11. Fairytale Gone Bad.

Mornings were a pain. I would have liked to eat in my time, but no, the pack eats breakfast together so the protector can watch that I eat as I should. I wanted to eat in peace, and now Mariella's new passion would be to get me and Damon back together. I'd taken a pretty fair break from the pack because I knew full well that I was just an obligatory evil, alpha female, alpha power keeper for the time being, and there was no spark between us like there used to be.

No, my spark was with Charles. We always had naughty things on our minds at breakfast, and I'd make up semi-naughty phrases to say in my head from time to time. Oh, that I often ran out of drink and when I went to the fridge to get it Charles would come looking for some.

Our passion lasted 10-15 minutes, and then we left the fridge just to chill out and continue eating. If we didn't have a quick one in the fridge, then Charles pretty much seduced me with his breakfast. It didn't matter if Adam, Charles, and I had already been up all night. No. The wolves were hunting, and Damon was probably taking care of them too.

I had decided that if I had to live in a pack, I would live how I wanted with Adam and Charles. I saw how Mariella was disturbed by our relationship, for real. But then again, she and Damon were so attached it didn't matter. Damon. I didn't even think much of him.

From what I'd observed, the real Damon is the guy who gave me the flank wedding. Darling guy. And that's why I didn't go anywhere near him because I had a pretty good idea that I wouldn't be a good wife but would let the sentences come out of my mouth and I'd be screwed.

So I focused on my two perfectly dangerous men. Charles was now very possessive because he, too, saw Damon as a threat. I was Charles and Adam, at least in their eyes, much more than Damon. And I wouldn't have had it any other way. Charles and Adam had their song to me, it was John Denver's Annie's song and it was their ultimate way to profess their love to me, and it was not rare for me to hear it during our breakfast.

We decided to move after two weeks when Mariella wanted to see other houses. We were going to South Dakota. Oh, I could get to the safety of the wing. We could if these two wanted to come with me.

We teleported to the house, and Mariella and Damon walked side by side. I went straight outside to the wing and into the kitchen to eat. Mariella had been so frantic with Damon that those two wouldn't get far. I was so happy to be in my wing, my house kind of.

I first went outside. We had done here with Mimosa quite an extensive berry and fruit orchard, so I went and picked a loot. We had a lift, so I got my fruit baskets and berries loaded up in the lift and put them going already upstairs. I had an enormous lot of strawberries, so I got them about 20 liters too, fresh strawberries, some whipped cream, and Charles, yum yum. I had also a lot of raspberries ready too, or later ones. This would be so perfect. And my blueberries, two whole buckets of forest blueberries. 

After I had picked all of my fruits and berries, I went to the kitchen. I had a great meat fridge and freezer here because I had bought about once a local farm empty of meat. Now I could even make a cookout once in a while. The kitchen was fully stocked, and I loved being in the wing, safe and sound, in peace.

First up, I took the enormous bowl and put in there selection of my fruits, berries, and all of them in the mix. That bowl was on the table next to me and it would be my snaking bowl. So I would eat from there from time to time as I cooked. I had learned this with Charles, as this was his invention for me. Keep my sugars up.

The whole alpha female- alpha male thing got on my nerves sometimes, and I felt like nowadays it was all about sex and fucking, but that's how it had been with Damon and me back in the day. Our monthly marathons. It didn't hit me anymore, and I hadn't felt that connection with Damon for a while. Our true soulmate bond was flimsy, flimsy when compared to what it was between him and Mariella.

Similarly, the bond between me and Charles and Adam was much stronger. And I couldn't blame it on time because I've been with Adam longer than Damon. And Adam and I have always had a connection. Always. There wasn't a thing I didn't do for Adam when he was my alpha. I can't say the same to Damon. Because I don't feel that it is my job to defend him or protect him. Somehow, that is Mariella's job, even though she is no warrior. 

It was just time, and unfortunately, Damien and all the experiences did their job, and here was the end result. Tepid. It was amusing that one time after Damon had divorced me; he had told his future wife that we had diluted. Now we've diluted. Of course, Damon can fuck and satisfy a woman. That's not the point. We have no emotional connection, not the kind that I have with Charles and Adam. They can sense me, my distress, my needs. Damon never did. 

