Chapter 14 Cathy

Chapter 14 Cathy

"Please stop," I pushed Eric. "Don’t do that again."

I could feel the connection between him and I had grown. My lips longed for his, and my whole body wanted to duel in a love duel where only passion would win.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked me, licking his lip subtly. "Why do you keep pushing me away."

I stayed silent, just watching his face. He was confused but, at the same time, furious.

"I told you we can’t be together," I said.

"Give me one good reason, and I swear I’ll leave you alone."

Reasons I had plenty of, but he wasn’t going to understand them, so I thought I’d use a card that never fails.

"I don’t have to give you a reason. You have to respect my decision, period," I said.

Eric looked at me in disbelief at what had come out of my mouth.

"Tell me you don’t have feelings for me. Tell me you’re not dying to repeat that kiss," he said.

"That’s the thing, I do like you, and it’s pretty obvious," I shouted. "But I’m not willing to give up my life and my identity on a mere whim."

My words were hurtful, not only to him but to me. I was trying to look tough, but inside I was in pieces floating in a sea of confusion.

"That’s what I am to you then, a mere whim?"

"The truth is, I don’t know what you are to me," I said in a clear voice.

Eric straightened his back, crossed his arms, and watched me silently.

"Let’s not drag this out any longer, shall we?" I proposed. "Let’s finish what we were doing so your mother doesn’t get suspicious, and we can get out of here."

I felt like I wanted to run off into the woods and run as far away from him as possible.

"Well, let’s get done," he answered me.

His eyes were dulled, and his gaze was lost in the drift as if his mind was anywhere else but here.

I stood up and walked to the refrigerator, not only to check the status of the main component but to get out of his sight. I picked up the small bottle, and already the oil was opaque, and its texture was firm.

"It’s ready," I announced.

I handed him the bottle, and he began to extract the solidified oil with a metal paddle with extreme care and deposited it in a distillery. There we refined the oil and obtained the essence.

"All right, now let’s make the fragrance," I said, "Would you like to add anything else to it?"

He looked at the shelf with the little fragrance bottles and pulled out the jasmine essence.

"This one," he announced.

I scrunched up my face at his choice since it didn’t make much sense to me. I was thinking more along the lines of more common scents like cinnamon or vanilla that go very well with coconut.

"Why that choice?" I asked him.

"It’s a scent that gives me peace," he replied seriously and focused on his product.

He took the ingredients and began the process on his own. He did it naturally and with such confidence that I was surprised that he didn’t ask for help at all. It was as if he memorized all the steps I did yesterday and repeated them in sequence without making a mistake.

"You could add a little more alcohol to soften its smell or a little more adhesive to make the effect last longer," I said.

"I think this will do just fine," he said, packaging the product in a plastic container.

"Won’t you test it?" I asked.

"It spilled a little on my hand when I was packaging it," he replied. "I already inadvertently tasted it."

I brought my nose close to his hand to smell the result.

"By the Goddess Moon, it smells better than I thought it would," I said, genuinely intrigued. "The scents blend in nicely, and it reminds me of late summer when the trees start to drop their leaves, and they give off a still fresh and pure scent."

I looked at his kissable lips as he said each word, his sculpted body marked by those custom-made clothes, and I couldn’t think of anything else but falling into his arms. He kept talking, but my brain ignored his words only to focus on all of Eric’s attractive features.

He made a line with his lips. "I hope you mean something good," he said. "Well, I guess that’s it for this class."

I looked at him again and started to melt for him, so before I got carried away again, I ran out of the place without saying goodbye to lock myself in my room, the one safe place where Eric couldn’t seduce me. But where my thoughts made me long for him the most.

Once in my room, I went to get my cell phone to catch up with my son and my business because even though I was here, I still had things to attend to on the outside.

I had several calls requested from Larry and three messages from him with the urgent label that I completely ignored. I didn’t feel like answering him, I used to do it out of obligation, out of the need to fit in with the women around me, but after seeing Eric and feeling him, I can’t think of anything else.

My thoughts stopped when I received a video call from my son, which I answered immediately.

"Hi, my baby. I miss you so much!" I said with relief when I saw him.

"Hi mommy, I miss you so much too... when are you coming home?" he asked me, crinkling his chin and wide-eyed.

"Honey, I’ll be home in two days, I promise," I said. "I’ve been very busy, and that’s why I haven’t called you sooner."

He nodded. "I know, mommy, I know you are very busy. I want you to know that I love you very much, and I want to see you soon."

"I love you very much, too," I said. "Could you put Nani on for me for a moment?"

He gave me a smile showing me the tooth that hadn’t come in yet, and I blew him a kiss.

"Hello, ma’am," Nani greeted with a green mask plastered all over her face. "Sorry about this. I was just relaxing."

"No, it’s okay. I want to know how everything has been at the house," I said, holding in my laughter because she looked so funny.

