Florentine

five

     Mate? He's not my mate.

     I would've felt the sparks by now, I would've felt more attracted to him. Then I remembered how he had made me feel this morning and nearly swooned. Of course I was attracted to him, but I didn't feel the insufferable pull towards him like I had heard mates could feel. He was too easy to brush to the side, to easily swept to the back of my mind.

"That's not true." I blurted, shaking my head in denial.

She looked up at me, having already started stitching. I looked down in bewilderment; I hadn't felt it at all. Maybe... -no, we aren't mates. "You don't feel it?"

"No, I don't feel any pain." I moved my eyebrow to see if it hurt, but she smacked me in the arm.

"No, child! The sparks! Do you not feel them?"

I looked at Helix, seeing his head cocked to the side. I scrambled to answer, "Well no. I mean, I feel attracted to him - a lot - but I don't feel the sparks."

"I feel the pull, but not the sparks." Helix suddenly spoke, his deep, timbre voice rattling my bones with a pleasurable ache.

"Interesting..." the doc replied, placing butterfly closures around the wound.

Seriously, how did she go that fast and how did I not notice??

"Have you shared an intimate moment yet?" She asked, placing all of her tools to the side to directly speak to us.

"Sort of. Nothing special though." He replied smoothly, as if our interaction this morning meant nothing to him.

I just lowered my head, pulling my hand out of his roughly and folding them in my lap. He gave me a confused look for a split second before giving the doctor a look to see if she might agree that I was acting childish. I knew if it were my parents across from me they'd immediately take his side, agreeing that I was just a sensitive baby. I ought to have been sent to my room for being disrespectful like this.

"It was obviously something special to her." The doc said gently, grabbing my hand and squeezing it lightly. "I guess you wouldn't know much about how a real relationship works, now do you, Helix?"

My jaw dropped.

He furrowed his brows immediately, growling deep in his throat, "Who gave you the authority to judge me and my relationships? Last time I checked, you didn't have a mate, so why are you so smart about this?" He said haughtily.

She gave him a piercing look, her gaze nearly ripping him to shreds, "Well, if you had any sense in your head, and if you were so good at the 'relationship thing', you wouldn't have said that moment meant nothing, when you know damn well it does. And don't let yourself believe for one second that I don't know the way you call her by that horrid nickname -sorry for the offense, dear." she addressed to me on a side note.

Helix stood up, knocking over a tray of tools. "Fuck you, Aunt Lana." I flinched.

For the first time since their heated argument started, I stood up. "Please, Helix, don't swear at her like that."

He suddenly turned his attention to me his venomous gaze never lessening, "This doesn't involve you! Now go to your room."

I was shocked at the harshness in his words. "You're sending me to my room?" I was aghast.

"Are you deaf?" He snarled, grabbing a chunk of my hair and using it to shove me towards the door.

I yelled in pain, my hands gingerly touching my scalp where many hair follicles were now non existent. I couldn't believe he would send me to my room, like an impudent child, then grab my hair and force me. I felt a sick feeling crawl up my throat, as the realization that being here might just be worse than living at home. His violence scared me, but only pissed off his aunt.