But the need, which at least I had once when I couldn't get enough of Damon, is gone. I put my idle musings aside and started preparing for the cooking marathon. This was going to be wonderful. I went to the freezer and got a trolley into which I stuffed all the exotic meats and the usual.

I know I must eat wagyu. There was that too, but with more special cuts. I had also a wagyu calf, which was super rare, and juicy as hell. It is not so fatty but darn tasty and it is not bad for me. I took the meat to the counter to defrost in different containers. I took a few berries in my mouth and ate them happily. 

I would have time to make soup bases, and sauces before the meat was defrosted every time. I was humming with happiness as I gathered the supplies and then smelled the apple and chocolate. Chocolate was Charles's seduction scent, and it meant that he had some very particular thoughts in his mind. He was quite chocolaty nowadays; he was in the mood with me, pretty much all the time.

Charles was somewhere. He came and wrapped himself around me and looked over my shoulder at what I was doing. I took a few berries again, to put them in my mouth when he snatched them into his and ate fast. 

He said, "You're humming, what is, honey, so wonderful you're doing now? And those berries, are from the orchard, right? Damn, those have come up nicely. You are a good girl, as you do as I have told you to. "

I smiled and turned around, wrapped myself around Charles, and said, "Food, meat. Yeah, I emptied more or less the orchard, so I have plenty to snack on now. Come and see, my love."

It had been Charles's and Adam's little invention to keep my sugars right about up by teaching me to eat fruit and berries all the time, just a few of them here and there but they had good sugars for me, kept me from fainting and kept my stomach filled and active. I drank a lot because some of these could give a little blockage, but I got used to this already.

Charles was allowed nicknames. He had no problem with them. Damon, well, I don't know if it was Damien, but the nickname turned into a shed session once and an assault in the gym another time. So no nicknames. But this individual didn't care.

I took my lover to see my meat, and he whistled lowly. He grabbed fruits too from my bowl. I went to the fridge and took a little cup of those strawberries that had chilled now.

Charles looked at the meats and said, " Now that's a lot of meat. Where on earth did you get this from?"

I smiled and said, "I once bought one from a local farm for next to nothing. As you can see, there's plenty to do, my husband, mine."

Charles glued me to the wall and kissed me very insistently. I said, "Of course, those meats have to melt... I have here these strawberries and there is whipped cream in the fridge. All I would require is the dish to eat these from.."

Charles grinned and said, "Not yet honey, I'm going to go down to the pool and do some laps. You cook, my sweetie, and I'll eat. Maybe I will be your dish then, so you can have a good dessert too. And you have to be my dish then, too."

He grabbed a handful of those strawberries and ate them as he turned around and walked away. Oh, my god that he could eat sexily.

I watched as Charles walked away. His movement was like the panther. He made his way to the downstairs pool. This was the wing where we had made a big fucking swimming pool in the basement, and it was one of Charles and Adam's favorite places. I turned around, put some more now chilled fruits in my bowl, and continued to plan my dishes.

Mariella sighed and lay under Damon, sweaty and satisfied. Still, so many things bothered her when she knew everything was not yet right. One thing that was grinding this pack down was the relationship between Mimi and Damon.

Mimi had let Damon go. Completely. She was now only with Adam and Charles. Sure, Damon had fucked Mimi, but there had always been a reason. Cooling down or a display of alpha power. Their emotional connection was gone and Mariella knew it would not be easy to restore. Not at all. 

But Mimi kept the distance from Damon, and a suitable distance it was. Mariella knew it was bothering Damon as much as it was bothering her. Because she knew and felt that her connection with Damon was what it should be.

 But the true soul mate bond between Mimi and Damon was like a wet rag. Limp, lifeless, weak. And if it stayed that way for long, it would fade. And Mariella would know that Mimi wouldn't be horrified. She'd just accepted it.

Because Mimi was so unconditional. It was yes or no for Mimi. Black or white. To be or not to be. Mimi was young. She had been through some awful stuff, and it had all affected her. Mariella felt Mimi was way older than she looked and she was kind of tired, all seen, and jaded too. Mimi had found love in her life, with Adam and Charles, and they were there for her. 

