The Change (Fated Series: book1)

Nessa blinked then felt her jaw hanging open at the sight. There had to be some sort of mistake. An explanation other than the obvious was in order as her humble experience was telling her miracles did not just happen. They were a utopia. And if they did happen, Nessa was damn sure, honest to Goddess, that they wouldn’t happen to her.

No, definitely not!

Besides, there was no way such event transpired in the short two hours she was packing. There had to be a reasonable explanation her silly mind was choosing to ignore. This could not be a simple romantic candlelight dinner!

Even if she thought for a second her Marcus would finally listen to her and take her out on a date, this was definitely not the thing she would envision him planning. After all, he was a fierce Alpha, harsh, but just. He was simply too practical to put so much thought into a fleeting thing, such as a simple date with his mate. No, he didn’t need to charm her. He already had her. Going all the way out like this simply did not fit him.

Her eyes scanned the backyard; picking out the little white candles evenly spaced out and shaped into what looked like a candlelit path to the covered gazebo. All this, as beautiful and romantic as it was, had to be a result of something more mundane than romance!

There had to be power outage and the oaf was glowing about it! Yes, that was all it was.

Anything else would have been too much out of character for her brute of a Choice Mate to even contemplate on…

Or wasn’t it? Had he finally heard her? Was it possible that he really seen her point?

Unlikely.

This was the Alpha who could just as quickly and impartially kill a shifter as if he was swatting an annoying fly away. The same man, who was a mixture of dotting boyfriend and controlling, manipulative politician. He definitely did not do ROMANCE. Surprisingly, she was fine with that. Of course, she’d point it out, when he was obnoxious! It wouldn’t hurt the big bad wolf to know there was always space for improvement and effectively take his Ego down a notch. But deep down, Nessa was happy with their relationship the way it was. It was loving. Comfortable. Relaxed. She could see herself waking up to his side, raising little obnoxious copies of him and even getting old with him! They had a future together. So if she found herself in dire need of a romantic evening, she simply had to put it together herself. And something was telling her he would love to participate in everything she would plan for them.

Despite of his imperfections, she loved him.

Still her silly heart chose to ignore any reason and flutter at the sight of Marcus, who was calmly waiting for her to regain her composure. The devil even had the nerve to smirk at her direction!

Nessa quickly turned around to find they were still alone. Why was he smirking all of the sudden? She glared at him, demanding answers. She didn’t need to verbalize them. Her posture – hands on her waist and tapping with her right foot – was telling him all he needed to know. Spill now or face my wrath!

As he remained silent, she huffed and crossed her arms in front of her chest. She really had to work on her intimidating posture, if all she managed to do was evict a wink from him as he continued to shamelessly check her out. Although Ness knew his eyes were captivated by her breasts which looked more prominent with her new posture, she refused to back down and be embarrassed about it.

She raised her eye brow at him, trying to remain as calm and collected as he was.

His hands reached out and pulled her in a warm hug. Nessa felt her own arms falling to her side and then moving around his waist as she stepped closer to him, inhaling his scent. His scent always managed to calm her down and she found herself rubbing her nose into his chest.

Damn, it had to be illegal to smell this good!

Marcus chuckled and kissed the top of her head just as she decided to shoot him a warning glare. He better not be laughing at her obvious affection to him or else….

“Don’t look so shocked,” Marcus grinned and tapped her nose with his index finger.

“Try suspicious,” Nessa corrected him, narrowing her eyes at him and pressing her lips firmly.

“The things those lips do to me!” Marcus mumbled to himself before he traced her lips with his thumb, still holding her chin in hand. The way he intently watched her made her smile at his entranced state. His whole attention was on her and she could clearly see the tenderness in his eyes and even what looked to be admiration. She tip toed to peck his lips, breaking eye contact with him.

Maintaining eye contact with him was getting a tad bit harder now that her wolf was more active. All the damn dog wanted was to submit to her mate, crawl in front of her Alpha, show him utter submission by giving in on anything before he would even ask. Her wolf’s feelings seemed too polar compared to hers. Nessa wanted nothing more than to shy away from the sudden utter devotion she could clearly see on his face. Even after spending so much time with him, alone or otherwise, she could not herself officially believe that life was this good. Nobody had looked at her with so much tenderness and love. And she didn’t want to risk losing that devotion and love by doing or saying something ridiculous.

“What’s going on?” She asked, trying to investigate further. Marcus quickly held her elbow in his hand and pulled her body back into his embrace.

