Secrets of his Mate

Eleven

Elana

    Alessandro's grip on my arm was tight. It was a grip proving his dominance over me. One that was sure to leave a mark. He pulled me harshly out of the conference room and away from Roman. The amount of jealousy and irritation steaming out of him could be seen and even felt miles away.

    He dragged me through the building as if I were a rag doll. This dominating anger of his intrigued me. It scratched the question of how far could I possibly push this man before completely losing his marbles. Was he capable of physically hurting me? I would never let that happen, but the thought lingered through my brain. A part of me wanted to push him over the edge. The other part wanted to proceed with the original plan and that's what I was going to do. So I allowed him to use force and continued being a the weak human he believed I was.

    We stormed up to the kitchen where he suddenly stopped. I looked up to his face to find his eyes were now cold like ice. There were no emotions detectable. It made me want to know what was running through his mind. I was sure to find out when we were alone and he exploded with rage.

    The cook turned his head to Alessandro with a smile that quickly faded as he read the energy in him. "Good morning, Alpha," he addressed him bowing his head. "I didn't know you were stopping in. We'll send your breakfast upstairs right away."

    "No," Alessandro said evenly and calmly without changing his face expression. "I've changed my mind. We'll be having breakfast at the gazebo this morning."

    "Yes, sir," he answered swiftly as I once again was pulled outside.

    The gazebo appeared different from the first night I arrived at this mansion. It wasn't decorated with a fine tablecloth, flowers, or lights. It just seemed bare and dull perfectly matching the current mood. Alessandro pulled out a chair and shoved me into it then took his seat across from me without saying a word while staring at me intently lacking any emotions.

    There was an awkward silence even as we ate. His eyes remained glued to me throughout as if he were studying my every move. I ate quietly awaiting Alessandro to burst and yell at me for his insecurities. To my surprise he didn't.

    After taking a sip of water, Alessandro finally spoke in a gentle tone. "How's the food taste?"

    I shrugged. "It's fine."

    "You haven't eaten very much. You barely touched your dinner either. What's going on?" He seemed genuinely concerned.

    "Nothing." I wondered why he wasn't having an outburst. "I'm just not that hungry."

    He pouted his lips and nodded almost in disbelief. "Why did you leave your room?" he asked cautiously.

    "The door was unlocked," I simply said with a shrug controlling the urge to smirk.

    Alessandro took a loud, frustrated sigh then quickly regained his composure. He sat watching me as he gathered his thoughts. "I couldn't help but notice how you were when I found you in the conference room," he said softly leaning onto the table. "It was something I haven't seen in you before and I know that is my fault. It just bothers me that that was something you felt around another man."

    I took the bait. "What is that?"

    "Freedom." He didn't shift his gaze. He looked at me like he was trying to puzzle pieces together. "I planned on showing you around. I just wanted to win you over first. Maybe I was wrong. Either way I don't ever want you to experience something new or be happy with another man. It kills me to see you smile with someone other than me."

    I chuckled. "You're being a baby. Are you seriously jealous of your own best friend for showing me around to a few recreational activities you have here?"

    He shook his head. "I'm jealous that you weren't with me."

    I looked at the ground trying to appear sympathetic to his feelings. "How am I supposed to try being happy here if I'm trapped inside of a room all of the time until you decide otherwise?"

    "I know you're right, Love. I want you to be able to do anything you want here. I was just being selfish I guess."

    "That's an understatement," I mumbled, but knew he could hear me easily. He looked down restraining himself from arguing with me.

    "Good morning love birds!" My head snapped to the repulsive, high pitched voice calling from a distance. My blood began to boil at the sight of Bianca strutting her way to us in a small black nightgown and silk robe. I tried to mask my rage before either of them noticed. She stopped in front of us with a giant smile plastered on her face. "You two look so cute together," she cheered dragging a nearby chair next to my side before plopping down.

    I tried keeping my composure, but I must've been failing. Alessandro appeared to be trying to figure out my mood and looked back at his sister. "I didn't know you spent the night here."

    "Well it was late and we didn't want to spend that long drive on the road. Besides, I didn't get to spend time with the Luna!" She beamed in my direction.

    Alessandro looked as if he wanted to chuckle at my blank expression. "I'm trying to spend time with her too."

    "Oh boohoo! You took her away last night. I think you two could use a break."

    "Bianca," he warned slowly. "We're actually in the middle of a conversation."

    "So when will we hangout?" She pouted and stroked my hair. It took everything in me not to flip her chair and beat her senseless.

    "Later," Alessandro said in a short, cold tone. One that instructed her not to talk back.

    She rolled her eyes. "Fine. I'll see you later, Elana."

    I forced a small smile in her direction. "Later."

    Once she was out of sight, Alessandro smirked at me holding in a laugh. "I know she has a big personality, but she really means well. You'll get used to her."

    If he only knew her personality was one of the last things I cared about her. "If you say so," I replied dramatically.

