When they touch me (Shelagh Milano)

Artemisia

I walk through the living room, looking into the other rooms. There is a small kitchen, a large bedroom with a king-sized bed and large windows, leading onto a terrace, as well as a gorgeous bathroom, walk-in closet, and small library.

The happiness that I feel while checking my new small apartment out is unreal. I can't help but feel bad for not being more scared about the consequences I will face because of my dormant wolf, being afraid of my supposedly brutish mates, and not feeling more uncomfortable here.

Must be this stupid mate bond.

After unpacking the few things I took with me, I settle into an armchair in the library and call Ramona.

"Oh my God!" She squeals as she picks up my call. "Bitch, I thought you were already dead!"

I laugh as hearing her voice is a balm for my soul. "Or tied to a bed at least."

Literally being able to see her brows jumping before my inner eye, I laugh again. "Such a pervert. I just got here. I hope you wish for a mate for me who lets me unpack and arrive first."

"Ooooh, no! He should already be obsessed with you, not letting you go for a second." She jokes, making me shake my head.

"You are impossible."

She chuckles and takes a deep sigh. "Aw, I miss you so much already. How is it there? How is your mate? You have to tell me everything!"

For some kind of reason, I hesitate, feeling a bit uncomfortable with the subject. "Well, he is rude... And totally arrogant. As well as self-centered. Ugh, but he looks good, and he already complained about not being able to feel my wolf, so I don't know how this will go." She groans, and I play with the fabric of my skirt. "Ah, babes, I'm so sorry. But he might be nervous as well. And you know just how jealous those Alpha males are. He will show you his affection soon, you will see. The mate bond will make him obsessed with you in no time."

Sure, I already experienced that.

"Let's hope so," I say lowly.

Suddenly, she gasps, making me jerk up. "Now, tell me about the Blood Fang! How is the house? Did you get a room or are you currently in the dungeons?"

"No!" I shout, laughing out loud. I overflow her with my description of everything since I got here, naturally leaving out the small detail about having more than one mate.

Even though she doesn't say anything, I sense how taken aback she is by what I tell her. I chuckle to myself as she must have pictured me in some dark landscape surrounded by ogres.

"Babes, I'm so happy for you." I can hear the smile in her voice as she sighs relieved.

After another back and forth with a few gushy phrases, we wish each other a good night and end the call.

Before I can finally get my well-deserved sleep, I have to call my family. While Giorgio is the only one of my brothers who picks up his damned phone, he is also the one to lecture me about my behavior as a mate, and how I should watch myself on their territory. I can clearly hear the worry in his voice, but his big brother attitude is pissing me off.

"Can you please research anything about this wolf-less woman for me? I need to know before I might address anything about my wolf in the future. I don't know how long I can actually hide it." I sigh, my heart skipping a beat painfully.

Hearing him sit down, I shift in my seat anxiously. "I told you. There is nothing to worry about. It was just a stupid rumor."

"Still you sound like that time when my hamster died, and you didn't want to tell me. And we went to get ice cream after school." I smile sadly at the memory, my fear expanding in my chest.

"I want to protect you, Missy." He takes a deep breath before he adds, "But I don't want you to worry about something that isn't real. I'll get the information and I promise that won't keep anything from you. But you have to be cautious."

Picking invisible lint off my dress, I nod. "Sure thing."

My uninvolved answer gets me another round of unsolicited advice and a sermon about being better safe than sorry.

Ugh.

After I finally get him to cut the call, I make a last call to my mother. But that one doesn't last long as she nearly isn't able to talk between her tears.

I can hear my father murmuring something incomprehensively in the background, but that doesn't help the entire situation at all.

With a heavy heart, I hang up on her after several attempts to say goodbye properly.

I stumble out to my bedroom before letting myself fall onto the soft bed.

Groaning, I fall asleep practically immediately.

This is too much for me. Poor me.

***

I wake up in a good mood having slept perfectly. The bed was surprisingly soft, and it felt like sleeping on clouds.

I actually enjoyed it so much that I felt like a traitor.

After sending my family and Ramona a few texts to show them I'm still very alive, I get into my breathtaking bathroom.

Activating the taps of my

freestanding bathtub, I undress

myself quickly. The rising hot steam

starts enveloping the room, and sticking against the gray tiles. get into the water slowly, letting the warmth of it seep into my skin with a sigh.

I feel a bit anxious about facing everyone for breakfast and I ask myself if I should address this situation about how this multiple mate thing is going to work. Even if my family has a lot of twins in it, and I knew about the possibility of twins having the same mate, as my

brothers were afraid it would happen to them as well, I never actually saw anything like that.

My heart makes a little backflip as a short indecent thought passes my mind. I splash my face with water, before shaking my head and deciding to get out and join my new pack members for breakfast.

I'm also thinking about talking to Cayden about the supposedly executed wolf-less woman, but I will have to be smart as I approach my new Alpha with that kind of discourse.

I really don't want to spend the rest of my stay in a dungeon.

Again, my mind sends a picture to my brain of me tied to a dungeon wall while Fynn steps closer with some kind of small whip in his hands.

"Cassy!" I growl, having her push down her enticing thought with a whimper.

"And why has it to be Fynn?" I add in a murmur, as I grab a plushy towel.

Getting out of the tub, I wrap myself in the big towel. I dry my hair shortly with another towel before walking out of my bathroom.

Being deep in thought, I experience a massive jumpscare as a deep husky voice reaches me.

"What were you thinking about just now, little mate?"