When they touch me - Chapter 14: Chapter 14

ARTEMISIA
“How is it?” Matthew asks me with big eyes.
Gulping down the bite I just took off my sweet crepes, I smile happily. “It tastes delicious. But I never eat with so many eyes on me.”
“Glad you like it. And yeah, sorry about that. But they will stop staring as soon as they have gotten used to you.” He wipes his mouth with his napkin, throwing it back onto the table.
He had driven me into the heart of the pack, and I guess you could call it the town center. There are small cute shops for everything that one needs or a heart could desire. They are distributed along beautiful cobblestone paths that are adorned with colorful flowers.
What I love the most is that all of those colorful paths lead to the town square with a big fountain. The fountain is decorated with several statues of wolves and warriors, and on top of it, there are three pups, carved out of marble, that are playing with each other.
It was a strange feeling to walk along the narrow streets with Matthew holding my hand.
Even if it felt amazing as well.
A few people stopped to talk to him, while others even came out of their shops for it.
I felt happy and must have blushed, embarrassing myself, as he was introducing me as his mate.
As a total stranger, I had expected a few angry looks, but I only got so much kindness and love from everyone that I wanted to cry.
‘Don’t let them fool you. They are still monsters.’ Cassy snarls, making me clasp my shirt on my stomach.
“Did you say something?” Matthew asks me, and I shake my head, taking a sip of my cup.
He lifts his eyebrow at me, but I act like nothing happened, and he seems to take the bait.
After finishing our breakfast, we drive back to the estate.
On the way, he explains how the pack lands are divided into, and shows me the different directions where people are living.
As if I could remember any of it, but it’s cute.
I listen to him intently as he goes on reciting historical facts as he parks the car.
Walking around the pack house, and further down the lands and gardens behind it, he shows me the training grounds as well as the different pens and turfs where the horses are trained.
“Horses?” I say with sparkling eyes as we stand at the railing of the turf and Matthew is telling me everything about groundwork.
“Yeah,” he laughs, pointing to a few stables that stand out just before the line of trees to a gigantic forest. “There are the stables. Fynn is the one training them most of the time.”
“Awesome!” I say as we stomp back through the tall grass.
Giggling to myself, I bump into him slightly, thinking about how his brother would have already pushed me to lie into the grass while he is being the perfect gentleman. “Thank you for showing me everything, Matthew. I really like it here.”
“Ah, that makes me happy.” He walks a few steps in front of me, but I can clearly hear the smile in his voice. “It wasn’t planned that we would throw you off your guard like this, so… I’m glad that you don’t hate us for kidnapping you.”
I laugh as I catch up with him, wrapping my arms around his. “Must be the bond, but I don’t hate you at all.”
***
As we spent a lot of time out, we get to eat a late lunch all by ourselves.
And if he wasn’t such a nice and shy type of guy, I would think that he made it on purpose to have me a bit to himself. It must be kind of hard to get the things he desires with his character against those of his brothers.
Making a little mental note that I have to take that into account, I shock myself with my thoughts.
What is wrong with me?
‘It’s that you are desperate. So, you are throwing yourself at anyone as long as they give you some attention.’
I shake my head, ignoring Cassy’s insult and attracting Matthew’s attention. But as usual, he doesn’t say anything.
For a short moment, I think about asking him about the wolfless woman who was executed, but I refrain from it at the last second.
Wanting to change the subject, I finally ask him more about him.
I guess the more they will let me into their hearts, the less probable it will be that they will execute me.
“So, do you have any hobbies?” I ask, poking my long spoon into the bowl of ice cream that we are sharing.
“Hobbies?” He looks at me wide-eyed.
I giggle, taking another spoonful of our dessert. “Yeah, you know the things you do when you are not training to be the best Gamma ever.”
“Ah, I don’t have any hobbies.” His lowered voice and his lightly blushing signal me that he isn’t being exactly truthful, but I let it slip.
“Oh, okay.” Lowering my head, I continue to scrape against the ice cream with my spoon.
After a few seconds of awkward silence, I try to loosen the tension up a little bit and smile at him. “Well, at least your Luna will be the luckiest of her kind. To have someone this focused by her side to protect her.”
He regains his wide smile, making me giggle.
He is just too cute.
Just as he is about to say something, his eyes glaze over. As he gets out of the mindlink, he lowers his head defeated while he clicks his tongue.
I’m about to ask him what happened, when the door swings open with a bang, making me jump.
“Ah, here you are.” Logan jogs down the few stairs, reaching us with a broad smile.
He halts right next to our table and boxes his brother’s arm playfully. “Keeping her all to yourself, eh, Matty?”
Matthew doesn’t respond to it and keeps his head low without even grumbling.
“What about a cinema night?” Logan asks, his eyes back on me.
“A cinema night?” I ask, and he drags a chair over the floor for him to sit down next to me.
“Yeah, the warriors will flood all of the rooms tonight, but we could watch movies in one of our private ones.”
His smile has me nearly hypnotized, but it has to be the air sizzling around me because of his vicinity as well. “Oh, that sounds nice.”
Turning to Matthew, I get Logan’s smile to fall slightly. “What do you think, Matt?”
“Erm…” Matthew looks at me confused before he stutters. “S-Sure… Sounds like fun.”
“Awesome.” I jump in my seat before turning to Logan. “What about Fynn? Or Cayden?”
I can spot the discontent on his face even if he hides it perfectly well. “I’ll ask Cayden, but I guess Fynn is still locked in the dungeons.”
“Okay,” I hum, pursing my lips.
My gaze falls on Matthew, who is looking at me with an expression that I have never seen before. “Why do you ask so much about Fynn?” ARTEMISIA
I dress myself quickly into a sundress before sprinting after them. I follow my mate’s voice that booms through the mansion as his brothers are carrying him into the main mansion and downstairs.
