A Kink in the Tail

Chapter 38 - The Reject Scene - take 8.

This chapter looks weird with the bold writing...long story...just ignore it.

When Theodore entered the suite, it was deceptively peaceful. All the lights were off and the curtains drawn. He tilted his head and focused on listening. All he could hear was the soft snores from the bedroom the siblings shared and from Thanos's room he heard only slow deep breathing. 

It appeared that no one noticed him leaving the apartment.  It didn't matter he was going to say Cyrus called him to say he'd found Fischer and he'd gone to meet him anyway.

When he saw the human Cyrus bolt for his car he felt he'd made the right decision. Meeting him at first was fortuitous, a useful tool for finding Fischer. Then the imperceptible effect of his presence sent him on an unexpected path before he knew what was happening.  Setting him free was the first time in a very long while he'd done something that didn't leave him disgusted with himself, or wondering if there was any decency left in him. Theodore sighed and squeezed the bridge of his nose to stop the throbbing behind his eyes. He tumbled onto the couch and buried his face in the cushions. He was mentally and physically exhausted. The die had been cast, it was too late to go back. All he wanted was a couple of hours of sleep. He'd figure out the rest in the morning. Theodore knew the ending to their story, he just had to get there, no matter what. He was used to doing things he hated, one more day was nothing.

As he drifted to sleep he started to mumble to himself, slipping into a dream, into a conversation, into the past. His face morphed from one emotion to another as the conversation took shape in his mind, and he fell deeper into sleep.

"Matteo, just say it again. Please...Come on." Theodore whispered to the ghosts in his head. He smiled and laughed softly as he slipped completely into oblivion.

....

"Take your hand off me. How many times do I have to tell you? Listen...watch my lips..." Matteo lowered his voice and looked around to make sure no one saw them together. "I REJECT YOU AS MY MATE."

I was happy to oblige and stared at his lips. I wondered if they were soft or if human lips tasted weird. However, the words that came from those lush lips made me wince in pain for the umpteenth time. The sharp pain, like a dagger to my heart, had the same effect as before.   It left me breathless and shaken until it turned into a dull persistent ache. There was no getting used to it. The devastation the rejection reeks on my body and soul never diminishes. Nonetheless, I continue to peruse him in secret, refusing to accept his rejection.

Matteo was human and that should have been the end of it. There shouldn't have been a nanosecond of hesitation or regret. Some of my kind wouldn't have wasted even a moment discussing the matter and simply killed the human on the spot and lived with the side effects in silence. Taking the shame of being mated to one to their grave. We were permitted to associate with humans only in master/servant situations or as business associates. Romantic or sexual relationships were forbidden, without exceptions. The horror of imagining Lycan Pureblood mingling with human was so repulsive in our culture that it was a crime with no name. I should be overjoyed that my mate was eager to end "the nightmare" as he put it.

I, however, can't ignore Matteo. I'd noticed the boy well before my 18th birthday and discovering he's my mate. The Verne family were well known as the best blacksmiths in the province. Matteo is the youngest of four sons and the star of the family business. He's a talented smith of beautifully refined pieces, unlike the rest of the family who worked as farriers and made rudimentary household and farm equipment. I saw him often in the family forge and around my home village. We were around the same age, he was perhaps a year or two younger. He isn't burly like his father and brothers, but he does have the Verne blue eyes. It's easy to spot him as part of that clan even when he isn't in the company of his siblings because no one could miss those sky-blue eyes.