Astrid in Love

Chapter 6: Wreck

————

Caius sighed trying to focus on the work in front of him, but it was no use. It had been five weeks since the incident with The Heat in the hallway, and one week since Astrid and he had - what he had thought at the time - reconciled. Except evidently that hadn't been the case, because no sooner than he pulled away from her seductive little display she had kicked him out.

Kicked. Him. out.

Him.

Caius. Alpha werewolf, third in command of the Melbourne werewolves clan. Often described as large, domineering, imposing.

Well had been.

Evidently by the way the little witch had him simpering it was no wonder she had been treating him like a pup.

She was treating him like...well...like before everything that had happened with

The Heat

. Which maybe was a good thing? He wasn't sure anymore.

In any event he didn't know what to do, because every time he had tried to talk to Astrid, even in work, he received nothing but snide remarks and sarcastic asides.

The little comments had him wanting to pull her over his knee and spank her. Except not in a violent way, in a sexy way, where she'd be begging him to fuck her and he would have the satisfaction of refusing her.

Except he knew, just knew, the moment Astrid called him to her room he would be there, throw himself to her feet and worship her until she sent him away again.

'Pathetic' was probably the best word one could possibly use to describe Caius now. Although he wasn't about to admit any of it to the little witch. So he continued soldiering on. It was the best he could do really, and was maybe the only option at this point.

Vanessa seemed none the wiser to his little assignation with Astrid last week, which was definitely a good thing. Because beautiful or not, he wasn't prepared to start a war between the two wolf clans simply because he couldn't stop himself from touching the damned woman.

No, definitely not.

Caius shook his head, determined to focus on the sheets laying on the desk in front of him.

First thing he would do, he decided, was organise all her shifts at the opposite end of his so that there was no way they were going to run into each other.

————

The first thing Astrid noticed about her shifts was that literally every single one had her paired up with Riley, an annoyingly talkative Wolf, or Fenton, an annoyingly non-talkative Faye. While she could manage the Wolf, Faye were the

worst

.

They were just so pretentious, snooty and annoying. If they did decide you were worthy enough to talk to, they'd stick to only two topics of conversation. The first being how awesome and powerful and magical they were, and the second topic being about the purity of their bloodline. Astrid just did not have time for either of those things.

The second thing she noticed was that Caius' shifts all seemed to be organised parallel to hers; at opposite ends of the days so that there was no way in hell they were going to run into each other during work.

She didn't know why, but that had enraged her, and she wished he was there so she could yell at him, and in fact that seemed like a great idea.

Astrid scanned the timetable, noticing he was on duty in the east wing of The Underground. Of course he put himself near the mermaids.

Probably busy flirting with them, the fickle bastard.

Astrid marched on down, ignoring Lachlan who either didn't notice the anger on her face, or chose to ignore it because he was walking next to her chattering away.

"Hey did you see we're sharing some of the afternoon shifts?" Lachlan was bouncing next to her, practically vibrating with energy, like he was going to explode if he didn't talk at a hundred kilometres a minute.

"Yep," Astrid knew she was being rude and anti-social, but today she didn't even have time for her best friend.

"How great is that! And with more afternoon shifts we can both have better sleep routines,"

"I guess," was Astrid's clipped reply.

There was a pause from Lachlan, and for a moment she had hoped he had taken the hint and stopped talking.

"Say, you're not on shift until eight tomorrow, why are you headed to the Grotto?" Lachlan continued.

"Going to go for a swim."

Lachlan started laughing, but quickly stopped taking in the witch's serious expression, "Astrid, what's going on?"

"Nothing, Lachlan. I just need to settle something," Astrid picked up the walking pace but that did nothing to deter Lachlan and his lycan speed. She could see Lachlan scanning the timetable quickly and she could here the cogs turning in his head.

"Astrid, babe." he only called her babe when he was being serious, "This isn't to do with Caius is it?"

"It is none of your business."

"Don't do this," Lachlan said, grabbing her by the wrist, "I know things are weird with you guys ever since-"

Astrid felt her face redden - she didn't want to think about

The Heat

, didn't want to think about the fact that everyone had

seen

what happened, everyone

knew

what happened. Ever since that moment with Caius in the hallway nothing had been the same. Not work, not her friends, not herself.

