ARTEMISIA
“You don’t have to worry about making too much of a fuss. You would deserve it, but I respect your wish not to do so,” Cayden says, leaning against the door.
I love how we just sat down, blocking the door to my bedroom while leaning against it.
“We could tell everybody at the ball,” he offers, making me scrunch up my nose.
“How is that not making a fuss?”
He chuckles, caressing my thigh, “We have to announce it in a bit more spectacular way though. It’s not like we can just make it happen and expect people to find out by themselves.”
“I know,” I sigh, leaning my head against his shoulder. “It’s just a lot, and I still haven’t talked to my parents properly about everything. And now I’m going to be a Luna.”
Kissing my hair, he manages to make me feel protected already. “How about we invite them and we speak to them together? You have a lot of twins in your family. I’m sure they will understand. Maybe we can tell them that there will be a coronation and marking ceremony soon which they will be invited to, and I’m sure they will be happy for you. I know how much they love you.”
Closing my eyes, I smile, “Yeah, they do.”
After a moment of silence, I finally get the question that was buzzing around in my head from my chest. “How is it going to work anyway? Is there some kind of protocol?”
“You are cute,” he laughs, caressing my side as he lays his arm around me. “But there is no protocol. It’s quite new for us too, so don’t worry. We will go through everything together.”
He clears his throat, shifting in his seating position to turn himself more towards me. “We will have a beautiful ceremony where you will be crowned Luna and we get the blessing of the Moon Goddess for your mating with all of us.”
“We aren’t going to do nasty things in front of everyone, right?” I ask, scrunching up my nose.
“No,” he cracks up, the sound of his happy laughter making me smile. “No, darling. We will mark you and you us in a more private circle. And you get to choose who will be first, but the order doesn’t really matter.”
I nod, biting the inside of my cheek. “What about Fynn’s mark?”
He sighs, leaning his head back against the door. “I will talk to Corvina about it to be sure, but maybe he should go last, in order for you to be already strengthened by our marks to withstand his.”
“I can’t wait!” I say, getting him to smile again.
Lifting his hand, he caresses a strand of hair out of my face. “Me too.”
He leans in to kiss me softly, and I sigh happily as he breaks the kiss again.
This is just amazing.
“I know that you said that you want to stay with Logan tonight. But maybe you want to go out with me tomorrow evening, and stay with me for the night?” he asks, his forehead still leaning against mine.
I smile, keeping my eyes closed to enjoy the feeling of his kiss still lingering on my lips. “I’d love to.”
“Awesome,” he distances himself from me, starting to get up.
He offers me his hand to take and helps me up to my feet.
“Want to come to the venue for the ball with me? We could take a look at how the decorations are going.”
“Oh, I would love that,” I answer elated, my heart jumping in my chest as I think he just provided me with an excuse as he wants to spend another bit of time with me.
We take the limousine with the driver and reach the venue too fast in my opinion.
Because as soon as we are in the car, he pulls me close, kissing me as much as the short journey allows him to.
I love how he barely takes his hands off me while we get out of the car and into the venue. Even during our tour through the already partly decorated venue, he always has his hands on me. It’s mostly little gestures like laying his hand on the small of my back while following the banquet manager through the astonishing halls, but still. Every time he gets the chance to get close to me, he does, making me feel happier by the second.
He looks incredibly sexy when in work mode, and I know that he is a great Alpha by the way people are hanging onto his every word.
As we finish going through the plans with the decorator, we decide to go for lunch before returning home.
“How much do you really have to do?” I ask him, taking a bite of my food.
He clicks his tongue with a gorgeous smile. “A lot, actually. There is still this trial going, and the council is sending Hendrick back in a few days before they rule on the case. Apparently, he is freaking everybody out.”
“Sounds like a fun guy,” I chuckle, taking a sip from my soda.
Cayden sighs, leaning back in his seat with a grin, “One of his kind.”
“I just thought that we could spend a bit of time together as you always work so much. We could grab an ice cream and eat it while taking a stroll back home,” I suggest, making him lean in.
“Could it be that you don’t want to go home?” he asks me in a whisper.
I shrug, playing with my food. “Maybe… Does that make me a bad person?”
