Madeline’s POV
I missed Dimitri as soon as I walked out of our office.
I worried about him as well. Would he be okay? Would he be able to finish the meeting? Maybe I should have stayed with him.
“He will be okay, Mads,” Will said softly as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “He will be back with you soon.”
I looked up at him and he smiled at me.
“I’m just hoping he won’t let Skol kill Kendrick,” Will added with amusement in his voice. “That would only create more work for me.”
I chuckled and shook my head at him.
“He won’t kill him,” Ellie said. “But I wouldn’t be surprised if he did.”
I took a deep breath and released it slowly. He wasn’t going to kill him. He knew it would be wrong to do so.
We walked into the training center and Mike immediately looked at us.
“Honey!” he exclaimed and rushed toward me. “What are you doing here?”
He pulled me into a hug and I patted his back gently.
“Dimitri is in a meeting,” Ellie said. “We wanted to show Maddie around the training center. We will be coming here daily so she needs to get familiar with the place.”
Mike grinned widely.
“Oh, I can’t wait, honey,” he said. “It will be nice to spend more time with you.”
I can’t wait. Maybe spending more time with her will be good for us. I can finally show her how fucking sorry I am for what I have done. Maybe she will finally see how much I love her.
Mike’s thoughts made my heart race.
Mike smiled and pulled me into another hug.
My little girl. I love you so much. I am terrified that you will never know how sorry I am. I am terrified that you will never know how much I missed you all these years. I am terrified that I will never be able to prove to you how important you are to me. I wish you knew how much I loved you.
My heart clenched painfully and I did something I never thought I would. I wrapped my arms around Mike and hugged him tightly. I closed my eyes and leaned my head on his chest.
I could tell that he was a bit shocked. Every time he hugged me I would be still as a statue. I would just pat his back gently and step away a second later. I never hugged him back like that.
“Oh, my baby,” he mumbled as he placed a hand on my head and held me close to him.
“It will be nice to spend more time with you too, Mike,” I said quietly.
Something between a sob and a laugh escaped Mike’s lips. He kissed the top of my head and rubbed my back.
“I can’t wait, honey,” he said softly.
“Maddie?” I heard Seth’s voice
I let Mike go and looked to my left. Seth was standing a few feet away. He was smiling and he looked so happy to see me.
“Seth,” I said as I started approaching him.
He reached out for me, but Will pulled me back.
“No touching,” Will said. “Dimitri will lose it if he smells him on you. He just marked you, Maddie.”
Oh, right. I completely forgot about that.
“He marked you?” Seth mumbled and looked at my neck.
My heart clenched. He looked so sad and I wished there was something I could do.
“He did,” Will said sternly. “You need to stay away, Seth. Especially now that the mark is fresh.”
Seth gulped and looked at Will. He gave him a small nod.
“How are you, Seth?” I asked, giving him a small smile. “I feel like I haven’t seen you in ages.”
A lot had happened in the last few days and I couldn’t tell for sure how long it had been since I last saw Seth. I really felt like it’d been ages. We saw each other daily before my birthday and this was a little bit weird to go a few days without seeing him.
“I feel like that too, Mads,” he said and I could hear sadness in his voice. “We miss you at the diner.”
I smiled and took a deep breath.
“I miss you guys too,” I said. “I miss working there.”
“You can always come back,” Seth said with a hint of amusement in his voice. “I am sure that we will have a lot more guests if the word gets out that our Luna is working there again.”
I laughed and nodded.
“I am available if you need me,” I said, making Seth grin.
“That will not happen, Madeline,” Will said sternly. “You are a Luna. You won’t be working there anymore.”
I looked at Will with a confused expression on my face. Seth and I were just kidding.
Will was staring at Seth with an angry expression on his face.
We are just kidding, Will. I mind-linked him. What is wrong with that?
Will glanced at me and tightened his jaw.
He wants you, Madeline. He said. I need to let him know that you are not available.
“How about I show you around, Mads?” Ellie said and took my hand in hers. “We didn’t come here to chat.”
Ellie started pulling me away and I looked at Seth.
“I will see you around,” I told him.
“See you, Mads,” he said, giving me a small smile.
Goddess, will I ever stop being in love with her? I don’t even care that she is marked. I still want her. Will this feeling ever go away?
I looked away from Seth and did everything I could possibly think of to silence his thoughts. I didn’t want to hear that. I didn’t want to know that.
“Why is Will so angry at Seth?” I asked Ellie, trying to distract myself. “Seth is just being nice.”
I obviously knew how Seth felt about me, but he never did anything inappropriate. He did kiss me, but that was before we knew that Dimitri was my mate.
Ellie looked at me and raised an eyebrow.
“You are not blind and you can read his mind, Maddie,” Ellie said. “I know that you know Seth is in love with you.”
I sighed and gave her a small nod.
“He was never inappropriate, though,” I said quietly. “He was always a good friend to me.”
“Well, Will is being a good friend to Dimitri,” Ellie said. “He won’t let anyone near you, Maddie. Especially not someone who is in love with you.”
I sighed again and looked back at Seth. He was talking to Will and Mike. All three of them looked a bit tense.
I wished that I could somehow explain to them that Seth was not a threat. He was my friend and he wouldn’t do anything inappropriate. I was sure that he would get over his feelings and I knew he would never act on them. I just wished they knew that too.