It was humiliating enough that she seemed to have no control over her behaviour when she was around Caius, she didn't want others knowing as well.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Ok, but don't say I didn't warn you," Lachlan shook his head.

It took her a few seconds to realise Lachlan was no longer following her. Which was fine by Astrid. Better without Lachlan - he'd just get in the way.

————

Astrid finally made it to the east end, ignoring the beautiful underground water grotto. It was by far her favourite part of The Underground, so spectacularly designed, it looked to her like a florescent crystal city.

Usually if she the had the opportunity she'd take her time strolling through the area, taking in the sights and sensations. But today she was on a mission.

Specifically on what she didn't know. All she knew was that it involved Caius and it involved yelling.

As she neared the shore, she noticed a familiar figure swimming out towards her.

"Myk," Astrid smiled as the merman swam up to the edge of the water near her.

"Astrid," he smiled, tiny little sharp teeth glinting up at her.

The merman was genuinely the most beautiful being she'd ever seen, like a gorgeous Swedish model, but with gills and fins. When she'd first started working in the underground and met Myk, she had a massive crush on him.

Although that had since faded to friendship. the Mers were extremely protective around mating outside the species, and there was no way she and Myk were going to be anything but friends.

Usually the merman stole her breath from her, but today the effect seemed gone. She still recognised him as beautiful, but there was no longer that sexual pull she had felt for him.

Weird

.

"What's been happening?"

"Oh, you know; work, play, swim, eat. The usual," he shrugged, tucking a long strand of white hair behind his ears, "What's new with you?"

"Oh, you know," Astrid shrugged, "Recovering from metaphysical rape, trying to fight my attraction to my boss. Nothing too interesting."

When she realised what she'd said, Astrid gasped covering her mouth, and glared at the merman below her, "Myk you're not supposed to do that."

One of the not so fun things about Mers? They could entice the truth out of you with their magic and you wouldn't even realise.

"Sorry! Sometimes I don't realise when my powers are switched on." he shrugged, but didn't look the least bit apologetic. And considering how much older he was than her, she very much doubted that it had been anything but accidental. Myk smiled up at her sweetly, "What was that about the metaphysical rape?"

"I'd rather not have to talk about that, if its all the same to you."

"Ok, well how about you tell me about this sexy boss of yours then, huh?" he grinned cheekily.

"He's involved in the first issue."

Myk looked genuinely angry, "You want me to drown him?"

"No, Goddess no, Myk," she was alarmed at how easy it was for him to just straight up murder people.

She'd never understand that part of Mer-culture. They didn't seem to have any qualms about drowning people on a whim. A reminder that just because they looked kind of human, didn't mean they had the same values.

"It wasn't like that. He was the one who was be-spelled. We're kind of both the victims in this one." Astrid tried explaining, without giving too much away. She didn't know why, but it was important for her to let Myk know it wasn't Caius' fault.

"Well sorry, Witchling. That just sucks."

It was the first time she'd ever seen any trace of empathy in the Mer's eyes. It was as bizarre as it was concerning. If a slightly sociopathic merman like Myk was feeling sorry for her, then her life was possibly becoming fucked up.

"I'll tell you about it some time." It wasn't a convincing promise. But today she wasn't going for truth, just going for survival.

"Ok, well go find your man then, I won't keep you."

"He's not my man," Astrid rolled her eyes.

"Sure, sure."

"Probably flirting with some fresh young mermaids as we speak." Astrid said, the bitterness falling from her tongue like acid.

And if he was

, Astrid thought,

she'd kick his ass

.

Although she wasn't about to say that to Myk lest he get ideas. The last thing she wanted was to Myk an excuse to drown someone.

"Well then he's a fool if he doesn't see you," Myk was suddenly shy, looking at her through his glossy hair. Although she didn't believe his little display for one moment.

"See me? And what would that be exactly? An obnoxious, hot-heated, barely capable witch?"

Myk nodded, "with nice tits."

"Thanks Myk,"

"And a solid ass," Myk offered.

"Sure."

