Her Fire

05 ~ "Mate!"

Davide’s POV, the day before Deirdre’s visit to the vineyard…

David huffs in frustration as he repots the fire-star orchid he imported from the Philippines a few months ago. It is supposedly easy enough to take care of, even for a novice grower, and yet the stubborn plant is driving him crazy. When he puts it under the sun, the leaves start to turn a brownish-bronze color. When he puts it in the shade, though, it doesn’t grow any flowers at all.

“Temperamental little thing! Are you going to make me regret buying you? I can easily just leave you in a corner to dry up, you know…” He mutters. “Of course, I won’t do that, but… you’re really pushing it lately! I mean, what’s with the rebellious attitude!? I’ve been nothing but nice to you, I even sing you lullabies, for crying out loud! Is this your way of telling me my voice sucks!?”

An amused chuckle makes him look and he sees his friend, cousin, and second-in-command Mattia or Matthew leaning against the door of the greenhouse, watching him scold a plant.

“Damn cousin, you really should think about getting laid… When was the last time you expelled all the crazy juice out of your system!?”

David rolls his eyes. “What do you want, Matt?”

“Roberto called. We have a special guest coming for an exclusive tour tomorrow morning.”

David just continues adding soil to the pot. “How special is this special guest? Anyone famous?” he asks, already planning to leave or hide somewhere else.

Mattia shakes his head. “Nah, I don’t think it’s anyone we know… But I bet this one is minted because Roberto told me to put out the best wine we have. Code black card.” He moves his eyebrows up and down, grinning suggestively.

David raises his eyebrows and whistles, impressed. “Ooh, no wonder he’s panting.”

His friend laughs. “I could almost see him drooling. And just think about it… This could be really good for the business, if I could convince this person to actually agree to annual importation… maybe even invest in the…”

David simply nods and lets Matt drone on and on about the particulars.

“Well, you know what’s best, man. I’m sure you can handle everything.” He says dismissively.

“Aww, c’mon David, at least help me out a little… I’m thinking it will certainly give my words more weight if the reclusive owner shows himself. We can at least put your being anti-social to good use, think about it!”

David sighs. “Matt?”

“Yes?”

“I don’t care. If this person is going to do business with us, it will be because he or she recognizes our product is genuinely top quality. I don’t need to parade my mug, I’m not the one they’re taking home with them.”

“But—”

“Flint will be out and we’ll be hiding somewhere. End of discussion.”

Grumbling to himself, his cousin finally leaves him alone.

David smiles fondly at the fire-star orchid. “Now, all I have to do is find you the perfect spot, Miss little primadonna.”

The next day, David wakes up early, feeling strangely excited to get out of bed. It’s also the first day of the last harvest of the late grapes and he plans to help out a little in the morning, but then he remembers that the special guest will be arriving and he groans quietly.

That he really is not much of a people person is an understatement. He craves peace and quiet and prefers the company of very few people. Completely the opposite of Matthew who just adores being the center of attention, which works well in their business and even better for David who can’t tolerate the limelight and so he takes advantage of Matt’s willingness to be the face of their business. The only problem is that, lately, Matt wants to share the spot, claiming it’s good for the marketing part to have an exclusive meeting with the reclusive owner and it’s starting to stress him out.

For some reason, the older he gets, the more David can barely tolerate socializing. He’s always been the quiet and solitary type but it seems to worsen over time.

He even went as far as leaving his family in the UK, preferring to find a quiet little place for himself, away from his boisterous family, in a place where no one knows Mr Barkley’s youngest son, the quiet oddity of the whole lot, the boy with mismatched eyes.

He sighs, dragging his feet towards the vineyard to see how the preparations are going on.

Mattia is already there. “Well, well, well, look who’s gracing us with his presence today. Finally woke up on the right side of the bed, your grumpiness?”

David grins. “I’m only here now so you can’t guilt-trip me later that I’m not helping out in the business. I’d rather pick grapes than face whoever’s coming.”

Mattia rolls his eyes. “We really need to get you checked up, cuz.” He shouts something in Italian to the incoming harvesters and David turns to the east to watch the rising sun, wondering about the eagerness, almost giddy excitement he’s feeling. It hasn’t faded and he takes a deep breath, trying to clear his head.

Mattia calls for his attention again. “There’s no need for you here, we have more than enough people today. Why don’t you just come with me to the office and let’s take a final look at the paperwork, there are a few things there that need signing.”

