-Marcus-
I felt her eyes on me while I stood outside her house. Turning to look at her, she hurried away from her window on the second floor. Sighing I headed towards the house, knowing I needed to go talk to her. I could still feel her anger through the bond and I couldn't blame her, what I had done was unacceptable.
As I entered the house and headed for the stairs her mother was coming down the stairs and she stopped me placing a hand on my chest. My wolf growled inside of me not liking the touch of anyone that wasn't our mate and I had to calm him down. Nora wasn't the enemy and she wasn't trying to come on to me.
"Be gentle with her Marcus. She is strong and will forgive you for this, it may just take a little time. She is strong willed and hot headed, she had her life completely planned out and now everything is changing. She is just scared and sometimes that comes out in bursts of sarcasm and anger."
I paused, Nora had every reason for being upset with me but instead she simply wanted to help me understand her daughter. I nodded thankful for the advice because in truth I had no idea how to handle this situation. My mate was feisty and dominant, she commanded respect and did things her way, but she was also infuriatingly disrespectful and childish. I was starting to come to understand this. She was still very young and undoubtedly would manage to get herself into trouble, but she was a born Alpha.
Taking the last few stairs and crossing down the hallway I knocked softly on her door before opening it and stepping inside. "Oh, so you can knock." She said with thick sarcasm and my wolf perked up at her words.
My wolf liked her feistiness, he liked that she challenged us and I was starting to like it too. Her scent smelling of cinnamon and fall engulfed me as I slowly walked to her bed sitting down across from her. The first thing I noticed was that she wasn't wearing a bra. Her nipples could easily be seen through her white shirt and her dripping wet hair didn't help the see-through factor. I felt my heart race as I looked at her, she was beyond gorgeous in every way and it was taking everything in me to not shove her down on the mattress and take her right then and there.
She coughed awkwardly to get my attention but didn't try to hide herself from me. I looked up at her face and noticed the dark bruising on her neck where I had bitten her. I grimaced and reached forward to brush her hair out of the way and take a better look. I half expected her to cringe away from me but instead she just held still as I leaned forward and moved her hair aside.
I ran my fingers across the bite mark and felt her body relaxed slightly at my touch. My wolf couldn't help but be proud that she was affected by our touch. The bruise was dark and long, it wasn't going to heal very fast. I looked up at her to see her watching me intently. "I'm sorry." I told her as she looked away from me and I dropped my hand. It wasn't an easy thing for me to say, but I knew I had let my anger get the better of me and I needed to fix this.
"I'm not going to say it is fine, or that I forgive you, so if that is what you want then you might as well leave." She snapped angrily.
A smile came to my lips as what her mom said came back to me. She was defending herself with anger and sarcasm and I was starting to find it rather amusing. "I don't expect you too." I said before looking down at her plate of untouched food. "Aren't you going to eat your food?" I asked a little more bossy than I had wanted.
She looked at me confused for a moment before looking down at her plate. She sat her fork down and shook her head. Grimacing at the plate in disgust. "It's pork." She said as if that would explain everything. "I hate pork. I don't know why my mother thought it would be a good idea to serve it tonight, especially with a bunch of dominant males that I assume would much rather prefer a rare steak." She said this as she looked up at me.
I couldn't agree more about preferring a nice rare steak over the dried out pork. Taking the plate from the bed I went to the bathroom and dumped it in the garbage coming back I held out my hand to her.
"What are you doing?" She asked not taking my hand. I sighed dropping my hand in frustration she was going to be slightly difficult to get used to.
"You are going to put regular clothes on and then I am going to take you out to eat." I said sternly.
I watched her raised an eyebrow at me and for a second and thought maybe she would argue. Instead she stood and walked to her closet. Turning she looked at me expectantly and I realized she was waiting for me to leave the room. I grumbled about how we were mates and this was silly but left her room nonetheless.
I went down stairs and told her father I was taking her into town for the evening while I waited for her. He nodded in acknowledgement although he didn't seem outwardly thrilled about the idea. I paced the foyer as I waited, hearing Emmerson's passing thought about how it was good to make me wait. I snorted in irritation before realizing everyone's eyes were on me. Not wanting to hash out the knowledge of our true mate bond right then I turned and walked outside.
Hurry up, unless you want to discuss our bond to everyone right now.
I said with a frown on my face as I stepped off the porch onto the gravel driveway. I decided to wait next to the black SUV we would be using. Leaning up against the car I pulled my phone out and dialed the number for my house phone trying to catch Hellen, the old Alpha's mate. She was still living in the Alpha house in her old room, I saw no reason to kick her out especially when she practically raised me and she had such a vast knowledge of werewolf history.
