My Fated Mate Can Have Her-Chapter 217: At Their Limit II

Rowan

She had seemed surprised when I said we could stay for a while so she could have some fun, but we ended up learning how to play some of the activities.

I paid for several and watched as she approached each one with the careful focus she brought to everything.

She was good at them, and slowly, gradually, she started to loosen a bit more.

It was to the extent I caught myself smiling too.

And she still wouldn’t look at me.

Even now relaxed, she kept her gaze carefully angled away. She addressed her comments to the air, to the vendors, to anyone but me directly. When our hands accidentally brushed reaching for the same game piece, she jerked away like I had burned her.

It had been days already, when was this going to stop?

I was nearly reaching my limit when we reached another area.

The game here seemed to be on a larger scale.

A long, thin rod was on a stand connected to a large glass box filled various objects the administrator had called vintage. They looked more like really detailed toys and figurines to me, but there were a number of small pouches mixed within the load of objects.

But at the top of the box was a clawed rod and it seemed to move according to the movement of the long thin rod standing on a podium in front of that glass box. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Two wolves stood on opposite sides of the podium, each gripping one end of the rod.

As I watched, they worked together to lift a figurine using only the rod, their movements careful and coordinated. It seemed like they were aiming for the pouches which clearly contained money, but the way they struggled was amusing to watch. It looked very simple, but all they could manage to pick was a figure to a small hole at the edge of the box that made the figurine slide out.

The little crowd around them cheered.

Violet joined in and I decided to join too. It had piqued my interest, and I had never come across an activity like that before.

It was especially baffling how people were turning out to be so bad at it.

We were actually grouped to play other smaller games before trying that one, and we got paired separately with other players, competing in brackets until only two remained who would then have a hand at the box.

It seemed a bit saddening that one had to go through so many games and only win to play something that looked fun.

Violet was matched with a young female wolf who giggled nervously, and I was paired with an older male who took the game far too seriously.

We both won our rounds.

Other pairings followed. Sometimes we played alongside each other, sometimes against. The competition narrowed, and wolves were eliminated one by one until the final round arrived.

Then it was just us.

Violet and I, standing on opposite sides of the table, the polished rod between us.

She paused, hesitating before gripping the lower part while I grabbed the upper one.

She clearly didn’t want skin contact.

"Ah, it would be more efficient to grab it with both hands, you two," the moderator commented, watching us.

Violet frowned and placed her second hand and mine joined, brushing hers.

She stiffened.

I sighed. "Let’s just start."

The moment our hands lifted the rod, I felt her tension vibrate through the entire length of it. She was gripping too hard, her knuckles pale, her shoulders rigid.

"First figurine," the moderator announced. "Have a go at the crystal wolf."

We basically had to pick a series of figurines pointed out by the moderator before finally trying to pick the bag of coin.

We maneuvered the rod toward a small figurine carved from pale blue stone. It was delicate, barely the size of my palm, and required precise positioning to lift.

I adjusted my grip, trying to angle the rod beneath it.

Violet moved in the opposite direction.

’Well... I now understand why this looked so hard.’

The rod wobbled.

"Easy," I murmured. "We’re in this together."

Violet let out a lengthy sigh and my focus momentarily lingered on her lips. I flinched when she jerked the rod to follow her movement and my hands had just been there like an inanimate object. I quickly focused and matched her movement until we managed to slide the rod right above the figurine.

After multiple tries, we finally lifted it.

The figurine wobbled but stayed balanced on the narrow rod. We began to move it toward the target area, step by careful step.

"It would be nice if you looked at me or my hands at least," I said, keeping my voice low. "To coordinate."

"I can see fine."

"You’re staring at the box."

"Because that is where we are meant to focus on."

The figurine wobbled dangerously. I compensated, tilting my end slightly, and it stabilized.

"That is not the only thing we are meant to focus on," I mumbled.

"You’re a very powerful wolf. Very. So, am I, we could literally even do this with our eyes closed if we wanted, why are you bringing up something so irrelevant?" she hissed.

"You’ve been avoiding me for three days." The words came out before I could stop them.

Her grip tightened. "I haven’t been avoiding you. We’ve been together constantly."

"You know what I mean," I whispered. "You won’t even look at me. What is the problem?"

"We are in the middle of a game, Rowan," she gritted out, a slight frown settling over her face.

"And you won’t even talk to me."

"What are you trying to do exactly?" she asked.

The figurine reached the target area. We lowered it carefully, and it settled into place without falling.

The crowd applauded.

"Second figurine," the moderator called out. "The stone tower."

This one was larger, heavier. It required more strength to lift, more coordination to carry.

We positioned the rod.

"I have given you space," I whispered heatedly as we picked it up. "I have waited and you still won’t even talk to me, much less look at me."