#7 The Twins of Satin Moon

Chapter 15: Hunter

Okay, maybe I went a little overboard with my mate, but I couldn’t help myself. She was positively delicious in those tight, tight jeans and obnoxiously revealing shirt. I was hardly keeping Watcher at bay. With her neck completely bare, he wanted to mark her with every ounce of his being and he was using his Alpha strength to urge me to do it. I refused.

But, I couldn’t resist her anylong. I had to make her see that she was mine and I was hers, we belonged to each other and only each other. She wanted me to calm down, so I would if that meant she would give me a proper chance.

“So, a date?” I asked her again, stepping away to give her a chance to breathe.

Thanks to my keen sense of smell, I knew exactly what I was doing to her and the reaction that I was eliciting from her body. It was wrong to keep pushing her, but it was the only way I knew that she was feeling the matebond, too. Every other part of her was radiating annoyance.

“Yes, I will go on a date with you.” She finally agreed. It was like fireworks went off in my head, “Just a date.” She pointed her finger at me, like she was sensing my over excitement.

“Yes, little red, just a date.” I nodded, “Tomorrow?” I was eager and I didn’t care about showing it. She laughed at me and I relished in the sound.

“So soon? She asked.

“Maizey, I’ve been ready to go on a date with you for a month.” I pointed out.

“Yes, well, you only have one chance to make a good first impression.” She shrugged with a knowing smirk on her face. Well, I wasn’t nervous before….

“I’ll be ready.” I puffed my chest out and she laughed at my mock confidence. Goddess, I would do anything to make her laugh.

“When shall I be ready?” She asked politely. She was so formal and I hated it. I wanted her to be comfortable around me.

“I’ll text you in the morning, I have to make arrangements first.” I said.

“You don’t have my number?” She eyed me curiously.

“Oh, don’t I?” I pulled my phone out of my pocket and fiddled with it, my eyes never leaving hers. I put my phone away just as her’s dinged in her pocket. She frowned at me but there was amusement in her eyes. She didn’t even look at her phone.

“You got it from Mel.” She said.

“What are sisters for?” I said.

“Did you put her up to befriending me?” She asked me suddenly.

I wrestled with myself and the truth. There was a look of fear in my eyes, like she was afraid I was going to say yes. Technically, it was Melody’s idea.

“No, but she did know who you were when you first met. I told her about you and pointed you out in the coffee shop. Mel took it upon herself to meet you.” I decided not to lie to my mate, at least about this.

“Hm.” She hummed but said nothing else.

“I’m sorry, I hope you’re not mad. Melody really does like you and she really is your friend.” I spoke quickly.

“It’s okay, I know she is. She’s just looking out for you. I’m a sister too, you know?” She had a salsy sort of attitude about her that I loved.

“I know you are, baby.” I smirked.

“Stop calling me that.” She glared at me and I resisted the urge to laugh. She tried so hard to look threatening but she just looked like a kicked puppy.

“Okay, princess.” She groaned loudly at me and I thought she was going to slap me for a second. Instead, she brushed past my shoulder and walked away.

“Where do you think you’re going?” I jogged up beside her.

“Away.” She answered simply.

“Okay, I’ll come.” I snatched up her hand and swung our arms between us. She glared down at it,

“Alone.” She clarified, trying to remove my hand from mine. Dare I say, she wasn’t trying very hard.

“Nuh-uh.” I shook my head, clutching her hand tighter, “The guys around here are animals.” I whispered in her ear and laughed at my own clever joke.

“They’re your friends.” She pointed out.

“Oh, yeah.” I acted like I didn’t remember that. She resisted the urge to laugh.

“Why are you so tense around me, Maizey? Why can’t you just be yourself?” I asked her seriously. She avoided my gaze, not yet ready to answer any serious questions about herself.

“I’ll get you to open up around me, you’ll see.” I promised her when she didn’t answer, bumping my arm against hers. She looked up at me with sad eyes but a small smile on her face and an almost hopeful expression.

“Dance with me?” I asked, pulling her towards the hoards of people swaying in front of the bonfire.

“I don’t dance.” She argued with me, digging her heels into the ground.

“Neither do I.” I laughed, easily moving her.

She stood limply in front of me, clearly embarrassed. I smiled at my mate, looking into her eyes as I grabbed her hands and put them on my chest. I put my hands on her waist and began to sway slowly to the music. Eventually, she matched my movements.

“See? You can dance.” I said encouragingly.

“Everyone is looking at us.” She mumbled, looking around with wide eyes. I pinched her chin in between my fingers and forced her to look at me,

“No one else is here.” I whispered. As if on cue, an obnoxious laugh cut into our moment.

