My Arrogant Mate
Chapter 22

There was a short silence between us, in which we stared at each other, lost in thought, until his gaze fell on my bathrobe and he smiled crookedly at me. "I'll pick out some of my clothes for you. I hope you're okay with that."

Overwhelmed by his politeness, I would have liked to roll my eyes immediately, but for now I put it aside with my provocations and just nodded silently. I had no way of knowing when his mood would change again.

As he then disappeared down the hall, I carefully bent down and grabbed my fallen clothes, then hopped back down the hall with them in my arms. I was starting to feel really stupid doing it, but I had to put up with it for a few more days, willy-nilly. "Here please."

Silvan just came out of the room across from mine and wanted to hand me a stack of clothes, but since I was already holding my old ones in one hand and needed the other hand to support me on the wall, I just looked at him for help. "Give me-"

"No!", I interrupted him, startled, when he wanted to take the things I had carried, but apparently saying no was out of the question for him.

He took my clothes off with a grin, then handed me his fresh ones and then went down the stairs.

"Who actually washes the things?" I called after him, still embarrassed, whereupon I only heard him laugh out loud.

"Don't worry! I don't," he called back, and when I stopped for a moment to think about him, I was kind of pissed that he hadn't just accepted my no.

He was an alpha, of course, and given his rank, he's probably never had to take no for an answer, but he didn't know me yet. I could be more stubborn than the stubborn donkey and thinking about it, I realized that we were never going to work out. At least not without endless arguments.

Exhaling heavily, I entered my new room and closed the door behind me, then sat on the bed in the back corner and took a closer look at his clothes.

"Seriously?" I whispered, holding a pair of black boxer shorts in my hands. Did he really think that would be the right underwear for me? I immediately threw them on the floor in front of me and didn't even think about putting them on. It was absolutely unacceptable for me to put something so intimate on my body from someone else.

I stripped off my robe, then slipped on my oversized black sweater, which to my advantage at least felt soft against my skin, and then pulled on his black sweatpants and his black socks.

Super dress style.

I looked like a perfectly dressed burglar. All that was missing was a black cap.

"Are you done?" he knocked on the door and I took a deep breath to prepare myself for a conversation I didn't know where it would go.

"Yes," I answered loudly and he entered the room with my crutch in his hand.

"I like it," he immediately smiled, leaning against the wall next to the door to look me up and down with his dark irises.

"What exactly?" I asked skeptically and immediately folded my arms to make my discomfort towards him clear to him. "My clothes on your body."

He spoke so calmly, it was almost a breath, and yet I caught my breath at his words.

His expression...as if I were his greatest seduction, he stood there, sweeping his wide, dark irises over every inch of my body.

I was extremely uncomfortable and quickly avoided his gaze to focus on something else.

When I then looked down in front of me, I immediately saw the boxer shorts and just looking at them and feeling his eyes on me made me so hot that I couldn't think straight anymore. My heart was beating like crazy, my breathing quickened and even my hands started to sweat a little at that moment.

What effect did he have on me...

I remembered the blonde playing in his hair, almost drooling, and couldn't even be mad at her. He had the power to make a woman feel certain things that threw everything inside her. "Are you okay, Jade?" I heard him whisper and looked over at him again. It was only then that I noticed that he was no longer leaning against the wall, but was standing right in front of me. "Yeah, why?" I tried to come across as cool and disinterested, then bit my lower lip nervously.

"Because you're sweating and your cheeks are burning."

He knew it.

He knew exactly what I was feeling and it was now up to me to take the wind away from under his sails.

"Had to think of a boy from my school," I grinned up at him and was pleased that all the color suddenly drained from his face. He didn't really think I would let myself be wrapped around his finger that easily. "Who is-"

"I'm hungry," I interrupted boldly, then took my crutch from him and stood up, holding it.

He said nothing more. Just eyed me and then growled softly before running ahead of me and waiting by the stairs.

"Would you like me to help you?" he asked and I immediately shook my head.

"You always come down somehow," I said triumphantly and felt completely superior to him at that moment. While he was an Alpha, I realized that through the Mate connection he was dependent on me and I just had to take advantage of that. I carefully handed him my crutch and then hopped down step by step, only to open my eyes wide in surprise when I reached the bottom. "Silvan, what is all this?"

I stood frozen at the end of the stairs with my mouth open and looked for him.

"I thought you'd like it."

Unfortunately I really liked it!

****

There was a huge cream cake on the kitchen counter, decorated with so many candles that just looked good enough to eat.