"You have the kind of ass a man could really get behind and-"

Myk kept on talking, but Astrid had stopped listening. She had the uneasy feeling of being watched. She turned around slightly and saw Caius standing at the edge of the grotto from the other side. He was quite a distance away, but she was fairly certain he was glaring it her.

A few thoughts raced through her mind;

was he angry at her? was he angry at Myk? was he just generally angry? Had he heard what they'd been talking about?

"Hey, stop spacing out," Myk huffed, "I am used to your rapt attention and here you are ignoring me. I do not feel beautiful right now." he splashed her at water.

Astrid took a step back too slowly, the water drenching her.

"So rude," she sputtered, wiping her eyes, bringing her focus back to the Mer below her.

"Come closer so I can pull you in, we can have fun." Myk tried to reach up and grab her. Astrid pulled away just in time.

"No thanks."

"Why not?" he was actually pouting.

How had she ever found him attractive? Myk was ill-tempered, petulant and childish. He was also too feminine looking; all long hair and pretty face. Which was fine if that was your thing, and Astrid supposed that kind of had been her thing. But now, apparently, she'd gone and changed.

"Because your version of 'fun' is me brushing your hair for four hours and you pushing me down underneath the water and joking about drowning me."

"Yeah, fun." Myk looked at her nonplussed, "What do you do for fun?"

She couldn't tell if he was joking or not.

"Say: 'good bye Astrid'," was all she could manage.

"Good bye Astrid," Myk smiled, "Better go to your big wolf boss, he looks pissed." The merman leaned toward her and whispered not so quietly, "You could either end up getting laid or the land equivalent of getting drowned tonight."

She turned around and saw the wolf enrapt in conversation with two sirens.

Of course he was.

He didn't look the slightest bit angry either, he looked like he was having a great time. she didn't know what Myk was going on about, but then he had been known to have difficulty interpreting humanoid facial expressions.

Astrid frowned and realised that evidently Caius was busy with other interests and probably didn't even give a fig about her. She realised her mistake in coming to the grotto.

What had she planned to do? Yell at him? What would that prove? Only that she kind of was starting to care about him and that certainly wouldn't solve anything.

She bid a final farewell to Myk and walked back towards central, towards her room, locked the door behind her and flopped onto the bed.

Goddess

,

she was a wreck.

————

Astrid was drunk, that much he could tell - the smell of alcohol covered her, covered the room as she stepped into the kitchen.

She sauntered over heels in hand, the short little dress, hiked up with every move into the kitchen. He felt his gaze linger on her pert breasts, the little round buds of her nipples evident through the thin fabric. He wanted to pull her down on top of him and sink himself inside of her.

Caius just knew that she had worn the little dress to torment him, but then thought maybe that was just a little bit self-centred because clearly she wasn't interested in him or in anything but the occasional hook up.

Maybe if he was more refined looking...like that merman he'd seen her talking to the other evening, she might be inclined for more than a quick grope. He shook his head trying to set himself straight. He was going crazy over a mere slip of a woman who was barely 21. He had a good 10 years on her and yet she had him acting like a teenage boy.

Ridiculous

.

Caius turned back to the documents at hand and tried to ignore her. Although was exceptionally hard to do because she was making a lot of racket, stumbling around the kitchen opening cupboards and shutting them again. He was never going to get any of this work done with her banging around, tempting him.

"Do you need help?" he asked her, pushing the documents together to leave.

"Hm?" she turned, slightly dazed expression crossing her face as if she hadn't even noticed that he was there.

Well that was a kick to the stomach. He could only

ever

notice her, and she apparently had barely given his presence any thought.

"Do you need help?" he repeated slower this time.

Astrid turned to look at him properly, funny little smile on her beautiful face and cocked her head to the side. He found him mouth twitching upwards, the silly expression oddly endearing on her.

"Hi," she said, she looked like she was trying really hard to control herself, but kept swaying to the side.

Just how much had she had to drink?

"Hi," Caius replied, "Do you need help?"

"No, why would I need help?" she giggled, "I'm not a mattress."

Well that answered the question; clearly she was super drunk. Just how much exactly had she had to drink? Sure she was a small woman, but she was also a witch - and while there was no way she'd be able to metabolise alcohol like the wolves could, she was still more immune to the effects of the drink than, say, the humans.

