Chapter 18

I woke with a stirring that was very unfamiliar to me. My chest heaving from my heavy breaths and my body drenched in sweat. I sat up in bed quickly trying to regain my breath.

The room was dark, but with my werewolf sight I was still able to see somewhat. I reached for the lamp on the nightstand and switched it on. With my arm I wiped away the residue that had formed on my head and looked to the body rising and falling soundly beside me. Kieran seemed to be completely at rest while my mind was still reeling from my dream.

It was so vivid I could recall every touch and tingle on my body. His hot breath on my skin, the little love bites. My thoughts it me like a ton of bricks.

Even in my just awoken state I still yearned for him. 

I began to panic. I knew I needed to get away from him before something really bad happened that I could never take back. I mentally wasn’t ready to mate my mate but my body was saying something completely different. I was in turmoil with myself.

I forced myself to the bathroom, fighting the pull I had to Kieran. Every part of me wanted to run back to him, but I couldn’t allow myself to do that.

Closing the bathroom door I slid down to the floor and brought my knees to my chest. I rested my head against them.

What am I going to do? I thought. My wolf needed her mate and she was driving me crazy.

My eyes drifted to the shower and an idea hit me. Don’t people normally take showers where they are in similar situations like mine and can’t do anything about it? It was suppose to kill the need.

Well it certainly wouldn’t hurt to find out.

After the shower I wasn’t any better off than I was before. I was wet and cold and still wanted my mate. Nothing was going to help me here.

If only I had a distraction.

Again the pull worsened and it nearly dragged me to the door. Desire coursed through me and my body tingled everywhere.

I froze when a knock came to the door.

Kieran was awake. 

“Claire?” he called. “Are you okay?”

His voice sounded strained and it puzzled me. Was something wrong with him too?

“Y-yeah, I’m fine. I was just taking a shower.”

His voice revealed his puzzlement. “At two A.M?”

He knew something was up and I didn’t know how to respond. There wasn’t a good enough reason for why I had locked myself up in the bathroom to escape him.

After a short silence he spoke up again, this time with a stronger tone. “You had the dream didn’t you?”

He knew about the dream? How?

“I had it too,” he added answering my unspoken question.

Oh. Then he knew exactly what was bothering me; down to every last detail.

“Is that normal?” I asked trying to keep my voice from giving away how I felt.

“Yes. It’s our wolves. It starts with the dream and then they start controlling our thoughts. It only gets worse until we complete the mating process. It’s the last thing that happens before our wolves give in to each other.”

I swallowed. The last thing?

A burning coming from my mark offered a brief distraction from our situation. I gasped and covered it with my hand. A whimper escaped my lips.

“What’s happening? The mark…it hurts.”

“That’s what happens when you start denying your wolf of what she needs. It’s like a consequence in a way.”

So she was also working against me. Wasn’t anyone on my side?

“Come out so I can help you,” he said.

I took a step back. “I’m not so sure that’s a great idea given the circumstances.”

I cried out in pain again at the painful burn on my collar bone. It felt worse than the one before.

“Claire, you’re only hurting yourself. I can make it better.”

I wasn’t sure I would like what he had to say, but I was willing to hear him out.

“How?”

“My presence will ease the pain,” he answered.

“And the need?”

He paused for a long minute before replying. “It will continue.”

So it was hopeless. One way or another we were going to mate. Fate would see to that. There was no fighting it and no way avoiding it this time. I had ran from the inevitable for too long and it had come back to bite me in the butt.

“Claire?” he voice said softly.

My body jerked forward of its own accord causing me to gasp out in surprise. My hand reached for the door. I grew nervous. As soon as the only thing separating us was gone I had no idea what I was going to do.

Kieran knocked again. “Open the door.”

It was as if he had given me an order because I immediately did as he said. My hand twisted the bronze colored knob and threw open the door.

Kieran stood before me with interchanging eye color. He was fighting his wolf too. He knew what could happen. He stepped forward and pulled me into his arms. The tightened around me possessively.

I moaned at the electric current that passed through me at our touch. His lips brushed against my heated skin just over the claim. I moaned again and clenched his toned arms that my hands rested upon.

“Better?” he asked.

I couldn’t speak through my heavy breaths so I nodded in response. I craved him more now than I did before. I tried to pull away from him, but my body wouldn’t allow it and neither would Kieran.

He placed another gentle kiss on my neck, just enough to tease me and yearn for more. My legs weakened under me and gave way. Kieran held me firmly in his arms keeping me from falling.

“Come back to bed.” His soft and seductive tone broke down the last of my wall. I was suddenly putty in his hands.

“I-I…I…” I fumbled for words.

“Yes?” he questioned. “Tell me what you want.”

I was well aware of what I wanted and so was my wolf.

Tell him. She urged.

“You. I want you,” I answered.

He seemed surprised by my words. “You do? You’re not fighting it anymore?”

I shook my head and tried to stand on my own again. “No. It’s a losing battle and I will never win. So, with that revelation, Kieran, I surrender myself to you completely. I want you to mate me.”