“I didn’t realize that something has to happen for us to have some of that romance I was informed I was lacking. I’ve are having a candlelight dinner date,” Marcus whispered into her ear in a more teasing and purring way she had ever heard him speak. Yes, this was highly suspicious behavior. Even after endless pleas and wishes they could at least do some ordinary stuff that couples did, Nessa didn’t believe Marcus would come up with this arrangement on his own. People, or weres, simply did not change so much in a matter of a couple of hours. And why would he want to do this now? Was he afraid she’d actually stay home? He had to know that she wouldn’t be able to leave him once their relationship blossomed to marking and mating? Yes, something was definitely going on and Marcus was simply trying to distract her. She could feel it in her bones!

“Very funny, Alpha, now spill. What’s up?” Nessa asked irritated.

“Alpha?” He questioned and then asked playfully “Where did my Alphalicious go?”

“You haven’t earned that yet!” Nessa smugly replied. It was her fault spoiling him so much he would actually demand his nickname. She blamed her uncensored tongue for the Ego-inflation over the weeks they had known each other.

“May I remind you, I let you go to Starbucks,” Marcus offered.

“No, you may not! As if you could have stood between me and my coffee!” Nessa huffed, earning a growl from him. She had to suppress the giggle, trying to escape her lips. Teasing him was so much easier now that he had opened up and that their connection was getting stronger. She only had to even remotely suggest she valued something more than him and he would growl. It didn’t matter if it was coffee or a silly habit. He was determined to be the center of her world. Which was too adorable and sweet for her to pass the chance to tease him about it. And oh, boy, did his growls do a number on her insides!

She particularly loved his assertiveness. He knew what he wanted and he was bound to get it. Oh, well, sometimes he just had to learn to be a bit more diplomatic about achieving his set goals, but hey, nobody was perfect and she had a lifetime ahead of her in helping him learn that. Years of having everyone all but tip toe around him didn’t do him any favor either. He expected no resistance and if it came up, he was hell bound to crash it… ruthlessly… with all means necessary! Sometimes too bluntly for her taste! His roughness though made him even more manly and appealing to her. She could definitely deal with his arrogance and plain rudeness, but she knew she would never be able to put up with indecisiveness. Ever since Brandon, she despised meekness with vivid passion that only rivaled Cam’s hatred for paperwork.

Speaking about the Brandon, she couldn’t help but wonder what happened between Juliet and him. Did Juliet tell him about Jonathan? Probably not, Nessa decided. Juliet was too set in her ways to acknowledge the hurt she inflicted. Any compassion Nessa had towards Juliet disappeared the moment she rejected Jonathan. Hadn’t she learned her lesson? Apparently not! If that was the case, then she should not blame Fate, because she and Brandon were alike. True, they might have mated under a false pretense, but it was scary how similar they were and what a true match they had become.

VILE.

Nessa vowed she would tell Juliet exactly what she thought of her cowardice. If it was beneath Jonathan’s pride to pummel the silly women, Nessa had no such issue. Nobody treated her family like yesterday’s trash and got away with it.

“I left you speechless, eh?” Marcus prompted.

There. The arrogance her man had!

She rolled her eyes at him.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m irresistible. But I am serious, this is a date!”

“Oh, is it?” Nessa mocked his Ego.

“You doubt your Alpha?” Marcus’ stern Alpha voice might have affected her, had it not been for the wink he gave her.

“Careful there, Alpha, or else you might ruin your reputation of being vicious,” Nessa warned him.

“It would be a mistake they could make only once. I don’t tolerate insubordination,” Marcus seriously replied and lightly nibbled her ear, asserting his dominance over her. A shiver ran down Nessa’s body as she felt his teeth graze her earlobe. Swiftly his tongue lapped over her ear, causing her to cringe. He knew she was extremely ticklish there!

“Not that I am giving you any ideas, but I am pretty rebellious,” Nessa said purposefully shifting in his arms, so her ears were as far as way as possible from those lips of his.

“Or I let you think so, Luna-licious!” Marcus smugly replied, earning him a shove from Nes. At least it was supposed to be one. He didn’t move an inch and only looked down at her with entrainment in his eyes. “Is that the best you can do?”

The nerve he had!

Of course, Nessa accepted his challenge and put all of her force into properly knocking him down. It seemed like he had grown roots into the ground as his stance didn’t move, despite the force Nessa tried to exert on him. Finally she huffed in disappointment.

“Now that we established that I am not only a handsome face, can we please go, I am hungry,” Marcus teased her, trying to play off the double meaning of his words.“You okay?”

“You couldn’t have swayed a little?!” Nessa prompted.

“Fine, next time I will let you push me down!” Marcus agreed and Nessa rolled her eyes at him.

