the ache he had caused but she had to get to her shift on time so she brutally squashed the urge to bring herself to orgasm and proceeded to wash her hair instead.

Rhea had been happy, or at least as close as she could get, until meeting Tristan Forest. She knew she wasn't frigid or jilted. She had chosen to live her life without getting close to people for a good reason. But now Rhea found herself questioning her choices and her lonely existence. Tristan had unknowingly caused her to become dissatisfied with the course her life was on and she wondered how one man could have such a profound effect on her after one simple encounter.

Frowning as she got dressed in her simple blue scrubs and tennis shoes, Rhea thought about how she had gotten to this point in her life. She had been a happy child for the first few years of her life. Then things just went downhill and had never picked back up. Rhea considered everything she had been through a learning experience and so she had no regrets. That didn't stop her from wishing things had been different. She shook herself out of her funk, determined to not allow herself to become even more depressed than usual and left for work.

Rhea hoped that the day would bring would bring no further surprises. As much as she would love to see Tristan again she knew that it would only lead to further heartache and she didn't know how much more of that she could take. Groaning aloud at the fact that her thoughts had once again returned to Tristan, Rhea prayed silently that she could forget him and the electrifying effect he seemed to have on her mind and her body.