When they touch me (Shelagh Milano)

Chapter 34 Artemisia

I take a deep breath as I step into the dimly lit office, even though I didn’t get an answer at my knocking.

“What are you doing out of bed?” Cayden asks me as I close the door behind me.

His eyes are still glued on the papers in front of him as I clear my throat. “I wanted to talk to you. Do you have a bit of time to spare for me?”

“Sure,” he sighs, still not looking at me. “As long as you return to bed afterwards.”

I sit into a chair in front of his desk, my insides tingling eagerly to get his eyes on me. “It has been 4 days now since I was discharged. I’m feeling much better already and I can’t stand lying around anymore. Also, I can’t continue to take away precious time from everybody’s day. Matthew and Logan are looking after me lovingly, but I guess they have more important things to do. Please, let me do something. I’m feeling good enough to help you all out and finally show myself to the pack.”

He lifts his gaze to look at me, making me gulp. “I don’t know. You still seem a bit pale.”

“Pale… It’s because you all treat me like I got the bubonic plague. I just bumped my head.” I pout, letting my shoulders slump. “Please Cayden, let me do something. I want to be part of the pack already.”

A faint smile crosses his lips as he looks back down onto his paperwork. “Okay. Let me think of something you can start out going easy. But as soon as I see you feeling unwell, you will be going back to bed!”

“Yes!” I say, nodding. “I won’t protest if that were the case!”

My jaw risks hitting the floor with a loud bang as he chuckles and even teases me jokingly. “Sure.”

“Hey,” I laugh. “I’m serious! I won’t disappoint you this time.”

He narrows his eyes at me and his lips stretch into a big grin. “I’m counting on that.”

My heart skips a beat, but I try to play it cool, reciprocating the smile shyly.

His eyes suddenly change, and his expression morphs slightly as he continues to look at me.

After a few seconds of us just staring at each other, he tears his eyes away from me to lay them back onto his paperwork. “Can I ask you something?”

“Everything you want,” I answer, feeling my heart flip uncomfortably.

“Have you talked with Fynn since you have been discharged?” He asks, making me shake my head.

I wrap the fabric of my dress around my index as I think of an answer that wouldn’t sound stupid. “No, he was so angry that I thought I would grant him his space.”

“Hmm…” He scribbles something down even if I know that he is set on what he wants to tell me. “I appreciate you wanting to respect his feelings, but he is kind of stubborn. I guess if you want him to apologise first, you are in for the long run. If you want him to talk to you, do the first step. Just so you know.”

I chuckle, nodding. “I appreciate the advice, Cayden. Thank you.”

He is mumbling something about me being welcome as my attention gets caught by his phone flashing up constantly. I remember that I already saw it once but I didn’t put much thought into it.

“It’s the council.” He says dryly, making me look at him like a deer caught in the headlights. “One of my advisers is in the high court and keeps updating me about matters regarding our pack. I don’t

know if you heard, but we have a running case that seems to be more of a bother than we would have thought.”

“Oh,” I crane my neck, trying to get a look at the phone.

He lets out a deep sigh as he takes the phone and looks at the screen. “He is a trusted member of our pack, but he is a bit… well, peculiar. But he does his job perfectly.”

“Isn’t that the most important thing?” I act as if I’m not disappointed about not having been able to catch what he was sending and flash Cayden a big smile.

“I guess so,” He murmurs, lowering his gaze back to his desk.

Pondering over asking him about the executed she-wolf, I open my mouth repeatedly, but in the end, I choose to be silent. Cayden must have caught my strange behaviour as he looks up at me, raising his brow. “Is there something you want to tell me?”

My heart beats so fast in my chest that he must perceive it, but I smile at him, shaking my head as my courage ultimately leaves me.

He sighs again, returning to his documents as something else bubbles up my chest that I let just break out, out of pure desperation. “Did… Did Fynn say something about our fight?”

“No, not really. Why?” He asks me totally unbothered.

My panic settles to turn my stomach upside down, making me gulp. “Well, it wasn’t nice. So, maybe he had said something. He was quite upset.”

“He still is.” Cayden scoffs, seemingly immersed in his next task. “The warriors already complained to me that he is in a bad mood, and asked me to talk to you.”

He lifts his gaze, smiling at me encouragingly. “You see, even if it’s quite a big pack, we are like a big, close, and nosy family. Rumours spread like wildfire, so everyone is informed that his bad mood must be a result of your fight.”

“Oh, no.” I groan, making him laugh.

“Don’t worry, Missy. This is all natural. And I guess the pack already greatly respects you because of how you handled a fight with Fynn. I’m sure they are all quite impressed.”

I close my eyes, leaning back into my seat. “If you say so…”

I’m certainly used to the rumours of a pack. But the last time I was part of it wasn’t the best experience for me, so I’m feeling quite uncomfortable at the thought that I’m now in the middle of attention even if I just arrived.

Clearing my throat, I pass my hands on the fabric of my dress. “Okay, I’ll leave you to it. I suppose you will call for me if you need anything? And I’ll be ready tomorrow morning for my first task in the pack.”

“That’s perfect.” Cayden answers, already absorbed back into his documents.

Feeling like I urgently need some air, I get up and hurry to leave the room. “Well, then. Thank you very much, Cayden.”

I keep myself from sprinting to my room as I pass the omegas dusting off the shelves and vacuuming the floor. I push out the deep breath I was holding only as I close the door behind me.

Stepping out onto my balcony, I shield my eyes from the sun with my hand as I let my eyes wander over the vast landscape.

I watch a few warriors training on the field as my eyes fall onto Fynn’s muscular body. He is standing there wearing only black shorts, which makes it difficult to act like I wasn’t ogling him.

Maybe I should go and talk to him.

It isn’t fair that his warriors are feeling uncomfortable or are treated badly because of our differences.