Demitri sighed
Getting into his mate's good books would be hard but it would be definitely worth it whenever it ended. He couldn't live without his wolf because they were one and he thought they were bound together more than he and his mate could ever be bound.
"Alfa Demitri, your presence is required in the dining room". A maid with short dark hair told him and he only nodded.
He'd been given a room across Aria's so he'd had the luxury of taking a bath and changing his clothes.
Without wasting much time he hurried down the stairs to the dining room.
His first thought was to make a excuse and go back to the room he'd been given but Aria had already seen him so he went to sit in the only empty seat which he assumed was his. Problem was, it was directly opposite his beautiful mate who had chosen to wear a gown with a deep neckline. She looked beautiful with her dark hair down but he knew he wouldn't be able to concentrate on anything apart from her. It didn't help his case that his friend, Eros who apparently was still angry with him for marking his sister was right beside him on the table.
"It's nice to see you again, Alfa Demitri" Dalcia spoke, being the one to break the silence.
"It's nice to see you too, Dalcia. And please call me Demitri. Just that. It's only fair since you forbid me from calling you anything else apart from Dalcia " Demitri said.
He seemed to feel free around his mate's mother. She just had that aura of calm and for him,it was a good but quite scary thing.
"Alright. How are you feeling today?" Dalcia inquired
"I'll be able to go back to my pack today. I feel completely healed " He replied.
"Oh and here I was thinking I'd get you to play chess with me. I've heard you're excellent at it "
"Excellent is a little bit of an exaggeration but I admit I'm pretty good at it. I'm curious to know who you heard that from "
"Eros told me you're great friends "
"Well not anymore since he chose to mark my sister against her will " Eros snapped, glaring at him
"I didn't mean to ". Demitri muttered
"Doesn't make it any better "
"Eros! He's a guest". Dalcia scolded her son and that shut them both up.
"So Demitri, do I get to play chess with you?" Dalcia asked again. That woman was persistent.
"When?"
"Right after breakfast,if you will"
"After breakfast it is then" Demitri agreed making Dalcia smile. She'd gotten her way.
"Would you care to join us, Aria?" Dalcia turned to face her daughter.
"I'll be very busy today so I can't join you". She declined in the most polite way she could.
"That's a shame. I shall like to see who's best"
"I didn't know Aria played chess" Demitri commented
"You barely know me". Aria muttered to herself.
"She does and she's great at it. I've only beat her once"
"Now I want to play with her instead "
Aria could only look on as they chose to talk about her as though she wasn't in the room . She met her father's gaze and he gave her a secret smile that calmed her nerves. She loved that man to bits. Zekia was a man of few words and was rarely seen but she could swear she'd not survive her mother without him in both their lives.
She was annoyed that Demitri seemed to have formed some sort of connection with her mother so soon. And what was more surprising was her mother's attitude towards him. Well,it wasn't much of a surprise since Dalcia pushed for the bond more than anyone but truthfully, she did find their interaction nice.
"Where's Lina?". Eros finally asked the question at the tip of Aria's tongue. She didn't want to ask in fear of the answer she might get. She doubted she was ready for it so she mentally thanked her brother for saving her.
"She's in her room. She doesn't plan on coming down today" Dalcia replied
"That's strange. She never misses breakfast for anything". Eros said
"She isn't too well". Dalcia mumbled, glancing at Aria making her drop her cutlery at once. Her mother blamed her for what she did to Lina. Well yes, she was to be blamed. She'd hurt her sister really badly and that was unacceptable no matter the situation yet it Dalcia's look had nothing to do with how she felt. It was just that she added to it.
With one glance at the table, she stood up and dashed outside to look for her sister with Demitri hot on her heels. She felt him even before hearing his footsteps but she refused to turn back and she was bent on ignoring him till he grab her arm from behind and spun her to face him.
"Ismena"He whispered her name and she shuddered. By the moon,she hated how him saying her name made her feel.
She stood facing him but her eyes were anywhere except on him. She said nothing because she didn't trust her own voice.
"Moró(baby)" He tipped up her chin, forcing their gazes to meet and she let him since she had no energy to fight him. She saw the concern she felt through the bond shinning in his eyes and she relaxed. He cupped her face in both large hands and caressed her face. No words were exchanged but she clearly understood what he'd meant to say.
"It's not your fault"
That's what he was comforting her with but she wasn't having it. It was her fault and no one else's so she had to fix it.
"I have to go" Aria told him as she took both of his wrists in her small hands and removed them from their initial position on her face and turned to leave. He watched her retreating figure quietly since he could do nothing else.
