Chapter 34: Chapter 33

AN/ This is two chapters in one because I love you ;)

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“Hello”

It was the only word my tongue decided to formulate, remembering our little fight last night, right before I went to the party.

And how he had encouraged me not to go...and how I had refused to listen.

“Bunny Doc? Are you okay?” The deep voice was not as cheerful as usual, it was a little hoarse as if he had just woken up. Or perhaps he was just wary.

“Yes, Lucien” I called him by name to draw a line. He did not speak for a few heartbeats. A small sigh came from the other line and I shivered at the way the wind caressed my skin.

“I, uhm, rang you before, but you never answered. Are you sure you’re okay?” He investigated further, but his words half accessed my brain as I was considering whether I should tell him about my mate and our encounter. The fact that I only had Archie, Amaia and now Makena to confine did not help: Amaia was almost always unavailable for simple matters, Archie lived on the other side of the world and was often on some excursion in the mountains where internet connection was a luxury, and Makena ...well, discussing about my love life with her when she didn’t utter a single word about hers did not seem right.

“More or less.” I admitted touching my lips. Could the sparks be stored, somehow? Because it seemed to me that my lips were still tingling. Maybe Logan had secretly installed an electric wire under the thin skin of my lips.

“Listen, I need to talk to you about something.” He continued in a firmer voice, even though my brain was too crowded to be able to focus on Rudolph.

Between my chat with Alex, meeting my mate last night, my upcoming exam, and the bloody game, my mind felt like a whirlwind.

Nothing could compare to Ian though. Nothing was more important than my family, not even my mate. A soulmate could be the other half of my soul, but my family was my foundation, my stability. Without a proper foundation, a house could not stand, but you could have lived a perfect life in it even without half the house.

We ended up saying something at the same time:

“But not on the phone”

“I hate this”

He breathed audibly.

“What?”

“It does not matter.” I sighed, checking that Pluto was still nearby and had not been attacked by some domestic dog like last time.

“I’m just stressed out over this huge brain-cutting exam coming up and a few more thorns in my side.” I rubbed my head and for a moment my gaze moved upward. I looked at the stars decorating the darkness.

Were they laughing at our mere worries from the eternity of their heavenly homes? I would have.

“Oh okay. What is it? Maybe I can help.” At the sound of his playful voice a small smile was born . Maybe if Logan and I didn’t work out, I could always hang out with Rudolph and his mate.

“Yes, sure you could... If you were willing to listen for hours about body parts, muscles names and functions, and-” I wanted to be sarcastic, but my phone-buddy did not seem to catch on.

“Sure! If you tell me the title of the book, I’m happy to.”

My eyes widened. Not even my brother had ever offered to help me repeat the millions of names and terminology for an exam. “Come on don’t joke, it would be super boring for you.”

“And give up the chance to learn about body parts from none other than Professor Bunny Doc? Never.”

Was he flirting with me? His voice had dropped dangerously and amusement dripped from it.

I found myself blushing at the possible meaning behind his words.

“When do you need help? And what happened to those friends of yours, Tatiano or whatever his name is? Don’t you nerds study altogether?”

"Tiziano, no.” For some reason, I thought he had made the mistake on purpose. “We have already studied what we could together, but now we are at the stage of working and repeating on our own. No one has time to listen to any of us, sadly. And I need help every day actually. I will repeat the sermon every night before I go to bed so that my brain has a chance to absorb and digest the-”

I shut my mouth when I realized I was rumbling.

“I will help you-”

“Great Rudy! I might upgrade you with a new nickname for how nice and accommodating you are today!”

He chuckled softly, “You didn’t let me finish, Bunny Doc. I’ll help you if we video-call ...”

At this I frowned. Obviously, we would have had to video call each other, since I would have needed to point the finger at certain parts of the plastic body I had in my room and repeat them to him after learning them by heart.

“...But you can’t see me.”

“Why? Are you so ugly that you are afraid of causing me premature glaucoma?”

He laughed and I shivered slightly. “It depends on the point of view. But do I really need to give you a reason after I offered my help, Bunny Doc?”

He questioned me and I thought about it for a second.

This man’s nerves!

“No, as long as you can see where I point my finger at so you can correct me if I’m wrong”

“Okay, it’s settled. I’ll help you with the exam tonight. At what time?”

I checked my watch; it was getting late.

“I can go home now! It will take me 15 minutes... ” Then I remembered that Pluto needed his snack. “Oh shit,” I muttered under my breath.

“What?”

“I need to feed Pluto!”

I thought I heard a “goddamn pet”, but I was not so sure.

