Dimitri’s POV
“What’s wrong, love?” I asked as soon as I closed the door behind us.
I took her back to our office. I knew that no one would disturb us here.
I cupped her cheeks and kissed her forehead. She didn’t feel warm. She didn’t have a temperature.
“It’s the mind-link,” she mumbled. “I am still getting a hold of it.”
I furrowed my eyebrows a little. Mind-linking made her head hurt?
“What do you mean, princess?” I asked as I caressed her cheek. “Mind-linking shouldn’t hurt.”
She sighed and shook her head a little.
“It doesn’t hurt really,” she said. “It’s just a bit exhausting hearing them talk to me all the time. I can even distinguish who is who and I can’t even respond. I would like to respond, though. I wouldn’t want them to think that I am ignoring them.”
I was confused. What the hell was she talking about?
“It is easy with you,” she added. “I guess it is because you are my mate.”
I was really confused.
Maybe she was confused too. Maybe she was tired. So much happened in the past 24 hours. Her whole life turned upside down. She was probably really confused and tired.
I took her hand in mine and approached the couch. I sat down and pulled her onto my lap. She straddled me and leaned her head on my shoulder. I started playing with her ponytail and rubbing her back gently. She sighed contently.
“Thank you,” she mumbled quietly. “Your touch silenced it down a little bit. I had no idea mind-links were so intense.”
I furrowed my eyebrows again. Mind-links weren’t intense. They were like talking. You had nothing to silence. If you didn’t want to mind-link someone, you simply blocked them.
I turned my head and kissed her cheek. She smiled a little and my heart skipped a beat. I started rubbing her temples gently and she relaxed even more. She took a deep breath and released it slowly.
“How is that, princess?” I asked quietly.
“It is the best,” she mumbled. “Thank you so much.”
“You don’t have to thank me,” I said. “You are my mate and I will always take care of you. You will never be in pain when I am around.”
I hated seeing her hurt. When I cut her palm a wave of pain washed over me. I couldn’t wait to finish the ceremony so I could heal her.
She lifted her head a little and gave me a small smile.
“How are you dealing with it?” she asked. “Will you teach me how to distinguish the voices and respond?”
I furrowed my eyebrows again. I leaned in and kissed the tip of her nose. Her words confused and scared me. I couldn’t understand what she was talking about. I couldn’t figure out how couldn’t she distinguish the links and respond.
“Can you explain what exactly you hear, princess?” I asked softly.
I needed more information before I tried talking to her about it. I didn’t want to scare her.
“Well, the voices,” she said, sighing tiredly. “There are a lot of them in my head. I can’t seem to figure out who exactly they belong to. The only one I managed to figure out was yours. That was easy.”
She furrowed her eyebrows and bit her lower lip.
“The rest of them are just a tangled mess,” she continued. “I wanted to respond to them, but I simply couldn’t figure out who was trying to mind-link me.”
She shook her head and sighed again.
“It’s just a bit overwhelming,” she added. “I’m not used to mind-linking and feeling the emotions of so many people.”
I froze.
What the hell was she talking about?
Feeling the emotions of so many people?
My heart started racing and a wave of fear washed over me.
‘She isn’t talking about mind-links, Dimitri,’ Skol said calmly.
I tightened my jaw and gulped.
‘What do you know?’ I asked him, but he ignored me.
‘Skol!’ I shouted after he didn’t respond.
I felt him pull back and the anger inside me exploded. He knew something about my mate, but he refused to tell me?!
I was going to stick his own claws up his ass.
Maddie’s content sigh made me focus back on her. She closed her eyes and got herself comfortable in my arms. I tightened my hold on her and kissed her cheek again.
“Whose emotions can you feel, princess?” I asked, trying to stop my voice from trembling.
Maddie opened her beautiful eyes and looked at me. She furrowed her eyebrows a little and studied my face for a second.
“Well, everyone’s,” she said, making my heart stop. “I was never told that was also a part of mind-linking, though.”
I gulped and caressed her cheek. I took a deep breath and leaned in to kiss the tip of her nose.
“It’s not, Maddie,” I said softly. “I can’t feel other people’s emotions. I can’t hear them in my head all the time.”
Her eyes widened a little. She lifted her head and sat up in my lap. I kept my hands on her hips, making sure that she couldn’t stand up. I couldn’t let go of her.
“What are you talking about?” she asked quietly.
I took another deep breath and tightened my hold on her.
“I don’t know what is going on, Maddie, but what you can hear and feel is not mind-linking,” I said.
This is mind-linking. I finished my sentence through our mind-link. Can you hear the difference between mine and other voices?
Her eyes widened even more. I saw fear flash in her eyes and I pulled her to my chest immediately.
“Don’t be afraid, princess,” I said softly. “We will figure it out. I promise. We will fix it. I will fix it.”
Maddie wrapped her arms around me tightly. She pressed her body against mine and I could feel her shaking. My heart broke. I hated seeing her afraid or hurt. I fucking hated it.
“I am here, my love,” I said, wrapping my arms around her. “I am here and I am never leaving. We will figure it out.”
I turned my head to kiss her temple just as I heard Will approaching my office. He entered without knocking.
“Dimitri, the guests are…,” he spoke but stopped as soon as he saw us.
His eyebrows furrowed and I saw worry on his face.
“What happened?” he asked worriedly. “Are you okay, Mads?”
“Come inside and close the door,” I told him and he listened to me.
I had to tell him what happened. He could help us figure this out.
