Myths & Rejections

Chapter 21 - Conflicted

Word Count: 4402

Celie

Celie stood in front of the canvas and frowned slightly at what she was seeing, she tilted her head to the side hoping for a better angle when Eden chuckled.

"You don't need to tell me I will never be a successful artist," he said. "But this is my first attempt at painting so I feel that some leniency should be given."

"You could probably be an abstract artist," Celie finally gave in and laughed at Eden's terrible attempt to paint a fish. Last night had been a quiet night, no triton attacks, or sightings so they'd all had a chance to rest. He'd tagged along with Celie when she went to the gallery for the afternoon to give Matt a little more time to rest and recover, and when they had gotten here she'd offered to give him a quick painting lesson to pass the time and stave off his boredom while she got some paperwork done.

"I do not know how one does what you do," Eden said, admiring some of the truly magnificent works of Celie's hanging around the room, she excelled at realism, and impressionist painting, and her photography was simply stunning. "It seems as though you must be able to look at the world through special eyes, that see colors and light differently than others."

"Hmmm," Celie mused. "That's a good way of putting it, you do have to pay special attention to the angles of light and the colors of an image to get it to look right on a canvas or picture. But it is something someone can learn through classes and watching others."

"I doubt that anyone without special talent could learn to be as skilled as you," Eden complimented her, making Celie flush with pleasure at his praise. It was always thrilling to hear her work was appreciated but she was especially pleased that he thought she was talented. She couldn't help but be incredibly attracted to the huge man in front of her, he piqued her interest as no other male had since her rejection.

She was about to thank him when the bell above the door tinkled and drew her attention to the front of the shop, where Adam stood frowning at them. He'd come to the gallery to admire Celie's work and try to spend some alone time with her. Seeing her laughing with the handsome siren did not make him happy, especially considering he knew a mate bond could technically be formed between the two of them if they decided they wanted to be together.

"Hi," Adam said lamely, breaking the awkward silence. "I thought I'd stop by and see if you were busy, I was hoping we could talk."

Eden raised a brow at him, he wasn't sure what was going on between them, but he knew there was history there that made everyone uncomfortable. They'd explained some of werewolf culture to him, and he knew there was a lot of bad blood between Harper, Reese, and Callum, but he didn't know the backstory of Celie and Adam. Adam's interest in Celie was plain to see, and he was clearly unhappy to see Eden spending time with her.

Celie was conflicted looking at Adam's hopeful and disappointed face. Her wolf was pushing her to go to him, to reassure and comfort him, but her mind was not inclined to. She admitted to herself that Eden's arrival had pulled her human side away from thinking of Adam. If Adam were not there, she would have seriously considered pursuing Eden as a partner, now she didn't know what to do.

"Why don't I take a few moments to explore the neighborhood and pick us up some food?" Eden offered standing up and placing his paintbrush in the cup of water on the easel. He would give her the opportunity to settle her matters with the wolf, even though he was hesitant about the male. He didn't have a good impression of their kind so far, and he didn't want to leave her alone with him for long. "What might be a good option for food in this part of the city?"