"Hello dear, how is your trip going?" Her warm and caring voice came from the other end of the phone, you could practically picture her smile.
"Hey Hellen, what do you know about true mates?" I questioned as I kept my eyes on the other Alpha's house in front of me careful not to speak too loud.
I heard Hellen's audible gasp of excitement through the phone and winced knowing she was about to let out a load of questions a mile long. "You found your true mate! How is she?" After hearing her stop to take a breath I quickly stopped her.
"Yes I did, and she is... frustrating to say the least." I growled into the phone. I couldn't explain how frustrated I was around my mate. She was breathtakingly beautiful and strong but she had a mouth on her and attitude that a drunken sailor would covet.
"Ah, she is meant to challenge you dear." Hellen said through the phone almost knowingly. She sounded elated that there was someone who could push my buttons and get away with it. "Other than the soul bond I don't know much more at the moment, I'll have to dig out my books and get back to you. Oh but Marcus, whatever you do don't mark her. I know that much. If you mark her before either of you are ready to complete the next step in your mating, it will be excruciating for both of you until you do consummate the relationship." My eyes widened by the seriousness in her voice.
"I could have used that information three hours ago Hellen." I growled with irritation.
"In that case you are going to need to get home and fast. The second that sun goes... just get home." Her worry was making me uneasy and I almost broke my phone in anger.
"How do you suppose I do that? I can't just drag her home with me." My fangs were starting to stab into my gums as my wolf was trying to push out in anger and an eagerness to do whatever it took to protect our mate.
I turned when I heard the sound of a front door slamming and looked to find Emmerson headed my way in a pair of dark blue skinny jeans and a maroon top, a scarf was wrapped around her neck and her long brown hair hung down in natural curls down to her waist. She scrunched her eyebrows together as she noticed my stiff posture.
"Marcus! Damn it boy pay attention. Did you hear what I said?" Hellen yelled from the other end of the phone and I cringed at the shrill tone. "I said, tell her the truth, you didn't know about it before you marked her. Your bond would have forced you to do it sooner than later anyway. I'll call you shortly with more information." She said before I heard the audible click of the line going dead. I stuck my phone in my pocket before looking back to Emmerson. I was worried about how she was going to respond.
Emmerson undoubtedly heard the last of my conversation with Hellen and her raised eyebrow and glare of annoyance were proof of that. She had stopped walking when she heard Hellen and now had her hands on her hips and was staring at me impatiently. "Well. Who was that and what does she mean tell me the truth about the mark." Her voice was deadly calm and I could feel her anger through the bond like a white hot iron.
"Come on we need to discuss this with your father and mother, I am not going to repeat myself." I growled before ushering her back into her house. I yelled for John and Nora who had been discussing pack agreements with the elders of our packs.
They came around the corner of the foyer with worried expressions as I motioned for them to go into John's office with us. I could feel Emmerson wanting to protest but I placed my hand on her lower back and let out a growled Don't argue, through the bond. She stiffened but walking into her father's office after her parents.
Her father stood tall with his arms folded over his chest in irritation that I would dare order him around. I just ignored his glare and looked to Emmerson who was now standing next to her mother who was looking at me cautiously. Emmerson was beyond irritated and had shoved her hair over her shoulder angrily.
"Emmerson and I are true mates." I finally said through my teeth as I looked at her. I felt the shock from her that I would just come out and say it. Looking to her parents I continued talking. "I have marked her and unfortunately I was unaware that true mates are so different from the way we live now. The mark isn't just a claim of what is rightfully yours when it comes to true mates, it is a sign of complete acception. We are going to be leaving as soon as Emmerson packs, we have to complete the bond and I need to get back to my pack." I said this all in a rush of anger and the last part a final demand. They didn't have any say it the situation.
"What!!!" Emmerson shrill scream grinded on my nerves. "I am not... what the fu..." the glare I gave her was so far past pissed off that she stopped mid sentence. She reached up and yanked the scarf from her neck throwing it to the ground before stomping past me and out the door. I felt her absolute rage and embarrassment through the bond before she slammed a wall down hard on her thoughts. I gasped in surprise as pain seared through my body at the disconnection of our souls. She had managed to block me from her mind and it was painfully understandable.
"WHAT THE..." John has started towards me but when I turned to face him Nora had a hand on his chest holding him back with a stern look before she turned her gaze on me.
"If you are true mates then this is a discussion between you and Emmerson. I am not happy with this situation, however it is the way of werewolves to find your mate and complete the bond. I will help her pack, a quick word of advice to you though, don't go behind your mates back when the situation involves her. You will find that female wolves not only can handle their own but come with quite a bite as well." I could feel her neatly controlled irritation with me as she turned back to her husband and lead him from his office.
