Some Mate You Are...

Enzo's words sent me over the edge. I could not contain myself any longer. I threw my arms around his neck, I leaned in and claimed his lips, trying to put all my feelings about him into this kiss. He drove me crazy, but I also craved everything about him. I always had. There was some part of me, deep inside, that had always suspected that we would end up together. No matter how hard I tried to deny it.

After a few moments of kissing him, I pulled away, feeling sheepish about my behavior. He may not have wanted me to kiss him right then. I had acted impulsively and did not take into account that he may not have been there yet. I began to turn away from him, but as I did so, he reached out, placing his hand under my chin and turned me back to face him.

Moments later, our lips were connected again. This time more passionately than before. In this instance, he was the one trying to express all his emotions in one kiss. He pressed into me until I began to lean backwards onto the bed. Our lips never parted as he slowly climbed on top of me. Our hands explored each other’s bodies as our tongues began to explore each other’s mouths.

I pulled at his clothes and he began to pull at mine in return. Before long, there was nothing separating us, allowing the full of effects of our mate bond to wash over us like a most pleasurable electricity coursing through our veins.

When our bodies were joined together as one, it felt as it never had before. All of our pain, all of our anger was released from our bodies. We melted into each other, greedily demanding more from the other as we moved. This did not feel like normal sex. This felt like something more. I could not help but wonder if this was what people meant when they referred to “making love.” But I decided not to dwell on that. The notion seemingly too intense in this moment.

Afterwards, we fell asleep, our bodies still entwined, our limbs tangled. He held me close as his deep breathing lulled me into a comfortable state. I still did not know what was going to happen between us, but I hoped that it would lead to more moments such as this.

The next morning, when I awoke, I half expected that Enzo would no longer be there. So I was pleasantly surprised when I noticed the weight of his arm still draped across me and the sound of his soft snoring in my ears.

“He stayed?” I wondered in shock.

Maybe he had been truthful when he said that he wanted to try. Maybe we really were going to attempt to make this work. I did not want to get ahead of myself. But I could not the excitement that began to bubble in my gut at the notion.

“Morning.” He yawned, his voice sounding groggy, as his eyes fluttered open to look at me.

“Good morning.” I responded.

“How did you sleep?” He asked, sounding genuinely interested.

“Really well. How about you?”

“Best sleep of my life.” He responded with a smile.

I could not contain the giggle that escaped my lips. This felt so weird and so right all in the same moment. This was the first time that I had ever woken up with a man in my bed. I was not exactly certain how I was supposed to behave. Though, I was glad that I had saved something like this for my mate, rather than allowing just anyone to sleep over.

Our moment together was interrupted by a loud knocking at the door.

“You two need to wake up! We all heard your argument last night and the Alpha wants to see you in his office, immediately!” My mother called from the other side.

I supposed that it was time for us to face the music. Enzo had inadvertently announced to the entire pack house that we were mates. We knew that there would be consequences. I jumped out of bed and started to ready myself to meet with Alpha Griffith and, likely, Luna Rigina. Enzo, on the other hand, seemed to be in no hurry as he continued to lay in my bed, staring at the ceiling.

“Do you remember when we took each other’s virginities?” Enzo asked, speaking up suddenly.

“No, Enzo…” I responded, sarcastically, as I turned to face him while attempting to run a brush through my tangled mess of hair. “Girls don’t tend to remember such things.” I rolled my eyes to further emphasize my point.

He chuckled, lightly, before taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly.

“I almost marked you that day.” He admitted.

“What?” I questioned, not certain that I heard him right, my hair brushing no longer seeming that important.

“That is why I pushed you away.” He sighed. “I was so scared about what could have happened. So afraid of how strong my feelings for you were. We were still so young. If I had marked you and we hadn’t been mates, I could have screwed up everything for us for our futures.”

I stood there, dumbfounded. I had no idea how to respond to that. I had never even suspected that this was the case. I had always assumed that he had just used me up and then tossed me aside, as he did with all the girls he was with after me.

“I never stopped loving you, ya know?” He continued, turning on his side to face me. “There was always something about you. It killed me over the years, watching you with the other males in the pack. I was never jealous of anyone. Never cared when things ended with any of the other females I was with. But every time that I watched another male with you, the jealousy overtook me like a fire that I could not control.”

“Why didn’t you just tell me? Why push me away? We could have avoided all of this. We wasted so many years being cruel to each other. We could have had all that time.” I charged, feeling both flattered and irritated by his omission.

“I know. I was young and stupid. I made bad decisions.” Enzo sighed before continuing. “I still make bad decisions.”

I took in a deep breath and let it out slowly before responding. There was a large part of me that was still angry with him. But I did not want to make him feel any worse than he already did. The damn mate bond had me seeking to comfort him instead.

“Let’s stop focusing on the past.” I suggested with a sigh. “We both have made mistakes. There is no use in beating ourselves up over them now. Let’s just move forward and try to be better in the future.”

He nodded his head in agreement, but I could tell that he was a long way from forgiving himself for any of it.

“Come on, now. Your father is waiting.” I bid.

Several minutes later, we were standing outside of his father’s office. Enzo knocked on the door and Alpha Griffith called out for us to enter. We went in, fully expecting to face Alpha Griffith and Luna Rigina, but to my surprise both of my parents were there as well. Alpha Griffith sitting behind his desk with Luna Rigina standing next to him. My mother and father sat on the couch on one side of the room. All waiting patiently to confront us.

“About time that you finally joined us.” Alpha Griffith grunted in annoyance.

“Sorry.” Enzo responded, sounded anything but.

Alpha Griffith decided to ignore Enzo’s tone and continued on with the matter at hand.

“So…as I understand it…from your shouting match last night, the two of you are mates.” Alpha Griffith began before being interrupted by a small squeal of delight from Luna Rigina. “As you can tell, we are quite pleased with this turn of events.” Alpha Griffith continued, referring to the delight expressed by Enzo's mother. “However…I cannot help but wonder, how long the two of you intended to hide this information for.”

I elected not to respond. I was not going to be the one to throw Enzo under the bus on this matter. I knew that his parents were irritated that we had obviously known, but chosen not to share the information. I was not going to add to the trouble.

“We just wanted a little bit of time.” Enzo admitted.

“Time for what, exactly? Time to go on dates with Cora?” Alpha Griffith accused.

“No.” Enzo began shaking his head in disagreement. “That is not what it was. I just wasn’t ready for the responsibility of leadership. I just needed a little more time.”

“Hmmm…” Alpha Griffith responded, clearly unimpressed with Enzo’s reasoning. “And you, Marvel, were you in agreement with this choice?”