-:Cecelia's PoV:-

Sera wanted to mark Ashton too. She didn't like other females watching her mate like he was a piece of meat. His mark had made her even more possessive. It was starting to mess with my head.

Shouldn't the mark have been helping? Reassure us that he was ours? I didn't like the feeling of insecurity. I despised it. It made me feel vulnerable.

To top it off, I had many things to worry about. The first one being my Heat. I was scared shitless. I was marked at the wrong time. The full moon was coming up soon. Four days from now. I definitely couldn't move in with Ashton till then. 

Second, I was supposed to meet Mrs. Summers. She was really interested in meeting her son's mate. I couldn't even blame her. It was a valid request. I had agreed, but I was a little anxious. 

Correction, I was a bundle of nerves.

Third, Vincent was still out there, so I was still in 'danger'. Yippee. Add an overbearingly protective mate in the mix and you have yourself a recipe for disaster. We had been fine, though. 

So far.

I was pretty sure one of us would snap soon.

The most I was allowed to travel was from the Packhouse to school and to the stream. It was getting a little annoying. Although I never used to travel elsewhere anyways, the official restraints were getting on my very last nerve. But still, I didn't change my mind about moving in with him. I just had to ask dad once.

I made my way upstairs to his home office on the fourth floor - the floor technically supposed to be for the Alpha, Beta, and Gamma's families only. I had ever been the rebellious bitch, so I resided on the second floor like the rest of the Pack members my age. Dad didn't like it. But when that's the condition you put forward in exchange for coming home, you manage to get your way regardless. 

The first floor was for the elders and the middle-aged. We had a few houses near the Packhouse, well inside the Pack perimeter. A few were empty because in this pack people were reluctant to leave the Packhouse. 

I'd spent most of my life living in Packhouses, but I wasn't too attached to them. I was open to a separate living space. In fact, I think I was ready to dive right in.

The entire floor was empty. I guessed no one was in a 'stay at home' mood. I walked to my father's office and knocked. Since the doors are soundproof, I had to risk looking like an idiot, knocking at a door that probably had no one on the other side.

'Cecelia, is that you?' Dad's voice entered my mind.

'Yeah,' I replied, blinking in surprise. 

'Come on in.'

I pushed the door open and faced my father.

"How'd you know it was me?" I asked, folding my hands across my chest.

"I could smell you. You don't come here often, others aren't allowed to without permission. It was an easy guess. Now. How can I help you?"

"Oh," I said, closing the door behind me and dropping into one of the guest chairs in front of his desk.

"I had a petition," I said nervously. He raised an eyebrow at me.

"A petition?" He repeated skeptically.

"Yeah . . . "

"What is it?" He narrowed his eyes at me, dropping the pen he was working with on the desk and shoving the papers he was reading away from him. He gave me his undivided attention. I gulped. 

This should be fun.

"Nothing important really," I chuckled nonchalantly. "Pffffttt."

'Stop chickening out!' Sera growled in my head.

'Shut up! He'll probably kill us.'

'Lia!'

"Just say it, Cecelia," dad prompted.

I bit my lip nervously.

"Iwantyoutoapproveatransferrequest," I blurted out quickly.

"Hun?" He looked confused. "Breathe between words and try again."

I wiped my sweaty hands on my jeans, taking a deep breath. I had no idea how he'd take it. He was very protective of me.

"Please don't tell me you knocked someone out during training. Or that you got in trouble at school," he groaned.

I looked up at him, not expecting him to say that.

"What? Your grandma did tell me things," he huffed. I cracked a smile. "What is it?" He asked again, more gently this time.

"I want you to approve a transfer request," I finally gathered the courage to ask him.

He looked at me as if I'd told him that I'd killed the cat we never had.

"You want to move back to the Evergreen Pack?" He asked with a frown. "Are you not liking it here? Is this because of Vincent?"

"Dad," I shook my head, "I don't want to move to the Evergreen Pack. I want official permission to move in with Ash."

He cocked an eyebrow.

"Ashton," I corrected myself, clearing my throat awkwardly. 

Go away, blush. Shoooo!

"No," he denied flatly. My shyness evaporated in nanoseconds. Sera's annoyance rubbed off on me.

"What? Why?" I demanded.

"Because I said so," he shrugged, leaning back in his chair.

"But he's my mate!" I exclaimed. "I'm marked!"

His face contorted as if he'd just eaten bitter guard.

"This is happening too fast," he muttered under his breath.

"Dad," I deadpanned. I knew Alphas were more territorial and protective of their pups, but seriously?

