James felt like an idiot. Did he stare at her breasts and got caught? Since when was he not able to control such a simple thing like where he was looking? It seemed that his years of watching his actions went down the drain in front of Cornelia, and the fact that his wolf was restless was not helping.
"Did I offend you? I apologize.", James said.
Cornelia approved of his docile behavior. "I am not offended. Why are you here?" She thought that their interaction ended in the garden.
"You didn't tell me your name."
"Cornelia."
"Cornelia.", James repeated. "Can I call you Cora?"
Cornelia blinked. No one ever gave her a nickname. Others used her full name, or 'sister' or 'priestess'. "Is my name so bad that you want to shorten it?"
"I like Cornelia, but I think that nickname makes it more intimate. People who are close get to use nicknames."
"And you think we are close?"
"Two minutes ago, you said we are mates. It doesn't get closer than that."
Cornelia thought how that made sense, but… "There is no point in clinging to what I said if you don't feel it."
"But you can feel it, right? Can you tell me about it? How can you feel it when you don't have a wolf?" He was genuinely curious.
To Cornelia, it was obvious that James was interested in her, but that was not what she wanted. Cornelia lived for centuries with her sisters from the Coven, and she was not looking for a casual companion. She was hoping for a soulmate, someone who will worship her, and she will do the same in return, someone who will look at her how Axel looked at Yasmin, and if this boy couldn't feel the bond, he could find other women or abandon her completely, and that would break her heart. How Cornelia saw this, it was better not to start anything.
Cornelia grew up with teachings that a soulmate was not about sex and having babies, but it was about acceptance, care, protection, and making each other happy. Over the years, Cornelia imagined her soulmate as tall, short, slim, chubby, male, female, and on a few occasions, she even imagined a plant. But she never thought it would be someone too young to identify their bond. Sure, if James was human he wouldn't feel the bond anyway, but he was a werewolf, and as such he should know better than a witch when his other half was in front of him.
With all that in mind, Cornelia decided not to answer his questions.
"What's the point? No matter what I say, there is no way to prove it. Or will you believe a stranger who approached you with a story that you might be soulmates?"
James agreed with this. If he neglected the attraction, there was definitely no reason to believe her, and he shouldn't throw caution out the window just because she was gorgeous. Dozens of females told him stories about how they were destined to be together, with promises that it will benefit them both if he picked them as his chosen mate, all in the hopes of being the next Luna of the Red Moon pack.
What if Cornelia was just a woman who was after power and status? He shouldn't ignore that possibility.
"So, now what?", James asked.
"Now, nothing. You go your way, and I will go mine."
Cornelia gave him a sad smile and moved around him to go to the packhouse. She didn't want to go back to the room that felt cramped no matter how big it was, but she didn't want to stay outside with James either. The pull was definitely there, but he couldn't feel it, and it gave her a feeling of rejection that was cracking her heart.
James couldn't believe this. "Wait! You are leaving?"
Cornelia stopped in her tracks and turned to face him. "Don't tell me you expected me to stay? If I understood you correctly, you won't know for at least two years if the person in front of you is your mate or not. If we are mates, and it's destined, we will meet again."
Maybe this encounter was nature's way of telling Cornelia that she was not ready for a soulmate, or maybe that she won't ever find that ideal she was hoping for. After all, if James was her soulmate, she should accept him even if he was too young to feel the bond, but Cornelia was not willing to put herself out there if the other party won't do the same in return. Somehow, it didn't seem right.
And just like that, Cornelia turned and left James behind to stand there and gape in disbelief.
"James!"
A call from a female got his attention and James' insides tightened when he realized it was his sister. Why was Marcy here? Shouldn't she be confined in another house? What the hell happened while he was out? It was all fine during breakfast!
Marcy walked toward James. "I saw you from the window." She gestured to the window on the second floor of the packhouse. "I thought you came here to train, not to chase women."
James stuffed his hands into his pant pockets. He was surprised by Marcy's unexpected appearance, but he had no intention of showing it.
"And I thought you came here to become Luna, and not to spy on me."
Marcy blinked. "I was not spying. I couldn't sleep and I saw you accidentally." Marcy's lips lifted into a smile. "Who is she? Someone important? As the future Luna of the Dark Howlers pack, I can set you up." Marcy ended with a wink.
"I don't need your help with women."
"Did I see it wrongly, or did she leave you behind?", Marcy asked teasingly. "One would assume that your identity as the future Alpha would be enough to have women dying to get their hands on you, yet this one left. Topless, but she still left. Or was she not to your taste?"
James fought against the rage that swelled inside him. Why was Marcy talking about Cornelia when she had no idea what actually happened?
"Why are you here, Marcy?", James asked stiffly. "Shouldn't you be hiding in the other house?" He really wanted to know the answer to this question.
"Alpha Damon said that the danger is over so there is no need for me to lay low."
"He is back?"
"Yes. And the first thing he did was to move me here, and then we had dinner and walk in the garden." Marcy didn't want to talk about how that walk ended. It was not important, but she had another question, "Did you know that Commander George found his mate?"
"Yes. Dawn. What about it?"
"Nothing.", Marcy said quickly.
She hoped that the stiff answer from James meant he didn't know what happened between her and George. Considering how close James and George were, if James didn't know, no one else knew either. It will be George's word against Marcy's. The only thing George had on Marcy was that he took her v-card, but Marcy was confident that after she sleeps with Damon and cuts herself so that some blood ends on the bedsheets, the point of who took her virginity won't be important and she will be free from George blackmailing her.
With that, Marcy decided to change the topic. "I'm excited about tomorrow."
"What's tomorrow?"
Marcy smiled widely. "Alpha Damon will announce to the world that I will be his Luna."
James knew that was the plan. Tomorrow, they will drop the final bomb on Marcy where she will realize that she was manipulated and used as a decoy, but the fact that Marcy was in the packhouse rubbed James the wrong way. That was not part of his plan, and if this was different, who knows what else changed? There were too many variables, and he needed more information, but Marcy's head was in the clouds, and she obviously didn't know what really happened.
"Since the big announcement will happen tomorrow, I suggest you get good rest. The news about the Dark Howlers pack getting their Luna will go viral. People will want to know more about you. The WW Magazine will definitely request an interview and a lot of photos. You shouldn't allow people to see you with dark circles under your eyes."
Marcy lifted her hands to touch her cheeks like she was checking if she had something there. "You are right. I will go and get some beauty sleep. See you at breakfast!", Marcy ended in a singing voice and skipped into the packhouse.
