Calyx sighed. “Those are mine and Cain’s parents. My mother Kasdeya, and my father, Langston. They died a few years ago during a battle with another pack.” He stood there for a moment, staring longingly at the painting of his mother; a look of sorrow featured his expression.
I glanced between him and the paintings. “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. What were they like? If you don’t mind me asking.”
He gave me a half-smile “My mother; was amazing, radiant, classy, strong, beautiful and everything in between. But, my father was the complete opposite; he was powerful, strong and an all-around asshole.” Calyx stared at the painting of his father, and his lip began to twitch into a snarl.
I could see the pain on his face and the hurt in his eyes. “I see. Do you miss them?”
Calyx looked at me for a second before looking back at the paintings. “My mother, yes. My father, not so much.”
“I couldn’t imagine losing any of my family members; they mean everything to me,” I said truthfully; just thinking of them made me miss them even more and had me wishing that I could see them again.
He turned to me, “I’m sorry you were taken from them, Freja.”
I sighed. “Yea, what are you doing up, by the way?”
“My room is next door; I heard noises, so I got up to see what it was. Plus, I couldn’t sleep either.” He shrugged.
“Ahh, makes sense.” I nodded, knowing someone probably would have heard me.
He glanced around the room and smiled. “This was my mother’s favourite room in the house; she could sit in here all day reading by the fire. She would get lost and entranced by whatever she was reading. After she died, this room became a painful reminder.”
Calyx’s face dropped, and he was overcome with despair; I placed my hand on his shoulder to comfort him and gave him a warm smile.
A deep, angry voice came from behind us as I was about to say something. “What the hell is going on here?”
Cain! Oh, great, and he appears cranky; what else is new.
I rolled my eyes. “I couldn’t sleep and was snooping around. Calyx heard me and came in to see what it was. Then I asked him about the portraits; he was just kindly telling me about your parents.” I told him the truth, knowing we had nothing to hide.
Cain stood there quietly, looking back and forth between Calyx and me.
After a moment of awkward silence, Calyx cleared his throat. “Well, I’m going back to my room.”
Calyx then quickly left the room, and I wanted more than anything to be hot on his heels, but judging by the look on Cain’s face, he wasn’t going to let me away so easily.
I pursed my lips. “How come you are awake?” I asked.
He rubbed the nape of his neck. “I rolled over and realized you weren’t there, so I came looking for you.” Although the expression on his face told me he was a bit embarrassed to admit that to me, I smiled inwardly at that.
“Oh, I see. This is a beautiful room.” I looked around the room again, marvelling at its beauty.
Cain took careful steps towards me. “You shouldn’t be running around here at night by yourself, and yes, it was.” His expression turned neutral with his last words.
I shrugged. “Yea, yea, I already know, and I don’t really care. So what do you mean, was?”
He looked away from me and glanced around the room. “I hate this room and would love nothing more than to burn it to the ground; it holds nothing but painful memories.” Cain looked at the painting of his mother. “It was her room, she cherished it and everything in here, now it’s just……empty.” Cain’s words held so much pain as he talked about his mother and the room that was now a painful reminder of her memory.
I walked over to him, and I don’t know why, but I wrapped my arms around his waist and hugged him, squeezing with all my might. I felt him freeze, his arms stretched out at his side, not knowing what to do or what the hell was going on.
“I’m sorry for your loss Cain. I would have loved to have had the pleasure of meeting your parents, especially your mother.” I told him honestly.
He relaxed a little and placed an arm around my back while the other stroked my hair. “My mother would have just absolutely adored you. To be honest, you remind me of her in some ways, strong, confident, beautiful and doesn’t take shit from anyone. Unfortunately, my father was the opposite; I don’t think he even loved my mom; their marriage was arranged, they weren’t mates, and because of that, they despised each other.” His tone was now filled with hate and venom as he spoke of his parents.
I didn’t know what to say as I stood there reeling in his words. I thought about how I knew, how Cain’s mother felt, in some ways. I began to wonder if Cain and I would be like that, stuck together, hating each other, would we turn out like his parents?
“Oh, I see. That’s awful.” I released him and turned around to stare into the painted eyes of his mother as numerous thoughts circled in my head.
I could feel his eyes on me, watching me carefully. “Yea, anyways, let’s go back to our room. We both need to freshen up, get dressed, and then we will head downstairs for breakfast.”
I looked away from the painting and turned to face Cain with a half-smile “Mmm, breakfast. That sounds great.”
Cain chuckled at my words, and then we started to leave the room side by side; Cain closed the door and locked it behind us.
We walked together through the empty halls, no words between us. I could feel Cain glancing at me every few steps, with a questioning look on his face. We finally reached the room, and Cain gestured for me to enter first.
I went into the closet and grabbed some clean clothes. “I’m going to jump in and have a quick shower.”
Cain snorted. “Quick, my ass. No woman that I’ve ever known has had a quick shower.”
I scowled at him. “Just for that remark, now I’m going to have a nice, long bubble bath.” That bastard could suffer and wait longer now.
Cain grunted. “Fine, I’m going back to bed. Wake me in 3 hours when you’re finally out,” He said with a cheeky smirk.
I grabbed the closet thing, a book, threw it at him, then quickly went into the bathroom, chuckling like a child.
I could hear him laughing. “You missed, sweetheart.” He shouted at me through his laughter. That man is a jerk!
After some time had passed, I was finally finished in the bathroom, and I made sure to take my sweet time in there. As I entered the bedroom, Cain was lying face down on the bed, with nothing on but his boxers, very thin boxers! My breath hitched as I took in the sight of him.
I had to admit it to myself; he was a gorgeous man. His back was beautifully toned, his skin had a hint of tan to it, the tribal wolf tattoo on his left shoulder blade and his dark hair all tussled gave him that extra bit of ruggedness.
“See something you like, my love?” He said before slightly opening his eyes and looking at me.
“Nope, I just see a lazy man lying on the bed instead of getting into the shower,” I said, hoping to hide my arousal.
Both of his brows shot up. “Oh, are you finally finished in there?” He looked at his watch. “You were only an hour and a half in the shower.” He smirked.
I rolled my eyes. “I was not! Now, come on. Hurry up cause I’m starving, and I will leave without you. So, move your ass.” I was starving, but I also needed this man away from me right now.
Cain got up from the bed and sauntered towards me. “Your wish is my command.” He said in that sultry tone. He then slowly walked past me, rubbing his body against mine. What a fucking tease!