“What the hell!”
I shoved and pushed at Adam’s chest and he finally stepped back.
Seeing the blood that was coating his mouth and dripping down his jaw and neck, I raised a trembling hand to my own neck. Warm, sticky blood coated my fingers and I pulled my hand away in disgust to see the blood had drenched my clothes.
“Oh my God!” I screamed.
I took off towards the bathroom, pushed open the door and ran towards the sink.
Why doesn’t this hurt?
I ignored that thought as it crept into my mind.
“Why the hell did you do that?!” I screamed.
Adam didn’t answer, just calmly strolled into the bathroom behind me. I took a towel from the shelf and ran it under cold water. I gently put the towel to my neck, expecting there to be some kind of sting.
When there was none I began to wipe away the
blood that had stopped flowing.
“What the hell?” I mumbled.
I looked in the mirror to see a smirk on Adam’s face as he stood behind me.
“Are you happy with yourself?! Look what you’ve done!” I screeched, shoving the bloody towel in his face.
He began to clean my blood off his face with his own towel and calmly threw it aside.
“It needed to be done sooner than later.” he said evenly.
“What needed to be done?! What are you? Half Vampire?” I yelled, still wiping away the blood from my neck. As soon as I cleaned the skin, I saw that the wound had closed up already.
“What on earth? Why is it already healed? I’ve never healed that quick…” I mumbled, thinking aloud.
Behind me, Adam was unbuttoning his bloodied shirt. I turned to look at him.
“Why did you do that?!” I asked again.
“It’s a mark,” he said, as if that explained it.
“Yeah! You’re right! It probably will leave a mark you idiot! That was assault!” I screeched, throwing a bar of soap at his head. Adam sidestepped it before it had even left my hand, leaving the soap to skid across the bathroom floor to the other side of the room.
“That’s a bit of an overreaction,” he commented, throwing his bloody shirt into a nearby clothes hamper.
“Overreaction?!” I seethed. “You just bit me!”
“It’s a claim,” he said, crossing his arms over his bare chest.
“Every female mate has one, and you have mine now.”
“Your claim?” I asked incredulously, still eyeing the closed up wound. “What makes you think you have the right to place a claim on me, or that I would even want it? I’m not your property!”
He rolled his eyes. “You’re my mate, that mark will ward off any mateless male wolves looking for a wife. It tells them that you are already mated,” Adam explained.
“Most men can do the same thing with diamond rings!” I yelled, pulling off my own shirt. “And that does not excuse the fact that you just fucking took a chunk out of my neck with your teeth and put some claim on me!” I threw my shirt into the hamper as well and made my way back over to the mirror to inspect the bite further.
“Oh my God…” I groaned.
The bruising around the area was severe. Although the bleedingbhad stopped, a large, circular scar was prominent. There was no hiding this with makeup. It looked like I had been bitten. I groaned and put my head in my hands.
“Why would you do that?!” I asked for the thousandth time. I looked at him in the mirror. “Is it permanent?”
To my horror he nodded.
I turned the sink faucet on and let the water pour into my hands and then rinsed my face and neck off, trying to cool down.
“I’m going to kill you,” I threatened, giving him a hard glare in the mirror.
He cocked an eyebrow. “That so?”
I nodded. Adam stood behind me, too close for my liking. “Leave. Leave right now,” I demanded.
“This is my room,” he said, arms still crossed.
“Get out!” I screamed.
Adam walked up behind me, his hips pinning mine to thebcounter.
“Why should I?” He whispered in my ear, his hot breath fanning my neck.
“Because I told you to,” I said through gritted teeth.
Adam moved his hands to skim across my bare stomach, his arms encasing my body. The skin to skin contact made my whole body erupt in a tingle of hot sparks.
Sparks.
“What did you do?” I asked breathless.
“Fixed the problem,” Adam said backing away.
It took me a moment after he left to catch my breath and cool down. I stared at myself in the mirror, blushing and flustered.
He just bit my neck and… it didn’t hurt?
Why didn’t it hurt?
And why are there sparks now?
I groaned and threw the stained towels into the hamper. I walked back into the bedroom in time to see Adam putting on a fresh shirt and walking out the door.
“Excuse me!” I yelled.
He turned to look at me. “Yes?”
“Are you not even going to apologize?” I asked. “I mean you basically just marked me without my permission. Now there’s absolutely no chance of me ever finding a husband with this ugly wolf hickey on my neck!”
