Chapter 33

Cracking my eyes open, I groaned, feeling completely exhausted. My body felt leaden after having dozed off on the couch in a semi-upright and semi-curled position. My arms lay awkwardly trapped beneath the weight of my body, cramped and rigid. Squinting hard against the light spilling into the room, I gently stretched my muscles, coaxing the blood back into my stiff limbs as I yawned tiredly.

"Hey"

Startled out of my languid emergence, I whirled around in surprise, a gasp slipping from my lips as my view collided with a pair of familiar eyes.

Silver. Radiant grey-silver. The color flooded my vision. Up close, the details took my breath away. Each streak of reflective silver blended perfectly with a stormy grey to form the most captivating pair of eyes that I had ever seen. Eyes that wielded the power to encapsulate my soul with its brilliance. A color so distant and cold, but yet could invoke the warmth of a thousand suns when turned in my direction.

"Hey." My voice came out weak, hoarse from the strain that it placed on my over-used throat.

Thomas drew closer, his face holding apprehension at the sound of my voice and also perhaps at the sight of my unkempt form. Bending his naked torso over the couch he reached out to caress the side of my face, his fingers light as a feather brushing soothing strokes over my skin. My eyes closed automatically at the tingles that his touch elicited, causing me to lean further into the comfort that only he could give. I did nothing to stop the tears from falling this time, for I felt unashamed to be vulnerable in front of him. Moreover, the tears were not out of fear or loss but the overwhelming sense of relief that welled within me at having him by my side once again.

The couch dipped as I opened my eyes to watch him climb over the backrest and settle down beside me. Despite the situation, I couldn't help but ogle at his naked body, the sinuous tendons flexing invitingly, asking to be touched.

"You're naked."

A chuckle left his lips as he took my feet into his lap, massaging and rubbing them gently. "I know." Turning towards me with a small smile that lit up his features, he continued, a tenor of humor lacing his voice. "Tore through my clothes when I shifted."

"Ah. What a shame. I really liked those pants."

He laughed, his eyes holding a twinkle underneath all that care and warmth that were etched across his face. Bringing my foot to his lips, he placed a tender kiss on each of my toes before grazing his palm softly on my sole, making me smile at the reverent way he touched my skin.

We sat in silence, my tears long gone as our eyes remained on each other, drinking greedily at every flicker of emotion that passed between us as if it were a lifeline. And out of those, was the heavy guilt and hurt that was gnawing me on the inside. The feeling of insecurity was strong after our argument last night. "Why did you take off and not come back? I waited here after you left but you never came." My control cracked towards the end when I remembered the mental block I had to put up to shield myself from the pain.

Getting up, Thomas knelt beside my feet before taking my hands in his. His face twisted in sorrow and his voice trembled with emotion as he appeared to be close to his breaking point. He took in a deep breath, his body shuddering slightly as he prepared himself to speak.

"You know... mates are very sacred in our world. It is in our blood to care, to provide, to protect, and to love the one you are mated with. And yesterday for the first time, I realized how miserably I had failed you in every single way." His eyes dropped down to our conjoined hands, an overpowering feeling of shame emanating from him. "My brothers blamed me for bringing this on them and on you. For taking away your choice and your life when I dragged you into mine. And ever since that meeting, I've tortured myself with what-ifs and what could have been. But after our fight one thing became clear."

He looked up, the ring of gold flashing brightly as his voice turned into one of determination. "I know I should be sorry but the truth is.... I'm not. Because I cannot tell how much this means to me. How much you mean to me. But I can tell you what it feels like to live 132 years, missing a part of your soul. Cause that's how long I waited for you. That's how long I fantasized about how it would feel to meet my true mate. To feel whole again and to never be alone. To love so fiercely and to know that you are loved just as much in return. But after a century, I resigned myself to thinking that the only place you would exist was in my dreams but then....."

He pulled my legs apart, placing them on either side of him while moving closer with his hands cupping my cheeks and his thumbs stroking my face gently.

