Shatter Pieces

Chapter 39: Open Up

Elvira

By the time Saziel was finished reading me the story, Karthan and Brexton had cleaned and wrapped the area behind each of my ears thoroughly. I had barely noticed when they switched from one ear to the other to invested in the story that Saziel had been telling me. I was entranced by the idea that the man who had been so kind to me and was my mate, which according to the book meant I was very important to him, was a werewolf.

I had never heard of a werewolf before and the concept of what they were intrigued me greatly. A man who had a voice in his head who talked to him and helped him to be able to survive in the world, but also kept him company so that he wouldn't be lonely. That same voice also somehow gave him the power to be able to change his body from that of a human one into the body of a wolf. Something that I was having a hard time wrapping my brain around and yet I knew it had to be possible because I knew that the wolf curled into my side and stomach was in fact Mateo.

"S...so Mateo is a....a...a werewolf...b...but do...does that make a....al....all of you were....werewolves too?" I questioned sitting up a little which made Mateo huff because he was forced to reposition himself around me.

"Yeah, most of the people you will meet around here are werewolves actually, isn't that neat!" This came from Kasmie who seemed to be bouncing a little on her feet as this all went on.

I couldn't stop thinking about how they all had voices in their heads that talked to them the same way I did. But the book said that they only had one wolf and therefore only one voice talking to them, I seemed to have lots of different voices always whirling around in my head. Most of the voices that talked to me were mean and scary and the werewolf voices were supposed to be nice and kind. That description seemed to fit more with the voice that kept reminding me throughout the book that our mate was with us and we should keep petting him because he liked it.

"Mate likes it when you scratch behind his ears."

"This is a good story but don't forget to pet Mate."

"You haven't pet Mate in a while you should do that or he might think you are upset at him."

Seemingly moving on its own my hand found its way to my mouth. Quietly chewing on my finger nail while I debated whether or not to tell them about the voices. Master told me that I should never listen to any voice that talked to me in my head unless it was reminding me of my place. He told me that if I ever had a voice talking to me it meant that I was crazy and people who were crazy had to be locked up in the dungeon cells and left there. I didn't want to end up in a dungeon, even though I was sure that if they had a dungeon here that it would be better than the one Master had forced me into when I was an especially bad girl.

Something was pulling on my hand moving it away from my teeth and I looked down to see Mateo's paw gently pulling at my arm forcing it away from my face. I tilted my head in confusion until he reached up his snout and began licking at the fingers. I had been biting and I noticed I had chewed off the tips of several nails though none of them were bleeding. Smiling down at the wolf I used the other hand to rub it through his hair and cautiously looked up at Niriol.

"Can M...Mateo ch...chan....change back in...into a per...person now?" I didn't make direct eye contact with her still unsure of what possible hidden rules might exist in this world that seemed to reside beyond my Masters. I had avoided punishment thus far and hoped I could continue to do so.

"Of course he can sweetheart. I know that this is probably a lot for you to process all at once. You've just met most of us and now all this other stuff comes out, it had to be mighty confusing for you." Her soft tone was so gentle I couldn't help the blush that rose to my cheeks as I nodded slightly embarrassed they had all seen that.