Chapter seventeen
Declan's P.O.V
Kissing Tana felt like he was dying in the most prolific way possible.
She didn't flinch at his touch anymore, but invited it, enjoyed it. He couldn't push it, though, so he slowly pulled away and smiled slightly when she seemed to follow him.
"Why'd you stop?" She asked, glancing from his lips back up to his eyes.
"Because I cant control myself around you. And I don't want to force anything on you," he replied quietly. Sam let out an indignant meow and hopped off of the bed, wandering around on the floor.
"What...what if I want to?"
Declan nearly choked on the air he was breathing as all reason was thrown out of his head.
"W-what?"
She moved closer, and Declan could have sworn he nearly passed out.
And then, when their lips connected again, neither of them pulled away. Not when Declan moved his body to cover hers. Not when her lips danced across his skin and left fire in their wake. And not when they were so close they could practically feel themselves intertwining.
It was pure euphoria. A feeling Declan hadn't felt in a while.
***
It took a while for Declan to let Tana go shower, but when he did and finally got up himself to redress, he found his father sifting through some papers that had been scattered around on his desk in his office.
"It's good to know that you've finally mated, Declan. However, I don't believe that girl is fit to be your Luna. She can be your mate, yes. Perhaps bear a few pups for you. But she should stay in the background, just to keep your wolf happy," Lionel said, not even looking up to look Declan in the eyes.
"Just because your mate didn't get to be Luna doesn't mean mine won't," Declan retorted. He wasn't the small, wimp of a boy he once was. The boy who only wanted to please his father but never seemed to be able to. He still bore the scars from his failed attempts.
"Watch your mouth, boy. That girl is damaged beyond belief. Everyone has heard of what she was, Declan. You've been distracted ever since she got here. I don't care if she's your mate, she's a bad influence. She's distracting you from your duties as an Alpha. Maybe I was wrong about you being ready for this," he spat, slamming a folder down on the desk as he glared right into Declan's eyes.
"You can fuck off, Dad. Talk about her like that again and I won't hesitate to-"
"To what? Kill me? Try it, Declan. Try it and see what happens. You'll be rejected by your pack. You and your mate will be crawling around in rogue territory, begging for forgiveness from anyone. Anyone," Lionel snarled, moving around the desk until he was right in Declan's face.
"You are not more powerful than me. Don't forget how close that bastard child of yours is to me. Close enough to...get rid of, if necessary," Lionel snapped before carefully exiting the room, leaving Declan fuming in his spot.
He growled and shoved everything off of his desk, slamming his fist into the wood before whirling away and storming back into his room, where Tana was now curiously examining the iPad on the bed with Sam in her lap. She kept tilting her head in the most adorable way possible. It instantly made a calm, warm feeling rush over his entire body. It was as if he had never spoken to his father at all.
Suddenly, a loud sound blared from the iPad that startled all three of them. However, it caused Tana to throw the iPad across the room, wincing when it smacked against the wall and crashed to the floor.
Sam bolted off of her lap and disappeared under the bed, peeking out slightly with wide eyes.
Tana jumped slightly again when she noticed Declan and gave an awkward smile while she fiddled with her hands in her lap.
"I thought it was going to explode," she said, which caused Declan to throw his head back and let out a loud laugh. It seemed to make her feel a bit better, anyway.
"Uh- I wanted to say...sorry. In-in case you didn't, you know, want to have sex with me. I still- I don't know. I still have a really hard time getting over...what he did, so, uh," she rambled on, only pausing when Declan sat beside her and cupped her cheek, pressing a soft kiss to her lips.
"I know how huge it was to take that step. And I'm thankful you trust me enough that you wanted to do that. And I can't lie and say I didn't enjoy it," he replied quietly. Her cheeks burned bright red, which made him grin slightly.
"Hello! Hello! Oh my god, are you guys fucking? Oh my god gross. Please don't be fucking. Declan! Declan stop! Pull out man!" Alec's voice boomed through the door, making Tana giggle as Declan walked over irritably and pulled the door open, causing Alec to fall into the room.
"Oh, good. Wait, ew, gross, not good. It smells like sex. Whatever, I don't care. It's your bodies. Anyway, why did I come in here?" Alec asked, tapping his chin thoughtfully as he glanced around the room.
"Oh, right! Blake was supposed to come tell you but he got side tracked and asked me to do it. He said that Alpha Richard is throwing a ball at his pack in your honour. You and Tana's. He said that he's inviting some more pack leaders to join. It's in three days; to celebrate you finding your mate," Alec explained. Declan let out a sigh. He should have seen that coming. Richard had always been very extravagant and careless with his money. Not that he needed to care much seeing as he was richer than any other pack around. He had thrown a similar ball for another alpha who had found her mate. Declan only went for the food. And because his father made him.
"Richard left already? To plan a party?" Declan huffed, rolling his eyes as Alec let out an amused chuckle.
"Left quite quickly, actually. He invited you and your family and said he had a lot of planning to do. So yeah. That's it," Alec finished, looking quite proud of himself for remembering all of that.
"So a date today and a party in three days? Oh, Aurora. I can't catch a break," Tana groaned, flopping back on the bed with her arms dramatically splayed beside her.
“Busy, busy woman. Maybe save your energy this time. Stop getting freaky,” Alec commented, only to have Declan’s phone whipped at his head by Tana.
“Christ, woman! Ok, ok, I’m leaving. You guys are so mean to me,” Alec huffed, sauntering out the door and closing it behind him while whistling a jovial tune.
“Please stop trying to break my things. They’re very expensive,” Declan commented, grimacing at his shattered iPad but relieved that his phone hadn’t been broken in any way.
“It’s not my fault the iPad almost exploded,” Tana retorted.
Declan shrugged, placing the iPad on his desk before approaching Tana slowly, a lazy grin on his face.
“So, about that date.”