Kenzie Hope
He was only trying to be helpful, Lexus rebutted, frustrated that I didn't let our mate help us.
Did you notice how he wouldn't let anyone touch us, I snapped back at her.
He may be our mate and I may not be able to resist my urge to be with him, but no one- and I mean no one- has the right to control me. That's exactly what he was trying to do- control me. And I will not have it. If he wants to rule over me, he would have to do it with a fight.
I felt a surge of confidence come through me, probably from Lexus. I grabbed the handle of the door, ready to face my alpha. Then my hand dropped as the confidence left me as soon as it came?
"What the fuck are you doing Kenzie," I mumbled to myself.
There were three ways this could end. One, I got over my pride and faced my mate, despite my fears or worries. In the long run, we were going to be together anyway, the Moon Goddess put us together for a reason. Or option number two, I could sit in here forever until I die of starvation. Then option three, I could take a shower and take my sweet time deciding between the first two scenarios.
Needless to say, I chose option three.
I carefully pulled each sharp bobby pin out of my hair until they were all gone. My hair slightly puffed up without them and it made me kind of sad to see the night over.
I took a long shower to say the least. By the time I was done my eyes were bright red from crying and my skin was pruned. I was reluctant to get out but my feet were sore from the heels and I craved nothing more than to be in bed.
And our mate, Lexus whimpered in my mind, We also crave our mate.
I rolled my eyes at her pleading to go towards him while I searched for a towel. Eventually I found one in a cupboard but not before I found the alpha's cologne. I breathed in his scent and nearly melted from being so close to the source of the intoxicating smell.
After wrapping myself up in the fluffy white towel, I pressed my ear up to the door. Since I didn't hear anything, I assumed that the alpha must have left or gone to bed.
What I did not expect was for him to be asleep against the door. When the door opened, the large man fell backwards and hit his head on the white tiles of the bathroom, hard. My wold cried at the sight and pawed at barrier of my mind.
"Fuck," He groaned after a second and brought me out of my daze. The mate bond compelled me to take care of him and I didn't resist it, I couldn't resist it.
I jumped down to the floor and pulled his head into my lap, which was slightly awkward considering that's he's the "big strong alpha". I placed my hand under his head and tried to nurse it until I felt the familiar sticky texture of blood.
I slowly sat him into a sitting position only to see a slight cut on the back of his head. It wasn't a deep cut but my instincts pulled me to take care of him.
"I'm fine," He mumbled standing up, probably more embarrassed than hurt. He started walking back into the room before I grabbed his hand. His head snapped back to us and his eyes shot from our hands to my eyes. I suddenly felt really insecure about not only my actions but the lack of clothing I had on.
Mate, Lexus purred.
I tugged his hand towards the sink. With little hesitation, he sat on the stool that was so conveniently placed in the bathroom.
I found a first aid kit in one of the white colored cabinets behind me. Afterwards, I took the alcohol wipes and cleaned his wound. By the time I was done, his werewolf healing had closed up his wound. It was probably pointless to clean his cut but I felt the need to anyway.
"Thank you," He said pushing a strand of hair behind my ear. I blushed before turning to throw away the wipe. But before I could he took his other hand and grabbed mine, effectively stopping me from leaving.
His fingertips trailed down my next from behind my ear, leaving fireworks on my skin. He stopped when he hit my collar-bone, and instead of going further, he traced the indent.
"Uh-yeah-so-um," I spoke gibberish. And then he gave me a smile that just seemed so genuinely sweet with just the right touch of shyness that unexpected warmth rushed through me.
There was something about the way he smiled; the way the sun had somehow toppled down from the sky and made a home right there in his heart. He had the kind of smile that made you feel happy to be alive and just that bit more human.
The way his lips lifted upward. The way his dimples crinkled. The way his teeth were perfectly aligned. The warm glow his happiness gave. The way he was lit a spark of joy in my heart. The way that he was, was everything my heart yearned for.
"You're so pulchritudinous," He beamed with quiet confidence. I spoke gibberish in reply and he laughed. I didn't know what that word meant
"I need to get dressed." I wiggled out of his grasp and instantly felt the lack of warmth he provided. The disappointment was instantly etched on his face as I walked away.
Looking around the bedroom, I realized that it was probably his room. There was a rustic woodsy theme going on, everything from his bed frame to his nightstand to dressers to his doors were the same dark brown color. It was incredibly tidy, every book and paper on his desk were perfectly straight and stacked.
He had a black Scentsy, which I didn't realize guys used until now. Inside of it was a purple liquid that produced the lavender smell. It almost overpowered his natural scent of pine trees and cinnamon and it almost wasn't there.
I stood in the middle of the bedroom for a few seconds, trying to figure out what to do, before he came back into the room. He sat on the bed for a minute, just staring into my eyes. His green forests twirling with curiosity.
"I don't understand you," He whispered, more to himself than me. His eyes left mine and travelled down to his lap. My wolf whined at the though of him being sad because if us, pleading me to make it better.
"What do you mean?" I asked after a moment, my voice surprisingly hoarse. I took a step closer to him, but stopped myself before taking a second step.
"That- that right there." He pointed to my feet with a sigh. "Aren't mates suppose to fall for each other right away?"
"Ye-" I tried to answer, only to be cut off.