"I'll think about it," he grunted, knowing 'no' was not really an option. Me asking him was just a formality. It was well known in our world that the mates move in with each other when they are either seventeen or else when marked.

I qualified for both.

"Okay," I agreed, knowing that he couldn't put it off too long. "Please try to make your mind up quickly." I pleaded anyways.

"Before I think about it, I hope you kids are being safe, Cecelia," he said gravely. 

My eyes widened and I choked on my own saliva. My cheeks flushed.

"Dad!" I screeched in protest. He looked uncomfortable like he'd rather be talking about anything else, but he still continued.

WHY?!

"Youngsters these days don't-"

"Dad!!" I interrupted in a high-pitched voice, glaring at him and trying not to let the embarrassment get to me, "Stop! We haven't even - why am I even saying that? This is irrelevant. We're basically adults. Just - just stop. Please. I beg you."

He nodded, looking satisfied.

Parents.

"Good. You wouldn't want any premature deaths here," he mused. "But still-"

"Oh, my Goddess!" I threw my hands up in frustration. "You know what? Take as much time as you need as long as we don't have this conversation ever again."

"Works for me," he smirked. I huffed as I stormed out. I hurried to my room and shut the door behind me. I sat down on my bed with a groan, burying my head in my hands.

"Why do parents have to be so freaking embarrassing?" I mumbled to myself.

'Cause they're parents,' Sera grumbled. She didn't like it either.

Surprise, surprise.

I exhaled deeply and fetched my phone from my desk to text Ashton. He replied immediately.

You
he said no :-(
6:58 pm

Ashton
y?
6:68pm

You
i dont know
6:58 pm

Ashton
did u try convincing him?
6:59 pm

You
dont u think i did? he started giving me the sex talk! i dropped it then
>_<
6:59 pm

I had to wait for another minute before he replied. That minute was weird as I kept bouncing my leg in anticipation of his reply.

Ashton
i thought it was just my parents
X_X
they said yes tho
7:01pm

You
them too?!
at least u have sum gud news
7:01pm

Ashton
unfortunately
lol yeah
7:02pm

The time made me sigh. I had a lot of work to do. I couldn't just keep sitting around and chatting to my mate, however much I wanted to.

You
gtg ash
i have some asgnmts 2 do
~_~
7:03 pm

Ashton
kk tc
ttyl
;-)
7:03 pm

You
yeah u too.
ttyl :-)
7:03 pm

I was so engrossed in my work, I almost ended up missing the Pack dinner. Julian banged on my door and dragged me out. I shouted at him, but that was just my cranky hungry self. I apologized and thanked him later.

After dinner, I talked to Liana. I warned her again. Her two days would be up the day after. She was jittery. And the rogues last night had been spooking her too. I felt bad for not talking to her earlier like Julian had told me but I tried my best to calm her then.

After that, I rang grandma. It'd been about a week since I'd spoken to her. She's been happy to hear from me, but she'd chided me, reminding me of my broken promise of calling every day. I'd sheepishly apologized, feeling remorseful. I should've called her.

All the while I kept going on with either mathematics or physics numericals I had to do. By the time I was done with both the phone calls, I was also done with more than half of my assignments.

It was also almost midnight. I sighed as I packed my stuff up and got ready to clock out. I plopped down on my bed, switching off my bedside lamp.

Half an hour later, I still found myself staring at the ceiling. I'd counted stars, sheep, cats, and dogs. I'd counted backward and I'd counted forwards. I just couldn't go to sleep. Sera was restless too. She kept pacing in my head.

'Can you stop that?' I groaned at her.

'Mate,' she whimpered in response. 

'What about him?'

'Mate,' she repeated gruffly, almost whining. 

Great. Now she chooses to be an incoherent wolf. At twelve thirty-seven in the night. Bitch.  

'Mate.' She repeated.

Urrghhhhh.

I picked up my phone and went to Ashton's contact on WhatsApp. I saw that he was online so I quickly dialed his number. I cussed when it came busy. Who the fuck was he talking to so late in the night?

I cut the call and opened my Instagram. I didn't really have a chance to even check my feed before my phone vibrated with a call. 

Ashton.

I answered on the third ring, recovering from the surprise.

"Hello?" I picked up.

"Hi," he spoke. "Who were you talking to?" 

Sera stopped pacing, breathing heavily. Thank Goddess.

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"I dialed your number but it said that you were speaking to someone else . . . "

Ohhh. I laughed.

"I was dialing you and I encountered the same," I told him.

"That would explain it," he chuckled.

"Why are you awake still?" He asked. "It's almost one."

"Why are you?" I challenged.