"..... I saw you. You were real. A hope that I had learned to crush, to not feel... came alive. I couldn't let you walk away. Not after seeing you and knowing that there was a chance to experience what my life would be like with my mate by my side. So, I did the most selfish thing. In spite of knowing that you were human and that there would be problems with my brothers and the pack... I wanted you... needed you... But I never imagined that it would come to this. I'm sorry that I failed you as a mate, Mia. But it would be a lie if I said that I was sorry for not letting you walk away. Because for me, there is no life without you."

His words washed over me like soothing rain over scorched land, breathing life back into everything it touched. No longer did I feel dead on the inside as my heart overflowed with love at his honesty and if my tears could be captured, I was certain that it could rival an ocean. There was no room for anger or upset or disappointment for I understood where he was coming from. And had the roles been reversed, I knew that I wouldn't have let him walk away either.

I sniffled, my voice sounding bittersweet with a hint of suppressed humor. "You're 132?"

A moment of silence ensued before a disbelieving snort left his lips. "That's your takeaway from everything I said?"

I chuckled at the look of incredulity on his face before turning serious. "When Alex offered me a comfortable life in exchange for letting you go, I told him that the only way I would accept his offer was if I could take you with me." Raising my hands, I ran them over his fingers that still held my cheeks. "I do not hold you responsible for their actions. So don't take the blame. How it all turned out wasn't ideal but I don't regret my choice of wanting to be with you."

While his eyes softened at my words, his body stiffened at the mention of his brother, his brows fusing together in confusion while his lips pulled back to flash his canines in irritation.

"What offer?"

It was my turn to stiffen, the conversation with Alex replaying in my mind, bringing back all the insecurity that Thomas had managed to squash. My voice wavered with the emotions that still felt too raw to delve into. "Like I said, he offered me money in exchange for leaving this place... leaving you."

Thomas growled, his eyes turning gold. "What else?"

"That's it."

His golden eyes narrowed, taking in my words for a second before one of his brows arched in disbelief. I sighed, knowing that he could probably smell the lie a mile away. It wasn't that I didn't want to share the gloomy picture that Alex had painted of my life with Thomas here in the pack but it was the fact that his words had twisted something inside of me and made me question my self-worth. That was what I wanted to keep hidden.

"I... Umm..."

An impatient growl issued from his lips at my fumbling. "Mia, just tell me."

I exhaled loudly, the weight of Alex's words coiling in my head like a snake, poised for attack at the first show of weakness. "He said that I would never be able to satisfy you... sexually. That I would not be able to keep up like a female of your kind. He also-"

"Stop."

Tilting his head lower to connect our foreheads, he inhaled slowly, his chest vibrating with subdued anger. His eyes turned a dark gold as they searched my face while his fingers threaded through my hair lovingly. "Do you trust me?"

I gave a small nod, confused about the reason for his need to ask me that.

"Close your eyes."

Still feeling confused, I complied, my world immediately shrouded in darkness as my other senses perked to the forefront.

"I want you to follow what I say. Don't question it and don't fight it. Understood?"

"Yes."

My curiosity surfaced, keen to understand what this demonstration was all about.

"Now, I only want you to focus on this. Nothing else."

"On wha-"

I inhaled sharply, my words cut short as I felt his fingers run down my face to my neck, the familiar tingling sensation trailing behind his touch. My lips parted of their own accord as I exhaled a small breath when his fingers traced my shoulders and ran down to my breasts before veering to my arms. With my eyes closed, everything felt heightened, stronger.

"Do you feel that?"

My voice shook slightly as I managed to wheeze out the words. "Uhh...Yes."

"Good. Now let go of everything and just follow it. Just feel. Sink into it."

Despite the temptation to roll my eyes inwardly at the absurdity of his instructions, I gave in. Concentrating on the tingling sensation, I latched onto it, letting it consume my senses while also trying very hard to not break focus. For a few seconds, nothing seemed to happen. And just as I was about to ridicule his idea, I gasped as I felt a tug right under my chest and above my abdomen. A pull, similar to the one I had felt after Thomas and I had made love for the first time.

