My Forgotten Mate

Unsettled

Four Years Earlier.......

Henry's POV

I stood over the canvas, brush in hand and focused fully on the model sitting in front of me. Amelia was exceptionally beautiful and I could already feel an attraction for her, I usually didn't engage myself in relationships which extended past the professional with my clients but with Amelia, there was a strong urge to do so. She was one of those girls who left an impression on whoever saw them.

My other hand bore my paint pallet from which I continuously fed my hungry brush, I was fully focused on capturing the emotions evident on Amelia's face. It had been an hour since we started and she had managed to remain fairly still while I painted her features onto the white canvas in front of me.

It had been a huge bother convincing Amelia to let me draw her as most of the interest had come from my part, she hadn't been so keen to sit under my gaze while I recreated her features on canvas, she was the shy type.

It had taken some doing before she had finally agreed to accept an invitation to the Nash estate, I was pleased beyond measure and I ensured that she felt that in the way I received and entertained her.

I had a relationship with my art, a very strange one where its needs were largely spontaneous, the urge to paint could come from seeing an idle dry leaf on the pavement, feeling a gentle breeze or seeing a face in the crowd. The latter had been the case with Amelia, I had been out and about running an errand for my sometimes overbearing mother, she had worn through her kitchen mittens and had demanded that they be replaced. Interestingly, she had insisted that I ensure they are replaced personally.

I knew the reason for the peculiar request she had made, I barely ventured out of the house ever since my father passed, I had withdrawn from interactions to bury myself in my art, something that didn't quite sit right with my mother as I had been quite outgoing before the unfortunate passing of my father. It had been six months and I hadn't left the house when she came up with the rather ridiculous request of having her mittens replaced by yours truly.

Try as I could to avoid leaving the house, it had become quite a cold battle of will between my mum and me, something had to give eventually and it most definitely would not be her. I had taken up the challenge of seeing her state to prevent further infringements of my peace.

I had purchased the replacement pair for the mittens and was hurrying towards the waiting car when I spotted Amelia, she was a beauty to behold. There and then, I felt the canvas calls.

The next few days had seen me follow her around, very nearly becoming a stalker to convince her to let me draw her. My carriage and the eloquence of my speech had gone a long way to convince her that I was not a pervert or someone who intended something mischievous with her.

She had finally come and was seated on a wooden stool while I soiled the surface of my white canvas with the strokes of her features, the painting was coming together.

"How much longer?", a voice whispered from behind me.

Amelia had insisted on coming here with a friend, Alice, the impatient young woman who had been making several attempts to distract me from replicating the beauty I currently observed.

"You're distracting me", I responded coldly as I kept my eyes fixed on Amelia. I had not been keen to allow Alice into the studio with Amelia, preferring that she be shown to other parts of the estate where she could hopefully find other activities to eat up her time while I worked with her friend, but Amelia had insisted that Alice be present, she seemed to serve some sort of protector role to Amelia, something I found quite amusing given that Amelia was quite bigger than she was.

"Oh right!! Sorry!!", she apologised as she turned her gaze back to Amelia. Alice had been so impressed from the moment she stepped into the estate that she was actively trying as much as she could to remain in my good books, efforts I already considered wasted.

As I painted, I could hear footsteps walking towards the studio and I could tell whose they were, my mother had been quite excited to receive Amelia and her friend Alice to the estate, she had continued hovering around trying to make conversation with the girl and her friend before I had brought them to the studio. It seemed even now that my efforts to keep her away from my workspace had not been successful in the least.

"Alice, how are you getting on?, boredom doesn't look so good on you I must say", Mother spoke, her voice laying a cold grasp on my senses as they tried to maintain the focus that they held on Amelia's face.

"Not to worry Mrs Nash, Henry looks like he'll be finished quite soon", Alice responded as she stared in my mother's direction.

"It appears you know very little about Henry or his attention to detail my dear, I feel your assessment of his speed is rather exaggerated", scoffed Mother.