“Are you busy now? I can call you back later otherwise.” I asked, putting the phone on speaker. Some silence came from the other side, along with muffled sounds,

“No, no, I’m free. My roommates are out. I’ll just make some snacks in the meantime, to keep me company.” His tone was light and the smile on my face grew. Boredom was a feeling I had never experienced while talking to Rudolph. Nuisance and yet amusement alternated like day and night.

I had missed his voice and cheerfulness. There was something about talking to a friend you had never met; a kind of remote psychologist slash personal clown. And the fact that he had his own mate did not make me feel guilty about my own mate.

With my insane commitments and maniacal workload, I had never even thought of asking Rudolph to meet us in person. Besides, his pack wasn’t very close to mine.

“So, did you go to that party yesterday?” He casually asked, making my stomach clenched at the thought of ​​last night ... before I could decide what to answer, I heard a husky curse and a ruckus in the background. It sounded like pans and plates colliding.

I chuckled looking at the screen for a second. For a moment I pictured Rudolph covered in pots and pans.

“Are you okay there, Rudy?”

“Yeah,” He hissed like a cat, “My fucking roommates never clean their shit”

“What are you planning to cook?”

“Steak and chicken”

I made a face, my nose crumpled.

“What? Do you like to mix them?”

“Yeah, I mix different types of meat when I can’t decide what to eat ... and right now I don’t want to decide, I’m ravenous.” He had lowered his voice as if he were referring to something else.

“And the vegetables?” I asked more to change the subject than anything else.

“What do you think of them?” He countered casually, despite sensing a note of sarcasm. He must have started cooking as I heard some frying going on.

“Well, firstly you should eat 4 different types of vegetables every day to stay healthy.”

“That stat is probably for humans, not werewolves, Bunny Doc,” He chuckled while I rolled my eyes. His words reminded me of my father and how I had tried to add more vegetables to his red meat diet.

However, there was some truth in what Rudy had stated... there were not enough werewolves studying science and doing research, hence our scientific data was mostly based on human statistics and studies.

“But if you die soon from a lack of vegetables, you will abandon your mate and she may find a second chance mate!” It was meant to be a joke, but the reindeer didn’t join me, to my surprise. One moment he was teasing me and mixing chicken with steak and a second later there was just a ghostly silence.

“Are you still there?” I asked, noting that Pluto was trotting with a rabbit in his mouth and a happy face.

“It takes more than a few stupid green leaves to kill me.” He growled too seriously.

“Also, before I die, I will make sure to fuck her so hard that she won’t be able to mate with anyone else for the rest of her life.”

I rolled my eyes, letting out a scoff, “The exaggeration! And it’s not just about sex, Rudy.”

“No, you’re right. I will dip her in a pool of my scent for so long that it would become her new smell and replace hers.” This time he snarled louder.

Wow, he must have been quite possessive of his mate. Poor girl.

“But as a precaution, um, what vegetables do you recommend Bunny Doc?”

“Ok, which ones are you eating already?”

“Um ... does the salad inside burgers count?”

“No, it doesn’t.” I chuckled, he reminded me of my brother in some ways.

“The banana in the pancakes?”

“No!”

“Apples in an apple pie? Come on, this has to count!”

I laughed at him shaking my head. “You know that these are fruits, right?”

It was amazing how my mood had gone from a dull cloudy day to a sunny one, with a rainbow.

“And before you ask, no Rudolph, the mint in the mojito doesn’t count either”

He laughed aloud: “Who drinks that concoction anymore? We are not 16.”

“Hey! I like it!”

We went on like that for a while, with me getting irritated or scolding him and the grown-up kid on the other line making fun of me. He had the power to infuriate me one minute and die of laughter the next.

“No! No! Lucien! If you add so much cream to a soup, then the calcium in it won’t allow you to absorb the iron or other nutrients in the vegetables!” I said exasperated. Trying to explain anything to Rudolph was a mission. He must have been a terrible student; those who never listened and were constantly contradicting the teachers.

“I already have enough iron, I don’t need more.” He affirmed with confidence an ego bigger than a wereball arena.

For a second, the image of my mate crossed my mind.... He sure had enough iron ...

Shut up Yvaine!

Just shut up, you and your needy ovaries!

“So, you went to the party yesterday or not?” He inquired after a heated argument about ketchup and why it didn’t count as a vegetable.

I knew he would not forget or let the matter drop.

“I did,” I sighed, stroking Pluto absently.

At the moment, I was lying on my bed, with my legs raised and stretched out on the wall, my back on the mattress and all my hair around, staring at the plastic stars on the ceiling. I had always loved that position. Not just to boost blood circulation. Gravity as much as I thanked her for not letting us float away in the immensity of the universe and implode for lack of oxygen, was also a witch for forcing the blood down, clogging veins and blood vessels.

“And? How was it?”

“It was fine. I danced, I drank then ate two burgers.” I said in monotone, playing with the black moon on my neck.