Pushing through the crowd that forms on the stairs and in the halls to watch the spectacle, I reach the ground floor without catching up with them.
As I stand in front of a heavy steel door that has been left ajar, I feel goosebumps rising on my skin.
The Dungeon.
Gulping, I start descending the stone staircase that leads down to the cold underground in a spiral form.
The steel door seems to have been the portal to another dimension. Because as I’m enveloped by the cold radiating off the bare walls, I walk through a place that in comparison with the mansion built above it is depressing.
But I guess that fits the purpose of the place.
Instead of shiny chandeliers and the expensive, dark-hued interiors matching the gray walls, I find myself surrounded by cells with silver bars.
At the end of a passage leading in between the cells, I find my mates and Cayden with their backs turned to me.
“You can’t keep me from seeing my mate!” Fynn roars as he paces back and forth behind the already closed cell door.
“Don’t have me tie you to the wall, Finnegan,” Cayden says calmly, as I watch them from a secure distance.
But my scent must be blowing my cover as Matthew turns to look at me from time to time while the others seem to ignore me purposely.
Maybe to avoid provoking Fynn.
“Her wolf still isn’t talking to me! Why is she keeping her away from me?” Fynn growls, making my breath hitch in my throat.
“You have to leave her alone. Let her get used to us first. You will just get her to want to get away from us like this.” Logan turns around, ignoring his brother’s raging reaction to his words.
I stand out of his way even if he would have enough space to walk past me and crouch down as if I was about to get caught doing something naughty.
As soon as he passes me, he grabs my arm casually, pulling me back to my feet. “Acting like a total moron.”
His whisper just adds to the shivers the sparks resulting from his touch sends through me.
Oh, Goddess.
He doesn’t stop a single time as he drags me through the dungeon and up the spiral stairs.
“Logan?” I ask shyly as he kicks the door open to a room not far away from the dungeon’s entrance, pushing me into it.
He closes the door behind him, and I have barely regained my balance as he grabs my arm again. Pulling me close, he snarls, “Why isn’t your wolf reaching out to any of us? Is there a reason why she ignores us?”
“N-No. She is just trying to cope with everything. Like I am.” The silver and blue flecks reappear, signaling me he isn’t the only one interested in my answer to this.
“The bond should be stronger than any insecurities for a mate.” His disparaging voice paired with his angered expression make me want to crawl straight back into bed. “Tell her to at least respond. It’s basic respect, right? She will surely listen to you.”
Shaking my head, I fear having him bite my head off. “No, she won’t listen to me.”
“She doesn’t listen to you,” he murmurs, letting go of me.
As he drives his hands through his hair, he takes a deep breath. “Okay.”
I jump as Matthew opens the door, standing in its frame. “Did he hurt you?”
‘Who? The first or the second idiot?’ Cassy snarls, making me gasp.
“No. Of course not, Matt. But thank you for your concern.” I smile at him, but he doesn’t seem very convinced by my answer.
Opening the door fully, he gestures with his head, regaining his smile. “Come on. Let’s get breakfast, and I’ll show you around on the pack grounds.”
“Oh, lovely. Thank you.”
I practically sprint to the door, and wrap my arms around Matthew’s. Forcing myself to smile up at him, I can’t wait to be out of this room. “Show me.”
Matthew smiles cutely as he lays his hands on my arm, and we walk out of the pack house.
Leaving a sulking Logan behind.
Wow. My mates are just getting more charming by the minute.
Walking to the left side of the house, we reach a large garage. Matthew points towards a sleek Porsche Coupé as he lets go of me to take a key from a little box by the door.
“This one is mine,” he states proudly, unlocking the car for me to get in. “We all have our cars, but if you need to take one, you can take any of them.”
Looking around amazed, I nod my head absentmindedly. “Oh, wow. Thank you.”
He starts the car with a chuckle while he lowers the roof of the sporty car.
The motor roars to life, and he drives it out of the garage carefully.
I would have guessed that he would be a respectful driver, while his brother would surely have raced out of the garage to impress me with the power of the car.
As we drive past the beautiful landscapes of the Blood Fang Pack, I seem to lose my ability to close my mouth.
The large green fields contrast totally with the tales of my brothers, who used to tell me how everything was burned land over here.
“Have you had like a make-over of your lands before I arrived?” I ask, pushing my hair back and out of my face.
Matthew chuckles as he looks at me shortly. “Why do you mean?”
“Nothing in particular,” I say, shrugging. “But it is so beautiful here.”
“And I guess your family told you it looked like a desert.”
I smile as I turn to watch the street before us as well. “No, desert wouldn’t quite describe it. But yes, something like that.”
Like his brothers, he doesn’t take it personally and rather laughs about it.
“Good thing we have enough time to show you everything to debunk them.” He takes my hand in his, pressing a light kiss on my knuckles.
I blush as the tingles travel up my arm. “Can’t wait.”
“I don’t know,” I answer, pushing out an awkward laugh. “But I guess it’s just common sense to ask about someone who is tied up in your host’s basement, right?”
The sparks erupting on my skin are the first thing my brain registers before the fact that Logan has grabbed my chin, forcing me to look at him.
“We aren’t your hosts.” He growls, tilting his head at me. “Right, mate?”
My heart skips a beat as I melt under his gaze. I force myself to nod before I lose myself completely.
Logan lets go of me with a deep chuckle and gets up. “Well, I’ll ask Cayden to join us. What will you do now, Missy?”
“Oh, I still have a lot of boxes to unpack and stuff to put away, so I’ll be busy.” I look up at him while he smiles back at me and nods.
“Perfect. Will see you in a bit then.”
“Uh-huh,” I say, as he is already sprinting up the stairs and disappears out of the room.