Sensing my shock, Thomas rubbed my arms soothingly, his voice and touch drawing me to him like a drug. "Don't let go. Just let it happen."

And I did.

A surge of pulsing energy began to spread across my body, radiating from the source that was just beneath my lungs. My veins were on fire, the pleasure and heat thrumming to life right under my skin. I shuddered as the pull intensified, the acute need to draw closer to Thomas felt overwhelming. A need to feel him, to breathe him, to taste him, and to touch him; until we were melded as one: indistinguishable and inseparable. Just as it started to get uncomfortable, I felt a shift. The heat began to withdraw into its source, the energy pulled back from my veins as the coil beneath my chest began to pull and twist.

It began to grow, igniting from within like a supernova, its layers peeling to leave behind a hot, burning core. A burn that traveled further south until it settled in my lower regions, pulsing and throbbing with white-hot intensity. The tug writhed as it reached a maddening peak, demanding to be satiated and pulling me towards the one thing in the room that called to it. My pussy ached, wanting to be penetrated and filled with the nectar of life.

I gasped loudly when a fierce tug broke my focus, my eyes flying open to find myself falling into Thomas' arms, panting and breathless.

"Shh... It's alright. I'm right here my angel."

My arms went around him, clinging to him for dear life as he cooed to me softly, his words and closeness easing some of the ache that was burning on the inside. When I felt something moist in between my thighs, I blushed; suddenly becoming aware of how wet I was and how painfully hard my nipples felt against the fabric of the dress.

"Baby? Are you alright?"

Taking deep breaths, I pried myself from his arms and leaned back into the couch. All of a sudden, I felt unnaturally shy, realizing that I had almost orgasmed purely by desire alone. It felt mortifying to know that he had this kind of an effect on me.

"Uh... yeah... wha-what was that?"

His fingers went under my chin, gently turning my head in his direction. And as my gaze fell on him, my breath hitched at the gold in his eyes. They were the brightest I had ever seen, a rich molten gold, blazing like wildfire.

"That my love is the mate bond. Don't be ashamed. Here look." My eyes followed his as they dropped down to his crotch where his manhood lay hard and thick against his thigh. I felt the pull once again, the need to feel him inside me, pushing into me until he emptied deep within my womb. Shaking the feeling off, I quickly looked back up at his face, raising my brow questioningly.

"My body can't help but respond to you. The bond pushes us to mark and complete the mating. It's natural. What you felt just then is only but a fraction of what I feel for you. And I feel it constantly. This feeling is not something that I can get from anyone else. A single touch from you is worth more than a hundred fucks. So tell me... how could anyone else satisfy me? Sexually or otherwise...? The answer is - they can't. No one can even come close."

I fell silent as I contemplated everything that Thomas said. Even though Alex's words still plagued my mind, I couldn't deny the facts when they were staring me in the face. I knew Thomas was right. The pull I had felt was so real, like a living organism inside of me, with its own mind and agenda. And I also knew he was right about the feeling of being exclusive to us. Because no man had ever made me feel this way before. I had never felt the tingles nor the intensity with anyone else but him. And with his brothers of course. My mouth curled in distaste at the thought.

"What about your brothers? Do they feel the same?"

A flash of jealousy crossed his face before he schooled his features to look calm. "They do. But they have been injecting wolfsbane to stop themselves from reacting to it."

"What's that?"

"It's a drug. Made from a plant. Small amounts will subdue the wolves within us but large amounts can kill."

"So why would they risk it?"

Thomas sighed; his patience wearing thin. "Because they are idiots. Now, can we talk about something else?"

I huffed in irritation but decided to not push him, especially when we were already walking on thin ice. "Fine. What about love then? I mean... What I feel for you... Is that love or is it the bond?"

A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips, his eyes immediately softening as he responded, "The bond can't make you fall in love. It only pulls mates together, heightening the lust between them to ensure that the mating happens. Falling in love.... that is all you sweetheart."

I smiled, hearing the infectious happiness in his voice. His emotions were flowing into me with ease cueing me in on how ecstatic this was making him. And as much as I wanted to let him have this moment, there was one more issue that I wanted to address.

