My Arrogant Mate
Chapter 30

On the long walk home, he told me the sad story of how he found his little sister's lifeless body in the woods.

I gasped several times and watched painfully as he fought back tears the entire time, which brought tears to my eyes as well.

From one day to the next, everything in his life had changed. His father wasn't the same anymore, his mother hadn't left the house since that day and Viola wasn't allowed to set foot in the forest, which I could totally understand... I could even understand the abysmal hatred that many from here had for those below after his narration, but I was sure that my family had nothing to do with it. I didn't know why they ran away, but there had to be other reasons... "Would you like something to eat?"

Silvan held the front door open for me and I just shook my head sadly as I entered the house past him and took off my shoes. I had lost my appetite. The thought of an innocent little child being abused and killed even robbed me of the ability to think straight at that moment.

With slow steps I ran to the dark couch and let myself fall exhausted onto the cushion, only to stare out the window at the sun.

My mind drifted so far that I didn't even notice how Igor and Bene came to visit. Only when Silvan sat down close to my side and handed me a glass with something to drink, did I notice the others sitting on the couch next to us.

A quick nod of greeting and I thirsty put the glass on to take a long sip, which I immediately swallowed with a face twisted in disgust.

"What's that?!" I turned to Silvan in disgust, who immediately swapped my glass for his.

"Sorry," he grinned sheepishly while I still looked at him questioningly. "Mine has whiskey in it, only coke."

He pointed to my glass and although I believed him, I sniffed it cautiously before draining it completely.

The three then talked, but I just sat there and kept glancing at Silvan without even realizing what they were talking about.

Since the word "poker" was mentioned again and again, it was certainly not about anything important.

When Silvan then leaned back and naturally placed his hand on my thigh, I jumped briefly, causing him to stop speaking mid-sentence and look over at me apologetically.

He wanted to pull his hand away again, but I immediately put mine on his and looked deep into his eyes, which caused a twinkle in his eyes that gave me goosebumps.

Our hands found their way into each other and then he turned back to Bene and Igor, who had observed the whole thing and were visibly relieved that another food fight didn't break out here...

Oh, somehow I missed this rebellious childhood...

But I didn't have to give that up completely.

A smile formed on my lips as I gazed at our hands, but it quickly disappeared as thoughts of his sister flooded my mind.

Of course he was laughing next to me now and didn't show it in front of the other two, but I still felt his pain like it was my own. So the connection had the opportunity not only to make me feel the good, but also the bad feelings... Curse and blessing at the same time.

"Jade?"

****

I shook off my thoughts and looked up from our hands to blush when suddenly all eyes were on me.

"What do you think of that?" Silvan then asked and I definitely didn't want him to know that I hadn't listened to him at all, so I skilfully covered up my ignorance.

"I think that's really great," I said with a smile and was immediately kissed by Silvan on the cheek.

"Great, then the plan is in place," he said with a grin and since I still didn't know what I was talking about, I smiled tormented and grabbed the glass with the whiskey from the table to take a strong sip.

"Then I'll organize everything for tomorrow," explained Igor and said goodbye together with Bene, who were then brought to the door by Silvan.

What does he want to organize???

I looked questioningly at Silvan, who, after closing the door, ran back to me.

"Everything okay?"

He looked at me a little confused, probably because the question marks were written all over my face. I nervously started biting my lower lip, trying to come across as confident, but I certainly couldn't. "Yeah, everything's great."

He nodded and then disappeared into the kitchen, from which I only heard minutes later that he was probably preparing something to eat.

I wish I could have just sat here, but that wasn't my style, so I got up and padded slowly over to the kitchen island.

"Do you need help?"

His dark eyes examined me and he immediately answered my question in the negative with a slight shake of his head.

"I'm just making us something small for dinner. Sit down and tell me about yourself."

He took a small board, a cucumber and a knife and then approached the kitchen island to start chopping the vegetables opposite me, while he kept looking at me curiously. What am I supposed to tell?.

"I like listening to music," I then said, bored of myself, and observed his gaze, which fell to the music system on the windowsill at the back.

"I kind of thought so," he smiled. "Tell me something I don't know yet."

I thought about it again and it really struck me how boring and dull my life actually was. There wasn't really anything to tell... I went to school and listened to music. Great story.

Rolling my eyes, I took a deep breath and watched as he cut tomatoes into slices.

"I didn't have an exciting life. When my parents were there, I was only homeschooled and hardly ever went outside. Since they left, Devin has taken care of me and enrolled me in the school. That's really all there is to tell."

He nodded interested several times and it annoyed me a little not being able to say more.

I really should see more...

"You forgot that you like to escape into forbidden forests," he grinned at me and when I had to smile, we held our eyes for a short, pleasant time, so that a wonderful tingling sensation arose on my skin.

"The party tomorrow will be great, I'm sure," he suddenly broke the silence and I was shocked to realize what I had actually agreed to...