His eyes darkened completely at my words and needed no more than that to whisk me to the bed finish what we should have done a long time ago. I was soon to be a mated wolf.

 I gasped and sat up in bed abruptly. My chest rose and fell with heavy breaths, my body drenched in sweat. My clothes clung uncomfortable to my body. I felt strange and different somehow.

I shifted in my mates arms around my waist and faced him when everything that happened between us came rushing back to me. A startled cry escaped my lips. Kieran was quickly awoken. His eyes reflected panic.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Y-you…I…we…” I tried to find my words, but failed miserably. Everything was one big jumble in my head and I couldn’t sort it all out.

He sighed in relief when he realized I was physically okay. However, emotionally, I didn’t even know the answer to that.

“Yes. We did,” he said answering my unasked question. “We’re fully mated now.”

The pride in his tone didn’t go unnoticed. While he was sure about he felt about or mating I was still conflicted. I wanted to be angry at myself for giving into him so easily and at him for reasons unknown yet, but I couldn’t. It was almost as if my mind and body refused to be angry at him or our mating.

I couldn’t believe how easy it was for him to break down my walls. No one had besides Daniel had ever gotten through them so easily. I shuttered at the thought of him in a bad way. I only thought of him in disgust now. What surprised me even more was that the thoughts of him and Jasmine together didn’t bother me like they used to. Not even the slightest.

It’s better this way. The faint voice of my wolf spoke. We have a mate now. We are whole again.

Her voice was more cheerful than it had been in the past and I could almost feel her glowing.

I rubbed the tiredness and sleep from my eyes and looked at the digital clock next to me on the stand. I was surprised to find it was ten thirty a.m. Kieran was never in bed at this hour. He hated to waste his day.

“Shouldn’t you be with the pack?” I asked him.

He smiled and pulled me to his chest with is arms wrapped around my body. “No. I’m exactly where I need to be.”

“But if you have to go, I don’t want to keep you,” I said. “I know you have duties.”

The thought of him leaving me pained me. I didn’t want him to go, but I didn’t want to force him to stay either. It wouldn’t be fair.

“Yes. I have duties as your mate as you do as mine. Let us just enjoy this for now.”

I smiled back at him at his reply. “Okay. I can do that.”

It’s incredible at how much can be said with so little words. Even as we both sat there wrapped up in each other’s arms, speechless, I could feel how elated my mate was. There was something much stronger and powerful between us, it was palpable. It radiated the room.

“Do you feel it to?” I asked him.

“Yes,” he mumbled into my hair. “The pack can feel it too. They know we’ve mated.”

“So that’s why the pack hasn’t bothered us this late in the day,” I mumbled more to myself.

Normally Wyatt or Leland would have come and gotten him for something by now. He’s rarely ever still in bed past nine.

“Bothered us?” He was amused by my choice of words.

I blushed at how it sounded coming from him and felt bad. I didn’t want him to think was bothersome. I loved them all. I just used a poor choice of words.

“I meant no one got us up early today and you’re still here. They always come to you for something. You’re never here for long in the mornings if at all.”

He smiled. “Miss me, do you?”

I bushed a deeper shade of red.

“It’s ok,” he added. “I miss you too.”

I felt complete as I snuggled deep into Kieran’s chest and sighed contently. He missed me. That brought a smile to my face. I was overwhelmed by a feeling that was completely new to me. My knight in shining armor had saved me in the best way possible and though it was only now I was realizing all the reasons I loved him, I did. So much it scared me.

My denial was done.

The morning soon turned into the afternoon and Kieran could no longer avoid his Alpha duties. He had to deal a problem that occurred overnight that he was only recently informed of for obvious reasons. As soon as we were separated my wolf started to despair. I had to remind her it was only temporary and that we would be together again soon. I could also feel Kieran’s wolf too and he felt the same as mine. They longed for each other and wouldn’t be at ease until they were reunited again. We wanted our mate.

Jennifer, Lana and I had spent most of the day by the lake while everyone else prepared for our departure to the Knight Pack. Since my wolf was officially back we all went for runs and then decided to rest by the water for a while. It was fun letting my wolf again, but we were both missing Kieran too much to really enjoy it.

He had been on edge all morning which put my wolf on edge. An unknown shewolf crossed over onto our land last night and it had the whole pack on high alert. His wolf wasn’t handling it well either. He saw her as a possible threat.

Go to him. My wolf urged.

She was already picking up on what Kieran needed and yearned to satisfy him. She had definitely warmed up to my new mate and she wanted to do everything she could to keep him happy. The mating does that to a wolf.

“Who do you think she is?” Lana asked.

I shrugged. “I don’t know. There is only so much you can ask a person who doesn’t even remember their own name.”

“I just find it strange that she was wondering around in the woods all by herself. Who does that? It’s not safe,” Jen added.

“She was lost, that’s the only explanation for it. But no one knows her and no packs are reporting her missing. Where did she come from?” I asked.

Lana pushed herself off the tree trunk and stood in front of us. “Wyatt has been questioning her since she arrived. My dad said he’d never seen anyone look so lost before. He said he felt bad for her. He hopes Kieran can help her.”