    He let out his laughter. "I don't know if I'll be able to keep her away next time she pops up. She's pretty persistent."

    "Maybe you should try harder then. You've been doing good so far."

    "Thank you." He smiled at me. "I think you should spend time with her though. You're going to need someone else in your life to talk to, a friend."

    "You think your sister should be my friend?" I was disgusted at the thought.

    "Yes. She doesn't live here so she won't suffocate you. I promise. You need a girlfriend."

    I scoffed. "She's not my type."

    "Well you won't know until you try and you'll try later today." I was about to interrupt, but he cut me off. "I know you don't want to, but she's my sister and I want both of you to get along."

    I rolled my eyes and remained silent. As much as I didn't want to be near the vile woman, I needed to suck it up and get it over with. I came here with a purpose. I couldn't sit back and pretend this was a vacation just because I didn't want to look at her face or listen to the shrieking sound that comes within her thin lips. I knew this wouldn't be easy, but the end goal was worth it.

    Alessandro stared at me as my thoughts circled my brain. He continued eating as I sat with my arms crossed looking down blankly. He was becoming agitated. "Please don't give me the silent treatment, Love."

    My eyes met his. "I'm not."

    "No amount of pretty little sad eyes you shoot at me is going to make me change my mind. You're going to spend time with Bianca before she leaves today."

    I smiled at him. "I know."

    He beamed from his victory and continued watching me as he finished his breakfast. "Are you all done?" I nodded. He wiped his mouth with a napkin and stood taking ahold of my hand leading me back into the mansion up the grand staircase.

    He stopped in front of the bedroom door and caressed my face. "You should start getting ready. Once I tell Bianca she gets you for a while, she's going to spring over here so fast. So I'll give you some time before she harasses you." He smirked and kissed my forehead.

    I rolled my eyes. "I can't wait." I made sure my sarcasm was evident before I strode into the room to shower. The click from the door let me know Alessandro locked me in after I entered.

    After getting out of the shower I stared at myself in the mirror. As I brushed my hair, I tried to convince myself this was the opportunity I had been waiting for. I should've been seeing light at the end of the tunnel. It was the perfect time to get in her head and allow her to believe we were friends. It would be hard not to attack in the moment, but I was willing to suffer through in order strike when I was better prepared.

    A steady tempo came from the door. Before I could take a breath, the door swung open and a shrill voice infected my ears.

    "Hello," Bianca shouted eagerly. I threw on a black dress I set out in the bathroom and stepped out. "You look just like a doll!" She shrieked approaching me and wrapping her arms around me. "We're going to have so much fun today!"

    "What are we going to do?" I asked pretending to be interested.

    "Well I wanted to go out shopping, but that was a very big no from Alessandro. I guess he doesn't completely trust me alone with you, or he's just not ready to let you out of his sight. Either way, he's such a party pooper."

    I giggled. It was partly to convince her I thought she was funny, and partly because I couldn't believe this woman was speaking like a child. It was embarrassing, but I was going to suck it up and deal with it. "I'm pretty sure it's the second one."

    "It doesn't matter. We're going to have fun regardless." She skipped to the balcony and looked outside through the glass doors and gasped. "Wow. We all saw these flowers yesterday, but it looks so much better from up here. It looks exactly like you!"

    "Yeah it came out nice," I shrugged.

    "Nice? This is amazing! I never knew Alessandro could be so romantic." Her breath was taken away. "I wish Jarred would do something at least half as nice like this for me."

    I took the chance to poke the bear. "So Jarred is your mate, right?"

    Bianca quietly looked at the floor. "Not exactly." She sighed then looked up with a smile. "Let's go downstairs. I had some of the maids set up our own private nail shop. They should be done by now." She quickly led the way down the steps to a large quiet room with a row of white leather chairs and a huge aquarium filled with colorful fish. There were two foot spas sitting in front of two of the chairs.

    Two maids gathering towels and nail polish suddenly stopped in their tracks. "Luna!" One of them smiled as she spoke. They both bowed their heads then directed us to our seats.

    "And Bianca!" Bianca whispered harshly. She quickly plastered a smile on her face before facing me. "So what do you think?"

    "This is great," I lied. There was nothing great about sitting next to the person you wanted to see lifeless in a pool of blood.

    "I knew you'd love it," she cheered. "There's no better place for us girls to chat and gossip." She laughed as if she said something dirty.

    This was more than embarrassing and I couldn't tolerate it. "Well I'm a grown woman, not a girl." I soaked my feet in the warm water as I caught a glimpse of her through the corner of my eye looking at me with her mouth hanging open. "This feels nice," I said closing my eyes ignoring her awkward body language.

    "Yeah it does," she quietly said as she mimicked my action. "Now I've been dying to ask," she started as the maids began working on our feet. "How did you and Alessandro meet?" Her grin was so wide I thought her cheeks would crack.

    I thought for a moment and decided on being honest. "He saw me. He stalked me. Then he kidnapped me. Now here I am," I answered nonchalantly.

