MTLNOVEL Chapter 353: 33. Joyride.
As Damon and Mariella walked into the kitchen, they were surprised by what they saw. Although they had been preoccupied for two days, Damon hadn't kept track of what was happening in the pack. The kitchen was bustling with activity, larger than they remembered, with numerous counters and kitchen utensils.
It felt like a cooking show, with tantalizing smells of sweet and savory dishes filling the air. The sounds of food being prepared created a lively soundtrack for the kitchen.
What caught their attention were the cooing and giggling of babies. Almost every pack member had one or more babies in carriers, all having a great time. Damon's empathic abilities allowed him to sense the joy in the room. Mariella, filled with wonder, remarked on how much the babies had grown and pointed out Violet attempting to pull Mimosa's hair.
Damon, feeling a mix of emotions, noticed Mimi hard at work in her station. She was focused on managing four different pans and a variety of ingredients. He observed a slight furrow in her brow, indicating her intense concentration.
Damon couldn't bring himself to move just yet. His attention was drawn to a big screen on one wall, which Number Two had explained to him. This revelation made him quietly grunt as he processed the information. Sharing it with Mariella, they both looked at the screen together.
Damon learned about the detailed records kept for each pack member, including information on magic books. He realized he could contribute to the big book for Mimi, while Mariella could oversee the books related to the charges and correct any errors.
As they stood there taking it all in, Damon received telepathic information from Number Two about the childcare room and babies' milestones. This made Damon feel inadequate as a father, acknowledging his weaknesses and past choices. He glanced at Mimi, who was having fun preparing food, not just for herself but also for the Salvatores and Charles.
Despite not having a baby strapped to her, Mimi was focused on her cooking, wearing a pink satin shirt and a flowy flower-patterned skirt that swayed around her as she moved, the light material adding to her grace.
Mimi was looking healthier, with a bit more weight on her and a noticeable inner glow of happiness. She went to the fridge, a large one, and was approached by number four. He also had no baby.
"What are you looking for, baby?" he asked.
Mimi glanced at him, bit her lip, and replied, "I need some lamb racks and suet."
Number four offered to help get them as they were placed high up. Mimi smiled sweetly as they went in, the door shutting behind them.
Damon felt a knot in his stomach as he tried to process what had just happened.
Mariella told Damon, "We have work to do. I know I'm a sex addict, but at least we are here now. Maybe we can bring one of our babies to work with us."
Damon grunted, noticing that the only available space was far from Mimi. She had number two and Wulfe next to her station. Jealousy twisted inside him as time passed and Mimi didn't come out of the fridge right away. He then understood what was happening inside.
Mariella, comprehending the situation, commented, "Oh, she's having a quickie in the fridge, just like she used to with Adam and Charles."
Damon nodded.
Number two approached them, saying, "You two better believe she deserves this. I taught her a lesson. She had trouble remembering the order of succession as her alpha male was preoccupied, so I had to remind her that she is a female who deserves pleasure and sex. She may be a mother, but she is a woman too. You two are not going to interfere. She is happier now that we've relieved her of all that cortisol. So, zip it."
Damon nodded, grinding his teeth but acknowledging the truth in number two's words.
Realizing that every other female had been taken advantage of, except Mimi, Damon lacked the energy to analyze the situation further. He sensed a change in the Salvatore hive, as if everyone, including the four who had not yet left, had become more aware.
Damon furrowed his brow, attempting to understand what had occurred, but couldn't quite grasp it.
As the fridge door opened, Mimi emerged pushing a trolley full of meat packets, with number four calmly following behind, zipping up his pants and giving Damon a cold look. Damon realized the frequency at which Mimi must have experienced such encounters.
Unsettled, he swallowed the feeling, striving to be better or make the sensation dissipate. Confusion and irritation clouded his mind, like a persistent buzzing noise he couldn't decipher.
Number four approached him and commented, "That did the trick. Quickies are much more useful than spending the whole week in one go. It's all about balance. Too bad number two got to cork Mimi first, but I'll take what I can."
Mariella inquired, "What do you mean, cork her?"
Number four explained, "As you know, she had a dry spell, and number two was the first one to be with her, cork her. You, my dear, there's no corking for you as you are used all the time."
He spoke in a haughty tone as he walked away. Mimi was arranging meats in her station. Her neck flushed, a blush spreading across her chest, and a clear scent of arousal and sex that was more tantalizing to Damon than he realized. Oh yes, baby would also get quickies.
