The Unwanted Mate: The Bond

Chapter 14:

Hannah POV:
I wake up on the bathroom floor. The pillow and duvet definitely made it more comfortable than yesterday, but still not great. I take a hot shower and brush my teeth. I use the last toothpaste in the tube I brought from home. I'm not sure what to do now. I don't have any money to buy a new one.

I put on my white dress, which has dried overnight. It still has a few stains, but they are not as prominent as before i washed it. The sweatpants and t-shirt was quite nice to wear, but I should wear my uniform.

As I walk downstairs and into the kitchen, a heavenly smell overwhelms me. Marc is in the kitchen cooking. There are two plates full of food, two glasses with juice and a plate with pancakes. He flips over the pancake that is currently on the pan and gives me a big smile "good morning. Did you sleep well?" He ask. "I slept fine" I say and look around. Did Kendal stay over? Is it her he is making breakfast for? "I hope you're hungry" he says and nods towards a barstool. I sit down and he slides over a glass of juice and places one of the plates and a fork in front of me. The plate has eggs, bacon, toast, fresh fruit, pancakes and some sort of pastry. He places a bottle of syrup next to me.

He made this for me? No one has ever cooked a meal like this for me besides my mother. And she definitely didn't make a whole plate like this. She gave me all that she could, but something like this would have been way too expensive. And now here I am. Sitting with what can only be described as an abundance of food, and it was made for me? I feel a tear running down my cheek and I quickly wipe it away.

"Is my cooking really that bad?" Marc says and sits down next to me with a plate of his own. "Would you have preferred chocolate-chip pancakes?" He ask teasingly. I wipe away another tear and say "I'm sorry. I just got overwhelmed" "overwhelmed by breakfast?" He ask the confusion clear in his voice. "It's silly. I'm sorry" I say and pick up the fork. "It's not silly. Please help me understand" he says and turns so that he is looking straight at me. He wants me to explain? Why does he care? I lift my head a bit so that I can see his face. He gives me a soft smile, and for some reason it makes me smile as well. His eyes are as deep and mesmerizing as I remember, and the infinite deep chocolate brown color is actually quite beautiful. His lashes are thick and black as coal. He is definitely handsome. I look down again and explain "no one has ever cooked me a meal before. Well my mom cooked, but never something like this" I don't even know what all of this is. I know most of the fruits, but not all of them. And I have never seen the pastry before. It is some sort of roll that has been baked.

"Then who made your food?" He ask. "Usually I eat what is left when everyone else is done eating. If there isn't any leftovers I wait until the next meal. Sometimes I eat berries from the woods if I get too hungry" I reply. A low rumble comes from "Hannah?" "Yes?" I answer, but keep my head bowed. "Look at me Hannah" I know I shouldn't. I'm not supposed to have eye contact. But I'm not supposed to disobey an order either. Slowly I look up and meet his eyes. "If you get hungry while you're here. You open the fridge and take som food. Or you tell me or Nelly that you are hungry. Okay? Promise me" he says with a serious look on his face. "I promise" I say. The urge to submit and lower my head is big, but at the same time I feel like I could stare into his eyes forever. I snap out of my trance and lower my head.

We eat in silence for a moment, but a question is running through my mind. "Marc?" Out of the corner of my eye I can see that he looks at me. "What is chocolate-chip pancakes?" A small laughter sounds from him. "Well it's pretty much what it sounds like. A pancake with chocolate chips in it" he explains. "That sounds delicious! I had chocolate on my 16th birthday. I liked it a lot!" I say a little too eager, and actually quite embarrassed by my response. "Is that the last time you had chocolate?" He ask. "Yes. It's only used in fancy occasions. My mom got the chocolate as a gift and saved it for my birthday" I say, not quite sure why I suddenly feel comfortable opening up about any of this. "What about when you have been out of town? Did you never see chocolate anywhere else?" He ask. "Only council members are allowed to leave the village. I was only brought here to complete a spell. I wasn't supposed to be with the council members. And I definitely didn't expect to be asked to stay" I say and poke at the round pastry with my fork. It smells good. And it's still warm. "Council members are the only ones allowed to leave and the only once allowed to have cellphones?" He ask. "Yes. The council members are of the highest ranking" I explain.

