Ella’s POV
“Don’t worry, Luna. We can do it.” Caleb said as I tried to pick a wood and he quickly collected it from me.
I rolled my eyes at him and groaned. “Not you too. I’ve had enough from the men of the blood moon pack.”
“Calling you a Luna?” He chuckled. “Isn’t that what you are? When were you going to tell me you were the mate of the alpha of the blood moon pack?”
I shrugged. “Maybe never.”
“You are mean, Luna.”
“Don’t call me, that. You can call me Ella or Anna, whichever you find comfortable and you should stop treating me as a weakling.” I said and picked up another wood to prove my point.
His eyes widened and he chuckled as understanding dawned in his eyes. “Oh! You were talking about that?”
“Yes. This.” I said, moving forward with the wood.
I hadn’t moved far before Damien collected the wood from me. “You should rest, Luna.”
I sighed, throwing my hands up in frustration. “Are you boys ever going to let me do anything?”
They looked at one another, looked at me and then shook their heads. “No.” They said and continued working.
I huffed, folded my hands and glared at them. They glanced up as if they knew that I was pouting and burst out into laughter.
“Annoying assholes.” I muttered under my breath huffed as I moved to sit on the pavement leading to the entrance of the house and watch the men work.
Go and rest? I scoffed as I sat down. How did they expect me to rest when they were busy working to build protective and defensive structures around the house in case the rogues find us?
I sighed again, hating how useless I felt. They wouldn’t even let me cook. Dad enjoyed cooking and wouldn’t let anyone near the kitchen, claiming that it had been long since he had cooked for a large number of people and wanted to enjoy the moment for as long as he could.
I wondered what was there for me to do. I wasn’t allowed to cook, not even wash dishes and didn’t want to be seen around when the men are doing the hard labors. I couldn’t survive here only sleeping, waking, eating and listening to the men when we had meetings and at meal times.
It was two days since we got here and I was bored out of my wits. I groaned, thinking of what I was doing with my life till we had to leave here. I almost found myself that the rogues find us so we can have the war and leave here on time.
I didn’t doubt that I was going to be dead soon with boredom if I had to stay here for a long time without doing anything. The rogues wouldn’t have to have my blood on their hands if this continued for long.
“Is that you resting, Luna?” Andre yelled as he walked past me. “Aren’t you stressing your eyes by staring at us?”
I rolled my eyes. The men were enjoying teasing me too much and I hated it. I growled at him in response without saying a word. He laughed and I flipped him the bird, raising my middle finger at him even though he had his back to me.
Maybe the rogues wouldn’t need to kill the men. I was angry enough with their teases to do the job on his behalf.
“That was tiring but worth it.”
“I need a bath. All my joints ached.”
“So do I.”
“You should be happy you didn’t get to do all that harsh labor, your highness. Your delicate fingers shouldn’t be used for that.”
The men grumbled and said all sorts of things as they moved past me inside the house. I ignored them and kept my face averted as I decided not to look at them and pretend like they didn’t exist.
They smiled at my reactions and left to wash off the sweats of the day off. They started coming back into the living room one after the other after their baths and plopped down on the many couches in my dad’s living room.
I still couldn’t believe how big his house was, considering that it was built on the outskirts. It was like he had had a vision that a day like this would come when he would need to have and hide many men and had built it for that purpose.
I was amazed but that didn’t stop me from being bored.
I looked at the men and wondered where Kevin was. He should have been done with his bath. I knew he knew I was pissed and avoiding me. I didn’t want to speak to him because he was comfortable with the men not letting me work and didn’t stand for me but that didn’t mean that I didn’t want him around me. Even if I wanted to glare at him, I wanted him to be around when I do so.
I wondered where he was so I could continue glaring at him and letting him know how angry I was.
Dad was the next person to enter the living room. “I should fix dinner now.” He said as he looked at the men sprawled on the couches. “You all should be hungry by now.”
The men didn’t say anything and tried to play it cool but the stomachs of few of them betrayed them as they grumbled. The others laughed at those whose bodies had confessed their hunger but I rolled my eyes at them.
They were famished because they had overused their bodies. I was certain that they wouldn’t be that hungry if they had allowed me to work with them. I would have worked with them and lessened the stress for them.
Dad chuckled at the sound of the grumbling stomachs. “I should get to the kitchen now then.”
I swerved my head quickly and turned to look at him, pinning him down with my gaze. He stared at me for some minutes and I didn’t break away from his stare as well, hoping that he understood my message and what I was trying to say.
He seemed to and I heaved a sigh of relief when he spoke. “As much as I enjoy cooking alone without any disturbance, I think I’m a bit tired today. Ella darling, could be kind enough to help dad in the kitchen? Enough of treating you like a porcelain doll. Let’s get those fingers to do something.”
I smiled as I jumped off the couch I was seated on. Parents were definitely adorable. I couldn’t have agreed more with him. Enough of treating me like a porcelain doll that I wasn’t. It was time to get my fingers working before they rust from not being in use.
Kevin walked into the living room as I was moving to the kitchen and immediately guessed what was going on.
“Be careful with knives, Ella.” He shouted after me as I followed dad into the kitchen.
I rolled my eyes at his warning. He was an annoying overprotective mate who looked extra sexy after a shower. I forced myself to look away and walked fast into the kitchen before I get tempted to forget I was mad at him for not letting me work today and rush to where he was to run my fingers though his damp hair.
I breathed in relief as I made it to the kitchen and praised myself. Good of you, Ella.
Dad raised his eyebrows as he looked at me. I noticed him staring. “Is there a problem?”
“Shouldn’t I be the one asking that?” He arched his eyebrows still. “Why is your heart beating fast?”
I was shocked and placed my hand on my chest on instinct as if the act could stop it. “You can hear it.”
He nodded. “I could hear it since Kevin walked into the room.”
I blushed, wondering if he had guessed why my heart was beating so fast. Wasn’t it embarrassing that your father could tell that you were insanely attracted to a boy and contemplating jumping his bones while walking with him?
Dad must think that I was a naughty girl. I thought and couldn’t stop blushing.
He noticed my blush and smiled affectionately at me as he whispered so the others wouldn’t hear. “There is nothing embarrassing about being attracted to your mate. I once had a mate, remember?” He said, reminding me of mum. “I know how you feel.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. My father just told me he was comfortable with me having naughty thoughts. I burst out laughing eventually and he joined me.
“Let’s get to cooking and you can tell me about your wonderful mate and how you feel about him every moment.” He said as he picked a pot and placed it on fire. “Your old man is ready for some gossip.” He winked at me.
“Dad!” I gasped.
“What?” He asked, looking innocent.
“Nothing.” I shook my head and smiled.
Making dinner and bonding more with my dad was certainly going to be fun.