My mate and the beta had been spending a lot of time with the unknown wolf, and though I know I had no reason to be worried, I was. I wasn’t the only one who noticed how gorgeous the new she wolf was. All the males did too. She definitely had he good looks going for her.

I know how males work. A beautiful, lost girl shows up out of nowhere with no one and doesn’t remember anything, it tended to bring out the savior complex in the unmated males. She was mysterious and everyone wanted to know her.

“Wyatt’s here,” Lana announced staring in the distance behind me.

Jennifer and I both turned to confirm his presence watching him until he reached us. I was the first one to speak to him. “Hey.”

“Hey,” he greeted. “Kieran wants to see you.”

My wolf perked up at that.

“Is he okay?” I asked.

Wyatt chuckled. “Is he ever really okay? He’s got a lot on his mind, but yes, physically he’s fine.”

“Then I better go,” I stated. I turned to Lana and Jennifer before I left. “I’ll see you two later, okay?”

They both nodded and I quickly made my way back to the pack house eager to be with my mate again.

Kieran was not in his office when I arrived at the house which sent me strait to our room. When I reached my destination the door was closed, but I opened it and stepped inside. Our luggage was still on the floor next to the bed where we had left it earlier so it was clear no one had been here to remove them yet.

I looked up just as the bathroom door opened to reveal a half naked Kieran and blushed at his state.

“You sent for me?” I asked.

“Yes,” he answered as he reached the closet. “I wanted to see you. My wolf is upset.”

“What’s wrong?”

“The shewolf attacked me,” he said.

I began to panic and grew concerned. My eyes roamed over him to examine his body for bodily harm. What I could see there was no markings on his body the indicated a scuffle, but that still didn’t put my mind at ease.

“I’m already healed,” he said. “She got me good, but I’m alright. I’m an Alpha. She was pretty strong though. She definitely had strength on her side. She seems to be more than just a shewolf.” I could hear the interest in her in his voice.

“Why did she attack you?” I asked.

He sipped his arms through the sleeves of his shirt and pulled it over his head before answering me.

“She’s confused and doesn’t understand anything. She doesn’t understand why we’re keeping her here and wants to leave but I can’t allow that, so she got aggressive with me. I’m still not sure what we’re going to do with her yet. She’s under the care of Dr. Heath right now. He’s giving her something to calm her down.

She’s been sedated? That must mean she’s being treated as a psych patient?

Kieran crossed the room and stood in front of me, placing his hands on my waist and dragging me into him.

“Me and my wolf missed you,” he said bringing his head forward to rest against mine. His green eyes bored into my blue ones with intensity. Things got serious quickly.

My breathing picked up. “Oh.”

His hands trailed up my sides until they reached my face and cupped it.

“You seemed oddly calm for someone who was just attacked,” I noted with a heavy breath.

“That’s because you’re here. I sensed you almost as soon as you entered the house.” His lips were nearly on mine now.

Though the moment stirred some need in me I still couldn’t get that shewolf out of my mind. She had attacked my mate and I was not okay with that. Immense feeling of anger arose in me that I was not familiar with and I wanted to do something about it.

Kieran’s lips came down on mine offering a temporary distraction for my disturbing thought of how I would make the new wolf pay for her actions. I was certain these feeling were not healthy seeing as I was having a lot of trouble understanding them. Would Kieran?

Perhaps I would pay a visit to Dr. Heath when I went to go visit our newest visitor.

“You’re distracted,” he said. His tone told me he was not pleased about that.

“By you,” I lied. I quickly grabbed his shirt collar before he could respond and brought his lips back to mine. I didn’t hold back this time. I gave him everything I had. My lips worked against his eagerly. He immediately responded by lifting me up so that I could wrap my legs around him and stumbled backwards into the bed with me falling on top of him.

We broke apart when we hit and I giggled.

“It seems like days since I saw you last,” he said.

“I know,” I agreed. “How long was it?”

“Four hours.”

My eyes widened at my surprise. That was all?

“Well, then we better make up for lost time,” I smirked.

It was almost like I was a new person now. I was finding out things about myself that I hadn’t discovered before. Like how much I loved doing a certain thing with my mate. And that I wasn’t afraid of my inexperience when it came to him. Everything just came so natural between us. It was almost like we were really true mates. Being with Kieran had changed me in the best way.

After we were getting dressed for a second time today a knock came to our door. It was Wyatt with a message for Kieran. When he quickly excused himself I decided on a shower. Though, what happened after I finished and joined my friends outside the mansion no one could have foreseen.

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A/N

No need to berate me for the very long wait, I’m already doing that to myself. Sorry guys. My chapter timeline is a little behind, but I’m working on it.

I know I was supposed to have them leaving for Claire’s pack in this chapter, but I added in some last minute stuff. I hope you liked it! Jennifer’s mate will be revealed in the next chapter as well as their departure for Knight pack. Get ready for it. :)

Please- comment, vote and fan.

P.S- I briefly scanned this chapter before posting it; however, if you notice any mistake please feel free to kindly point them out. I promise I won’t take any offense to it.