“You’re not supposed to tell me that. You are so clueless sometimes, Marcus “Ned” Edwards!” Nessa snorted.

“I’ve spoilt you too much if you can’t make your mind, Lunalicious!” Marcus grunted mockingly only to earn a growl from her. He chuckled and at her cold glare, he raised his hands in mock surrender.

He then looped his hand around her waist and ushered her to the gazebo, leading her to sit on the two-seat sofa that was decked with white pillows. As Nessa did as he pleased, he reached out to the ice-basket and popped the red wine open.

“Relax,” he told her and proceeded to fill her glass with red wine. Nessa smiled at him and tried to follow his suggestion. After all, wasn’t that what she wanted? She had told him she wanted romance, candlelight and wooing her and he was doing everything to please her. She smiled. He was a keeper!

As both glasses were filled with the red liquid, he toasted, “To us!”

“To us,” Nes cautiously said wondering how the Fates will mess up this moment for her. Too much happiness was dangerous.

“Stop fretting. Relax. I’m in charge,” Marcus pointed out and started serving appetizers.

“You are?” She couldn’t help but ask.

“What did I tell you about questioning your Alpha?” Marcus asked shaking his head.

“You’ll spank me?” Nessa teased. Marcus chuckled.

“S the promises I have to keep to retain my status, the best you’ve ever had,” he winked at her using her own words that she had thrown at Brandon.

“Well,” Nessa trailed a finger over the rim of her glass, and tried to look up at Marcus as seductively as possible. “You will have to remind me.”

He possessively growled at her, his green eyes clouded with so much lust that Nessa thought her clothes would not survive her comment. She gave him a tender smile, encouraging him on. His growl intensified and the molted green eyes narrowed on her, shifting to his wolf’s.

Partial shifts took a lot of control and only few mastered the delicate balance of coexistence between the two natures. It was easier to be human or wolf. Nessa had only seen partial shift only once in Rover Grove, when Alpha Grey had caught Juliet and Nessa sneaking out to go a party. He had yelled at their outfits. Nessa ever never saw him that enraged over their “sparsely clad appearance”. He wouldn’t even let them explain they were going to a pool party. It was not like they could wear full body coverage for Goddess sake!

“If you continue to look at me with such owe, I’ll skip dinner and all elaborate planning for us to get to know each other better and just take you for a desert,” Marcus informed her, closing his eyes and trying to calm down his wolf.

“Is that a promise?” Nessa found herself asking. Marcus eyes immediately snapped open and she could see his wolf much closer to the surface as his canines and claws came shifted as well.

“Vanessa, stop teasing or I WILL lose control and this dinner will finish quicker than both of us would want!” Marcus snarled through the words holding off the change. Nessa weighed her options and liked the idea of seeing him lose control.

What was wrong with her? She was acting up way uninhibited for her own liking.

“Okay,” she said and he nodded while gripping the utensils.

“What were you thinking just now?” Marcus asked as his breathing equalized.

“Oh, about the partial shift. I’ve only seen Alpha Grey do it. His ears, canines and claws shifted and if he wasn’t yelling he would have looked like a mutated puppy. Your ears didn’t shift. But I have to admit your eye-shift is kind of hot.”

“VANESSA!” Marcus growled as his canines enlarged again.

“Sorry! It’s just,” Nessa shrugged, “you asked!”

“I’m glad you are having fun but if I lose control you better not solely blame me for anything that happens,” Marcus warned.

“Neither you, nor your wolf would hurt me,” Nessa dismissed his concern.

“My wolf wants you and he won’t care if you had shifted or not,” Marcus explained to her.

“I have had puppies try to dry hump me before,” Nessa replied without thinking and Marcus’ growl thundered in the quiet night.

“WHO?” The roar that came after was not only possessive, but demanding.

Nessa looked up at Marcus, only to notice that his eyes and face were shifting.

“Calm down. I didn’t mean wolf pups…. I meant normal puppies… Dog puppies,” Nessa explained and then chuckled, “Doggie puppies?”. She shifted closer to Marcus who was still shaking with anger that she chose to ignore. As the growl died down, Nessa quickly pecked his neck as he regained some composure.

“Ness, my wolf is very possessive of you,” Marcus explained.

“I know, I felt the love. You were growling and roaring as if I was trying to murder you.”

“It felt that way,” Marcus replied and watched her carefully. “Even though that I know you’re mine, my wolf felt betrayed and hurt.”

“I’m sorry. It’s just… I feel so comfortable with you that I sometimes talk without really processing how you might interpret it. I don’t do it on purpose. And if anything, I should blame you for being so delicious my brain isn’t working properly when you are around… I blur the weirdest things!” Nessa complained.

