Darius slips his fingers through mine as we descend the stairs.
His warm palm is pressed against mine. Shivers run up and down my spine at the contact. I’ve never walked around holding a man’s hand before. This is all new to me.
I steal a quick glance at the lycan that is now my mate. His handsome face looks cold, betraying no emotion, but his hand entwining mine feels gentle, warm, and protective.
I meant to go and see Matthew right away when I come
downstairs, but the smell of food draws my feet to the kitchen.
I sit on my regular chair at the breakfast table and Darius slides into the seat next to me. He even drags his chair close to mine.
His leg is touching mine and his hand drops on my thigh underneath the table. My stomach does a somersault. How can I eat breakfast with him touching me like that?
Somebody pours our coffee, but I’m too busy staring at him. He seems oblivious as he casually sips his coffee. His expression never changes.
I move my leg away from his only to have him pulls it back and his hand moves lower down my inner thigh this time. Wowza!
My fingers curl around my mug. I’m going to break my favorite cow mug if he didn’t stop doing that soon.
I glower at him but he only looks at me innocently as if he’s not wreaking havoc with my senses underneath the table. He can’t seem to stop touching me. Even after I push him off, his leg finds its way back to press against mine and his hand comes back to rest on my thigh.
I can’t sense his feeling either. He’s like an impenetrable wall when he wants to. This is the first day being his mate. I can tell already, my life as his mate is going to be very colorful.
It’s not that I don’t like him touching me. Quite the opposite really. I think I like it too much. Right now he’s looking so hot…and he’s touching me. It takes everything in me not to grab him by the neck of his henley and kiss his sexy pink lips till next year. I could kiss those lips forever!
“Good morning,” says a cheerful voice as she places our breakfast in front of us.
I look up to find somebody else bringing us food instead of our regular cook, Anya. This woman is also a werewolf, but instead of the regular well endowed skimpily clad young woman, this woman looks motherly and very well covered in a short-sleeved blue sundress. Did Caspian hire this lady? Oh gosh!!! Is the Prince ill?
“Anya was up all night last night, so we gave her a day off today,” explains Serena as she and Genesis join us at the breakfast table.
“This is Rita, she’s going to be our housekeeper when Anya gets back. Yes, Caspian hired her. No, he’s not mentally sick,” says Genesis before she adds under her breath, “…not that we know of anyway.”
“Maybe we should get a second opinion on that,” I mumble back.
Serena laughs softly as she pulls a chair back. I glance at Darius again and I can see a tiny smile tugging at his lips before he covers it with the mug.
“We were all puzzled until we agreed that maybe seeing his erasthai has something to do with it,” whispers Serena conspiratorially. “He might not want her to see him ogling a half-naked woman when he finally brings her here.”
“Whoa!!! Are you gossiping about me?” asks Caspian as he, Lazarus, and Constantine emerge from Lazarus’s office.
“Nope, just talking about ducks,” Genesis deadpans.
Underneath the table, I pull my leg away again and Darius pulls it back to him. I swat at his hand.
“How are you feeling, Penny?” asks Serena, turning to look at me as Lazarus wraps his arm around her from behind. A
knowing smile is playing on her lips.
“I’m good,” I flash her a smile. “I’m feeling great, actually,” I can’t resist adding. I feel the flush creeping up my neck as I feel his hand moving up my thigh.
“Oh. My. Goddess….” whispers Serena.
“What?” asks Genesis.
“You’ve marked each other,” says Serena, staring at Darius and me in wonder.
Genesis’s eyes widen comically. “You’re marked! Oh my gosh!!!
You are!!!” she shrieks. “Let me see the mark. Let me see it!”
“You can’t!!!!” I stare at her in horror. My hand automatically comes up to cover my mark just above the swell of my left
breast. I know they will see it sooner or later when I wear a low cut top or dress, but now it’s very new and feels very private.
If I wasn’t completely mortified, the looks on their faces would have been hilarious.
“Now all you two have to do is take an oath as members of this pack,” states Constantine casually after he clears his throat. He looks like he’s trying hard not to laugh.
I’ve heard about the pledge and I’m quite excited to be part of the pack. I know they wanted Darius to join the pack after they took on the rebels, but Caspian said they’re holding it off until Darius smartens up and mark me.
“Yeah, Constantine’s right,” agrees Caspian. His eyes bright with mischief. “But you have to show us the mark before we can accept you to be a member of our pack.”
“We do not!” I gasp indignantly. Lazarus’s hand comes up to smack Caspian upside the head.
Darius’s lips curl up into an amused smile and his hand tightens on my thigh. I nudge his leg away and take his hand off of me. You’d think that would deter him a bit, but no…if anything, he just moves in closer. He casually drapes his arm at the back of my chair while his other hand grabs my hand in his.