My first party.

Shit.

I nervously paced up and down my room, kept glancing out my window into the darkness and tried to get some rest after that day, but I couldn't.

Stressed out by myself, I stopped in front of my closet, exchanged my jeans for gray pajama pants and was about to take off his red sweater, which I then left on. He smelled like him and at least gave me some rest, which I sorely needed, because slowly all the bad things without his presence were coming back to my mind...

I thought of the man in the forest whose eyes followed me. Thought of Silvan's sister and thus also of Devin, whom I missed so much despite everything, that a part of me lived in constant longing.

These thoughts pulling me down came so suddenly, as soon as Silvan wasn't with me and that made me pace up and down in the dark room again...

After the really delicious meal, he took a shower, wished me good night and retired to his room. He probably wanted to give me my rest, but I didn't want that at all.

Rest meant having time to think and if there were only bad thoughts then I certainly didn't want to indulge in them.

I'd rather be near him, because that connection with him had the ability to block out all the pain, if only for a little while...

Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and then decided to go to his room. I felt like I would never replace inner peace again.

I quietly opened my door, closed it behind me, and then took slow steps down the pitch-dark hallway, listening with bated breath at his door.

Not a peep came out, he was probably already asleep, which made me open his door as quietly as I could.

His room was dark too, but the moon shining through the window gave me a good view of everything... him too.

He was lying sideways in his bed, the covers between his arms like he was hugging her, which put a smile on my face. It looked so cute...

And gone it was, the darkness inside me as if it had never really been there.

Shirtless, he once again gave me a view of his tattoos, which I took a closer look at the closer I got. Beautiful lines on his skin. Like a painting I could look at for hours.

I then stood on the edge of the bed with my eyes fixed on him and stared at his sleeping face for a while. So peaceful and quiet that I finally got the certainty that I would get the sleep I needed right here next to him.

Being careful not to wake him, I crept to the other side of the bed and lay down behind him as carefully as possible, first inhaling his wonderful smell deeply. Immediately feeling safe and secure, I calmly closed my eyes and turned to the other side.

We lay there back to back. Two people whose lives seemed so complicated and yet everything was so harmonious at that moment that I got the feeling that nothing could shake us anymore.

I breathed in sync with him, let his calmness guide me, and whenever I thought about sleeping in a bed with him, I got a slight tingling in my stomach that made me fall asleep completely content.

Warmth, unbelievably beautiful, pleasant warmth flowed through each of my veins and, exhausted, I opened my heavy eyelids to realize, half asleep, that it was still dark outside.

I immediately wanted to go back to sleep exhausted, but felt goosebumps on my arms, which made me open my eyes again.

With a thousand butterflies in my stomach, I felt his breath on the back of my neck, beating against my skin in a steady rhythm. Then, looking down, I saw his arm around my waist, holding me tightly against his body.

Immediately, my heart started beating faster and longing for the feel of his skin, I let my hand wander to his, which was lying on my stomach and caressed it tenderly.

When his hand moved as well and locked tightly with mine, I realized that he was awake too, which made me a little nervous.

With my heart racing and butterflies dancing, I watched, fascinated by these beautiful feelings, as our hands caressed tenderly until I carefully withdrew mine and boldly turned to face him.

I turned very slowly and then looked straight into his dark eyes, which immediately began to fix on mine.

An incredibly strong tingling went through me, just looking at him and without either of us having to say anything, I felt that he needed this closeness just as much as I did that night.

He took the blanket, gently draping it over both of us while I cupped my hand against his cheek, enjoying the feel of his skin against my fingertips. His hand found its way to my hip, rested on it and then it was just us.

Looking deep into my eyes, I no longer saw a kidnapper, an alpha, nor a man who had killed someone else... I saw him as he was, with all those. good and bad and with every fiber of my being I started to accept him exactly as he was.

The mate band grew with every second and then came the realization that I really wanted nothing more than to belong to him, to learn more about him and to be there for him in every situation.

"You are fantastically beautiful," he whispered softly and immediately my cheeks began to glow and I could have given him the same in return.

His black hair, his dark eyes... he was just incredibly handsome...

I smiled embarrassed, didn't bother to reply to what he had said, but overcame the few centimeters that separated our bodies and gratefully snuggled into his warm, supporting chest, to enjoy with closed eyes that he was holding his arms tightly around my petite body.

His heart was pounding loudly in my ear and I listened to this mesmerizing sound, which at that moment became one of the most beautiful sounds of my life...

It was like a song I wish would never stop playing.

****

Lying with my head in his arm, I sleepily opened my eyes and for a while just stared at his face in fascination, lit up by the sun that was shining into the room.

A sight that brought a satisfied smile to my face.

Since he had prepared a delicious dinner for us yesterday, I wanted to surprise him with breakfast, but before I could even get up, he grabbed my waist and pulled me very close to his warm body again.