“Is that all? Listening to you, I would have enjoyed knitting with Grandma more.”

A sigh escaped my lips.

“And I met my mate.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah... Oh"

“And? How was he? Did he talk to you? Is that why you sounded so sad before when I called you? Or did your brain fuse with your heart after you saw him?” He said haughtily.

“Rudolph! My brain is fine as well as my heart!”

“I was just worried your mate might-”

“Why do you care so much about my mate? Shouldn’t you think about yours?” Before he could answer, I continued even though it seemed to me that he was enjoying my distress.

“I’m worried about her. Having to listen to your daily gibberish, poor victim of Moon Goddess”

“Yeah, yeah, sure.” He said carelessly, “So, back to your mate, was he-”

Apparently, Rudolph did not want to let go of the subject... Well then. I swallowed my pride before speaking out loud.

“Okay, fine, if you want the truth, I hated him. He’s the biggest jerk in the history of the jerks and for a moment I thought I’d track him and reject him.”

It was not quite true, but I was blinded with rage and resentment, worn out, and with several hours of ‘Advanced Anatomy’ waiting for me. Without mentioning the lack of sleep.

For a moment I did not notice the silence that had followed my words.

“Rudolph? Are you still here? “I raised an eyebrow and looked at the phone.

The screen indicated 45 minutes and he was still on the line.

“Um, you don’t mean that, do you? Nobody rejects a mate, Yvaine.” He laughed nervously, out of breath.

“I thought about it when my lovely mate abandoned me right in the middle of the party, after he tried to kiss me.”

“Tried? What do you mean by ‘tried’?” There was something in his voice that I couldn’t quite put a finger on.

“You seemed startled, Rudy. Can’t my mate try to kiss me?”

I blushed thinking about my half-lie. I touched my lips, remembering the kiss, and sighed with nostalgia and desire.

None had warned me about the addiction after a kiss with your soul mate. Where heart and brain aligned and, for once, agreed to one more kiss and then another and then another, until they were consumed. Like the tragic love story between flame and candle, eternal lovers destined to kill each other in their burning passion.

“Yes, sure he can, but your statement implies that you had refused the kiss... Did you?”

“No, I didn’t.” I said with a swallow.

“And?”

“Okay, it was the best kiss in kissing history.” I told Lucien who chuckled breathlessly.

“But that doesn’t erase the fact that he just disappeared leaving me there, with my mouth open catching flies and disappointments! I really did hate him for a second there.”

“Do you know what they say, no? There is a fine line between love and hate, Bunny Doc” he stated the well-known fact.

“This is just a quote to make people feel better when they cannot accept that they are not wanted or likable.” I retorted with annoyance.

He muttered something under his breath, but I ignored it and continued.

“It’s unbelievable! One moment he was there with me and treated me like he loved me, and then puah! Disappeared into thin air! Who does that to their mates? Just the biggest jerk ever! Oh! And do you know what else he did?”

“What else?” Rudolph asked, amusement laced in his husky voice.

I pursed my lips for a second, was I his source of entertainment?!

“Well, I found this pretty necklace around my neck and I suddenly remembered how we had danced and kissed and I couldn’t hate him that much anymore. He gives me such a headache!”

“Whatever you say, Bunny” he sounded more amused than ever and his voice sounded deeper than ever. “Whatever you say.”

“I hope you’re luckier with your mate,” I sighed feeling upset again. I would like to blame the hormones, or the arrival of my menstrual period. But I knew better.

“So, he gave you a necklace, um? Can I see it?”

I frowned at that, “Why?”

“Well... I-I need gift ideas and I, err, I want to see what, hum, how it looks like...”

Maybe it was because he had stammered for the first time ever, or because of his mysterious embarrassment, or maybe it was because I couldn’t be upset with Rudolph for too long, but I found myself laughing.

“This is the laugh I wanted to hear” He chuckled in a low voice.

So, I took a selfie, showing my face and my neck with the necklace around it and then sent it to him. This time I just smiled slightly and didn’t care about the dark circles under my eyes or hair tied in an old bun.

He asked me if I had ever taken off the necklace and told me that it looked good on me and that my mate had taste. But he didn’t want to give me any explanation as to why he wanted to see it or what ‘gift ideas’ he had in mind.

“I’m sure there’s a perfectly plausible explanation for why he left.” Rudolph stated after a while.

Moving off the bed, I sat cross-legged on the floor of my room, leafing through my book, and looking for the pdf copy to send him. We were about to work together. Lucien would ask me about names or certain functions of muscles or organs, and I would repeat everything to him in detail while he would check if it was correct, thanks to the pdf I was about to forward to him.

“Yes, I think he ran away because Lachlan was there”, I giggled before a shocked face replaced my smiling one. “Oh my god! He could be afraid of my twin! You’re so right Rudolph.”

