Chapter 17
The room he woke in was unfamiliar.
Elm was tempted to stay under the warmth of the covers, rubbing his cheek against the soft white furs, still half asleep.
He was on his side, facing a floor to ceiling wall of glass that overlooked a frozen expanse.
There were snowcapped pines leading to a mountain, and thick, fluffy flurries. It made him shiver just looking at it.
Sitting up, he rubbed at his eyes and took in his new surroundings.
A fire crackled in a large hearth across the room, the glow of the flames mixing with the white natural lighting caused by the day’s overcast gloom.
A white area rug was set in front of the fireplace, with a couple of light gray throw pillows at one end, as though someone had spent time lounging there recently.
To his left, a small, circular wooden table was position in the center of the glass wall, two chairs at either side.
The rest of the space was left empty, as if to showcase the view.
He was on the second or third floor, high up enough that when he stood and walked closer, he got an idea of just how vast the forest stretched in all directions.
The prickle of unease was like second nature to him at this point, and Elm merely scratched at his chest, noting he was dressed in a white pinstriped silk pajama set.
The sweats he’d been given before weren’t exactly low quality, but when he brushed his fingers against the material of his shirt, it was impossible to miss how expensive these clothes must be.
The exit was on the opposite wall of the window, the door left open to reveal a hallway. There were two other doors, one in the corner by the bed, and the other in the corner by the fireplace. They were also wide open, giving Elm an easy look into a master bathroom and a walk-in closet.
Aside from the crackling in the hearth and the wind beating against the windowpanes, all was quiet, and Elm tentatively stepped into the hallway.
The building was made of a rich honey-toned wood, with white, gray, and silver accents provided by bits of furniture and decoration.
His bare feet padded across shiny floorboards, down a wide hallway that led to an impressive set of stairs that curved against another wall made of glass.
He gripped the black metal handrail and followed it down, pausing at the landing.
There was an archway straight ahead, which he could see led to more stairs, or a single step to his left, off the platform, which opened up to another floor.
The living area, cozy with a fireplace and white couch, looked immaculate.
A coffee table with a short stack of three magazines carefully positioned beneath a paperweight shaped like a sleeping rabbit, and a fancy old bow and single arrow displayed above the fireplace decorated the space.
Halls branched off in four directions, but he didn’t hear anything coming from any of them, and decided to keep searching.
Elm moved beneath the circular archway, and found himself standing on a round balcony overlooking the main level.
The area was massive, but from his vantage he could see most of the setup.
The front door was straight ahead, ten or so feet from where the stairs to his right curved and ended.
The living room here was three times the size of the one upstairs, with a large L-shaped couch in the middle.
A fireplace large enough to fit a body inside took up a portion of the far-left wall.
There was a similar white fur rug laid out in front of this one, and Elm caught the edge of a frame hanging over the mantel, but couldn’t make out the image from where he stood.
The rest of the wall was made of glass, another balcony, this one rectangular with chairs and a table, could by seen across from him, its entrance on the second floor.
Beneath it, two sliding doors separated him from the harsh weather.
Beyond them, he caught sight of a stone path, partially covered in snow, that led to a water source.
He started down the steps slowly, realizing the kitchen area was tucked beneath the balcony, and a size clearly meant to host an entire catering company.
Directly under the stairs was a mini seating area, another round table, and another set of chairs.
A dining room table long enough to seat eight was ten or so feet behind the couch, close to another set of doors, these ones made of wood.
Elm was making his way to them, curious to see what was on the other side, when something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye.
It was tucked into a corner, between the side exit and the doors he’d been heading to, just before a regular sized archway leading to another part of the house.
The statue was a couple of inches taller than he was, a sculpted, shirtless man holding a metal lantern in his right hand and a mooncake in his left.
The cake was resting in his palm, arm slightly extended as though the statue was offering it.
Carefully carved eyes peered out from the holes of a rabbit mask that obscured the top half of his face, leaving the bottom half open.