“I wouldn’t put it like that. You had a bad fight, it’s only normal that you are anxious to face him. But you’ll see that you two will make up fast.” He takes my hand in his, caressing it with his thumb. “And I actually would love to skip work to spend a bit of time with you.”
My heart skips a beat at his happy expression, and I lower my gaze back to my plate as I fear that I must be blushing horribly.
After finishing our lunch, we get our ice cream but instead of walking back home right away, we end up sitting at the river while eating ice cream, forgetting the concept of time.
***
Returned to our floor back home, I wrap my arms around his waist as he hugs me close. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
“Mh-mhm,” I nod with a smile, feeling tired.
“Have a good night, Missy.” He leans in, kissing me gently.
“You too, Cayden.”
He chuckles as he lets go of me, turning to walk into his quarters. “If I don’t leave now, I’ll never leave again.”
I laugh, entering my quarters to pack up my things swiftly and go to Logan.
But as soon as I have closed my door behind me, I can already smell his scent lingering in the room.
He is standing by the balcony, looking outside.
“Logan,” I ask, goosebumps spreading on my skin as a strange feeling creeps up my stomach.
“Cayden stopped your moving in with me. Did you talk to him?” he simply asks, not turning to look at me.
Setting down my purse, I step closer to him. “No. I didn’t tell him anything. I was about to move, but he stopped the Omegas and told them to put everything back.”
“Hmmm,” he says, finally turning to look at me. “And then you went to eat ice cream with him.”
“Well, we ate ice cream after lunch. We were out for work. He knew that I would spend tonight with you,” I retort, trying to sound as confident as possible.
Logan seems pissed as he turns around, his eyes scan the room, and I take another step forward. “I just wanted to collect a few things to come find you.”
He sighs, and as he takes a step forward, I don’t know why but I take a step back, making him look at me enraged. “Scared?”
“No, just tired, I’m sorry,” I answer, gulping down the lump in my throat.
A sly grin spreads on his face before he moves. In the blink of an eye, he stands in front of me, and I fight the urge to scream. “Maybe that’s a mistake.”
“What?” I ask, clearing my throat but he ignores me as he is already tilting his head, his eyes running along the neckline of my dress.
Shifting his fingers into claws, he lets them glide over my skin before he loops them under the thin straps of my dress.
My reflexes just kick in in time to clasp my dress to keep it from falling down to the floor, but that doesn’t amuse him at all.
“Let it fall,” he snarls, leaning in.
I take a few short breaths, panic expanding in my chest before I let go of my dress, getting it to fall onto the floor.
With another fast movement, I find myself getting pushed into my mattress, my breath hitching in my throat.
He cages me in, fixating me effortlessly beneath him. “Logan, wait.”
I try struggling against his hold, but it’s in vain.
“For what?” he growls, making me shake my head.
I probably should just swallow my fears and my worries as he is clearly pissed only because I neglected him. Taking a deep breath, I stop struggling, closing my eyes to concentrate on the thought that I do love him, so I should stop acting up.
But I just can’t shake off this stupid feeling.
“I can still smell him on you,” he hisses, as he grazes with his lips down my neck, making my heartbeat accelerate. “It makes me sick.”
“Get off me then. And let me take a shower.” I try to push against his chest, but he just takes them into his, pinning them against the mattress.
“Logan, I’m serious. Get off me,” I say a little louder, arching my back off my bed to push him at least a bit away from me.
My heart starts beating even harder as he just ignores me, increasing his hold while passing his lips over the crook of my neck. He slides his tongue over the spot where he is supposed to mark me, making me panic even more.
“Logan, please!” I push again, squirming beneath him.
A shrill ringing takes over in my head as I feel him hovering over the spot, and I sense him shift.
“What are you doing?” I scream, fighting to pull my hands out of his increasingly painful grip.
His fangs graze my skin, while my panic grows. “Logan, no!”
“Shut up!” he growls but I can’t, not like this.
“Let me go! You are hurting me!” I continue screaming, kicking around but he remains unmoved.
With another annoyed growl, he moves swiftly, making me still immediately as I feel him sink his teeth into my shoulder.
No!