56

~Vanessa~

I woke up the next morning in Veloces' arm, his warmth making me feel beyond comfortable. I cuddled against his muscled chest and almost fell asleep. That is, until his damn alarm went off. I sat up and smacked my head on Veloces' chin, both of us groaning from the impact.

"Sorry." I mumbled, rubbing my head.

Veloces quickly turned off his alarm and rubbed his chin, he then gave me a concerned look. "You okay?"

"Yeah, just, damn you have a hard chin!"

"Sorry?" he asked, confused.

I chuckled, "You know, my ribs are feeling great today!"

"You're not doing anything until tomorrow." he said, shutting down the suggestion in my words.

I scowled at him, but didn't argue. Instead, I got up and grabbed a towel. As I searched through my drawers Veloces was talking on the phone. Of course I have to be nosey and just listen to the end of it.

"Yeah, love you too, Lizzy." Veloces answered. "You sure your mom won't murder me?"

I turned around, jealousy swarming in my chest as I glared at him. He furrowed his eyebrows, confusion in his eyes as he stared at me. "Okay, well, tell her I said hi. And tell your damn mate to stop texting me emojis every damn second."

I relaxed when he mentioned mate, but I was still on edge. He hung up and looked at me, "I know what you're thinking, she's my cousin." he said before I could say anything.

I pursed my lips, "You mean...you're not cheating on me?"

"No, why would I do that?"

The honesty in his voice helped me relax as I kissed him, "Sorry, just a little scared of that happening."

He smiled softly and pulled me back in for another kiss, "It won't happen."

After we stopped kissing I took a shower and he laid on his bed. I thought about his scars and wounds from the torture as I washed my hair. He was bleeding a little last night and it scared me slightly. Aren't they supposed to be healed? I know they used silver on him, but shouldn't it be healed by now?

I hopped out of the shower and grabbed my towel, wiping myself off I walked out of the bathroom. Veloces looked over and I shrieked a little, quickly covering up my naked body. His eyes were black again, but he only smiled.

"I've already seen you naked." he stated, sitting up.

"Yes, well, I'm a lady so...I don't feel comfortable." I retorted.

He scoffed, "A lady who farts in her sleep."

I could feel my face heat up as I glowered at him, "I do not fart in my sleep."

"Yes, you do." he said with a smirk. His eyes sparkling with amusement.

"Yeah, well, you snore like a damn bear." I snapped.

He chuckled, "I'd rather snore and sound like a bear than fart. Do you know how bad it is when someone farts and you're a werewolf? Hieghtened senses."

"Should I remind you of the one night you farted and I literally slept on the balcony because it smelled so bad?"

He narrowed his eyes, "You're the one who suggested mexican food!"

"Yeah, but I didn't say Taco Bell!"

"Shut up!"

Someone cleared their throat and we both snapped our eyes over to the door. Standing in the entrance way was a girl around my age with dark brown hair and soft blue eyes. She looked between me and Veloces, confused as she looked at me.

"Who is she?" she asked, looking at Veloces.

He smiled proudly, "My mate."

"Who farts?"

I blushed and glared at Veloces before storming into the closet and slamming the door shut. Veloces laughed and yanked the door back open. "Yes, this is her." he said, pulling me to his side.

The girl smiled, "Oh, don't worry, his farts are terrible."

"Tell me about it." I sighed, smirking now.

Veloces glared at us, "Now I have two she-wolves who are going to make fun of me. Fantastic."

The girl giggled and walked over, "Name is Lizzy, I'm his cousin. Don't worry, I'm not a slut who's lying. I actually have my own mate who's currently arm wrestling with Clayton."

"Name is Vanessa, Veloces' mate and I guess you could say Luna of this pack." I replied.

She grinned, "I'm going to be the future Luna of my mate's pack! It's so exciting! He brought his cousin along as well and guess what!"

"What?"

"He's the future Alpha of Blue Rose pack in Pennsylvania and that girl...what's her name? Ah, Olivia, is his mate!" she cheered. "Oh, she's so nice! I can't believe Alpha Jeremy was her father. I highly doubt that whore is her mother though. Olivia is way prettier."

I laughed, "That's great! Let me get dressed and I'll meet you downstairs."

"Alright."

"Whoa, you-

"I can sit on a couch, Veloces. I'll mind-link Hillery and ask her, alright?"

He sighed in defeat, "Fine."