His perfectly formed lips were tilted upwards at the left corner in a partial, flirtatious smile.
When Elm stepped in front of it, the eyes seemed to stare directly at him.
“What are you doing here?” he murmured, reaching out to touch the rise of the statue’s collarbone, a part of him wondering if he was still asleep, or perhaps hallucinating. His last heat, Levi had found him in time. Had given him the toy. There was no way Elm had slipped into madness.
He dropped his gaze to the statue’s bottom half. It wasn’t just shirtless. He’d debated on whether or not to give it pants, but his hands had worked as though with a mind of their own, carving and chipping away until it’d been too late to turn back.
The statue was well endowed, flaccid dick and heavy balls nestled between powerful thighs. Elm could picture the rounded globes of his ass, recalled spending a ridiculous amount of time smoothing them out, until even his fingers had been rubbed raw from the sandpaper.
His hand found the bottom of the lantern, true to size and the only part he hadn’t sculpted from clay.
Metal work wasn’t his forte, and there were seams he still wasn’t fond of when he ran his thumb over them now.
The lantern dangled from a ring, clasped in the statue’s right hand, held up and slightly to the side.
The light orb inside was on, hovering within the metal cage, glow reflecting off four panes of glass.
On the bottom front strip of metal, he’d carved the title of the piece in a cursive letter that had taken him several practice attempts on scraps to get right.
The Rabbit God.
“Do you like it?” Levi’s voice behind him startled him, and Elm spun on his heels.
The alpha was dressed in a similar pajama set, though instead of a top, he was wearing a silk robe that was left open.
Before he could help it, Elm’s gaze swept down the length of his chest. He turned away quickly, hoping the alpha hadn’t noticed, and cleared his throat, motioning awkwardly at the statue he’d been caught fawning over.
“He has certain…appeal.” What an incredibly idiotic thing to say. Elm closed his eyes, inwardly cursing himself.
“Yes, his cock is rather big.”
“Good Light.”
“That is what you were referring to, isn’t it?” Levi chuckled and moved in closer. “I always imagined the artist was an omega, and this piece was his depiction of his ideal man.”
Elm’s spine stiffened. There was no way the Leviathan knew he was the one who’d created it, right?
Or that he liked big dicks.
Clearly.
Oh.
Actually, maybe that last part was fairly obvious at this point, considering the size of the toy Levi had used on him.
“Perhaps I’m being shortsighted,” the alpha said. “There’s no way of knowing whether or not the artist is even one of us.”
“You don’t know who created it?” Was this really a coincidence?
“They go by Median, but no one really knows who they are. I tried to find out, even threatened the gallery that held the auction where it was listed, but no one would reveal their identity.”
“You must not have tried that hard.” Elm highly doubted anyone would put their neck on the line to protect an artist who, at the time, wasn’t even a high school graduate. “Pretty sure you’ve never taken no as a final answer in your life.”
“True.” Levi smiled, that half smile he typically gave.
The one that Elm was now realizing matched the expression an eighteen-year-old him had given the Rabbit God.
He took in the alpha’s expression when the older man stared at the statue. There was more than appreciation there, but Elm couldn’t place his finger on what other emotions lurked behind his gaze.
“You really like it,” Elm decided, feeling a mixture of things himself now.
It’d been a tough decision to put the statue up for auction, but his art teacher at the time had an in with a prestigious gallery here on Synastry, and had urged Elm to list it when he heard Elm didn’t have any plans for it.
He’d created it for his final project, a task that had taken him almost the entire school year to complete.
If he did it now, there were things he would do better, but he hadn’t made anything of this scale since.
Materials were expensive, and while he and Sky made enough to get by through their shop, it wasn’t like he was rolling in it.
His family was well-off, and he could probably ask them or his brother for a handout, but he’d never felt good enough about his skills to go that far.
Even with this statue, he’d eventually agreed with his teacher because Elm had been certain no one would want it and it’d be returned to him.
Then he’d found out someone had paid eight million coin for it.
Some of that money was still sitting in his savings account.