"Where are you going?" he whispered in a sleepy voice and then buried his face in my hair, which I found really cute.

"I wanted to make us breakfast," I explained quietly, but with his touch I suddenly didn't care about the food at all. I would much rather just lie with him.

Let's starve together.

Drunk in love, I snuggled back into his chest and enjoyed the gentle kiss he gave me on my forehead, listening to my heart dance afterwards, but this calm didn't last long.

"Marthaaaa?!" he suddenly yelled so loudly and unexpectedly that my eyes widened and he flinched in shock as I rammed my fingernails into his side in shock.

He got up and I still couldn't breathe. With my eyes wide open, I also raised my upper body and looked over at him questioningly, but before even a word could leave my mouth, there was a knock on the door. "Come in," said Silvan and then got up in a hurry, which made my eyes riveted on his trained body. Only black boxer shorts covered him and it bothered me extremely that a certain Martha would see him like that. F**k jealousy!

The door opened and I looked straight into the eyes of an elderly lady. She had short light blonde hair and was wearing a really homey light blue dress, which suited her plump figure quite well. She looked like one of the women from the laundry detergent commercial.

"Mr. Campbell," she greeted Silvan with a friendly nod and immediately ran past the bed to the window to open it with momentum.

"Please make us coffee and some fruit. We'll be right downstairs."

My gaze fell back to Silvan, who was just about to put on a pair of jeans, and completely overwhelmed and confused, I got up from the warm bed to be immediately pushed aside by Martha.

She made the bed at a pace that made me slightly dizzy and before I would fall over from the stress in the morning, I padded out of the room towards the bathroom and closed the door behind me.

So much for the morning grouch. It felt more like I had already done morning exercise, my heart was beating so fast in my chest.

Somewhat reassured, I then stood at the sink and started to brush my teeth and wash my face in peace.

But I couldn't get this Martha out of my head. Why wasn't she here all week? Did she only come once? Was she also the one who would wash my underwear???

Oh God!

Finished with everything, I left the bathroom barefoot and went back to Silvan's room, who was sitting on his bed and just put on his socks.

"Who is that?" I asked quietly, closing the door behind me.

"Our housekeeper. I gave her time off to give you time to settle in."

"Aha," was all I said and he looked at him questioningly.

"Do you have a problem with her?"

"No," I replied, then looked down in embarrassment. "But I'm here. I can wash and cook. We don't need a housekeeper."

He gave a short laugh and then came over to put his hand on my cheek, making me gasp in excitement.

"You don't have to worry about anything like that. Do you honestly think the alpha's wife has to do laundry and cleaning?"

There it was again, the arrogance that was in his eyes and words and that I didn't like at all. Like keeping the house clean is a shame. All women did that, but he acted as if it was undignified work.

"Didn't know we were already married," I said provocatively and then turned back to the door to go to my room.

As soon as I closed the door, I shook my head and looked for new clothes from the closet. How could he have such views. It was completely unnatural for me to have others work for me. I always hated that Devin wouldn't let me work to contribute. Well, his house has its rules, like my brother, I have to accept these circumstances...

What else was left for me?

Frustrated, I put on a pair of black jeans and a white sweater, only to climb into red cozy socks afterwards.

Fully dressed, I made my way downstairs, where I looked directly at Silvan, who was sitting on the kitchen island with a newspaper and only glanced at me before reading on.

Martha was in the kitchen chopping all sorts of fruit, but when she saw me slowly walking towards her, she frantically grabbed one of the cups and handed it to me with a strained smile.

"Would you like sugar and milk?" she suddenly asked, and I immediately felt completely uncomfortable. My gaze darted to Silvan, who seemed completely distracted by the newspaper articles. "Well, first of all, you can call me Jadelyn," I turned back to Martha and then gratefully accepted the cup. "And second, I make my own coffee."

She nodded in embarrassment and was about to turn back to the fruit on the counter when I grabbed her arm lightly.

"May I help you?"

With big eyes she looked first at me and then at Silvan, who cleared his throat behind me and thus demanded my attention.

"Martha'll do it," I heard his hoarse voice and only when Martha turned back to eating, I turned around and ran to the stool next to Silvan to sit down on it.

He immediately folded the newspaper, placed it on the counter and looked me up and down curiously.

"Do you need something from town? I have to help Igor with the shopping for tonight and I'll be back soon."

He wanted to grab my hand, but I pulled it away. As nice as it was to be around, I didn't want other people to work for us.

He was the alpha and I knew he would probably always get whatever he wanted, but this was my home and there were my views, not just his.

He had to accept that.

"I don't need anything, thanks," I replied succinctly, and despite my distaste for his point of view, my lips naturally found his cheek, which I kissed gently before he got up, smiling, and walked out the door disappeared. And there I was, alone with Martha, who was still snipping like crazy.

I couldn't resist rolling my eyes again before I got up and started to help her, whether she wanted to or not.