“Hunter.” A whiny voice said, tugging at my arm. Maizey dropped her hands from my chest, looking guilty. I growled,

“What is it, Carmin?” I knew who the intruder was without even looking. She was an average sized burnette of average beauty, but her attitude was quite extreme. Everyone knew that she wanted to be my Luna and she wasn’t about to give up, even with the rumors that I had met my mate circling.

“I haven’t seen you all day.” She was pulling on my arm, demanding my attention. I yanked away from her touch,

“That was intentional.” I said. I felt Maizey’s discomfort and when I looked down at her, I noticed that she was glaring at me. I sighed, knowing that she was disapproving of my tone.

“I want a dance.” Carmin said with a pouty lip.

“I’m dancing with Maizey.” I said.

“Who?” Carmin acted like she couldn’t even see her. I wrapped my arm around Maizey’s waist and pulled her close to me. Maizey gasped, her hands crashing into my chest as she steadied herself.

“This is Maizey.” I was glaring at Carmin, I felt my eyes go black.

“Go away Carmin, you won’t ruin this for me.” I mindlinked her threatenly.

“Who is she, Hunter?” Carmin even sounded whiny in my head.

“You know who she is. Go. Away.” Watcher demanded, using his Alpha voice.

Without another word, Carmin sulks away. I sighed with relief and looked down at my mate again. My feeling of ease was immediately sucked away at her face.

“What?” I asked her.

“You were so mean to her.” She said in an accusing tone.

“She was being rude to you, Maizey.” I stated obviously.

“How?” Her hands were on her hips now. Oh boy.

“Maizey.” I sighed. She dropped her hands with a hmph and tried to leave me. I grabbed her hand and pulled her back to me.

“Okay, I’m sorry. Carmin and I have known each other for a while and she doesn’t do subtly.” I tried to explain.

“You’ve dated?” She tried to sound uninterested but I caught the jealousy in her tone.

“No, never. But, she wants to.” I resisted the urge to grin.

“I can tell.” She grumbled.

“She doesn’t care about me, Maizey, she cares about my money and my status.” I tried to explain.

“Oh.” She bit her lip, looking down at our feet seeming suddenly bashful.

“It might not have seemed like it, but she was being mean to you because you were with me. She’s jealous.” I picked up her chin and rubbed my thumb up her jaw line.

“I don’t know why.” She was still trying to look away from me.

“How can you not see how beautiful you are, little red? Absolutely perfect.” I locked eyes with her and ducked so our faces were only inches apart. A deep blush consumed her face.

“I’m not.” She was fidgeting uncomfortably, but I noticed she was particularly wary about her left arm. She was shoving it behind her body.

I stood up and eyed her curiously, grabbing her arm and pulling it in front of me. I inspected the wrist she was trying to hide from me. There was a jagged scar on the underside of it. She shivered when I ran my thumb over top of it,

“What did this?” I asked her, suddenly feeling angry.

“It’s nothing.” She was trying to wrestle her arm from my grasp. I could feel the panic swelling in her chest.

“It’s not.” I sighed but released her. She quickly hid her hand behind her back. I took a few deep breaths, trying to calm Watcher down enough to speak to my mate without growling.

“I’m not ready to talk about it with you.” Maizey replied stubbornly and I knew better than to push it. She would come around eventually.

“Let’s just dance.” I softened my face and pulled into me again.

Slowly she began to relax and, by the end of the night, she was resting her cheek against my chest. She was so short, it was adorable. She didn’t have a prayer of reaching my shoulder, her head was level with my chest as I hovered a good foot taller than her human form.

“Maze?” Matt came walking up to us and I glared at him behind Maizey’s back. He just rolled his eyes at me.

“Matty?” Maizey’s voice sounded soft and tired. She lifted her head from my chest and looked behind her.

“You ready to leave? It’s late.” Matt said. I resisted the urge to growl at him and pull Maizey behind me.

“Oh, yeah.” Maizey shook her head and her face returned to its usual guarded expression. I sighed, at least she was real with me for a little while. She stepped away from me and I whimpered at her absence.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, little red.” I smiled at her.

“Tomorrow?” Matt narrowed his eyes at me.

“Yes, we have a date.” I smiled at him smugly.

“You agreed to go on a date with him?” He looked at his sister questiongly.

“Well I didn’t brainwash her into saying yes.” I snorted and Matt rolled his eyes.

“Yes, I agreed.” Maizey seemed irritated with both of us. I leaned forward and kissed Maizey on the cheek while she was distracted. She looked at me, startled.

“Until tomorrow, baby.”

“Okay, time to go.” Matt grabbed her hand and pulled her away from me.

Watcher growled at him in my head. It took a lot for us to watch another man sweep our mate away, but we had to learn to get used to it. She had two older brothers who wouldn’t hesitate to defend her. We couldn’t compete with their attention or their place in her life, she would shut us down immediately if we pulled that kind of stunt. We just had to deal with it.

"Easier said than done." Watcher injected his opinion on the situation.