When they touch me (Shelagh Milano)



Chapter 61 ARTEMISIA

I don't think that a scale from one to ten would suffice.

The next day, I'm back at my favourite painting spot, just painting my embarrassment and pain from my soul while Cassy keeps making me want to tear her out of my body with my own hands.

'See, a little bit more effort and he could be ours,' she purrs, constantly propagating the same message. 'We could be Luna.'

"I don't want to be a Luna," I murmur, as I slap another load of paint onto the wall.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

Right, I would need a higher scale.

Like one to a hundred.

Or a thousand.

After I finished the discussion and kept having flashbacks about the likely most embarrassing scene I have ever pulled in my entire life, I just wanted to drown in my own self-pity.

The worst thing about this entire situation was that I started to think that the rumours might be true regarding a certain aspect and that Cayden was in fact fond of me. My embarrassment fed with my overthinking as my mind started spiralling at the possibility of him not wanting to talk about our encounter and him being in such a bad mood because he was actually hurt as I was fated to his brothers.

Oh, Goddess. Why me?!

Sighing deeply, I fight hard to ignore the squeezing of my chest and continue painting.

My emotions are already scrambled all over the place as Fynn's scent keeps wafting around me as he decided to be one of the warriors helping with the constructions today as well, and this doesn't help my current state of mind at all.

As an annoying giggling reaches my ears, and Drake growls in my head, I turn around to see who the honeyed voice belongs to.

A beautiful she-wolf with blonde hair and a smoking hot body is obviously flirting with my mate while he grins at her like an idiot. Must be the she-wolf he is dating and wants to get off with.

I squint my eyes as she must obviously know that I am his mate. And she also must have seen me standing here.

The fucking audacity of both of them.

Closing my hand to a fist, I risk hurting myself as my fingers clasp the grip of the brush.

I don't care, I scoff to myself and turn around to act like I didn't see it.

'I don't like her. Her voice makes my ears bleed,' Drake growls, making me laugh.

'Well,' I answer in my mind, looking over my shoulder to see him beam at her while she touches his arm. 'Fynn seems to like her a lot.'

Drake doesn't seem to like my reaction to the situation, and his voice gets angrier. 'Want me to tear her head off, mate?'

He chuckles threateningly as I can literally sense him pacing hungrily. 'I bet he won't find her that attractive decapitated.'

'Oh, Goddess, no!!!' I shout and freeze.

Only as I feel him retreat offended, do I push out a breath of relief.

As I keep acting unbothered, I can sense a murmuring going through the crowd, and just as I look down from my scaffold, I see two Omegas looking up at me with a pitiful expression, before they quickly avert their gaze.

Great, just great!

I squint my eyes, as her laugh gets louder and I decide not to want to take this humiliation anymore.

Throwing my brush into the bucket full of paint, I stupidly stain my dress with the splashing that the impact of my brush generates. I groan and as I take a step back to look at my dress, I don't realise that the splatter must have made me step back to the border of the scaffold already.

The next thing I know is that I miss a step.

My throat can't even produce a sound as I fall backwards, my brain just registering the collective gasping of the crowd.

Clenching my eyes closed and bracing myself for the impact, I notice that it never comes.

Quite the contrary happens as I feel warmth enveloping me, my senses drowning in his mouth-watering scent.

I hear a groan, and Fynn's cursing reaches my ears as I open my eyes to look at his rage-distorted face.

"What the fuck are you doing?" He barks, as he holds me securely in his arms.

I would grin to myself, gloating about the fact that his blonde hottie wasn't that interesting to miss me falling if this wasn't absolutely cringeworthy.

"I- I..." I have just begun to stutter as our attention gets caught by a strange rattling sound.

We look up simultaneously to see the bucket reach the border of the scaffold and empty itself over us.

I only have enough time to bury myself against his chest and he moves away in reflex but can't prevent us from getting hit by the paint.

Fynn growls, making me look up at him with puppy dog eyes.

Again, my gloating gets stuck in my throat as think about me being the reason for slowing his reaction to not even being able to dodge such an insignificant threat.

His arm is covered in paint, like the skirt of my maxi dress.

Well, fuck!

I feel his fingers sink into my skin as he seems to hold me tighter as if he fears that I could slip out of his hold.

Gulping, I hold his angry gaze, my fingers clasping his clothes.

It feels so safe in his arms, making me want to just cuddle against his chest and ask him to carry me home.

But just as I'm about to open my mouth to say something, his fling reaches us with fast steps, asking if he was alright.

My skin crawls as he tears his eyes away from me just to answer her with a smile.

A fucking gorgeous, genuine smile.

"Where are your reflexes?" I shout accusingly as I get back to my senses.

"Are you fucking kidding me, woman?" He asks, yelling back at me. "You risked death by your own clumsiness. What were you trying to do?"

I scoff, pushing me out of his arms. "Ah, and now you care or what? I just lost my balance, like I needed you to catch me."

The people standing around us look at me with worried expressions, and my throat closes painfully, making it hard to breathe.

I must be looking terribly pathetic as the paint drips from my clothes.

I have to get out of here, I think to myself as Fynn gets up from his crouched position.

"What the fuck is wrong with you? Look what you've done!" He widens his arms, making me look back at him.

"Oh, just go take a shower, and you will be alright again." I snarl, and his face falls.

Lifting my chin, I straighten my spine and walk away, losing my conceited expression as soon as I've passed the crowd.

'Thank you... Could you tell him, Drake?' I ask but don't get a confirmation of him doing so back from him.

Hugging myself, I increase my pace.

I reach the river next to the construction site feeling totally and exhaustedly devastated.

Fighting back my tears, I slip out of my ballerinas and step into the water, not caring about the cold temperature of the stream.

I curse the fact that it can be so cold even if the weather is nice and warm, and clench my teeth as I dip my skirt into the water to free it from the paint.

My brain must be fully blocked as it

made me jump into the river instead of just convincing me that even if someone were to see me, going home to change would have been the better option.

As the cold water temperature causes my skin to be covered in goosebumps, I sob while I start scrubbing the paint off my clothes.

I play with the thought of just immersing myself into the water fully to get rid of the sensation of Fynn's touch still lingering on my skin.

The picture of him flirting with the beautiful she-wolf flashes back up into my mind, making my heart flip painfully in my chest.

I don't know how I deserved to have my life turn out like this. I thought that what happened with Rick has already been bad enough for an entire lifetime.

Wasn't a second-chance mate supposed to make everything alright?

But with my current rejection pending over my head like a sword ready to strike, I'm starting to doubt having my

Goddess on my side.

They should just get over it and stop

playing cat and mouse with me. Also, if Fynn wants to fuck that she-wolf, he should just go on with it, reject me and take her like he wants to.

Get married and have many gorgeous babies.

I don't fucking care.

Hitting the water with my fist, I realise that it doesn't even work lying to myself anymore.

Oh, Goddess, what should I do?