MATEO’S P. O. V.
I still can’t stop watching her. That guy keeps putting his hands on her. It’s a friendly enough way, but she is still mine, not his. He needs to knock it the fuck off. When I saw him kissing her forehead I wanted to kill him right on the spot. I kissed her afterwards, claiming her lips. That put me at rest a little but not much.
Everyone has gone to bed, but Callum, he is still in bed with Lila. I’m not in bed either. I am sitting in a chair at the end of Lila’s bed. I would much rather be in that bed with her, but I know that she doesn’t want that right now. I don’t mind watching her sleep, but I really am spent. It’s like sleeping in a foreign country for the last two nights. I have slept like crap without her.
I notice her start to stir in the bed. At first she looks like she is starting to wake up. Then I see that her eyes aren’t opening and she is thrashing a little. She is having a nightmare. I rush to her side, she starts making a choking sound, I pull her up in my arms. “I’m here. It’s ok. I’m here.” I stroke her head, trying to calm her down. Eventually it works and she calms down, only she clings to me. I have no choice but to stay right where I am. It’s not the most comfortable position either. I am half leaning over the bed with my head on the headboard. When I came over here I didn’t think about my comfort. Only making her feel better.
I do my best to reposition myself so that I am a little more comfortable. Not that it really works, but I manage to get both feet on the bed and lower my head. I’m leaning over her a little. Somehow I drift off a little but not fully. As soon as light starts to enter the room I get up. I don’t want her to wake up with me here. She would be really pissed.
Heading to the kitchen I prepare to make breakfast. My body is stiff and exhausted. I have more people to cook for today. At least it will keep me busy. I still feel way too drained. I should be in bed. In bed with Lila. I know that I can’t do that so here I am exhausted as fuck in the kitchen.
I start to drift off as I am making sausage. Ash comes running at me. “Fuck, Mateo, you trying to burn the house down.” He shuts off the stove. Now I smell it, the burnt smell, that a few seconds ago I was completely oblivious to.
“Sorry, I’m just really tired.” I shake my head to clear it.
“Look, maybe you should talk to her. You can’t keep going like this.”
“I can’t do that, you know it.” I start working on breakfast again, fighting to focus.
“You are no good to anyone like this. I’ll cook.” Ash tries to take over but I stop him.
“No offense, but no one likes your cooking.” I keep moving around.
“Yeah, well I think they like burnt food even less.” He pushes me to the side. He starts disposing of the burnt meat. “I’ll go get something from Marko. He always makes enough for an army. That way neither of us cooks alright?”
“Fine.” Marko is a good cook, so at least they won’t hold that against me.
“So, here’s the deal. If you don’t go talk to her then I am cooking. If you want food from Marko then you are going to go talk to her.” He stares at me making his point.
“Fine cook. If they complain, can’t say I didn’t warn you.” I smirk. Don’t back me into a corner. I will bite.
“Damn it, go talk to Lila.” I think he might actually stomp his foot like a little school girl.
“Alright, get your skirt out of a twist. I will try to talk to her. She doesn’t really want to talk to me and if her brother is there that will kind of hinder any talking.” I smile and leave the kitchen. I have a feeling that someone is awake and in that room. I don’t need to talk to anyone. Then everyone will be fed.
When I come into the room that guy is on the bed next to her. She has her head resting on his chest. He is brushing her hair. What the fuck? I am the one who is supposed to be doing that. I clear my throat. “Ash is having a little problem with breakfast. It will be here a little bit later today. Are there any special requests?”
Lila smiles up at me. “No,” Then she turns to Eli. “Can you leave us alone for a minute?”
The guy nods and leaves her and I alone. As soon as the door closes she starts talking. “I know you were in here last night.” She looks shy about it.
I rub the back of my neck. I should have known she would scent me this morning. Now I am nervous as fuck. “Yeah, you were having a nightmare. I wanted to help you out. Then you dug into my chest. I kind of had to stay for a while. I wasn’t trying anything.”
“I didn’t say that you did. I know this is hard for you. You think I am your mate.”
I won’t let her continue. “That’s because you are. Everyone sees it but you.”
“No, I am not.” She stands firm.
“Whatever you will find out tomorrow morning. I don’t have to say anything more.” I sigh and kind of throw my hands up in the air. “You are so stubborn you know that. Why can’t you just accept your feelings for me?”
“I don’t want to.” She crosses her arms over her chest.
“This is so stupid Lila. We are both suffering being apart like this. I burned breakfast this morning because I can’t sleep.” I come closer to the bed. “You wouldn’t have made it through the poisoning if I wasn’t there. I am your mate damn it. Stop fighting it.”
She rubs her arms. “I appreciate everything that you have done for me. But the thing remains, you still kidnapped me. You had a law on your books that screwed me over in the first place. I wouldn’t have had to kill her if you didn’t have that law.”
“I didn’t think it would be used. I didn’t leave it there because I wanted it used.” I counter. Taking a seat next to her on the bed.
“Do you know what my nightmare was?” I shake my head. “I was choking on her blood. I was fighting her and my body was burning and I was choking on her blood. Watching the life drain from her eyes.” She shutters. “This is something very hard for me to live with.”
I nod. “I understand. I had a challenge myself once. It took me a while to get over it too. I had Ash’s help. He is a good friend. Imagine how you feel and the challenger being your father. No matter how cruel he was, he was still my father. He is the only person I ever killed but it still stuck to me.” I take her hand. “You need people who care about you to get through this.”
“I have people to help me through this.” She mutters but her hand doesn’t leave mine.
“But they can’t help like your mate.” I whisper back to her.
“Mateo…” She doesn’t finish. Not because of me this time. Her brother comes storming into the room.
“Well, we can get you up and moving around today. Hopefully you will be able to travel home for your birthday, won’t that be awesome?”
I move my hand away. “I’ll check on breakfast.” I get out of the room quicker than I have ever gotten away from her before. I don’t go check on breakfast though. I go to my room and take a shower. Once I am in there I can’t hold the tears in anymore. She is leaving tomorrow. She won’t say any different. She is leaving me and there isn’t a damn thing I can say about it. I feel so weak right now.
My only hope is that tomorrow morning the mate bond won’t let her leave.