"Very calm, ma’am. Elliot already did his homework, and I wanted to teach him to add. He learned everything in less than a day. I’m impressed how fast he learns," she commented, making my heart cuddle with love just knowing that my son was an extraordinary and very smart boy.

"Thank you for all you do. You are the best babysitter in the world," I told her.

"One other thing before I hang up. Yesterday Larry came by looking for you, and I told him you were out of town. He looked a little worried," she said.

"Thanks for the heads up," I said. "I’ll take care of it."

Elliot stuck his cheek by accident on Nanis’, wanting to see me before saying goodbye, and I couldn’t hold back my laughter.

"I love you so much, baby," I said, "Bye Nani, I’ll be seeing you guys real soon; take care."

I hung up the call and lay back, looking at the ceiling. The phone vibrated again with another message from Larry, starting with ’Hi beautiful,’ and after that, I didn’t want to read anymore. I blocked the screen and lost track of time thinking about Eric. I touched my lips and imagined it was his lips kissing me. I didn’t force myself to push those thoughts away. This time I embraced them and enjoyed them.

He was the man for me, I wanted him, and I wished everything was different, that I could tell him about Elliot and we could start a family, living here, in my house, or wherever. All I wanted was the three of us.

"Mrs. North, are you awake?" one of the maids knocked on the door.

"Yes, I’m here," I replied, getting out of bed.

"There is no need for you to come out. I just want to inform you that Mr. Patric Night has arrived at the house and has arranged a special dinner to meet you. The meal will be served at nine," she announced.

Her voice faded in my head, and I was afraid. My father used to say that Patric was a very cunning Alpha and his greatest rival. He always told stories of their battles and how they always came close to murdering each other. My concept of him was that of a monster equal to, if not worse than, my father.

"I’d love to, but I don’t have proper clothes," I said.

"Check the closet. There are plenty," she said and went down the hall.

The room could easily accommodate a family, and although I had been here for two days, I had limited myself to using the bathroom and the bed, so it never crossed my mind to check the closet.

My feet hurt because I hadn’t taken off my shoes all day, so I took the opportunity to take them off and walk on the soft carpet that covered the entire floor of the room to the closet, which, when I opened it, turned out to be almost the size of my room.

So this is how rich people spend their money.

There were vintage clothes and designer brands such as Versace, Carolina Herrera, and others. All the pieces of clothing were still with tags and protective plastic. All were women’s and, coincidentally, my size. There was no doubt this was Eric’s doing.

I looked at the phone, and the clock read 19:31. It was too late, considering how long it took me to get ready, and it was not the time to make a bad impression by being late.

I ran to the bathroom, and while covering my hair with a shower bonnet, I let the tub fill with hot water. I sank into it and took a deep but quick bath with scented balms from my latest line of personal care products, scented with spring flowers.

I got out of the bath, toweled off, and looked in the mirror, feeling sexy. I couldn’t help but think about Eric and how he would touch me, so I went to the closet to look for an appropriate but not-so-conservative dress that Eric would like.

After searching and trying on several dresses, I decided on a forest green color, long but with a slit in the leg, and a high neck with an open back. I wore low platforms of the same color and a simple necklace, and I gathered my hair in a bun.

I looked at myself in the mirror, arranged my unruly hair, and painted my lips burgundy.

I looked at the clock, and it was five minutes to twenty-one. I took one last look at myself and walked, taking confident steps to the dining room with my head held high.

"So you’re the woman both my wife and son keep talking about," said a middle-aged man with quite a bit of gray hair on his head, dark eyes, tall, and with the biggest, most muscled forearms I’d ever seen in my life.

Lydia stood beside him, clutching his hand. She was wearing a long dress with wine-colored sleeves and with a black pearl necklace adorning her neck.

"It’s nice to finally meet you," I said, shaking his hand. "You must be Mr. Patric."

He took my hand, gave it a subtle kiss, and returned a smile.

"The honor is all mine," he said.

"That dress looks spectacular on you," Lydia told me after scanning me with her eyes. "Those shades flatter you."

"You look very elegant as well," I replied, "You always pick the right clothes."

She smiled so much that it was impossible for her to keep her eyes open.

"Let’s go sit down while we wait for Eric. He should be here any minute," Patric said, looking at his gold watch.

I sat next to her at the other end of the table, facing Patric because by the custom in the packs, to the right of the Alpha always sits his Luna to his left, his heir to the right, and in front of him the guest.

After we had our first glass of wine and waited a bit for Eric, he came in from the hallway wearing a light blue suit that highlighted his features. Upon seeing him, I was excited, but that was short-lived when behind him, a blonde woman came in holding his hand.

No one seemed to be surprised. In fact, everyone stood up when she greeted them. I mimicked them so as not to be disrespectful, but inside, doubts and anxiety were killing me.

Who the hell is that woman?