He narrows his eyes at Matt. “If you’re thinking of trapping me there until the guests arrive, know that I have no problem trashing the place down and breaking the door or window. Maybe even the wall, if I can manage it.”

Mattia laughs. “I know that, I’m not a dvmbass and I've learned my lesson. Don’t worry. Roberto said they’ll be here around noon or even after. He wants to show his client the nearby borgo for some good meat before coming here anyway.”

Around ten-thirty, Mattia receives a call from Roberto saying they are on their way. Apparently, the client is only interested in the vineyard for now and so they are coming straight away without stopping elsewhere. Huffing in annoyance for they still have so much paperwork to do, he stands up and opens the door. “Go, run. They’re coming early and they’ll be here soon.”

David doesn’t need to be told twice. Shooting his cousin with a grateful smile he runs straight home, to his little cottage behind one of the hills.

He calms himself as he closes the door behind him, feeling his restlessness rising and realizing, the reaction is coming from deeper within him. From someone else who is even more sensitive and withdrawn but is and will always be a part of him.

“What is the matter, Flint?”

His wolf growls, agitated. “I don’t know. Something is coming.”

“It must be important seeing as it has gotten your tail all twisted! What is it?” He asks impatiently.

“I said I don’t know!” His wolf answers just as bad-tempered, like a dog infested with fleas.

“Let’s shift,” David suggests. “Maybe it has something to do with the guest that is arriving soon. We can listen to their conversation.”

“No.” For some reason, his wolf is even more reluctant than he is to mingle, and refuses to shift, unless it is for their nightly run.

“Or let’s just stay here. I don’t think Matt will bring them to this part of the vineyard anyway, we don’t have to meddle or even have anything to do with whoever is coming.”

David catches a hint of curiosity in Flint. As much as his wolf distastes going near other people, being the epitome of a solitary wolf, he is also wondering about their odd feelings today.

“Do you think perhaps it is someone that poses some kind of danger?” David asks quietly.

His wolf shakes his head. “I don’t think so… it’s not a bad reaction. It’s just… strange.”

David sighs. “If Matt is not in danger, then we can just stay here and wait it out. We’ll be fine again as soon as the guests leave.”

They both perk up when they hear Roberto’s van pulling up in front of Matt’s office.

Knowing Matt, they will have a few minutes of light chat and then he’ll go straight to the vineyard because he knows that’s what the clients really want to see.

From that distance, David can’t really hear what they are talking about. It’s more like a buzz of white noise. He knows they are talking but the conversation is quite incomprehensible and after a little while, as they come closer, all he could hear is Matt talking about the quality of grapes and the winery, and sometimes even Roberto chimes in but their guest is strangely silent or maybe speaking very quietly.

David tries to distract himself by going to the kitchen and preparing his lunch but just as he has started to drain the water from the pasta, all of a sudden, Flint raises his head and takes over David’s body without a word. He runs to the back door, undressing before shifting to his wolf form at the back of the cottage.

“What the..!? What is happening, Flint? Hey!”

They hear Matt, Roberto and their guest walking nearby and suddenly David and Flint are on full alert as it finally dawns on David what it is that is making Flint act so out of character.

They hear a woman gasp in wonder, a sound so delicate and yet it makes every fiber of their being ignite as if on fire.

MATE! They gasp at the same time.

With legs trembling from anticipation and fighting their natural instinct to flee when humans are around, Flint steps forward from behind the walls of the cottage, into the line of vision of the most beautiful woman they have ever laid their eyes on.

Red hair, green eyes, rosy lips…

Absolutely beautiful! And her scent… even at a distance they can smell it, a most wonderful mix of grapes and apples and something so unique… like burning wood?

How odd.

But then he notices that the woman is frowning.

“Wait… is that a… wolf?”

She doesn’t sound or look impressed. In fact, she looks quite the opposite of smitten and so his poor introvert wolf, suddenly himself again, immediately withdraws back to his corner, leaving David to handle the situation again as he stands there like an idi0t, staring back at the woman in his wolf form, fighting the urge to flee and give an even worse first impression to the woman the moon goddess fated him with.

This isn’t how they pictured meeting their mate, and Flint will now, most likely, turn even more distant than ever. David’s only hope of having a nice little family of his own is looking precariously slim.

What is he supposed to do now?