"No, no you aren't. Although I'm not sure why you needed to specify that." Caius tried to keep his face straight. The moment he cracked a smile, he would feel like he'd lost. He didn't want her thinking...well he wasn't sure what. All he knew was that emotions were powerful tools she could use against him. Smiling at her made him feel like he was losing this weird imaginary competition between them.

"Just a normal conversation, Buddy. What's your problem?" She seemed slightly annoyed.

"Well you're pretty drunk." Caius sighed, realising that he might have to physically take her to her room because she was clearly not in her right mind.

"I'm trying to find my room." Astrid huffed, "But I see that it has been moved," she knocked on a cupboard door for emphasis, "See, no one's answering!"

"Astrid, you know that's the cupboard door, right?"

She paused and gave the cupboard door a long look, and then looked back at him, ridiculous grin back on her face.

"Duh," she giggled again, she then turned serious, "I think there's someone in my room," she whispered, stumbling towards him. He reached out to steady her, but she managed to find her balance at the last moment.

"Really?" he frowned, "Do you want me to get someone in there and sweep it? who would be in there?"

She leaned closer to him, swaying, her little hand steadying on his arm and he felt his heart jump at the contact.

"His name is Jack McGibbs and he is-"

He knew

exactly

who that was, there was no way he'd let the seedy little maintenance guy touch

his

woman. Well, not that Astrid was his woman, but she definitely wasn't Jack's. There was no way he was going to let Jack McGibbs touch a woman who may or may not have been Caius', but who definitely wasn't Jack's.

That made sense. Kind of.

"I'll go get him out now."

"What! No!" she jumped up and threw her arms around his neck trying to stall him, "No, I told him to go there because he doesn't have anywhere to sleep tonight."

"Astrid," he pulled her off him, hands holding her by the shoulders, "Are we talking about Jack McGibbs, as in the guy who works maintenance on the south side?"

"You know him?"

"Astrid. He has a room." he frowned, "He's just trying to get you into bed."

She blinked owlishly and stared at him with that half-dazed look again. "Or is he trying to be my best friend?"

What?

"No, I doubt that,"

"Why? Some people want to be my friend." she wriggled away from him childishly, one of her dress straps falling passed her shoulder. He held is breath, watching her dress slip to reveal the barest hint of nipple. God he wanted to put his mouth on her. Astrid continued, "Unlike you. Who hates me forever."

What was she on about now?

Caius took a deep breath and counted to three in his head, "I don't hate you. Why would I hate you?"

Astrid shrugged and turned, "Ok, good night." she moved to walk out of the kitchen, but turned, stumbling against the door. She pulled herself straight and said, "I don't hate you either," and then she promptly walked into the hallway wall and fell over.

Caius took another deep breath, half holding back laughter and half annoyed at her poor choices. He picked her up easily enough and carried her down the hallways, the witch too disoriented to notice until they'd arrived at her bedroom door.

"You have your key?" Caius asked, trying to ignore the burning sensations running through his stomach. She had been busying herself with petting his chest and calling him 'mittens'. The touch was welcome, the nickname he could have done without.

"No," she frowned, withdrawing her hand from his chest and looking up at him with suspicion on her eyes, "I don't know where it is."

Caius frowned, "We'll talk about that when you're sober, I'll use my master key then."

He pushed the door open easily enough and moved to place Astrid on the bed. Except there was young Jack McGibb, dressed down to his boxers. Poor Jack looked startled and disappointed to see Caius.

"Out," Caius commanded, the guy seemed to have some common sense because he practically threw himself out of there.

"You're so scary," Astrid whispered loudly, as Caius plopped her onto the bed.

"Good," he tried to move her under the blanket but she just rolled herself right off the bed and started crawling towards the bathroom and that was when he noticed two things:

Astrid's dress had ridden up.

She was not wearing underwear.

He felt his blood pumping straight to his cock.

Then a thought popped into his head: where was her underwear? and that terrifying question lead to millions of others including: Did she just not wear any? Did she lose them? If she lost them, where did she lose them and who was there? Did she say, lose them in a bathroom tryst at a club? With some other man? with Jack? The questions were endless, maddening,

enraging

.