Chapter 11

-Percy-

He saw. Emmanuel saw. I can’t believe I let myself fall asleep- how did I even fall asleep like this in the first place? I can’t sleep around people; I’m too paranoid. 

It’s probably because he’s my mate. His presence automatically relaxes me, so I just…I’m sleep deprived and my body saw a chance.

And my mind decided to relive some distant memory or something; I don’t even remember what my nightmare was about. But I know that I was crying - I don’t even have to check my wet cheeks to know so, I can just look at Emmanuel’s expression.

This is exactly how he looked last night when he came to visit me after the nightmare. 

Snatching my hand from his- he was holding my hand apparently, I cover my face. “What…what did you see?” I whisper, wiping my eyes. Emmanuel is silent for a moment before the weight on my leg shifts but doesn’t disappear, so I’m guessing he hasn’t sat up.

Moving my fingers, I peek through them and sigh before removing my hands. Emmanuel is neither laughing at me nor looking freaked out, so that’s good. He’s just lying there on his side, his head on my leg and his hand resting lightly on my thigh next to his head, his eyes soft.

“You were crying, and making unhappy sounds. I’m sorry for waking you up- I- I didn’t know what to do. I was just trying to help,” he whispers, flicking his eyes to the side and breaking our eye contact. 

Oh.

That was nice of him. 

Placing my hand back on his shoulder, I stare up at the ceiling before meeting his eyes again. “Thank you, Emmanuel…how are you feeling?” I ask, carefully moving his hair out of his eyes where it lands in his eyes. 

He blinks a few times before smiling awkwardly. “Oh yeah. I’m- yeah. I’m good. Sorry for um. Passing out when we were trying to talk. I’m conscious now if you want to talk?” 

I can’t stop myself from snorting slightly at his nonchalance about what just happened to him. “We can talk now if you’d like, but it can- it can wait. I’m guessing you only just woke up- oh. Unless you were just watching me sleep for a bit.”

Emmanuel goes bright pink and he refuses to meet my eye. Oh. I see. “I wasn’t- I was just! It- ! Maybe a little,” he eventually concludes, chewing on his lip. 

I turn my head to the side so that he can’t see my smile.

“So, um. Earlier you said you were looking for me. Let’s talk before something interrupts us again, like someone else passing out.”

Turning back to look at Emmi, I think about all the things I want to talk to him about. There’s still how him sleeping with other people makes me feel, there’s everything about me and what I’ve been through, there’s my pack, there’s the fact that I don’t have a wolf anymore, the fact that i’m essentially a human now, that I can’t shift, that I can’t see in the dark, that I can’t scent him, that I don’t have fangs and claws and that I don’t heal quickly.

I’m just a human with a bond. 

That’s all I am now.

If my wolf hadn’t died, I might’ve been able to keep my leg. If my wolf hadn’t died…

There’s so much to talk to Emmi about.

So, I pick one thing and ask that first. “What’s your favourite colour?”

My mate stares at me; that clearly wasn’t the question he thought I was going to ask. “Listen, we need to get to know each other and it’s weird that I don’t know the small stuff about you,” I explain. Emmanuel nods, smiling a little. “It’s actually olive green.”

My face feels hot. “You’re just saying that, aren’t you?” I ask - I mean there’s no way his favourite colour just happens to be the same colour as my eyes. He’s just pulling my leg.

“I’m being serious! Black was my favourite colour until I met you. You have beautiful eyes,” he says gently. I can’t even look at him; it’s too embarrassing. Emmanuel reaches up and taps my shoulder, bringing my attention back to him.

“What’s your favourite colour?”

I think about it. I contemplate lying and saying something totally random like neon pink (I actually do like salmon pink though) but if he’s being honest with me, I’ll be honest with him. “It’s turquoise.”

Alright, his smile was worth it. 

His eyes light up with happiness, making the turquoise glimmer. “Really?” He asks excitedly like the giant puppy he is. I don’t meet his eyes, instead staring fixedly at where my hair rests against my chest; it’s down again because I haven’t done anything with it.

“Mm.”

I can’t help loving the colour; I’d dreamt of it for so long, and it’s such a beautiful shade which I’ve now discovered looks even more lovely when Emmanuel is happy.

We sit in silence for a bit, before Emmi asks me what my favourite food is and then we essentially just start quizzing each other on our favourite things, right up until a knock sounds on the door. Keye walks in, closely followed by a woman I’ve definitely never seen before.

She looks so striking; definitely someone I would recognise if I’d met previously. She has fiery red hair, spiked up and short and deep blue eyes which take in the scene before her instantly. And by scene I mean the fact that Emmi is still lying on my leg, my hand stroking through his hair slowly whilst he’s actually smiling, which apparently doesn’t seem to happen a lot.

“Emmanuel. Keye called me about what happened. How are you feeling?” The woman asks and I twig that this woman is his mother. Great, meeting my mate’s mother on the second day of being back with my mate.

Emmi sits up from my leg instantly and his smile vanishes - he is angry. I can feel it again; the bond definitely enjoyed Emmi and I being so close physically and emotionally for the few hours we were together, and it does feel like Emmi and I are closer now.

I mean, we actually know things about each other and had a conversation, so that’s basically all of our interactions thus far times two. 

“Hello, mother. I’m just great; not that you’d actually care either way.”

Oh dear. I can feel it. Emmi’s anger steadily increasing. At this rate, he’s going to explode.