Hard-headed, possessive lycan!
Genesis grins at me, her eyes are bright with amusement. I know she’s dying to know all the details. “This calls for a celebration,” she says, instead.
“I can make a reservation at WP24 or Providence or Mélisse…take your pick,” offers Caspian who is still rubbing the back of his head.
“WP24!” says Genesis quickly. WP24 is one of our favorite restaurants in LA. It’s owned by Wolfgang Puck, and it’s on the 24th floor of The Ritz-Carlton. The food is awesome, and so is the view.
As much as I love to celebrate, we still have things to deal with.
“Maybe we can celebrate later. I’d like to see our two prisoners now,” I inform them.
Genesis looks very disappointed. My friend is a bottomless pit when it comes to food.
“I don’t think that’s possible anymore,” answers Lazarus.
“Darius dealt with them….very quickly,” adds Constantine.
“They’re dead?” I gape at them then I turn to look at Darius.
“Yes,” answers Darius. He doesn’t sound at all apologetic.
“Did you manage to get information that you needed from them, at least?” I huff exasperatedly.
“Yes, Malyshka. All taken care of,” answers Darius. “I’m sorry, but they hurt you and intended to kill you. I couldn’t rest until I got rid of them.”
He made good on his promise to get rid of them before sunrise.
His thumb stroking the inside of my wrist and I sigh.
“Don’t feel bad for them, Beanie,” says Caspian. “They’re not good men. They killed for pleasure and they killed for money.
They killed, tortured and did unspeakable things to humans and werewolves all over the country for years. If we let them free, they will find a way to kill you because that’s what they were paid to do. I’d say good riddance.”
“Oh, I don’t feel bad for them,” I inform him. “I’m just bummed that I didn’t get to torture them before you kill them.”
I turn to give Darius a stink eye, but he just gives me a smile then slides an arm around my hip to pull me closer into him.
I hear the men snicker at my response. Caspian masks his laughter behind his cough.
“Torture them?” says Genesis, shaking her head. “Why am I not surprised? You are two peas in a pod. You two are really suited for each other.”
“You are meant for our world,” says Caspian. He sounds oddly proud.
I was looking forward to playing with those two mainly because I was pissed that they tried to kidnap me and were planning to kill me. I was planning to really have fun with Thing 2 because he freaking stabbed me! He buried the blade to the hilt in my stomach!
I knew those two were not good men. The more I know about them, the more I wish they were still alive so that I could make them feel half of what their victims felt. Maybe that’s why they smelled so different. Maybe that was what I smelled when I
caught the whiff of their scent at the park. Their rotten core left a mark on their essence.
“I’m going to go see Matthew now,” I announce. Darius’s hands suddenly tighten possessively around me. I feel his burning jealousy through our bond.
I place my hand on top of his to assure him that I’m with him. I chose him. Doesn’t he know that there’s no competition now?
Doesn’t he know that I love him and only him? Oh, wait…he doesn’t. I never told him that I love him. I mean, I do want to tell him, but…how do I say it? I should’ve told him when he told me that he loves me, but my brain wasn’t working properly then. It’ll be so awkward now. I mean, how do I broach the subject? Maybe over coffee, like…“Hey, good coffee, by the way, I love you.” Or when we’re in a car, and I’d be like “Wow! Nice driving. So yeah, I love you.” Or after he told me a joke, “Great joke! You’re funny, hahaha..I love you?” Ughhh…AWKWARD!
I’m terrible when it comes to talking about feelings.
I guess we are two peas in a pod, but he somehow had
overcome that fear of talking about feelings…at least to me. I’m still amazed at the things that he said to me this morning.
I rub my hand gently over his to calm him down.
“Before you go see Matthew, there are a few things we need to discuss concerning him,” says Constantine seriously. “He’s obviously traumatized by what happened. Right now his brain is still trying to make sense of everything that he saw. We have three options on how to deal with this.
“The first option is to let him calm down, then tell him the truth. Let him into our world.
“The second option is to make him forget what happened and what he saw by using our lycan “persuasion” ability. The problem with that is, there is a risk or tendency that it might fade over time and he might remember again. We’ll also be playing around with his brain and we might leave permanent and irreversible damage to his mental health in the long run.
“The third option and we all agree that this might be the best one is to make the memory a bit hazy and “suggest” that it didn’t really happen. That the memory was just a nightmare.”
Constantine pauses to let his words sink in before he continues,
“The problem with this one is, it requires a bit of acting and a lot of patience on your part, Penny….and Darius too.”
I turn to look at Darius and says, “Okay, explain the third option.”
The third option does sound like the best option for us right now. I don’t want Matthew to be exposed to our world. He doesn’t need all that danger in his life. He’s not made for this life. The second option obviously might risk an emotional scar on him and I don’t want that.