"We've been together for how long, McKenna? Almost three days?" He said exasperated. He stood up and threw his arms down to his side. I retracted the step I took earlier, scared that I would frustrate him further. His eyes soften at my action and I swear I could see tears forming in his green orbs.
"Why do you move away from me? Why do you keep your wall up? Why haven't you accepted me yet?" He asked slowly, getting quieter and quieter until the last question was barely audible. He took a step forward, shortening the distance between us to maybe four steps. I fought the urge to take one forward.
"Aren't mates suppose to accept each other instantly?" He asked taking another step. "Aren't mates suppose to be entranced by each other instantly?" Yet another step.
"Because I'm entranced by you," He stated while taking a small step, melting my heart in the process. "Tell me you want me too; tell me you accept me McKenna, please, or just reject me here because my wolf can't do these mixed signals."
"What about you?" I asked, "Can you deal with these mixed signals?"
He took a pause, his eyes calculating his next words. "I want to do anything I can to make you happy, whether that means being my Luna or not."
"That wasn't my question. I asked if you can deal with me."
"McKenna, for the rest of our lives I'll deal with you. Love, you mean everything to be. You have since the moment I learned of your existence."
My heart stopped. My wolf purred at his words. My brain wanted to shut down like it did when we first met.
"Uh-mm-um," I sputtered gibberish. I seem to be doing that a lot more often since I met the man standing in front of me, who by the by was only wearing basketball shorts.
"McKenna," He started, a little more pleading than before. My eyes widened at the way he said it. He has so much raw emotions flowing through him that it was almost overwhelming.
"Y-Yes," I stuttered.
"Please," He begged, " I have to know whether you're going to accept me or not."
To be honest, I didn't know what to say. I knew that I'd accept him eventually, but this was all going way to fast for me. At the beginning of the week I was a Omeaga girl, who literally no one cared about. Fast forward three-day, I'm the Luna of a giant pack.
"I, McKenna Hope, accept you Kaden Winters, Alpha of the Winters pack, as my mate," I stuttered. His eyes lit up in joy as the mate bond flowed through him, where as I took a step back from the intensity.
He repeated the phrase, putting the names in the respectful places. Then, he took a step towards me, like a cat preying on a mouse.
"I love you, McKenna. I know it's soon, but I needed you to hear it. I love you."
"I think I love you, too, Kaden."
I wasn't scared per se, rather I was really overwhelmed by how fast everything was going. I mean for Goddesses sake just about two days ago, I was in a prison cell; just about two hours ago, I was wearing a tiara. I mean really, McKenna?
His eyes, as bright as the sun, were staring into my soul. I wanted to shield myself from his intense stare, but at the same time I craved his attention. I wanted life to slow down, to go back how it use to be, no matter how pathetic it way. I needed to stay in his proximity.
I had never been like this before. I had never been so wish-washy. I had never had mixed feelings. My entire life had been a routine that rarely changed. Now, with Alpha Winters in front of me, I knew that my life was about to be a roller coaster and I'd never be able to guess which direction I was going toward next.
"Uh so I guess you want to get dressed," He murmured and rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed that he hadn't thought about that early.
"I would," I said, laughing quietly at his actions. He didn't say anything else. My hand lit on fire as he grabbed it, leading me toward the walk-in-closet. We stood there for a moment, his eyes darting from our interlaced hands to random things around the room. Eventually, he dropped my hand and gestured around the large closet space, that was probably the size my apartment. I instantly lost his warmth, my body begged for it to return, but it didn't.
By looking around the room, I realized that all of my clothes and more were hung, stacked, and folded very neatly throughout the closet. Both, Kaden and I's, things were together in an organized blend. Our shoes were stacked together in ascending order of height on a mini staircase-type-thing and our clothes were hung nicely on opposite sides of the closet in ascending order from casual to fancy. The left hand side of the closest, my side, was much more bare than its counterpart, but from what I could see, it was already growing in size. There were fancy gowns and dresses toward the back of the closet, items I had never seen before.
"So this is our closest." He moved out of the room and as he left he said, "I'll give you some privacy."
I didn't waste any time getting into my pajamas, exhausted from the excruciating long day that I had just had. I threw on a loose pair of black shorts and a baggy shirt that I had for as long as I could remember. I think once upon of time it could have been my dad's but it had been mine since I was very small. I didn't think much about my chosen outfit before leaving the closet.
Kaden was laying on the bed, facing the ceiling, when I walked in. He turned his head toward me, a loving gaze in his forest green eyes, before they turned black with specks of dirty moss. His eyes scanned my body from head to toe, eating my appearance in. I loved the way his eyes felt on me and I didn't know why.
"Do you mind showing me to my room?" I asked, suddenly feeling very timid. On one hand, I hopped that he would tell me that I was sleeping here, with him, no matter what because I was his mate. Now that we had found each other, it would almost be impossible to sleep without him. On the other hand, I was hoping he would take me to another room so that I could gather my thoughts without the constant infiltration of his distracting scent.
"Oh," He said, taken back, "I thought you would want to sleep here."
"Uh, well," I mumbled, unsure of what to say.
"I can take you to another room, if that's what pleases you, love."
It took me a moment to reply and when I did, I could barely believe the words coming out of my mouth.
"Can I sleep with you?"