Whereas Damon and she saw the whole gamut in between. They saw all the maybes. All the grays. Or at least she wanted to think they did. Even now, Mimi was in the wing. What Damon had said was a bit like Mimi, Adam, and Charles have their own house linked to this house. And they wouldn't have any visitors.

But now that it was a new time, Damon was the pack leader, and he could do something about it. He was also a pretty damn powerful wizard and energy being. Maybe it was time Damon showed the entire pack that he was a pack leader. And besides, Mariella was curious.

What would that wing, Mimi's kingdom, be like? It had been Mimosa's too, but what Mimosa had told them she had been there just because she had to and she had spent a lot of time out of the wing as well as Mirella had too, but Mimi had lived in the wing. And when Charles and Adam had moved into them. It had become almost their own house. Bran was never in the wing, he was not allowed, and it had been very few times when Bran had been part of Mimi's heat.

Mariella wanted to see that part house, too. She was a pack animal. Her favorite form was a lioness because Damon was the black lion. They were mates, a couple. Mimi was a black jaguar, a loner, the female who needed a mate only in heat. Mariella wanted a pack, her pride.

She wanted Mimi to be part of the pride and take seriously her role as alpha female. Maybe she would grow to love this Damon, too. Damon had told Mariella that, he did not love Mimi. He wanted to rule her and control her, but now he wanted to have a relationship with her. To start anew. But Mimi being Mimi, it was not so simple.

Mimi's love was not easy to get, and it had been so easy to lose. Damon had told Mariella the little cruel things that he had done over the years and he knew he had been the reason why their love had died off. He had pretty much attacked Mimi every time she had tried to convince him about Damien, and then stuff with his girlfriends, phone calls, and parties.

Mariella wanted to get to know Mimi. Who she was, what she was? Talk with her maybe, and get her to tell her stories as well.

She wanted to go and see Mimi's kitchen and her bedrooms. Her everything because then they could get a better idea of who she was.

She said to Damon, " Honey, aren't you a pack leader? Then why is the wing still closed? Because we're not going to get so in heat now that we have to isolate ourselves, are we? Have you ever even been out there? I'm bloody curious. I want to see it. I mean, there is no need for one pack member to get herself half a house when we all should get to use those rooms. "

Damon sighed. He had never been in this wing. And he remembered how he and Mimi had connected even in the wing. Or his emotional side, but he had been there too. But that connection was gone, dead and gone. Damon knew he had Mariella now, and he should be fine. But why did it bother him so much? Why should he have it all?

He got up and took Mariella into the shower and took her violently in the shower. Then he picked out Mariella's clothes and did her hair. Mimi had blonde short hair again, which Damon didn't think was beautiful, but Charles liked it. They started to move and came to the door of the wing. It was locked. No surprise there. The door was sturdy, there was a strong locking mechanism, and it was a heavy door. He knew that even the ceiling had been blocked, so there was no access. 

Damon decided to test his strength, used some energy, and blew the lock. Blew it to pieces. He opened the door and entered the wing. He used to minor spell, and the door disappeared fully. The wing was now permanently open. There was an atmosphere all of its own. Even its air smelled its own and Damon had explained that there was its air-conditioning because of heat scents, but it would not need anymore now.

First, they stepped into the lobby. There was a lift, carpets on the floor, and a few big house plants too, living plants. Energies were calm, almost sedative, and it made Mariella talk to Damon softly too. They went through double doors after Damon busted them open and the first floor was open. Stairs were going up, and Damon murmured to her that there were other stairs at the other end of the corridor.

This was decorated completely differently from the main house. Here there was soft carpeting all over the floor, at least in the corridors. The doors to the rooms were closed, and each had a locking mechanism, as in a hotel. This reminded them of a hotel. Some rooms were open, and Mariella saw lovely soft beds, beautiful carpets, and curtains. She knew this floor had been Mirella's because most of the rooms were empty and stripped.

She wanted to live here too, and she had already got ideas about what she wanted to change, so she went in and changed something in that room. It made energies flow differently. Now Mimi had put everything like it that energy flowed very cleanly, steadily. There was no excitement, no anomaly. Everything was too clean, too sterile. When came to energies Damon got the gist fast too, they made energies flow more interesting way. 