I quickly got dressed and mind-linked Hillery, relieved when she said I could sit on the couch. I'm just not allowed to go shopping or anything today. I plopped myself down beside Christine while Lizzy and Olivia sat on the other side.

"So, he's your mate?" I whispered, motioning towards the blonde haired guy.

Olivia blushed and smiled, "Yeah, his name is Xander, he's a charmer. He's not a player, is he?"

Lizzy shook her head, "If he was a player, his mother and father would have killed him a long time ago. He's a very respectful guy and only had one girlfriend. They dated since Freshman year of high school and broke up a few months ago. She found her mate, who so happens to be the Beta. Don't worry, she's the sweetest girl."

"She's not one of those high school sluts?"

"Nope, she was actually a geek and still is. Loves pokemon and all that stuff."

"Alright." Olivia sighed in relief.

I leaned back on the couch, thinking about Veloces as they all talked about their mates. Speaking of the devil, he walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. Not before kissing me on the lips real quick. I smiled at him and watched him say hi to the other guys.

"I'm so happy you're not like his first mate." Lizzy blurted out.

We all looked at her, "What did she do anyway? I mean, I know she attacked him because he kicked her mother out of the pack, but how did they even meet?" I asked.

Lizzy chuckled, "That is for me to know and for you to find out. Veloces will tell you when he's ready. If there's one thing that is difficult about him, that is getting him to open up. He doesn't like talking about his past, I bet he didn't even mention us."

"Nope, I actually thought he was cheating on me for a second."

"Yeah, he doesn't really tell anyone about us. Mainly because we're in a different pack, Fortis would tell you though. Since Crudelis sent him to live with us for a few years."

"Why did he?"

She frowned, "I honestly don't know, not even Fortis knows. I don't think Veloces does either. He hated Veloces, but loved Fortis. Yet, he wanted Veloces to become an Alpha and not Fortis. It's all very confusing."

"That's because it gave him an excuse to abuse Veloces, besides him being what he called a bastard child." Fortis said, sitting on the floor while sipping a pepsi.

I looked at him, "Is Veloces'...actualy father...still alive?"

"Yes." Veloces said as he walked in. "He's actually not an asshole, even though he did rape my mom. For that, I don't think me and him will ever have a regular father and son relationship. I'm technically a bastard child, mom wasn't supposed to have a child with Marcus."

Fortis scowled at him, "You're not a bastard child, you're just...a...um..."

"Mistake?" Lizzy asked.

Fortis rolled his eyes, "Lizzy that's worse."

"Then, you're his brother. That's all. You are your mother's son, you can include Marcus in it, if you want." Lizzy chirped.

Veloces shook his head, "He wasn't even there for me when I was abused. I know he had a huge crush on our mom and that he lusted after her, but...he could have helped me."

His voice broke off at the end, a sorrowful look crossing his face again. I frowned and got up, I hugged him. I kissed him before gently grabbing his face and making him look at me.

"You didn't have the best fathers, your birth father wasn't there for you when you needed him and your...I guess...step father was the one delivering the pain instead of loving you. Even so, you have a loving brother, cousin, aunt, and so on. My father doesn't hate you and neither does the Alpha of the Oakwood pack. Instead of becoming Crudelis, you became someone better. You become yourself and there is nothing wrong with that. You don't need Marcus or Crudelis to be happy.

I know, you want at least a father figure in your life, then let Fortis be that. He is your older brother, isn't he? When no one was there for you, you had him. You also had Clayton. You did have father figures in your life, just not in the forms of your birth father or step father. And now, you have a mate who loves you more than anything." I said, looking him in the eye the whole time.

He watched me with stunned silence, love was the only emotion I could see in his eyes. I did blush a little, realizing I literally poured part of my heart out in front of everyone, but that just shows how much I truly love him. He's my life and I'm his.

Without saying a word, he picked me up and walked me to his office. He closed the door and placed me on his desk. We just stared at each other before our lips connected. It wasn't rough or lustful, but filled with passion. I kissed him back like my life depended on it, we didn't feel each other up. We just held each other and kissed.

After a while he picked me up once again and sat on his couch, pulling me close to his body. We didn't say anything, we didn't have to. We put our heads together and just looked at each other, smiles on both of our faces.

"I love you." he whispered.

I smiled softly and studied him, gently running my finger down his jaw. "I love you too."