His Abused Mute Luna

Chapter Twenty-Three

"—so I told her we don't have any pigs!" Danny laughed, looking around at us yet his grin faltered when he saw nobody was laughing except him.

"Right..." Gabbie trailed off, awkwardly looking around, "so does somebody else have anything to say?"

"Oo! Me!" Whitney grinned, jumping up from her spot next to Blaine on the log. The fire crackled and the flames waved around, illuminating her dried body for everyone to see.

I wish I looked like her.

"Blaine's marking me tonight!" She squealed in excitement and he grinned at her. Gabbie squealed as well and ran over, almost falling in the fire when she engulfed her in a rough hug.

"Is marking someone a big deal?" I looked up at Axel, seeing him look down to meet my eyes and pull me closer to his chest.

"Very much, beautiful, it's our version of marriage," he smiled lightly, sending a blush to my cheeks and I sheepishly mirrored it, unable to avert my gaze due to how cute he looked under the light of the fire.

"How do you mark someone?" I asked.

"You bite into their neck and make them bleed," Danny answered for him, causing me to jump in surprise and whip my head to look at him. I had almost forgotten he was still here.

"No, idiot, don't talk about things you don't understand. You're going to scare her into refusing it," Blaine chuckled and rubbed his mate's thigh, who was now sitting on his lap, then looked over at me, "don't listen to him, it's not as bad as it sounds or else nobody would do it."

I nodded slowly, coming to terms with the fact Danny is overdramatic. This isn't the first time he's blown something out of proportion.

"Yeah, but you have to be at your most vulnerable with each other, otherwise it'll scar horridly instead of beautifully. It's weird. I don't really remember the details either, mating academy taught us too much about it in such a short timeframe," Gabbie chimed in, furrowing her eyebrows and dropping her gaze down on the fire, "something about the intimacy doing something to the bond. I'm not sure entirely, my mom can actually explain—"

"Absolutely not," Axel suddenly snarled, silencing Gabbie and tightening his hold as if to protect me from her.

Why doesn't he want me meeting his mother?

"I forgot, sorry," she mumbled, lowering her head in guilt and I felt uneasy with the newly found tension in the air.

Am I embarrassing to be with?

Everyone looked awkward as if they knew what the issue was and I felt left out, coldness churning in my stomach as I scanned everyone with hope one of them would at least tell me—they didn't.

"Why can't I meet her?" I blurted, the confidence I envisioned in my head was nonexistent in my tone and it was very degrading.

Am I just not pretty enough?

Is my body too scarred, weak, and skinny?

Axel sighed, dropping his head into the crook of my neck with a soft growl, "my parents aren't exactly welcoming to humans, more so my mom than my dad. It's just not a good idea, you don't need that negativity after everything you've gone through. I want you to feel safe and comfortable here, not paranoid and stressed."

I nodded in acceptance, trying not to take personal offense knowing his parents hate me before even getting to know me. I should be used to the feeling, however, the fact it was his family made me feel like I did something wrong.

What if he's just saying that so he didn't have to tell me my body was embarrassing?

Is that why he wants me to wear multiple articles of clothing around others?