The next morning, I woke up earlier than Alexander feeling lighter than I'd ever before. I wondered if it had something to do with a certain somebody I'd be seeing later that day. I ruled out the 'no' in my mind as I thought of his perfect physique. He was so tall, muscular, but he moved with a certain elegance, always adjusting to me. His brown hair, trimmed short for convenience, but still with a certain flair, not a military hair-do where you can barely tell the shade of their hair. His eyes, a soft green with flakes of hazel, always so understanding, rarely ever clouded. I sighed happily. I could have done worse, that's for sure, but I longed to be able to feel him, recognize him as my mate, or I feared it would always stay surreal for me.

How would we overcome this? With him feeling the bond, I would always feel as though I'm ten feet behind him, feelings wise. He had these strong foundation of emotions towards me, while I could only build my feelings on trust, and hope I'd grow to love him for who he was, without a bond. There would always be a sense of pressure, knowing he was the one person in the world that was truly made for me, but I had no way of feeling that reassurement that the matebond brings.

This time, as another sigh left my lips, it wasn't a happy one. I wished I could worry less and enjoy more, but that was complicated. Lives were at stake here, I needed to be absolutely sure of what I was going to do and needed to stick with it. Either accept him fully as my mate, or reject him. I couldn't go halves, I wouldn't do that to Alexander, or Caleb for that matter. Briefly, I wondered if I severed the matebond, would I feel something then? Would it make me regret rejecting him? 

I pushed those thoughts away almost immediately. A heavy feeling settled in my stomach as I had thought of it, telling me that I didn't want to reject him, not anymore at least. I owed it to Caleb to give it a try.

Looking beside me, towards my sleeping angel, I realised I also owed it to him, maybe this way, he would be able to have a father, or a fatherfigure. A man to teach him how to shift, if that day ever came. Nodding to myself, I knew I'd made a decision. I would give Caleb a chance and open my heart so I could have a shot at true love.

***

When I finally went downstairs, I was dressed in a floral print dress. My Mom looked up and instantly had this knowing look on her face.

"My my, don't you look nice. That doesn't happen to have anything to do with a certain Alpha?"

I blushes scarlett and looked at the ground, playing with the hem of the dress.

"Is it too much? I don't know, I wanted to look nice."

"You look incredible honey, and I'm sure he'll think so too." 

Suddenly her attention shifted from me, to our porch and her grin widened.

"What?" I asked her.

"He's here." she's chuckled, while I frowned. 

He hadn't even knocked the door yet, how could she possibly know he was here? She had never heard him coming before.

Mom noticed my confusion and looked at me while dropping her voice down to a whisper.

"He's pacing in front of the door, poor boy's nervous."

Her words caused a flutter in my stomach. Was he nervous because of me? I couldn't help but feel special.

My mom nudged, me in the side while throwing a glance at the door.

"Go on then, or he'll be there until nightfall." she whispered.

Okay, Mom, way to exaggerate. 

With a slight tremor, suddenly feeling very nervous myself, I opened the door and sure enough, there he was, frozen midway into what looked like pacing.

Neither of us spoke, watching each other.

"Hi," I said eventually, barely noticeable, but of course, he heard. 

Caleb was completely focused on me and my words seemed to knock him out of his stupor. In a flash he was in front of me, gently caressing my face.

"Hi." he whispered back, although his voice was more steady than mine. 

I smiled and averted my eyes.

"So.. Where do you want to go?" I asked, keen on breaking the awkward moments.

"Would you like to see the pack house maybe?"

Something flashed in my brain as he brought up that house, I didn't exactly have very fond memories of that place. The last time I was there, I got myself knocked up. Not that that was going to happen now, but I wasn't sure if it would be good for me.

Still, I didn't want to just turn him down, I was already such a disappointment and he was being so patient with me, so I nodded.

"Sure, sounds good."

"And I thought on the way there we could ask each other some questions, get to know eachother?"

"You mean, like 21 questions?"

"No, well, yeah, basically."

I giggled at his stutters, he really was kind of cute. He wasn't ill-tempered at all, like most alphas. Except that moment in the woods the day before maybe, but he had apologized thoroughly for that.

"You start."

I said while I jumped the few steps from the porch. I could swear I saw him flinch and reach out to me when I did that, but when I looked at him, his hands were by his sides. Hmm, must have imagined it then.

"How old are you?" he asked, while closing the distance between us with a few long strides.

His hand gently grabbed my own and held it as we walked.

"I'm twenty-three, you?"

He frowned a little.

"I'd rather not say, what's your favorite color?"

"Hey! That's cheating! You can't omit my questions like that! Answer my question, and now I get two extra in return!"

I'd stopped walking and was wiggling my finger at him like I would with Alexander.

He stared at it, before he burst out laughing.

"Alright alright, you're reminding me way too much of my Mom now."

I smiled widely and wickedly.

"Well tell me then, or else!" I glared at him, taking advantage of the moment.

"I'm thirty-two.." he said, watching me closely to see my reaction.

I exhaled, letting his answer sink in. It wasn't his age that troubled me too much, although it was a pretty significant difference, but more that he had been waiting fifteen years for a mate and somehow, he got me. How can he not be disappointed?

Caleb's cheery expression disappeared as I stayed silent.

"I know it's a big difference, but I swear I'll never .."

"Ssh." I interrupted it him, putting my index finger over his lips. His full, soft lips, that were all mine, if I wanted to. God, he was so tall, I had to reach my arm pretty high up to be able to do that.

Must not get distracted. I thought to myself. 

"That's not it." I carried on, keeping my finger pressed gently on his warm lips. 

"You've been waiting so long for a perfect Luna and then you get me, and you must be so disappointed, it's a little hard to cope with."

He gently grabbed my finger in his large hands and removed it from his lips, but not before gently pressing them softly against my palm. The heat from his lips seemed to awaken something inside me, but it was gone as soon as his lips left my skin.

He gazed deeply into my eyes, his other hand brushing lightly against my arm.

"You." he paused, clearly for dramatic effect. "are 100% worth the wait."

I rolled my eyes at his cliché reply and laughed, not taking him very seriously.

"Did you just roll your eyes at me?" he said, clearly surprised.

"What if I did?" I toyed with him a little.

"Remind me never to pour my heart out to you, little minx." 

I laughed. 

"Proceed with caution." I said, with a wink, which made him smile.

"Alright then, I believe I owe you two questions." 

"You do!" I answered, as we carried on walking towards the pack house. This time, it was me who grabbed his hand to intertwine our fingers, already feeling as if they belonged there. 

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Extra long chapter! Woop woop. Let me know what you think! I get so happy to see that people are reading! I'm also working on a new story but it probably won't be published until a long time, as it's a pretty intricate story and I want to be able to edit and rearrange chapters as I go, but I'm so excited for it! If anyone wants to proofread or give me their thoughts before I publish it here on Wattpad, send me a dm!