“Okay then. It seems like we agree on the third option,” says Lazarus. “We make him believe that half of what happened really did happen and the other parts were just his nightmare.”
“So we make him believe that he really did meet me at the park,” I say, catching on. My eyes flash to Darius as I feel his jealousy. His arm still wrapped around me possessively.
I met Matthew at the park to end things because I didn’t want to continue leading him on. Now I remember that I didn’t really get to do that.
“Yeah, you get attacked by those two bad guys, he got knocked out while trying to save you or something…so, he’s a hero…sort of,” adds Caspian with a little distaste look on his face. He never makes it a secret that he doesn’t like Matthew much.
“Tell him that somebody came to your rescue while he was out and you brought him back here for the night. End of story.”
“Yeah, keep it simple,” says Constantine.
“Let’s go see him,” suggests Lazarus after we get the story straight.
Matthew is placed in the library which is on the main floor next to Lazarus’s office. It has been transformed into a makeshift guest bedroom. Floor to ceiling bookcases lining the walls.
There’s a little nook with a big bay window at the end of the room with a cozy sofa and chairs at one corner while a full bed has been set up at another corner.
They put him on the main floor, as far away from our
bedrooms which are on the second and the third floor. I understand they don’t want a stranger, especially a human who doesn’t know about us to be settling close to our private quarters.
Matthew is lying on the bed, sleeping…or unconscious. I hope it’s the former. At least he’s looking comfortable even though he’s still wearing the same shirt from yesterday.
There is a little bruising and swelling on his left cheek. I don’t remember him getting hurt at all last night.
“What happened?” I ask them.
Both Constantine and Lazarus turn to look at Caspian who flashes me a charming, but guilty smile.
“So, I might have lost my patience when he was hysterical. He wouldn’t stop screaming about wolves and scary monsters,”
answers Caspian. I suspect the fact that he never liked Matthew in the first place, factors in the reason as well.
“So you punched him?” I ask him, aghast.
“No, I just…slapped him,” he shamefully admits. “I did it once.
Only once,” he adds quickly as if doing it just one time makes it okay.
Arrgghhh!!! Caspian! This is one of those times when I feel like kicking him in the nuts.
“Hey, it worked! He stopped screaming,” he reasons. His eyes earnest, his expression completely innocent.
“Yeah, he stopped screaming because he passed out,” Lazarus deadpans.
“Well, it worked,” insists the Prince. “So I’m not good at handling hysterical grown men. Besides, it’ll help with the story that he got knocked out.”
I shake my head and sigh. This is our future king. I should be worried about our future.
“They knocked you out when you tried to protect me. Luckily, a few people saw us and threatened to call the police, so they ran off,” I tell Matthew. I don’t even feel guilty about lying to him.
If this is what I have to do to keep him safe, then so be it.
Right now I’m driving Matthew home in Caspian’s Porsche.
Darius isn’t happy about this, but this is something that I have to do.
“Wow, that’s mind-boggling! And I got this really crazy dream.
One of the men turned into a wolf and tried to attack us. You got stabbed right in your stomach and you have blood all over you, then you turned into this…this…scary looking—”
“Yeah, that sounds really crazy,” I cut him off. “I got stabbed? I would be dead or in the hospital right now if I got stabbed…not turning into a monster or something.” I laugh and Matthew gives me a sheepish looking smile.
I don’t want to talk about it anymore. I don’t want him to think about it. Who knows, he might somehow convince himself that it’s real after all the more he remembers. The less we talk about it, the better.
I glance in the review mirror and catch a glimpse of a black Mercedes. I know that they are in that car. Darius and Caspian.
I know none of them are willing to let me go off by myself now after that incident last night.
I can’t stop Darius from following me, especially when I’m with Matthew. After last night, I have a feeling that I would have to fight for my independence. Caspian, well…he’s just very stubborn. I managed to convince the rest of them not to be tailing me as well just because Darius and Caspian are already doing it.
“My face is still sore,” says Matthew, inspecting his face in the front mirror and gingerly touching his cheek. “I’ve never been punched before. Ever. Wow.” He looks strangely pleased with the thought that he’s being punched. I don’t have the heart to tell him that he had just gotten slapped. Once.
“You don’t have to worry about your car. Just give me the keys and I’ll have it delivered back to you by tonight,” I tell him.
I pull into the parking lot of his apartment building and unlock the door, leaving the engine running. “So, I’m just going to drop you off…”
“Wait a minute, you’re not coming in?” he asks me, not making a move to get out of the car.
“I…uh…I have to get back, Matthew. I’ll see you around, okay?”
“Oh, come on Penny. Come inside with me,” he says. “I just got knocked out. What if I got a concussion or something?”
Seriously???
I look behind us. I don’t know if that’s a good idea.