After they had walked past several fully empty rooms, Damon told her about Mimi. This was Mimi's way. To remove all the evil. And when Mirella turned out to be evil, it was a slap in the face for Mimi because she had trusted Mirella for decades. And now she was a fucking traitor.

She passed the end of the floor and moved on to the next. The staircase was calm; the stairs were not too high, and there were pastel colors and sturdy handrails too. Again, they came to the lobby. This one was full of colors and geometric shapes. This was a mimosa. This was less of feel like a hotel than the previous floor, and there were vending machines where you could get coffee or cocoa, pizza, and fast food.

There was a blood room, and Mariella loved it. The chairs were perfect, and she found a treat: an angel. She went to sit in the chair and slowly sucked on the bag. Perfect. There was a very extensive collection of blood, and Damon perused the shelf frown on his face.

She enjoyed herself for a moment and watched as Damon sat finally in another chair and just watched her, enjoying in admiration. They continued to go floor by floor until they reached the top floor. Mimi's floors were not like a hotel. They were her home. It felt so weird to go in there as it was so her home. They were soft, luxurious, and her. Strawberry scented there faintly, but also apple and pear, and several enormous bedrooms were fucked. You could sense it with energy and smell it, too.

Damon was not so impressed and coldly made minor spells or sucked all the lustful energy into his tanks. He was quite greedy. He also used a few spells, changed beddings, and sent those to the magic house to be cleaned. He was a little petty, but Mariella let him be. He had the right to his feelings, too. 

The top floor was fancy. The lobby was softly pink and pure pastel yellow, there were lots of plants, soft armchairs, and sofas too. This, too, was Mimi's domain. All of Mimi's floors were heavily protected. The rooms were closed, as well as the medbay had been. Mebay had been fancy, latest equipment, but poor beds with no sides or restraints. Drug cabinet had been filled and Mariella had been also a little upset. But as Damon had explained, Samuel had made most of the med bays on the public side and Mirella or Mimi had done most of the med bays here.

Mimi, being a top trauma surgeon with connections, meant the best equipment. But as now the wing was open, this was a public medbay too. Damon liked to poke the locks with energy, and soon there was not a room on any of Mimi's floors with a working lock. 

There had been nests where Mimi had recovered, and their energy was somehow so lonely, so desperate. These had been not fucked room. Only Mimi had been in there, alone, recovering. Energy imprint had been so different, and Mariella found herself curious about Mimi. Damon had told her one thing and another about Mimi, but as he never did many flea gigs, he had guessed that some part of him knew that would be too much of a risk.

Damien would be a risk to let into the fleas, and that's why he never attended while doing a few gigs here and there. The fleas had been in Mimi's life for many decades, and he had never been part of it. Adam had been much more involved, and that's why Mimi and Adam had such a damn strong true soulmate bond because they were truly soul mates. Adam had been Mimi's second in command in fleas on and off during all the years. They had fought side by side, many times. They had shared something that Damon had never been part of.

Damon knew Adam had once, or how would he know if more than once, seen the plaque where Mimi herself had carved all the people who had died at the fleas. Adam had been on one such trip when Mimi's strike team of 22 fleas had died on the job, and Mimi had been caught.

Damon didn't even realize he was saying the thing out loud until Mariella wrapped herself around him when he got to where he went to talk some sense into Mimi, who was being held captive by Sark. He didn't tell his story too carefully, only reported it almost. It was too painful for him to remember and he had no idea what Mimi had been going through in there.

And how he had then gone a second time and believed when Sark had lied that Mimi had broken free from the scaffold and killed the nurses and was, therefore, being kept sedated in bed. He had a new wife. Petra. He had then killed Petra himself when the truth had come out.

He told the entire story to Mariella. Not every detail, but enough. Then they began to smell the many smells of cooking and concluded that Miss Mimi was cooking. This was getting interesting. The other end of this floor was all kitchens, and now they could hear Mimi working there.

The multitude of scents came from there, even fresh fruits.

Mariella was gazing from one window to the backyard and she asked, "Did you know, Damon, that there is an orchard there? It seems to be empty. I see no fruits or berries, but I can smell them. That is again, a fenced-off yard, on this side of the wing and that is huge. "

Damon came by to see. He grunted. He was quite ready to see what his first wife was doing. She was humming and as Damon scanned her thoughts; she seemed pleased. Smug. Damon straightened up and somehow took on a more beastly attitude, which only made Mariella wet herself even more.