He snorted loudly as if he didn’t agree at all. “I don’t think so, and I had never said that.”

“Bunny Doc, maybe he just wanted to mark you or couldn’t keep his hands off your tight little dress. Your juicy clever innocent brain has thought of that, hmm?”

My eyes widened at this, “How do you know?”

He coughed once before speaking again: “Well, because I wanted to mark my mate as soon as I saw her. It’s a natural impulse.” He said cryptically before changing topic and asked me if I had sent the pdf or not.

“You sure don’t waste time” I muttered then remembered something he had said, “But how do you know I was wearing a dress?”

“Don’t all girls wear dresses when they go out?” he said unimpressed.

“Well no. Some of us wear shorts or skirts too.”

“Same thing.”

I chuckled and dropped the topic before dark thoughts flooded my mind once again.

“He probably has a harem or a cave with girls in his pack. That’s why he left.”

“Ivy, Ivy...are you jealous again?” He sighed.

“I’m not jealous of his girls!” I hissed, shutting the heavy book, shoving it under the bed so I wasn’t tempted to look for the answers when Rudolph examined me.

“Yet you still feel the need to comment on it”

True.

“So, how’s your mate?” I asked, changing the topic. If he had noticed it, fortunately he did not point it out to me.

“Mmmh, well, she’s the most breath-taking girl out there.”

I smiled at that, placing my head on the bed behind me.

“With the most stunning blue eyes, I could stare at them for hours as much as I was drawn to those ocean depths. And her hair reminded me of autumn. My favorite season.”

Autumn was also my favorite season!

And my eyes were blue too.

Would my mate also think of the ocean when he sees mine?

“I didn’t know you were such a poet,” I taunted, trying to push back the pinch of jealousy at how sweet he was towards his mate. He chuckled at my semi compliment, sounding a little embarrassed.

“She is also the smartest person I’ve ever met. Do you know that she is also studying to become a doctor, just like you?”

I scoffed. A doctor. Please.

“Well, dear Rudolph, for your information I’m not studying to become a doctor,” I clarified. Not to be full of myself, but doctors only had to study six years while I had another 5 years more of joy and obese books.

“But a neurosurgeon. There is a little difference, you know. For example, the extra 5 years of- ”

“Same same.” He chuckled and I imagined an evil smirk on his face.

“So, what are you going to do with your mate?” He asked after a while, after I had explained to him briefly how to interrogate and question me.

“What do you think I should do?” I sighed. “I shouldn’t reject him... But he’s such a mystery. And Dark Diamond’s future Alpha. My brother could ‘un-sister’ me or, worse, kick him hard.”

“Definitely don’t reject him.” He suddenly became tense.

“Calm down Rudy! Since when are you such a fan of mates?”

“Since I met mine,” he said impassively.

My heart cried silent tears. The feeling of helplessness, unwanted acceptance overwhelmed me again. Invisible hands that belonged to the Lord of Panic gripped my throat.

“Does your mate know you spend so much time talking to me?” I asked him after more than an hour on the phone.

“Nahh she doesn’t mind, she’s open minded....and here’s a rhyme for you, Bunny Doc”

“It’s not a rhyme it’s a repetition” I chuckled, stretching my arms above my head.

“Same thing.”

“What’s her name?” I asked after laughing at him. The question wasn’t supposed to be that hard but apparently it was for Rudy.

“She’s called, err, amazing”

"Amazing?” I frowned at that.

“Yeah, I mean she’s not amazing, but her name is - I mean her name is as amazing as she is.”

I laughed again at his tangled reasoning, “So what’s her name? Have you forgotten?”

“Her name is-” he coughed- “Eniavav.”

“Eniavav?” I raised my eyebrows. Never heard such a name.

“Yeah” There was laughter in his voice as if he was hiding a secret with the gang of devils living in his head.

“It doesn’t seem that amazing to me” I honestly stated, “It’s a weird name”

“Well, she’s not from here,” He defended his mate and I smiled at that.

“So, are you going to video call me or are you cowering away because you’re not prepared, Bunny Doc?”

With a mischievous grin, after checking that I didn’t have chocolate spread on my face and that I was presentable enough, I switched the normal phone-call to the video-call option, for our study session.

He did not say anything at first and I thought he could not see or hear me, or that he was having trouble connecting to the video.

So, I decided to stare at the black screen with my hand under my chin, waiting, tapping the finger on my lip. There seemed to be a connection...

When he finally confirmed he could see me and hear me perfectly, we began.

In the end, we spent the next three hours repeating endless names, giving names to fake organs that I showed him from the video, and him correcting or helping me, occasionally making a few jokes and easing the situation.

And I had to admit that I’ve never enjoyed studying so much until now.

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Next update: on Sunday

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