Aria quietly strode into her sister's room with hurried steps though she was aware no one was chasing her. As expected, Lina was huddled in a corner of her room reading. She didn't look sad or hurt, even. Clearly she'd healed and she seemed more into the book she was reading but Aria knew she'd noticed her.
"Lina, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to -to hurt you like that. You don't have to forgive me so easily. Hell you don't even have to forgive me" Aria squatted before her and spoke softly.
"I know but you don't have to apologize". Lina said with a smile. She hated that Aria felt terrible for what she did but she couldn't have changed anything even if she wished.
"I-"
"No, you're not going to blame yourself. I was in your way and you couldn't have reacted to any other way"
"But I -"
"And this is why I skipped breakfast today. I didn't want you apologizing endlessly because I understand. I know what it's like. I know I could have died but I didn't. You're never going to get rid of me that easily." Lina assured her.
The fates might have fucked with her and given her a mate she couldn't accept but she'd forever appreciate them for threading the souls of her sister and her together. She didn't her forgiveness but it turns out Lina never held her to it.
"I love you,Lina." Aria whispered, engulfing her in a tight hug.
"Did marking your mate suddenly make you a romantic?" Lina teased causing a smile to spread on Aria's lips.
"You could just say 'oh I love you too' but no "
"There's no fun in being predictable " Lina said and paused, a wide grin on her face then added "In every situation. Being unpredictable makes it the more fun"
"More dramatic, you mean?"
"Your words not mine"
They both chuckled and went silent after. Aria sat beside her sister, resting her head on her shoulder.
"So what's it like?" Lina questioned.
"Nothing I ever thought it'd be. It's quite deep. I can feel him"
"So it's just as magical"
"Yeah. Maybe more than that. But in a good way, I think"
"If I didn't know better I'd say you love him"
"But you know better"
"Yeah".
"I don't hate him. Not anymore. What are you reading?" She quickly changed the subject.
"Oh, I'm curious about the separation. Some parts of the story aren't clear to me so I visited the library and found this"
"o arithmós(the number)" Was written on the book.
"O arithmós " Aria whispered, passing her fingers over it.
"Have you read it before?"
"No. It just reminds me of Thea Seleni's words about a number. What does the book say about the separation?"
"It says here that the wolves weren't kicked out just because they were too arrogant and violent "
"I've always believed there are other reasons ". Aria muttered.
"But the book doesn't say much. Only that the number that caused the separation will make the children of the moon one again. I plan to ask Kyria Celma what it could probably mean "
"I'll go with you. All this is really confusing and it has to happen with me. How did I ever manage to piss the fates off?"
"I highly doubt that it's your fault. The fates could just be as twisted as their threads but their games always have solid reasons. At least that's what I've been led to believe "
"Lina's right. The fates always have solid reasons for their twisted games " A new voice added and they turned to find their brother standing in the doorway.
"Just how long have you been standing there?" Lina asked
"Long enough to know everything you said "
"So you followed me ".
One thing they both loved and hated about their brother was his ability to mask his presence or be invisible. Even Aria could only detect his presence if she concentrated so hard. It was definitely worse now that he had trained properly to control his powers.
"Well yes. But hear me out. Your mate was worried for you but I knew it'd be a sex scene if not a bloodbath if he came up here with the look on his face so I came instead. " Eros explained.
"He's still here?" It was Lina who asked sounding genuinely surprised.
"Yes though I wish mother would stop entertaining his presence here already "
"Mother?"Lina's shocked voice was almost amusing
"Yes. They're playing chess in the drawing room "
"Mother likes Alfa Demitri. That much is quite obvious ". Lina muttered to herself.
"I wish I could say she was only pretending to like him just to annoy Aria but that would be a lie " Eros stated.
"Damn " Lina chuckled and her sister rolled her eyes. It seemed like Aria couldn't avoid Demitri like she hoped to but she wouldn't tell her that. Not yet at least.
"I think you should be heading to the drawing room any minute from now before mother finds a way to drag you there herself. She seems to be excited to play matchmaker" Eros said
"I think oi moires (the fates) did a great job at that already" Aria mumbled while rolling her eyes but stood up anyway. Something in her was pulling her out to her mate already but she'd been fighting however she had little strength to keep up the fight now that she'd been given reason to actually go to him. Lina and Eros watched with amused looks as she strode out though no words were exchanged between them.
She'd expected to see her mother giggling with her mate so she'd psyched her mind to tame her emotions that wanted to be everywhere just because Demitri and Dalcia got along very well.
What she hadn't expected to see was a fuming alpha hovering over her chosen mate or well, ex-chosen mate, if it worked that way and her mother and friend, Kyria Celma facing each other with glares.
"What's going on here?" Aria questioned. Kyria Celma and Dalcia turned to face her without saying anything but the two men kept throwing punches at each other.