Suddenly I remember what Victor said to me in the car 'wolfs are sneaky creatures. They toy with their prays, so don't interfere with them. They might try to lure out information about our coven and the safety of our village. You don't want them to attack us, because you got fooled by a wolf' is that what he is doing? Are they planning on attacking our village? He sure is asking a lot of questions. And the sudden change in his behavior. It must be! I can't believe I let him trick me like that. Nelly as well. "So because they are of high ranking they get to be that special?" He ask. I put down the fork and push the plate away "Yes. Thank you for breakfast" I jump off the barstool and push the chair back in. "Are you leaving?" He ask and turn around so that he is facing me once again. I don't look him in the eyes. I can't. For a moment I actually let myself believe that his actions where sincere. I feel stupid and a bit humiliated. He must think that I'm a fool.

"Do you have any plans today?" He ask as I'm about to exit the kitchen. "Uhm.. Well.. No" I say. What plans could I possibly have? I don't know anybody here? "Nelly wanted me to ask you if you had changed your mind about going to the mall" he says and rises from his chair. "I haven't" I say hoping he won't force me to go. "You don't want to go shopping?" He ask if he doesn't believe my answer. "I'd rather not" I state. "Well okay. Do you want to come with me to the training field?" I'm not sure why he wants me to go with him, but it would be nice to get out of the house. "Okay" I say and nod my head. "Great. We leave as soon as you're ready" he says and put away the plates. "I'm ready" I say. I'm dressed and my hair is braided so what else would I need to do?. "Perfect. Then let's go" he grab two water bottles from the fridge and walk out of the kitchen.

I follow him out, and as I put on my shoes he looks at them and says "the field is damp. Maybe shoes without holes in them would be best" I fell so embarrassed. They are all I have. "I guess you didn't bring any other pairs with you" He says and pull up his phone from his pocket. I shake my head no, keeping my head bowed. I can feel the heat in my cheeks from pure embarrassment. "What size?" He ask as he is typing in something on his phone. "I don't know" I answer honestly. There is a moment of silence and then he put away his phone. "Okay then. Let's go" he walk out the door and locks it as soon as I'm out as well.

We drive on a little dirt road through the forest. I think I crossed this road the first time I walked in the woods. It looks kind of familiar, but then again it's a forest. It all looks alike.

There is a clearing in the woods where several people are training and fighting. It looks brutal. If Marc hadn't told me that is was training I would have believed that it was a war zone. "Hey man!" A guy walks up to Marc and slaps him on the shoulder. "Hey I'm Tristan. I'm the one giving your mate a run for his money in the fields" he says and laughs. Marc gives him a stern look. The muscles in his jaw tenses and he looks like Tristan just offended him deeply. Marc takes off his shirt and throws it on the ground before walking out into the field. Several people stop training and circle around Marc and Tristan.

A group at girls look like they would love to be the ones fighting him now that he removed his shirt. They are practically jumping up and down like teenagers. I mean I know that he is good looking, but they are acting as if he is a living god. "They would all kill you in a heartbeat if they got the chance" a voice behind me says. I turn around and a blond man is smiling at me, and then he nods towards the group of girls "if killing you is the way for them to have a chance with Marc, they'll do it. You probably shouldn't walk around unprotected" he says and laugh. I'm not sure what or how to reply to that. "They want to be Marc's mate?" I ask, and look at the group of girls. "Definitely. I would too. That body is a masterpiece!" He says and winks at me. "So you want him too? Does that mean you want to kill me too?" I ask not sure if I'm joking or not. But he laughs again and says "I don't think killing you would change anything. He still wouldn't be gay. Such a shame" He exhale. I can't help but smile a bit.

"I'm Mateo by the way" he smiles displaying his bright white teeth. "I'm Hannah" i say and smiles back. A genuine smile, maybe my first one since i arrived.