"Let's take a break Amelia", I called to the young woman sitting some distance from me on a wooden stool whose figure and features I was painting on the canvas. My mother had managed to distract me from work I needed to get done.

"And what would you know about painting mother?", I asked, turning from the canvas to look in her direction, she seemed very much like she was on a mission to get the young women to feel at home within the estate, something that I did not quite understand, her overtures were completely unnecessary and uncalled for.

"I have laid out some cake and some sweet wine for you ladies, Andrew here will guide you, I need to talk to my son", Mother said as she stood aside to leave the passageway free for both the girls to use. It appeared she hadn't come alone and our butler Mr Andrew was standing a little distance away from my mother as he waited patiently to be joined by both of the ladies. Amelia had since gotten off the stool on which she sat and was currently headed towards the direction in which Andrews was standing, Alice had followed her quite excitedly.

Amelia threw a shy smile towards me and mother as she walked by, as did Alice. My smile had grown a wee bit cold as Alice passed, I had grown quite distasteful of her presence, not because I had anything against the girl but because she seemed very much like she had grown overly nice and chatty upon seeing how much I and my family owned, it was never a good trait to spot in a female.

"I don't find myself fancying a conversation in the middle of work mother", I complained once the ladies in the company of Andrews were out of earshot. I had turned from my mother to continue the inspection of my work and perfect some parts of it which I could still remember from Amelia's protracted stay on the lone stool in front of me.

"You do know you can't avoid this for too long Henry", she nudged as softly as she could. Amanda Nash my mother was quite clever, It was quite difficult to express my anger whenever she chose this manner of approach, she was an expert at predicting my anger and she was quite adept at adjusting adequately to avoid it.

"I struggle to see what it is I'm avoiding mother", I responded, calmly reigning in my growing displeasure at the direction in which the conversation had begun to take, she had made this insinuation several times but on all of those occasions, she had found me acting rather disinterested and displeased in discussing such issues.

"Amelia is a pretty girl Henry, I've seen the way you look at her, she would make a wonderful mate and she's a werewolf as well. I have taken the liberty of finding out where she's from and dare I say, her family are an impeccable bloodline, one I'd like to have associated with mine", mother pushed on, paying no mind to my continued show of disinterest in the subject.

"There you are mother", a voice interrupted from the studio entrance. Merrick, my twin brother was currently making his way into the studio and I was forced to turn toward the both of them, the level of distraction I had to endure while painting had grown considerably, far beyond what I could handle.

"Who are the girls Andrew is the entertaining mother. Is there something I should be made aware of?", he joked as he stared mockingly in my direction? I let my head drop into my hands, they were about to make me the object of their amusement once more and try as I might, it seemed I would never get them to stop.

"Is there a particular reason you're here Merrick?", I asked, quite eager to end the conversation and get them out of the studio.

"I've come for mother Henry", he laughed before turning his attention towards our mother, I didn't pay any further attention to them as they spoke to each other, I turned back to inspect my painting looking for mistakes or imperfections that I could correct before Amelia returned.

"This conversation isn't over Henry", mother said sternly as she turned away to leave with Merrick, I was grateful that Merrick had come when he did, I was growing rather tired of my mother's nagging and had run out of excuses to give her for not making a mate my priority just yet.

I dropped my brush and pallet as soon as I was convinced they had left the studio and stood from my sitting position. I lifted a free hand to rub my face, my morning had been going quite well up until my mother decided to interrupt with her talk of getting a mate. I couldn't fault her for her actions though, she was doing what any mother who loved their son would do.

I had not given much thought to the idea of love ever since my father died, we had been close, closer than an average son would be to his father and for that reason, his death had cut quite deep and left a scar that I wasn't quite sure that courting a female would heal.

I walked towards the window, I could spot Amelia and Alice downstairs, they seemed to be enjoying themselves. Alice spotted me quite quickly and flashed a bright smile which prompted me to turn away, it repulsed me. If I was going to have any chance of getting away from my mother's attempts to fix me up with a mate, I had to leave the estate.