    There was a brief moment of silence as the maids quietly side eyed each other. Bianca then let out a hellish laugh. "Oh my goodness. You are so funny, Elana! For a moment there I thought you were serious."

    I didn't answer and allowed her and to finish laughing as she wiped tears from the corner of her eyes. Once she settled down I gave her a small smile. She truly thought it was a joke. I knew the maids had caught on although they didn't say a word. I was sure that was going to cause a juicy rumor to spread like wildfire.

    "I can see why you're Alessandro's mate. He's so lucky to have found you."

    I wanted to roll my eyes, but controlled the urge. "Tell me about you and Jarrod. How is he not exactly your mate?"

    She looked down as if trying to come up with a way to avoid the conversation, but there was no way out. "He's my husband. I never found my mate." Her voice cracked like she was about to cry, but wuickly pulled herself together. "I mean he's a great guy and all, I just wish I felt that connection you and Alessandro have."

    "Well I don't want to brag," I teased although there was nothing to brag about on my end. I just wanted to crush the little air bubble she had for a brain. It didn't take much as she began talking again.

    "Please don't." Her bottom lip was quivering ready to sob. "I mean I know Alessandro is on cloud nine right now and you must be too, but I'm incredibly jealous that I'll never know that feeling."

    "It sure is something alright." I added a small jab while I could. "But if you really don't want me to, then I won't. I don't think being with Jarod can be that bad, though. After all, you did marry the guy."

    "No. It's not bad. I just wish there was something more, you know? I wish he cared about me more deeply. I wish he were more romantic. I wish he'd at least look at me with more desire. We kind of just settled for each other because we didn't find our mates. That doesn't mean we shouldn't have tried harder to fall for each other."

    "Sad," I replied unintentionally sounding bored. "As long as the s*x is great. That's all that matters."

    Bianca choked on her spit as she blushed. "Elana! I can't believe you just said that," she giggled then leaned closer to me and whispered, "Unfortunately, sometimes that's not even good enough or often enough."

    I couldn't help but burst out in laughter. Of course it wasn't. That was karma working its magic. She didn't deserve a damn thing in life. Knowing of her pitiful sadness brought a glimmer of happiness to me, but it wasn't nearly enough to content me.

    By the time I calmed myself I could see that she was pouting. I had to pretend to have sympathy with her. "Oh I'm sorry. I really am, but that's kind of funny."

    She forced out a chuckle. "Yeah I guess so. Don't you dare tell anybody though!"

    "My lips are sealed," I reassured her. She was that interesting for me to tell her business. The maids on the other hand, were going to without a doubt as soon as they stepped out of this room.

    "Good! Now I was thinking we could have matching pastel pink toenails," she smiled brightly at the idea.

    "Gross," I spoke without hesitation. "You do that. I just want white polish."

    "Oh," she responded with confusion. "Okay."

    As the maid finished painting my toes, Alessandro walked through the door. His shirt was drenched in sweat. "Am I interrupting anything?"

    "Yes!" Bianca huffed.

    "Nope," I answered honestly as I fanned my feet to get the polish to dry faster. I looked up at him. "I was thinking we could check out the arcade downstairs. Just you and me," I added purposely to exclude his sister. Truthfully, I had gotten bored with her rather quickly and wanted to bash her brains in, but I was forcing myself to stick with the plan.

    Alessandro's face lit up. "Yeah. That'd be great. I'm just going to finish training outside and I'll come back to get you. I just wanted to stop by and check on you."

    "Oh, okay." I had hoped he would take me away from the vile girl next to me right then and there, but a bit longer wouldn't kill me. He approached me and kissed my forehead then left grinning ear to ear.

    "That is so cute how you are dating like normal people," Bianca spewed.

    "Aren't I a normal people?"

    "Sure. In your blood maybe, but you're one of us now. You'll never be normal again." She smirked. "Okay I think my toes are done. Wanna go watch the warriors trainings?"

    "Yeah okay," I answered without having an exit strategy away from her.

    She guided us to the second floor at the far end on the place to a large balcony overlooking a field on the side of the building. There stood a shirtless Alessandro between Roman and Eric watching the pack warriors paired up practicing fighting moves in their wolf forms.

    Bianca pulled her V-neck top further down and tied a knot above the belly button. "Hey guys," she called waving her arm in the air. I tried to contain a look of disgust. I knew exactly who and what she was. She could play dumb all she wanted, but I could see right through her.

    Everyone on the field looked up at us. Alessandro smiled when his eyes landed on me. He then got all of their attention. "We're gonna wrap it up a little early today. Let's shift back and do some cool down exercises."

    Watching him at that moment taking charge and giving orders sent a shock through my core. The way his muscles shimmered in the sunlight was mouthwatering to say the least. That was when I made the decision to allow him to have me. He was going to enjoy every inch of my body so he could fall in deeper as I truly started playing games with his head.