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 centre. 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 colourful flowers.
What I love the most is that all of those colourful 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?”
“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.