I was making sauce bases when I smelled passionfruit and peach. I had just taken fresh chilled berries for my bowl. No shit. How did those get on the wing? Fine, leave it then. We'll see about that now that the committee has been at the review again.

I concentrated on watching the sauces, and soon, a cough came from the door.

I said, "I'm in the cooking mode now, so I'm not socializing. Too many lovely new meats."

I grabbed a handful of chilled, halved cherries and put one of them in my mouth. It was just perfect, not too sour, sweet enough with a good tang. 

Ahhh, my sauce bases were coming together, and soon, I could add a groundhog to this. I'll have to see if it's melted yet. I turned around and ran straight into Damon, who had come up behind me. He grabbed my hand, took cherries out of it, and ate them. Mariella was watching us. 

He grabbed me and said, " Where are you off to in a hurry, baby? Those cherries are lovely. I did not know that we had them. Can we talk maybe sometime? I don't think I have the plague yet, yet you've been avoiding me. Why?"

I sighed and said, "I'm in the middle of cooking. Will you let me get on with it, perhaps? We had an orchard here, and it picked it clean, so I have berries and fruits. "

Damon was determined and said, "Mimi, what the fuck is wrong? What on earth is wrong with you? You'd think you'd be happy that Damien's not in me anymore. Now I'm safe for you to approach, too. Why do you not want to spend time with me, be with me, try to seduce me? Come on, baby, start talking."

I sat down, and when Damon let go of me, I said, "Our fairytale has ended. We're not together anymore. You told me that yourself. You weren't sure that there was us anymore, and it is painfully obvious that we are not. I am not wasting time or breaking my heart over something that is not mine anymore. Don't dwell on the past. Focus on the present. Those are two rules I go by. You should be happy with your gorgeous wife and I don't know, go to the Azores and spend a month or two there. Now, Damon, you're free. No need to worry about me. You do not owe me anything. Now you can do whatever you want. And be with whoever makes your soul sing; I know it's not me. So, please. Now let me get back to cooking." 

Damon looked at me for a moment and went over to Mariella, wrapped his arms around her, and kissed her. Then they teleported away. I shook my head. And I went back to cooking. I took my berries more and ate them. Truth hurts. But it is better to say it out loud than not to say it at all. Again, one of my lessons. I have learned so many lessons in my life, such as the supernatural.

Damon himself said to me, quite frankly. He doesn't know if we exist anymore. He doesn't. I've known it all along. The fact that Damon takes care of me when I'm sick is his protector's side and the way he always took care of me, but our relationship is no more. At least it's not what Damon probably thinks he wants because I don't want it now. 

I have a thing and a fucking good thing with Adam and Charles. And it pisses me off when I have to share them too, but I can take it. But the fact that I have to somehow fit in between Mariella and Damon or in the same bed is no thanks. I don't want to be in bed and looked his true happiness with Mariella. I don't want to look at them cuddling on the sofa. I have never cuddled with Charles or Adam on the sofa or in public; we were more lusty types. Sofa cuddles were always with me and Damon. No one else. 

Mariella sighed. Again, the same thing. Somehow, Mimi knows how to say or do something to throw Damon off balance. This would take time and patience. Mariella let Damon unload everything. Mimi had now taken hope away from Damon again for a while, and that was not a good thing.

She had spoken the truth, partially at least, and Damon knew that Mimi had been hurt and bad when he had found Mariella. But he still wanted to try, a fresh start. It was just too hard for Mimi, and Mariella was not sure what it would take to get Mimi to fall for Damon. 

Mariella knew Damon wanted a relationship with Mimi and she so bluntly said it to his face. As said, one should be patient. Mariella loved Damon's pheromones, they were so perfect, but neither Charles nor Adam had given her pheromones yet.

An idea started to develop in Mariella's head. A group session. Mimi wouldn't get away with it. But then again. She might just fuck with Charles, and that was not good for Damon, not at all. But if Damon could get his alpha side to seduce Mimi so maybe she would still find her passion for Damon. And cows would fly. Mariella thought sourly.