"I believe I asked first."

"Fine. I couldn't sleep," I said. "Now, spill."

"I couldn't sleep either."

We lapsed into silence. Sera growled in frustration.

"Sera missed you," I said at the same time he said, "Xavier is asking for you."

We laughed softly together.

"Your wolf's name is Sera?" He asked after a beat.

"Serafine," I elaborated, "Her name is Serafine. I call her Sera for short."

Sera yipped in my head, ecstatic that her mate could finally put a name to her wolfy face.

"It has a nice ring to it," Ash commented. Sera danced in my head making me chortle internally. She was still restless. I tried to reign her in, humming in response to Ashton's comment.

'I want to meet mate!' She whined.

'It's freaking one in the morning, Serafine. Get a grip!'

'MATE!'

'Goddess, can you calm the fuck down?!'

'I wan-'

"Can I come over?" Ashton's voice cut our conversation short.

"What?" I asked, not sure I heard him right. 

Did I say anything out loud?

"Can I come over?" He questioned confidently, "Now. Xavier wants to see you." 

I was so impressed by his boldness, I replied without hesitation, "Sure. Just make sure you avoid border patrol."

Not to mention, Sera wanted him to come. And maybe I did too.

"Done." He cut the call.

I waited for like thirty minutes, tops. He climbed in through my balcony, knocking on the doors. I quickly got up and let him in. No sooner had I closed the door, I was pinned against it and being kissed.

Sera calmed down for just a second before going into another frenzy. I blocked her out.

I returned the kiss with all my zeal, pressing myself to him. He pulled me closer despite that, his hand slipping under my tank top and resting on my waist. It made me shiver, his cold hand against my warm skin. In the heat of the moment, it took me a second to register that he was shirtless. 

Oh, the sparks.

The feeling was unparalleled.

"Hi," he breathed when we pulled apart for air. I chuckled.

"Hi," I whispered back, grinning. "Why are we speaking so quietly? The room is soundproof."

"I don't know," he whispered back, making us both chuckle. I felt Sera prod at the mental block I'd made.

"Sera wants to meet you," I said, a little louder than before.

"It would be an honor."

I smiled, pecking his lips once before I let Sera have control. She howled before she jumped at the chance.

'Please just don't do anything embarrassing,' I pleaded.

'Shut up.' She snapped.

"I see you're not as bad as I originally thought," was the first thing she said to him.

She becomes bipolar every time she comes out to talk to him.

'It's called self-control, honey. Try it sometime,' she sassed at me.

'Self-control. Right. Was it when you were yipping and howling in my head about how he came here in the middle of the night to meet us? Or the way you whine for him when he's away? Or when you-'

'I get it.' She interrupted grumpily.

'Ha! Will you look at that?' I teased.

I could already see how this conversation between my mate and wolf was going to go. Terrific.

"Thanks," he smiled at her.

"Hurt her and I'll hurt you," she threatened. I laughed to myself. Cute. 

I do love her.

'Now you do,' she rolled her eyes at me, making me laugh again.

"Yes, ma'am," Ashton said.

"Good," she narrowed her eyes at him. "I guess I like you."

I chortled. 

'You guess?' I asked her incredulously. She didn't bother replying.

"I like you too," he grinned.

"Of course you do," she said flippantly. "Now, I want to mark you." She stated, our canines coming out.

'Sera!' I protested, panicking, 'Think about this.'

'He's the one, Lia. How long are you going to keep running away from it?'

"Really?" His eyes shone with happiness.

'But isn't it too soon?' I asked nervously.

'You're a werewolf! You're marked.' She deadpanned.

'I know . . . '

'You love him. '

'I don't!' I protested weakly. I couldn't convince even myself with that tone.

'Stop lying for once. What's the problem?'

'I -' I paused. What was the problem? The fear that he didn't see me the same way? Why? Why was I that insecure? I shouldn't have been. He was my mate. He had given me no reason to doubt his sincerity since we had been on good terms. In fact, with no misunderstandings in the way, he had been the ideal mate. I needed to trust him more. I was marked. Selene made him for me and me for him. With that thought, '. . . Fine.'  I conceded. She gave me a smug look.

"Yes." She confirmed, sinking her teeth into his exposed neck without further ado.

*****************************

A/N:-

I wrote this one in two days. I hope you liked it.

QOTD: Fav character(s) in Harry Potter? (besides Harry, Ron, and Hermione)

Also, check out my other works, it'll mean a lot to me ❤
1) Imperfectly Perfect
2) Poems - From One Heart to Another 

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Until next time, all my love,
xoxo.