Chapter 10: A kiss
Nathaniel
The conversation didn't end the way I had hoped. In addition to hearing her insult me, I had to wonder if Marco had tried something with her. But to top it all off... hearing that she had a date was more than I (or my wolf) could take. "I'm going to kill that motherfucker right now!" My Beta tried to control me outside the party, without much success.
"Nate! Believe me, at this point, I would be happy if we took down that Alpha. I never liked him. But Crimson Fangs is one of the most powerful packs here. It would be a declaration of war, and we need to be smarter," he reminded me as I tried to break free of his grip. I had never in my life imagined feeling this way.
"And we don't know if she's going on a date with him," Roger said. "I honestly don't think so."
"He's the only man I've smelled on her besides her brothers and that man who seems to be her boss, but he seems like a good guy. Who else could it be?" I asked.
"We don't know. We don't know anything about her, Nate. It's been years since you last saw her." Roger was right. Although I disliked the idea, I should be the one who knew her better than anyone else in the world.
When we got back to the so-called party, I bumped into Asher who looked extremely annoyed.
"Stupid Marco is messing with some human girls," he said.
"Where is he?" I asked, and Asher led the way. Sure enough, there he was, hitting on some girls.
"Why don't you come with us to the woods? It'd be fun..." Marco said, grabbing them. He said he hated humans, but there he was, seeking the attention of some human girls.
"To the forest?" they asked nervously, not very comfortable with his approach.
They were two young women who certainly shouldn't be in his clutches. I don't understand how I never saw the real Marco until now. A ruthless man.
I had to intervene, but I didn't know how. Until something occurred to me.
"Roger, go to the woods and start howling. Alpha Asher, you can go to the bar and call for help, say someone's in trouble. I'll go to the party and call the restaurant owner, he sounds like a reasonable man." The plan was set in motion. The howling started, sending chills down everyone's spine. The girls start shaking in fear. People started panicking, thinking there were wolves nearby. The police arrived and suggested that it would be best for everyone to go home. I intervened and told the police that the Alphas and I were leaving so we would look good. This included Marco. He looked at me quizzically, but I don't think he suspected anything.
We followed him for a while, but we didn't see anything. He was never near Penelope's house.
"I'll stay out here, Roger. I can't leave her alone."
...
Penelope spent her Saturday morning contentedly with her brothers. I also noticed her feeding the wild wolves and smiled. I stayed there, in the shadow of her garden, watching as much of her as I could through the window. The twins were aware that I was outside, of course. When she was about to go out, they warned her that she was a bit lightly dressed, and I growled.
Only the Moon Goddess knew how much I wanted to see what she was wearing, though it would certainly be better to see her with nothing on. Still, the mere thought of her in only her underwear made me horny. She talked about her date coming over. I didn't know if it was worse, but it was merely a human. A man. A stupid man.
She looked absolutely gorgeous, wearing a red dress that caused a mess in my pants. Sweet Moon Goddess... she looked like a princess, a demon, a sinful creature.
I realized that this was no silly date, that she was serious. She really wanted to dazzle this idiot.
The dress fit her like a glove. Her curves were stunning. She made my desire soar to infinity. I wanted to touch her, make her scream, make her come for me a thousand times over.
And if I was jealous before, I was even worse now. But just as I was about to go after her, Roger appeared to stop me.
"Let me go after her!" I yelled at him. "My mate was dressed too sexy to go on a date with a stupid human!"
"And what are you going to do, eh? Put on a show for her? What would you gain?" Nothing, but I couldn't think. When I saw the twins coming out, I realized that this was my chance.
"You... " I said, approaching the door as they looked at me standing in the doorway, terrified. "Why are you chasing our sister?" one of them said to me, and I was amazed at his boldness.
Not everyone talks to an Alpha like that, let alone a young boy, but no doubt he loved and cared for her, and that didn't bother me at all.
"You're going to tell me where she went right now!" I demanded angrily, my wolf scratching at the surface.
"Penny has done nothing wrong!"
"She's not a member of the pack. Our sister has suffered enough!" they said insolently, and I roared so loudly that they both fell silent, almost falling over.
"I don't want to hurt her... far from it. Penelope is my mate," I told them, and they both looked at me in disbelief.
"No...it can't be!" they exclaimed, frightened.
"It is, and I'm not going to talk to you about it. You're going to lend me some clothes and tell me exactly where she is... or rather, you're going to come with me to look for her," I ordered, but I could see that the boys just sat there without listening to me.
"Don't you listen to your Alpha?" I asked, shouting with all my influence.
"Our sister... she told us to stay here and wait for her," they said. What the hell?
"Interesting. They are resistant... she is their Luna, even if they are not aware of it. Their wolves know it somehow," Roger and I look at each other in amazement.
"Is that possible?" one of them asked. I could see in their faces that they were beginning to understand.
I made a hasty decision and told them what was going on with Marco and the humans. I now had a duty to protect her, and now the twins seemed worried.
They knew what had happened years ago, I had seen them cry myself. But they were werewolves, and they knew that a mate was everything. Soon, I was dressed in one of their clothes, making our way to a nearby town where my mate was to meet another man.
But as soon as I got to the restaurant, I realized it was all nonsense. Not only did Penelope seem to be enjoying her date, but she actually looked very comfortable with this Nicholas guy... who was a complete jerk. Kind of a man-child, selfish and irrelevant.
I spent the whole night trying to control myself, breaking several glasses, and thinking of ingenious ways to kill him slowly.
I even had to watch her kiss this guy who had spent the entire dinner not listening to her, talking nonsense, and not taking his eyes off her body. Stupid bastard.
She was also completely upset with us. I knew she was going to blame her brothers, so I accepted my responsibility... but what happened next, I never saw it coming.
She let out all the hatred and bitterness that had been building up inside her for years. Every word she said was a stab to my heart. Hunter was desperate. Not only did she hate and loathe me, but everything she said to me... was right. What did I expect? I had treated her worse than an insect. I considered myself superior to her. I left her alone in the middle of the forest, far from her family, possessing nothing. I was a monster, there was no other explanation.
She made it very clear that she didn't want me around in any way, and I didn't see any chance of being with her, no matter how much I wanted to.
But Hunter was so desperate and in denial about this possibility that I jumped on her and kissed her.
While I had often dreamed of what it would be like to meet my destined mate and touch her and kiss her... nothing had prepared me for this.
From the moment her lips met mine... I felt an explosion throughout my entire body. My skin danced, my muscles twitched, and an uncontrollable moan echoed in my throat.
Penelope's lips were strawberries. When I pressed her to me, I felt complete. She was surprised at first... but when she responded to my kiss, it was heaven.
The stories of fated mates fell short. I felt that everything I had gone through in my life had been leading right to this moment. All that mattered was that she responded to my kiss.
I was excited and took control of Hunter so that we moved slowly... enjoying this moment, attentive to her cues.
When I felt her need to breathe... I felt like laughing, crying, jumping... and I knew that nothing in my life would compare to this... having her like this for the first time.
But as great as the kiss was... I couldn't help but let rejection, and worse...fear, creep in.
"Mate fears us... Mate hates us," Hunter cried desperately.
"Please... don't touch me," she almost begged me. And she meant it. She fucking hated me.
Instead of making her feel good, I destroyed her again and she cried in despair. It wasn't worth it for me to kiss her when she was unhappy. My wolf howled and I was in paralyzing pain. I went to the woods with a broken heart and let Hunter go... and we ran after the moon all night.
With my soul shattered... feeling like a bastard, a monster, a disgrace... that I didn't deserve her.