Adam stepped back into the room, slamming the door behind him.
“You’re looking at your husband,” he said sharply.
“Claiming someone is a very sacred practice amongst me and my pack so I would be very careful how you go about referring to it from now on.”
I swallowed hard. He is not my husband.
“And,” he added, “I think it’s rather ironic that you demand to be respected when you yourself refuse to respect me as well.”
With that he turned and walked out of the room.
I stood in my place, taking a few deep breaths. Finally, once l decided I was calm enough, I went over to pick out new clothes since my pants were also drenched in blood.
After changing, I was unsure of what to do next. I decided to go for a little walk. Once I left the bedroom, I did as Adam had suggested and I placed my hand on the left side of the wall and followed it. A few minutes of winding down more hallways and around countless corners, I finally reached the staircase.
I began to climb up to the next floor. At the top of the stairs werebtwo double doors painted black. They seemed interesting enough and I walked through them. I wasn’t surprised to see yet another hallway.
This one, however, was practically empty. There were no vases of flowers or sculptures adorning the corners, no paintings hung on the walls.
I walked through the nearest door I came across and prayed it wasn’t someone’s bedroom I was strolling into.
I was pleased to see the walls covered with shelves that were filled with books.
It was a library.
“Wow…” I whispered, taking in the thousands of books that laid before me.
There was an archway that led into several more rooms filled with books as well. The room was seemingly empty, but as soon as my hand touched the spine of a book that sat on a nearby
desk, I heard someone clear their throat. I froze and looked up to see an older man standing underneath
an archway.
“Can I help you?” He asked politely.
“Um… I’m just looking around,” I said nervously. “Is it okay that I’m in here?”
He nodded. “Yes, although you’re the first visitor I’ve had in years. Now the only people who come through those doors are those who remind me to keep this place dusted.”
I smiled.
“I love books,” I stated. “I’ll probably be a regular here from now on.”
The idea seemed to please him.
“I’m assuming you’re our Luna: Evelyn,” he said, walking into the room.
I nodded. “I guess that’s me. What’s your name?”
“Xavier West,” He said smiling. “I must admit, our Alpha Superior is a handful. I’m sure you’ll never be bored with him as a mate.”
“It’s good to hear someone speak of him so lightly,” I said sighing. “Everyone I’ve talked to seems to think of him as a god.”
Xavier laughed at his. “Well, I remember when he was running around in diapers, so it’s hard for me to imagine him as a god,” he laughed.
Xavier must have seen the confused look on my face, because he continued talking.
“I’m his great uncle. His grandfather was my brother,” he explained.
“Oh..”
I turned my attention from the book to Xavier. “What happened to his parents?” I asked. “I heard that there was a Countess staying in the palace, but nothing about his mother and father.”
“Ah,” he said laughing. “My sister is the Countess. I’m sure shebwould love to hear you referred to her by her title, hardly anyone does these days. His father moved back to Brighton, where the family is from. Adam’s mother, I regret to say, passed away a very
long time ago.”
My heart sank hearing this.
“He doesn’t have any siblings?” I asked.
Xavier shook his head. “I’m afraid not.”
“How long ago did his mother pass away?”
Xavier had to think about this “Let’s see… I was in New York when it happened, so I’ll say around 1820 or 1830.” He said.
My jaw dropped.
“1820?” I asked.
“Yes,” he said laughing. “Adam didn’t tell you? He’s nearly two-hundred years old. He was only a boy when she died.”
I just stood there in shock.
“You don’t know much about our kind do you?” Xavier asked.
“No,” I admitted. “I guess not.” “Where are you from?” He asked.
I told him. “Hm…” he said thoughtfully. “How old are you? Early twenties?”
“Twenty,” I said.
“A lot younger than Adam,” he noted.
I nodded. “By a long shot.”
“Well.,” he said walking over to a bookcase. “I can imagine that in this day and age, you’re not too familiar with our customs and traditions; probably not even with mates, am I correct?”
I nodded.
“Here are some books I think you could benefit from,” Xavier said, pulling three from the shelf. “If you have any questions let me know, I’ll go get you some tea while you read.”
I thanked him as he handed the stack of books to me.
I found a sofa in the next room over and began to look through the several-hundred page books I’d been given.
One was entirely dedicated to mates.
I opened that one first.