It wouldn't take long before she had wrapped his soul, his entire being, around her little finger.

If I thought the car ride from the Amor quarters to the castle of Sensus was long, I was mistaken. Boy I was so, so wrong.
And I only found out when we weren't even close to halfway to the Fortis pack. We had already been driving for over seven hours, most likely driving way past the speed limit. There weren't a lot of people with us, and worst of all, theydrove in another car.
I was on my own with Aericon – who by the way hadn't even said officially to me that that was his name and that I could call him like that – in an awfully quiet car.
I wanted to turn on the radio so bad, I wanted to sing along with songs I didn't know the lyrics to, but I couldn't. I just couldn't make myself move my hand to turn up the volume or change the station, scared that he wouldn't like it.
So we just sat and drove in silence.
Complete, utter silence.
Awkward, uncomfortable silence.
And oh God I was bored out of my mind. While laying in bed all day at least I had things to do every once in a while. I could read a book, call my parents, Francis or James, keep up appearances that I was happy with my mate.
Well, I was, but not as much as I had hoped.
I mean there was some progress, but he still didn't dare smile at me, talk tome, or show any signs of affection out of the moments I had an episode.
It was only after ten hours of looking at the trees whoosh by, that he spoke tome for the first time during the whole ride.
"In a couple of hours, we will be arriving in the Fortis pack. It is the pack of Power, of Strength, so they are strict, buff, and mean. The Alpha, Alpha Ethan, is a man that does not believe in the additional value of women other than for creating babies. He believes they should not have an opinion, that they should not be involved in important matters such as dealing with pack issues. Therefore, you'll most likely be with the other Luna's during the various meetings. Behave yourself, don't make a fool out of yourself, as this will reflect badly on me. Alpha Ethan is a good and worthy ally, I don't want to ruin that. Understood?"
I nodded. Of course I understood. It was common knowledge that many of the prior Alpha's thought that way. Even though all packs had new Alpha's for a couple of years, some of them still shared opinions with the old ones.
"I didn't hear you."
"Yes, understood," I mumbled.
"Understood what?" His voice was cold as ever. "In the Fortis pack, I demand the same respect from you as I expect from any other pack member. We are not fully mated, so until then I am your Alpha. Only your Alpha."
"Understood, Alpha," I whispered even quieter than before, trying to ignore the ache in my heart at this form of rejection.
"Good."
I was blinking the tears out of my eyes for the remaining hours of the car ride, just looking at the blurry images of the trees.

"Welcome to the Fortis pack, Alpha Aericon of the Sensus pack." The man that welcomed us, looked like a soldier. He was tall, muscular and had an extremely cold face. An expression that looked scarily alike to the one my Alpha wore. If I thought I couldn't read the emotions of that face, I was wrong. I could always at least sense what he was feeling. I think.
But now? It was a complete mystery to me. I couldn't detect if he was pleased with the way he was spoken to. I didn't know if he was annoyed by the fact thatI didn't say a thing. He was like a book. Just not a normal book
Normally, I could read books. I mean, I had never been a good judge of character, but at least I thought I could sense something.
His face was now like a book that was locked as a diary, then put behind bars in the most secured prison cell on the other side of the world. In the dark.  
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't figure out this expression.
"Follow me, Sir, I will lead you and the Miss to your chambers. You are to settle in later, according to the Alpha's orders. The meetings are about to start and Alpha Ethan requires your presence as much as he requires the Alpha of the Sapientiae and Iustitia packs."
"Naturally," Aericon spoke. "Micara, join me. Servants will take your luggage to the room."
I followed him without a word. This may have been an act of defiance, an act my dear mate surely didn't want, but I just couldn't help it. At least I made sure to obey his orders and scurry along with him, my head bowed down in utter submission.
"I presume we are allowed some time to freshen up and change after our long travel?" Aericon asked the soldier with an intimidating gaze once we were shown our room. The soldier didn't look spooked at his face at all, and just nodded stiffly. "No more than half an hour, however, Sir, Alpha Ethan has requested your presence during the meetings." Was it really necessary he repeated that over and over? I rolled my eyes secretly, hoping no one noticed.
"We won't be longer than ten minutes, right Micara?"
"Yhea. Right," I answered. "Alpha."

After my short act of defiance, that Aericon had completely ignored, by the way, I decided I should be nice, obedient and submissive if I ever wanted him to love me back the way I loved him. I stared dreamily at his broad shoulders as I put on my heels after my short shower.
"You almost ready Micara?"
I nodded.
"Great. Come here for a second," he ordered with a soft voice.
I complied willingly and started wobbling over on these heels, that were obviously way to high. Quite unexpectedly, he pulled me into a hug as soon as I came closer, and I just relished in it. It felt heavenly, being able to touch him, smell his masculine scent and feel his strong arms around me. "I won't be around for a few hours, probably, so this hug should help with the mate-loss syndrome for a while," he muttered in my hair.
"Thank you," I whispered. He cared, I knew it.
"Come on, we should go, we have been at least fifteen minutes now, so we are late. You have your phone with you?"
I nodded again.
"Good. Don't hesitate to call me if you have a bad episode and it really can't wait any longer, okay?" Did I hear worry seep into his tone? That is definitely a good sign. I sighed softly and replied to him. "Yes, Alpha, I will."
Oh how I hoped I would once say these words in another context.
Maybe soon, maybe soon.