Number five walked over and said, "It's new to us too, the thing Mimi taught us. She realized it. Now, this might feel weird and distressing for you, but just think, it makes sense. You've had problems with her all the time, except at the beginning, and why?"
Damon frowned and asked for an explanation.
Number five continued, "We were all inside you. You, the core, were imprisoned, so it was never you who seduced Mimi. It was number three who taught her to enjoy sex. Let me prove it to you."
Damon grunted, "Ridiculous! I remember it very clearly; it was me!"
Mariella also frowned, pondering the situation, and slowly said, "I understand. You, my love, have not the patience to seduce someone for two years."
Damon furrowed his brow even more.
Number three joined them, and number five asked Damon, "Now, tell me, how did you seduce Shadow?"
Damon thought for a moment and responded, "I would go press her against the wall, not let her move, and let her feel what she is doing to me."
Number five simply nodded, and number three added, "For me, I would chat with her, touch her innocently at first, just by passing, maybe smiling, being all nonchalant, and then progress to bolder touches slowly."
Damon remembered how he had approached Mimi like that, but as he watched her, all he wanted to do was bend her over the kitchen table and have his way with her in front of the pack.
Slowly, he realized that it hadn't been him. Though he remembered it as if he had done it, in truth, it was not him.
This revelation caused a significant shift within him, opening up a whole new perspective that he was trying to come to terms with. At one point, he felt like he had just lost Mimi, but then again, he had been with her too. It was perhaps time for him to clarify to himself what was truly him and what belonged to someone else.
Number two softly conveyed through the hive bond, "You see, there is a reason why we and Mimi hit it off so well. It was Salvatore's hive; it was one of us emerging and engaging in this entirely new experience. We are debating among ourselves about who was who and who gets to claim what. But when Bridgette separated us, it left only you, who had spent the least time with Mimi, not knowing her that well. With you being you and Damien in the mix, things unfolded. You had been with her for a long time, and yes, you made mistakes more than once, but that is in the past. It's also new to Mimi; she is trying to understand and make sense of who did what. This is a massive revelation for all of us, and Mimi, being herself, is finding it difficult. So we need to divert her attention."
Mariella inquired, "What do you mean by 'distract her'? Is she struggling emotionally again?"
Number two responded, "Yes and no. The past is filled with things we were unaware of; she never disclosed anything to any of us. It was only by chance that Wulfe discovered it, which is why he is now staying close to her, much like Burdock, as he is quite upset too."
Damon interjected. "Can you explain further?"
Number two continued, "One day, before we arrived, she was preparing stuffed chicken thighs using blue cheese, mozzarella, and herbs. As she worked, memories surfaced that no one else knew about, except Colin. Not even Charles was aware. Wulfe caught a glimpse of what slipped out of her memories for less than a second and delved in. He suppressed that memory and spent over three hours scolding and lecturing Mimi because of it. Now, he is constantly delving deep into her mind as much as possible. We engage in quickies to keep her mind from wandering into the past, a form of therapeutic quickies, a form of fuck therapy as we are lust pack."
Mariela asked, "What was the memory? What was so awful that it made Wulfe explode like that?"
Number Two glanced at Mariella, who appeared innocent. He recognized this fragility and hoped she would never lose it; her innocence felt invaluable in a harsh world. Unlike Mimi, who had faced her share of trauma, Mariella had not endured such horrors. She wore a short, form-fitting, silk peach dress, aiming to embrace her femininity.
Number Two noticed that she contrasted sharply with Mimi. Although Mimi could dress up, she never displayed her femininity as openly as Mariella. Mimi preferred the background, shunning attention for her solitude. Lacking innocence, Mimi embodied a stark realism and cynicism about life and its inevitable harshness.
Number two said, "Well, as she was stuffing those chicken thighs, she tasted the mozzarella, and it was yummy. As her mind wandered, she recalled a time when she had a PR gig for dairy. It was a small artisan dairy with signature cheeses, meaning each worker made their own cheeses, and they were unique, each batch. But mozzarella is not easy to make, and Mimi wanted to try. She had planned it for days, but it wasn't very successful. She got to take her cheese back home, but her gig was ongoing as it was a three-week gig with only one week done. She was in Indianapolis, driving into the pack house, feeling tired and frustrated because that damn cheese didn't work. She had worked long days and dealt with fleas, and everything was taking its toll."