“I have that effect on you?” Marcus smirked at her.

“Great, another tenfold Ego boost,” Nessa rolled her eyes at him.

“Just what I needed,” Marcus slipped his hand around her shoulders and squeezed her next to his side. “I want your approval as your opinion matters to me, my beautiful partner in crime!”

“Oh, how sweet!” Nessa smiled and reached for his hand. His fingers interlaced with hers then he brought her knuckles to his lips, kissing them one by one, making the gesture appear sensual instead of the tender exchange she would have clarified it. Nessa blushed at the thought that he really valued her. Hasn’t he told her before that she was his partner in crime? Something in her finally believed him.

“I love you, Alphalicious.”

“I loved you even before I met you, Lunalicious,” Marcus matched her phrasing and then uncovered their main dish.

Pasta… Sauce and fried veggies….

Nessa’s mouth started watering at the site of them and she softly shifted in her seat and reached for her plate.

“I wish I was the reason why you’re drooling!” Marcus huffed giving her a plate.

“Show me some skin then,” she giggled at his confused face. Then as her eyebrow rose, he shrugged and swiftly took off his shirt throwing it to the side of the gazebo. It was his turn to raise his eyebrow at her in a rather suggestive manner. Nessa grinned at the site of his bare chest and ran her index finger down from his shoulder to elbow, feeling his biceps.

“Sizzling hot,” she whispered, making him chuckle.

“Keep going,” Marcus encouraged her with a smile.

“How modest of you!” Nessa exclaimed theatrically outraged.

“Alphas enjoy getting an Ego boost by their mates,” Marcus chuckled.

“I’ve noticed,” she replied honestly and then giggled at his stern face. She quickly left her plate on the little table and pushed him to lodge against the sofa, as she slowly squatted over his lap. Her hands traced his torso from his broad and defined shoulders to his abs. As he tensed under her inspection, she twirled her fingertips around his belly button only to circle her fingers back to his shoulders and bury them into the jet black hairs. She looked closer only to discover with astonishment.

“You have white hairs,” and swiftly arched her body off his lap to inspect his head further.

“Gray,” Marcus corrected her, keeping his attention to her breasts which she had all but shoved into his face. Nessa’s fingers traced a few silver hairs and then looked down to discover Marcus had not wasted time and effectively used his teeth to tear down the neckline of her t-shirt, exposing more of the cleft between her breasts. She frowned. She really did like that shirt.

“You happy?” She asked.

“Very,” Marcus smirked and squeezed his hands, that she now discovered were cupping her butt cheeks, effectively pushing her torso closer to him, burring his face into her breasts.

“How old are you again?” She wondered aloud.

“Don’t worry, we’re both legal. You can ravish me,” Marcus told her and sucked down on the top part of her left breast which was exposed to him through her now ripped cleavage, his lips leaving cooling saliva over her reddened flesh. A love mark. He smiled and proceeded to do the same on the other one. Nessa pushed his chin up to face her.

“Gray hair,” she prompted, looking down at the mottling green eyes that she had fallen in love with.

“32 and I’ve been through a lot so I am allowed to be graying,” Marcus concluded. “I’m surprised you haven’t noticed it before.”

“Well, obviously, I have been distracted,” Nessa replied tracing his jaw line with a finger. Even his short five-o-clock shadow of a beard was showing grey here and there upon closer inspection. How did she miss it before?

“Let’s distract you some more,” Marcus continued and started kissing her collarbone.

“Marcus!” She wanted to berate him, but her voice came a little bit too out of breath to be considered a scolding voice. It sounded as a moan and she knew Marcus recognized it in her voice.

“Yes, Love?” He asked between kisses brushing her hair behind her shoulder.

“Marcus, focus….” Nessa started.

“I am,” he replied and quickly moved his hands from her rear up higher to her waist, sliding them down under the hem of her shirt. Nessa was not surprised when she heard the almost silent click of her bra unhooking. Damn, he was so skillful in doing that, it almost made her angry for all the obvious experience he had over the years.

“I’m yours,” was the only thing that she needed to hear before she finally stopped resisting.

Joel

Joel stared at his phone as he didn’t recognize the number from the incoming call.

“Rifkin,” Joel grunted in the phone, irritation clearly detectible.

“Hey,” her soft voice made him breathless, reminding him why they communicated with voice messages. At first he had found it ridiculous, but soon learned to see past the disadvantages of such indirect communication. He could always replay the voice messages and fall asleep to her voice. His excitement was peeking, knowing she was on the line with him.

