Gemma
Theo knocked on Gemma’s door the next morning. When she answered, he stuck his head in and said that the women would be there to help her again this morning in about an hour. Breakfast would be ready for her downstairs.
Then, he shut the door behind him.
She hurried and dressed, hoping to spend some time with him before her teachers arrived. However, when she got to the kitchen, she found there was food for her, but Theo was nowhere in sight.
Gemma’s heart sank, but she reminded herself this was just a business deal for him, and she was nothing more than a task he had to take care of. The quicker she realized that the better off she would be.
She set her jaw and scraped her food into the trash, thinking it was a shame to waste it.
Gemma roamed the house, looking at the artwork that adorned the many walls. She could only imagine what some of the pieces would fetch at an auction as there were some from masters of the past.
She considered each piece she came across, trying to remember what she knew about it. Anything to keep her mind busy and off Theo.
When the loud, firm knocks hit the front door, she was relieved. It never occurred to her to look out the window to make sure it was the women she expected. For all she knew, it could have been wolf shifters who had figured out where she was hiding.
Luckily for her, it was the women standing at the door. She would have even been grateful to see Madeline, but apparently, she had been uninvited to the training sessions.
She invited them in, telling them that Theo had some errands to take care of and he likely wouldn’t be around much during the day.
“That’s perfectly fine with us,” Reagan said. “We still have a whole lot of information to cover and more dancing lessons.”
They headed into the living room, where Reagan quizzed her on everything she had taught Gemma the day before. Gemma was able to recite everything. If there was an action, she was able to perform it perfectly.
“You are a very talented student. You must have been amazing in school,” Chloe said. “I think you got some of those movements down better than people who have been doing it all their lives.”
“We traveled so much that I was self-taught,” Gemma explained. Then, before anyone could ask her any questions she really didn’t want to answer, she asked, “What’s on the agenda for today?”
In the morning, there were a lot more lessons. All three of the women had found books from their personal library they thought Gemma would enjoy reading and was full of information about their ancestry.
“I love to read. I haven’t had much opportunity to do a lot of it lately, but these are going to be great. Thank you for letting me borrow them,” Gemma said.
All three women seemed to be pleased with her gratefulness.
Theo must have come in during the morning to leave some lunch for everyone but had since disappeared.
Reagan said, “He’s got to be busy getting ready for the upcoming ritual and the mating ceremony. Do you guys have a date set?”
Gemma looked startled. “You know, I guess I already felt as though we were so connected, I didn’t even think about a formal ceremony. There has been so much going on lately, I hadn’t even considered a date.” She laughed.
The other three women laughed with her. “I’m sure it has been overwhelming,” Chloe said. “It has been my experience that when you finally meet your mate, it just knocks you over. It suddenly just overtakes your entire being.”
The other two women nodded sagely. “That’s what happened to us and everyone we’ve ever talked to about it,” Angel said.
Gemma wanted to hide in her room and think about their words. If what they said was true, then a happily ever after for her was completely out of the question. There was no way Theo would ever make room in his heart for her. His heart was completely filled with his memories of Savannah.
After her afternoon lessons, she waited for Theo. He had left a note for her that there was food in the fridge, but there was no sign of him.
It got so late, she eventually had to go to bed without seeing him.
The next day was the same as the last. He woke her up and then left. She didn’t see him all day.
She realized she had fallen in love with a man who was completely inaccessible, but she couldn’t figure out what she had done to upset him so badly that he didn’t want anything to do with her.
On the fourth day, after her teachers had left, Gemma paced the house like a caged wolf. The ritual was tomorrow. She knew the dragon shifter legends; she knew what she was supposed to do and say. But she needed to know that things were okay between her and Theo. There was no way she could tolerate the idea of going to the ritual with a man who couldn’t stand the sight of her.
Finally, she made up her mind. She had to confront him. She couldn’t take it anymore.
She waited deep into the night until she heard his key rattle in the door. When he opened the door, her face was the first thing he saw.
He stared at her for a second in shock.
Gemma’s heart was going to burst through her chest and explode right there on the floor.
She swallowed hard and steadied her voice. “Are we okay? What did I do wrong?”