I sighed squeezing my eyes shut and pinching the bridge of my nose. This had turned into a long day and was just getting longer. I had managed to find my true mate and royally piss her off within a six hour period. A knock on the door got my attention as my pack elders walked in. The three elders were in there mid fifties but looked as if they were in their seventies. The wear and tear of life without a true mate had eaten away at them. Taylor the oldest looked to me with a stern face though his eyes shone with concern.
"Alpha what are we doing? The pack treaty has not yet been signed. We heard your conversation with the girl and her parents. However without the treaty we run the risk of war." He said and I could sense he was trying to berate me like a small child. I straightened my shoulders and walked over to the three men with growing anger.
"We are leaving, the treaty can wait though it won't matter much seeing as my true mate is from this pack, war will not be an issue." I let my Alpha power poor out to them and was slightly shocked to find it was a lot stronger than before. They nodded and left the room quickly.
I sighed running my fingers through my hair in irritation. How was I going to fix this situation. Nora was right I should have taken the time to talk to Emmerson before throwing everything out in the open for her parents. Time was against us though and I was panicked wanting to make sure that Emmerson would be okay in the long run. Unfortunately I was just making things worse for both of us.
I glanced out the window briefly and scowled, it was already fives o'clock and if we were going to make it home by sundown then we needed to leave now. I briskly walked out of the office and headed towards the stairs finding Nora coming down them holding two boxes of what looked to me photography and artwork supplies. She eyed me sternly before handing the boxes to me.
"We need to hurry." I said and she stopped turning back to me with an irritated glance.
"You are claiming and uprooting her all in one day, you chose to lose your temper and chose not to talk to your mate first. You are taking her away from everything she has ever known, her family, her career, everything. She is mad and hurt, and honestly I don't blame her. If I were her I would have flat out refused to go anywhere with you, but instead she is up in that room packing the bare minimum of things she needs because you told her to. I don't know how you will fix this, but you need to or you risk more than just your mate." I could feel Nora's anger as she said this but even so she was calm. My heart sunk, I knew she was right.
"Why are you being so patient with me?" I asked finally.
"I am being patient with you because I know that this will all pass and you two will work things out. And because it doesn't hurt to give you a little advice. As an alpha male you act more on instinct and I can't even imagine how hard things are going to be, finding out about the mate bond. But you need to remember to put her first, don't let your alpha temper get in the way of a good thing." She said finally before turning and heading back up the stairs.
I heard Emmerson cursing angrily in her room and I wanted to go to her and explain everything but knew she wasn't ready to listen right now. I sighed and headed out to the SUVs, placing the boxes in the trunk. My phone started ringing and I cringed at the loud noise.
"Hello." I said answering the phone.
"Are you on your way?" Hellen's tone was worried.
"It's only been a few minutes, she's packing." I said stiffly I knew that I shouldn't be snapping at the one person trying to help me understand what was happening but I was on edge.
"You'll want to send the elders home. I think it's best if you and your mate drive here alone. At the very least it will help your nerves." Hellen said, she sounded really nervous and I knew what she was going to say next was going to irritate me. "She's going into heat, and before you say 'like a dog', for werewolves in different. Once marked a female werewolf goes into a sort of transformation, I guess you can say. She'll be in pain and it will hurt to have any kind of contact with anything. It doesn't say how long it will last for the first time."
"First time." I gritted my teeth.
"It will happen once a month just like a normal human female has monthly cycles. After the first time it should calm down quite a bit though and it will be a lot easier for you both if you are on good terms." Hellen said calmly.
"How could I do this... how could I hurt my mate?" I felt the words fall out of my mouth sounding tormented.
"It isn't your fault son, true mates haven't been around in so long that none of us could have known what to expect. There is no guarantee that it would have happened any differently even if we did know." I knew she was trying to reassure me but it wasn't working even in the slightest.
After she hung up, I turned back to the house heading inside. Emmerson was standing in the family room hugging her little brother to her fiercely, tears streaming down her face as she promised him she would see him soon. Her father and mother had worried looks on their faces as they watched her.
"Alpha, do you need us to carry stuff out the vehicles?" One of my pack elders asked calmly.
"No Aaron, you and the others can take one of the vehicles and head out we will be right behind you." I said feeling a strong wave of remorse as I continued to watch my mate and her family say their goodbyes. I didn't even notice when he nodded and they headed out the door. I reached down and picked up the two big duffle bags full of Emmerson's clothes and waited by the door patiently.