“You okay?” Joel asked sternly. It was out of character for her to initiate contact.

“I am,” she replied.

“That didn’t sound too confident,” Joel retorted.

“Well, “You okay?” didn’t sound as a proper question one would ask his mate, but I was not going to complain about it,” Kat retorted with the same intonation he had just used.

“I was concerned that something happened to you,” Joel replied in his defense and then asked to confirm “Nothing bad happened, right?”

“Am I interrupting something?”

“It’s a very welcomed distraction. Don’t worry,” he reassured her, hoping to keep her on the line for longer.

“I got your package,” she replied out of hand and Joel grinned. Oh, how he wanted to give her his package!

She must have felt his excitement over their mating bond as she shrieked, “JOEL, stop thinking with your dick or have the decently to mate me.”

“You are the one continuously bringing it up,” Joel replied before he realized the double-meaning behind his words. By her sharp gulp, he knew she realized it too. It was so easy making her embarrassed – he only wished he was there to see how her cheeks were flushing. “So how do you like my package?”

“Joel,” she warned him. He loved the way she was saying his name, even if half the time on the rare occasions they did talk to each other, instead of leaving voice messages, it was all irritated and in warning. He still couldn’t puzzle how she was composed and easy going when she was leaving him voice messages, but whenever they talked, she all but reached out through the phone and pull his ear off. “If you are going to be an ass about it, I will hang up.”

“In my defense, you were the one bringing up body parts in the conversation,” Joel pointed out.

“Hotshot, you won’t be able to hide in Pack-Law, if I do decide to go physical on you,” Kat warned him. Before he could reply she shot back. “Anyways, I am sure you’re busy and all with that Pack Law business you do, so I will be quick. I called to say thanks for the package and I also sent you something in return. It should be there by noon. Don’t you even think of leaving Blackwood, without receiving it first!”

“What did you sent me?”

“Now you’ll have to wait up till tomorrow and see,” she giggled and then hung up. Joel shook his head. The whole conversation made more sense to him now. She wanted to tease him and make him anxiously await for her package. And she had succeeded. He wondered what she might have sent him and suddenly the morning could not have come any quicker.

One thing was for certain, he had to thank Nessa for her input in his relationship. Apparently, she knew more about his mate than he did.

He tapped on the file of reports, and then hit the redial button on his phone before he could change his mind. His wolf and he needed to talk with Kat for much longer. He craved for her in ways that he feared would scare her if she even suspected. Not surprisingly she let his call go to voicemail.

“Abruptly hanging up on your mate is effective way to make him come over and teach you something about calling him a hotshot or referring to his body parts. However, as instructed, I shall remain in Blackwood until I receive your package. Good night, Kathryn!”

He really needed to get his mind off her, before he ran over to her house. One of the reasons why he had eagerly taken over to be Regional Pack Law Enforcer was mainly to protect her. He didn’t trust anyone of the ten Battalion leaders with the safety of his mate. He needed her in his territory of influence. Either wise he would have not been able to focus on his duties.

The only drawback to his otherwise reasonable plan was her proximity one to three hours away, depending on his location in his territory, called to his beast. The closer he was to her, the more anxious he felt. But even being miles away from her, she always managed to remind him of herself.

Damn, he needed a run, but he did not trust his wolf not to run to her side. It would only take him less than an hour. So close!

He needed a distraction. His eyes glazed at the documents with numerous accounts of the events that were linked with Emma’s death. He would bury his loneliness in paperwork, just as he had been doing for the last six years.

He couldn’t imagine losing Kat. As immature and childish their relationship was, she was still a significant part of his life. His soul. The mere thought of something hurting her was bringing him out to the verge of anger. He could only imagine if, Goddess forbid, something did happen to her. He would be devastated.

He rubbed his chin, thinking he would not wish such pain even to his worst enemy. And by all accounts, six years ago Marcus Joseph Edwards, only son of Logan Edwards, did not have enemies. Following the tradition, in absence of a family tragedy, necessitating immediate takeover, the next Alpha-in-line took the title at a ceremony a month after mating with his Luna. Marcus had followed the tradition to the letter.

It was beyond Joel to figure out how Marcus managed to successfully piss off someone in those first two months of his rein that it would escalate to the murder of his mate. If there was a major accident, or feud, there had to be a record of it.

Unless, he was not the one the rage was aimed at.

Joel’s eyes immediately landed on a photo of the numerous gatherings the young Alpha pair hosted. If it wasn’t the Alpha they were getting even with, it only left the Luna.

Joel tapped at the photo in front of him.

What secrets was Emma Kennard hiding?