Damon nodded and said, "This is new to me; I had no idea she was even in a place like that. What happened then?"
Number two swallowed. A flash of anger in his eyes, primal enough to make his hands clench and his eyes squint. Mariella hesitated for a moment but then wrapped herself tightly around him, feeling him shake. She pressed herself as closely as she could to him, offering him something to ground himself with.
Number two's voice was venomous as he continued, "As Mimi returned home exhausted and upset, not in a polite mood, Bran, drunk as a skunk, was there trying to rape her. When Mimi hit him where it hurt, he used all his Marrok power through the pack bond to attack her. Mimi was able to escape. Adam was occupied, Charles wasn't involved at the time, and we left our phones behind for an interrogation mission in Utah. Mimi was suffering from at least six brain bleeds, in agony, disoriented, and filled with rage, but she managed to drive to Colin's clinic."
Number Two shook his head before saying, "Colin might not like it when I reveal this, as it was not his brightest moment, but he has some issues in his mind; he just doesn't show it."
Mariella nodded in understanding and encouraged him to continue asking what had happened with Colin.
Number Two explained, "Colin was on a bender, involved with girls, sex, and booze. When Mimi stumbled in, looking quite skinny and unable to talk properly, there were a few bimbos in the lobby. They went to security, accusing Mimi of trying to get a fix again. The guards then threw Mimi into holding."
Damon, nodding, remarked, "Not ideal, but not as distressing as you're making it out to be."
Number Two sneered, "Too bad the holding area was full of lustful werewolf males who had taken street drugs and were feeling horny, resulting in them trying to have sex with anything that moved."
Mariella covered her mouth in shock as Number Two clarified, "Thankfully, they didn't touch Mimi at first, mistaking her for a junkie. After five hours, one of the bimbos mentioned to Colin about the crazy junkie in the holding. Colin, aware of the situation, didn't want an STD outbreak, as these males were having unprotected sex with anything. When he entered, Mimi was naked and weak, with several males preparing to assault her, dicks out, jerking off as the bimbos goaded them on. Those bimbos soon met a tragic fate as Colin..."
Damon, visibly disturbed, inquired, "What happened next?"
Number Two revealed, "It took Mimi a month to recover. Bran denied everything, but Marrok's power had clearly weakened. This incident led to Mimi canceling our meeting in Arizona after we had completed a gig."
Number One's expression darkened as Mariella released Number Two and went to hug Number One from behind.
His voice filled with self-hatred, he muttered, "You don't need to be a rocket scientist, darlin', to figure out what I did. We did it."
The raw emotion in his voice was palpable.
Mariella had only her mind focused on him, grounding him, and understanding him.
Number two then said, "We went to drink, fuck, and called Mimi a week later so she could hear what she had missed. We had no idea she had called from the hospital bed, just woken up, weak as a kitten. I should have asked her why, but no, I just hung up and did what I always did."
Mariella nodded and remarked, "No wonder Wulfe blew his gasket. There must be rot in the memory."
Number two explained, "It was less than a second of feeling being in that holding, all messed up, in pain, seeing those dicks, being weak, helpless. That was enough for Wulfe to lose it, so one can only think what it must have felt for Mimi. As it flooded out, she never showed not a bit of distress. She was protecting us, blaming herself for not letting Bran have his way with her."
Damon cussed, saying, "That has to stop. We have to feel her distress in some freaking way."
Mariella suggested, as she looked at the wall where those meals were listed, "Maybe a protector radar? Can we shape it? We have to protect our charges, so we need to feel their distress. Now, if we could create a potion with all of our protector powers, and we all would drink it, it would be for the whole pack. It might make it easier for Missy to accept it, as it would not be that she was singled out, but it would be for everyone. Oh, I would love to see her face as she would have information about your distress, too."
Number one responded, "That is bloody brilliant. I just told it to Wulfe. He is starting to plan the potion, and then we have to collect power for everyone, including Mimi. Oh, I might take a little more power from her just for future potions."
Mariella smiled as Damon got on board, understanding that this plan would help.
It was a significant change for the entire pack, possibly causing a shift within each of them. Damon pondered in the kitchen, wondering when this constant barrage of challenges from fate or the universe would cease. He realized he was losing valuable time that had once been crucial and perfect for him.
However, now with his hive, things were different. Each member had their own body and personality, but Damon believed he could make it work. It was time for Mimi to truly meet him, for him to get to know her deeply and for good. He was determined not to let her go, ever.