ARTEMISIA
I open my eyes groggily, hearing a soft gasp.
“Missy? Missy!” Mirella steps into my line of sight before kneeling down beside my bed. “How are you feeling?”
Groaning, I rub my mark, which is still burning lightly. “Okay… I guess. It’s like I’m missing something.”
I can feel Cassy in the back of my mind, whimpering as she grieves the loss of the bond. I’m actually surprised that we feel the loss of it so badly as it was only half established and stronger on his side.
Taking a deep breath, I push down the urge to ask where he is now, and how he is doing.
“I’m so sorry. They shouldn’t have done that to you. You looked like you were under such great pain,” she whispers, her eyes filled with sorrow.
“Yeah, it was terrible.” I smile at her, making her tilt her head at me with a sad expression.
“This is awful. Should I call someone? Like Alpha Giorgio?”
“Oh, hell. No.” I laugh, shaking my head. “Don’t worry. I will get it back anyway when he has calmed down and we will have sorted things out until the marking ceremony.”
Mirella’s eyes widen as she looks at me incredulously, “You still want to wear his mark? After all he has done?”
“I guess,” I shrug, the corners of my mouth dropping. “You will think that I’m crazy, but you haven’t seen how he was at the beginning. I don’t know what happened to him along the way, but I’m sure we will find out when we look into it. And if it gets me my Logan back, I’m willing to work on it.”
She sighs, letting herself slump as she sits back onto her heels. “Ramona is right, you are just too nice for this world.”
I giggle as she rolls her eyes, and we jump as a knocking sound comes from the door. We look at each other with wide eyes before I ask in a loud voice, “Who is it?”
There is no answer from the door, just another knock and I bury myself under the blankets as Mirella gets up slowly to open the door.
“Is the Luna in here?” a pleasant, smoky voice asks before I hear Mirella respond in a stutter.
I sit up in bed as they walk in, and my heart stills in my chest.
The vampire who saved me from my mate going berserk without any reason just a few hours ago, steps into my bedroom, halting just a few steps from the foot of my bed.
He has his blonde hair slicked back, a curl falling out of its perfect styling. This actually matches his elegant suit which is dishevelled because of the fight with Logan, making him look strangely alluring.
Wait…
Is this some kind of vampire calling?!
‘Cassy?!’ I hiss in my mind. ‘Cassy, I would need you here to test something. Please! Just for a moment.’
But she just whimpers, turning away from me as she continues mourning.
I squirm in my seat, pulling my legs beneath me as I feel the strange feeling I felt in my stomach as I saw Fynn for the first time.
His appearance makes him look cut out from a romance movie if he wasn’t standing there with a pot in his hands.
Huh?
And it is actually alarming how long it took me to spot that one.
“Hi,” he says, his voice flowing over my skin like warm honey, making it cover in goosebumps.
“Hi,” I answer absentmindedly, getting him to flash me a breathtaking smile.
His scent is incredibly intoxicating, making me fear for my sanity.
“Hi,” he says once again, and I laugh, making him shake himself back to reality.
“Oh.” He lowers his gaze to the pot in his hand, clearing his throat before he lifts it as if he wanted to show it to me. “I usually don’t walk around with pots, but they told me that you were about to cook dinner, and well…”
“That’s very considerate of you,” I say with a thankful smile. “But I guess I won’t be allowed to eat that now.”
His shoulders slump as he looks at the pot crestfallen, “Oh. That’s a pity, it really smells amazing. If I would be able to stomach human food, I guess I would have already emptied it.”
He turns towards Mirella, who goes to take the pot from his hands. “I’ll throw it away.”
“Thank you, Mirella,” I say quietly, watching how she disappears into the kitchen.
“I didn’t get your name,” I say after we have been awkwardly silent for a moment.
Jerking up, he pulls at his jacket, smiling. “Yeah, sorry. I’m Hendrick, my Luna.”
He bows theatrically, making me laugh. “Please, it’s just Missy.”
“Missy,” he repeats in a whisper, causing a shiver to run down my spine.
“Thank you for saving me,” I say awkwardly, and he smiles.
“Ah, I’m just happy that I could reach you to stop him after the first slap.” He distorts his face, flashing me his sharp fang as he lifts one side of his lips. “And I’m sorry I didn’t get to prevent that.”
I shake my head, clasping my bedsheets. “Don’t worry. It’s not your fault.”
Nodding, he falls silent again, and I observe him, my heart buzzing with the desire to hear his voice again.
This vampire voodoo is something else!
“He is in the dungeons, by the way. He is doing well. But only because we kept Fynn from tearing his head off.” He chuckles in a good mood and I push out a sigh of relief. “We all need to calm down, and Cayden will decide how to proceed before we have to show up for the trial.”
“Okay,” I breathe out, biting the nail of my thumb.
“And you are a hybrid?” I ask, even if I can’t sense anything else than the walking dead he is.
He shakes his head, smiling. “No, I’m a pure-blood, and a bit on the older side, if it’s of any importance. But my brothers and sisters were so kind to accept me in this amazing pack, so I have the privilege of living here.”
His words get me to giggle, making him grin at me. “What does it mean? A bit on the older side?”
“Oh, don’t worry, I’ve still a few years before I will be considered to be past my prime,” he puffs his chest, and I crack up at the man who will be looking as if he was in his late twenties forever.
His smile widens, his eyes lighting up as he watches me.
I take deep breaths, calming down from my laughs as I look at him, getting infatuated by his intense gaze again.
My heartbeat suddenly skyrockets as if it were able to spot his fast movements before my brain could even register that he had actually moved.
In the blink of an eye, he is on my bed, propping himself up on his fists next to my thighs as he leans into me.
“Your scent was already breathtaking, but your laugh is even sweeter, my beloved.”