Matteo stood in his room, his back to the door as he faced the moonlit property outside his large bedroom window. It had been a long, painful night of nursing his injuries, but his leg didn't hurt nearly as much as his heart did. With Xander gone, it would be easier to keep the peace but he didn't like exiling his own pack members. It felt wrong to him, as if he should have been able to assert his authority without it boiling down into a one-on-one power struggle. He sighed wearily. And then there was Sylvie. So much of what had happened revolved around her, it was impossible not to think about her.
His acute hearing picked up quiet footsteps on the floor just outside his door. He knew those footsteps.
"Hello, Sylvie," he said quietly without turning around.
Sylvie entered without a word, shutting the door carefully behind her. She stood by the door, as far away as possible from the other form in the room. Glancing at Matteo's large bed, a light blush crept up to her cheeks as she recalled the last time she was there. At least two years. Maybe more. Had it really been that long? For a fleeting moment, she was reminded of the passionate embrace, the kisses, tender caresses…and yet they had not mated. It was an easier time then, when their relationship didn't need to be defined as being mates or not. She looked away. How had things gotten so out of control?
Matteo noticed that she wasn't going to speak first. He sighed and turned around. His heart clenched at the sight of her. She looked beautiful, as always, but so sad. Her heartbreak was written all over her face, as was guilt. He crossed the room, limping, and stood silently before her. Sylvie refused to meet his eyes, looking down at the floor.
"Sylvie," he whispered, taking her hands gently in his.
She looked up, her emerald eyes brimming with tears. Her lower lip quivered as she opened her mouth to speak.
"I'm sorry," she said.
Matteo released one of her hands to cup her cheek, wiping her tears with his thumb.
"For what?" he asked, knowing there seemed to be a million things she could be apologizing for.
"For everything. For Xander. I don't know. But I'm so sorry," she sobbed. Matteo now held her head in his hands. He kissed her forehead.
"It's not your fault. It was Xander's decision to challenge me and Xander's decision to leave."
"But he fought you over me."
Matteo was silent and Sylvie knew she was right. Xander had been lobbying for the position of pack leader for a while and she was last straw. She knew it was because Matteo did not punish her, as Xander and Ophelia wanted, for her most recent meatboy lover. Thus, Xander challenged Matteo, claiming, as always, that he was too weak to lead.
"Matteo –" she pulled back, holding his hands at the wrists.
"Why, Sylvie?" he cut her off suddenly. His voice was strained.
She bit her lip, sensing the reprimand in his tone.
"Help me to understand. As much as I hate to admit it, your brother made a good point. Why the humans?
Ashamed, Sylvie looked away. "I don't know."
Matteo pulled his hands away and threw them up in exasperation. He ran a hand through his hair, limping away from her. He covered his mouth and looked back at her.
"I've waited for you, Sylvie. You have to know that by now."
"I've always known that."
"Then why the humans?! What is it that I have not been able to give you?"
His voice was rising, but it wasn't so much in anger as it was desperation. A silence fell on the two of them as the air crackled with things left unsaid.
"I love you, Sylvie," Matteo said softly.
"I know."
"Then why?" He asked again, everything about him reading defeat. Sylvie shook her head miserably. Without another word, she turned and fled the room.
Completely distraught, she ran as far away from that room as fast as she could. She knew she had brought all of this onto herself. She had to make things right again. Maybe she would leave for a while, removed herself from the situation until the heat died down. Maybe she'd go live in the mountains for a while, get the human out of her system.
She stopped abruptly and stared at her hands. Her human hands – long fingered and slender, like a pianist's. She thought about them when they were paws – what they looked liked, how different they were…how different she was. She curled her delicate hands into tight fists. She shook her head, ashamed of the guilt she felt about her wolf form and how far gone she seemed to be.
She was an addict – to what, she wasn't entirely sure. She craved her humans like a drug – something in their essence – smell, feel, taste – appealed to a side of her that existed as uninhibited and primal. But, when allowed to be acknowledged, Matteo appealed to a different side of her – something beyond primal, back to the ancient time when her kind received the Gift of the Moon.
Thinking back to what Vivian had said, something she came to learn the hard way was … "when we love someone we want our lover in both our skin and our fur." That was the connection she had with Matteo – his love for her as a wolf and a woman. Of course he'd be understanding; he shared the same life.
As much as it pained her to admit, Xander's twisted reasoning possessed a pebble of truth. Filled with sudden resolve, she flew down the stairs towards the front door. She knew what she had to do. It was so simple, she wondered why she hadn't seen it that way before.
Sylvie was so absorbed by her thoughts that she failed to notice the two forms lurking in the shadows as she passed them. Gabriella and Gisela stepped into the dim light after Sylvie had disappeared through the front door. The twins exchanged a glance, the identical blue eyes reflecting silver. Moving as one, they slipped outside, exchanging their pale skin for gray and white pelts as they moved, and followed after her, as silently as shadows.
Sylvie inadvertently led them straight into town. She let herself into one of the buildings in an apartment complex and climbed up the stairs. Her stalkers looked on with hungry looks, their maws open and tongues lolling out. They exchanged excited glances as all of their senses were focused on Sylvie standing in front of an apartment. They heard her knock and watched intently.
A moment later, the scent of human male hit them like a strong gust of wind. A handsome young man opened the door. He saw Sylvie and smiled. They spoke briefly, the young man frowning slightly as he stepped back to let her into the apartment. The door closed behind her. Their tails wagging, Gabriella and Gisela shared a look: the meat-boy.