There were a lot of colorful balloons floating above me on the ceiling and I immediately saw several wrapped gifts on the small coffee table. How did he do it?

"Didn't you have dinner with the blonde?",. I asked, still amazed and looked over at him curiously.

"I had better things to do, as you can see," he replied with a smile and then put his hand on my back to walk with me to the dark couch, on which I then sat down.

"Just to be clear," he then began, sitting down next to me. "I want you to feel comfortable here. I will give you everything you want. Fulfill your every wish, but in return I expect something from you, namely your respect and..."

He trailed off and ran his fingers through his dark hair while I frowned at him.

"And what?" I then asked, watching him take off his jacket and just sit there in his white t-shirt. Only now did I notice that he had several tattoos on his arms. Really nice tattoos. I let my eyes wander over them, recognizing various motifs of wolves, simple lines and also a tattoo that showed a little girl with an umbrella in her hand, which was placed directly on his upper arm.

"Your full devotion," he said, and I immediately looked questioningly into his dark eyes.

"What exactly do you mean by that?"

He avoided my gaze, took a deep breath and played with his hands nervously.

"You're hungry, right?" he deflected, but I wouldn't give up that easily.

"It's not exactly nice to answer a question with a question!" I said seriously, but he just got up and walked quickly to the kitchen.

"We still have spaghetti from yesterday. I'll make you a plate."

Not like that, friend!

I got up and hobbled after him to stop at the kitchen island.

He just placed a full bowl of spaghetti bolognese next to the beautiful cake, right in front of me, and then made a portion onto a plate to put in the microwave behind him. I glanced at the window next to us. It was already dark outside. "Silvan?" I spoke to him again and he turned to me.

"Yes?"

He raised an eyebrow questioningly and looked at me as if he had no idea why I had spoken to him.

"You meant total dedication. I want to know what you meant by that immediately!"

He ran a hand through his hair again, faced me on the other side of the kitchen island, then glanced at the cake, then back at me.

"Since you're turning of age tonight, I'd like to ask if you would let me tag you."

My eyes widened, startled by his words, and I thought about what a mark even meant. He genuinely thought I was going to have my first time with him without even really knowing him.

"Do you still have them all?" I protested immediately and showed him the bird, whereupon his eyes immediately darkened. There was the usual cold again.

"Jade! I'm not getting any younger! I'm 28 and-"

"What?!" I almost yelled and then swallowed hard. He was a good 10 years older than me and my heart leaped at the realization.

"You got me! I'm already at the age where other alphas certainly have several children to pass on their genes. I can't keep disappointing my parents and believe me, I've tried to procreate. But it's only possible with my mate." The microwave behind him beeped loudly several times, but neither of us looked away from the other. There was anger and arrogance in his eyes, probably pure madness in mine by now.

"So?" he then asked, breaking the shattering silence.

I shook my head in ridiculousness and already his words infected my mind...

I tried to procreate...

Unbearable anger and sheer jealousy welled up in me and then when I saw the bowl in front of me I put my hand in it, fixed his stupid face and then threw a handful of noodles right in his face.

"You seriously think you could get me to impregnate you on the second night with some balloons and that damn cake?"

He didn't say anything, just called me confused and wiped the noodles off his face with his hands.

"Are you crazy?!" he then yelled, which made me just laugh hysterically.

"I'm crazy?!" I yelled back and then took my hand off the cake to throw it in his face as well.

"Stop that!" he growled, coming around the island, but I immediately slammed my crutch against his leg, making him groan. "Keep your hands off me you bastard!"

I was about to flee anywhere and I took a hop towards the stairs when this idiot tripped me and I fell over onto the dark wooden floor.

He twisted my arm onto my back, then held my hands together over my head and at the same time pushed himself between my legs.

My heart was pounding in my throat and while I felt his heavy body on mine and looked deep into his eyes, I didn't know if it was beating with hatred or excitement. What a shitty situation.

When I then saw individual noodles in his dark hair and also cake leftovers in his eyebrow, I suddenly had to laugh out loud, which made him look at me confused.

"What is there to laugh about?" he asked confused and let go of my hands to get up a bit.

"You look really good with those yummy accessories," I continued to laugh, already clutching my stomach from bawling.

He got up with a start, turned his back on me and ran to the kitchen.

As I was about to get up to see what he was up to, I suddenly and unexpectedly got a huge load of noodles in my face.

My laughter stopped and I wiped the sauce off my face in disgust to glare at him angrily.

Of course it was he who laughed leaning against the kitchen island, but like I said, I wouldn't put up with anything more from him.

"Wait you idiot!" I growled, which only made him grin even more.