"What about kids? Alex said that there might be a chance that I wouldn't get pregnant. Or even if I did, the baby might be human. Is that true?"

Thomas let out a growl, his mood quickly shifting to anger as his eyes flashed gold. "That son of a bitch! Baby, I would love and protect our child no matter if it's human or a shifter. And my desire to be with you is not going to change even if you can't have one. Understood?"

My mood lifted at his words as I cursed myself inwardly for blinding believing the crap that Alex had spouted. I realized then that the brothers had fed Thomas and me with all of these insecurities, preying on our weaknesses to serve their own agendas. Well, that ends today.

"Yes. That makes me feel a lot better. I have never really wanted a child. So it doesn't bother me if I can't have any. I was only worried about how you would feel."

Thomas smiled, warming my heart in the process. I leaned over, gently pressing my lips to his while I crawled onto his lap and straddled him. Pushing my tongue into his mouth, I tasted him as he let out a small moan. Suddenly I recalled Liam's parting words of wisdom and a wild idea entered my mind. Breaking away from the kiss, I stared at his hungry eyes with a smirk. "Close your eyes."

"What? Why?"

"I want to test a theory."

Giving me a confused glance, Thomas obliged. Moving off his lap, I sat close, pressing my body into his side. Raising my hand to his chest, I began to trace the muscles, applying just the right amount of pressure. A wicked smile parted my lips as I watched his body tense, the muscles flexing under my touch while his breathing picked up speed. Reaching one of his nipples, I flicked it earning a low growl from him.

"Fuck Mia. What are-"

He drew in a sharp breath, unable to finish his sentence as my hands lowered dangerously close to his cock stood long, thick, and proud. Curling my hand around it, I gave it a slight tug before tracing the large vein from the base with my fingers. His hips jerked forward, trying to find some relief in my hand but I quickly moved upward eliciting what sounded like a whine from him. Reaching the head, I rubbed the precum between my fingers before dipping the edge of my nail into his slit. Thomas moaned, his cock beginning to leak furiously as he bucked his hips back and forth.

A feeling of pride went through me, knowing that I could make him melt under my touch just as he did to me. Liam was right after all. The bond really does work both ways, I guess. Emboldened, I tried to tug at his length once again but I was stopped when his hand curled around mine.

"You're playing a very dangerous game, my love. You should know better than to tempt a beast."

A loud squeal left me as I was pushed onto my back, his body pressing hard above mine. The gold in his eyes was turning darker by the second as he purred seductively.

"That wasn't my intention."

I giggled as he pushed his face into my neck, nuzzling affectionately.

"Oh?"

"Stop it. Let's not do this now. I want to be able to walk straight when we head over for the pack announcement."

Thomas stilled above me, his face coming up to gaze at me with slight worry.

"What? You do know about the announcement, right?"

"Yes." Tapping the side of his head he added, "Liam told me."

I realized that meant Liam had probably mind-linked and told Thomas about our chat this morning.

"So what's wrong? Are you upset that Liam told me about your family?"

His eyes narrowed in confusion before understanding set in. "What? No. In fact, I feel that the version he gave you was rather tame. But no, that's not what I was thinking about."

"Well, what is it then?"

Thomas let out a sigh as he got off me and sat up. "I'm just worried about how the pack will react. Not that they would do anything. But you being the first human to be mated to a shifter in centuries is going to cause some strong reactions-"

My heart jumped to my mouth as I bolted upright, shocking Thomas out of his ramble.

"What did you say?"

His expression grew worried as he took in my reaction. "Uhh... That you are a human who is mated to a shifter?"

"No. The part about being the first one."

Thomas' face went from worried to an "oh fuck" look as realization dawned. He muttered what sounded like a curse at Liam for not mentioning something to me before he turned to face me head-on. With a wary look, he explained in a low voice, probably hoping to soften the blow.

But of course, it did no such thing when he finally blurted.

"Mia... There hasn't been a human-shifter pairing in our world for over 800 years. We would be the first in a very long time."

"What the fuck!!!"