Chapter 25

Gideon

We walk back hand in hand. It feels so natural, and, wow, she is beyond beautiful. Every time I look into her eyes, my heart races. I can see a storm coming. I know once we get comfortable, I'll see those flashes of topaz like lightning. She is kind, caring, and nurturing, and I see how her siblings regard her. "Thank you, goddess, for hearing my call."

I put my hand in my jacket pocket as we walk back, oh the violets. Do I give them to her? I peek at them, and they are smashed. I don't want the first gift I give her to be smashed floors. So, I try to stuff them back in before Amelie notices, but I'm too late.

"What's that you're messing with?" She stops and looks over.

I close my eyes and drop my head. I pull out the bundle of smashed violets, "Um, on the way here, we stopped at a gas station, and a woman was selling little bundles of violets. I felt for her, so I bought one." Part of it was the truth. How do I tell her I was thinking of her when I did not even know she was my new mate.

Amelie takes them from my hand, smells them, and smiles. "Did you know violets are edible? I think we have some blackberries in the fridge, and I'll make some blackberry and violet syrup for breakfast tomorrow. How does that sound?"

I'm floored. She the only woman I know that can take a bundle of smashed flowers and make breakfast. I can't mess this up; she really is too perfect. "I've never eaten flowers before, but I'll trust you." We continue walking back. I take her hand in mine again. I never want to let go.

We go up the back stairs, and we are in the family kitchen. John and James are at the small dining table. "Oh, you two are back. We already ate without you. I am sure Amelie will make sure you're fed. Matt is showing the men to their rooms. Am, call your sister later. She and Celeste are talking now." He chuckles. I knew what he meant. Hope and Celeste were waiting for all the juicy details about Gideon and me.

"I'll call her in a bit. I'm going to make something for us to eat right now and some syrup for pancakes tomorrow." James perks up.

"You're making breakfast tomorrow? What about lunch and dinner?" His eyes are wide with greedy hunger.

Amelie laughs loud and is almost doubled over, "I hope whoever your Luna is, she can cook or at least follow my recipes." She calms her laughter and looks at James seriously, "I'll think about lunch and dinner. It will have to depend on the training report I get from Alpha Gideon." She looks at me and winks.

I wink back, "Young Alpha, don't ruin my opportunity to eat my mates cooking. I expect you out at the training field by 8:30 AM!"

James looks at us with a discussed look on his face, "you guys are gross already!" He gets up and walks out. Amelie is now doubled over, laughing harder than before.

"One of my favorite things in the world is teasing him." She turns and looks at me with a sweet smile. "OK, are there any foods you don't like?"

Food has always just been a way to fuel my body. If it tastes good, it is a bonus. So, I've never been a picky eater. "No, I am open to trying anything." She turns to open the fridge. Then walks into the pantry.

"Do you like mushrooms?" She pops her head out of the pantry.

"Sure, never had a problem with them." She walks out with a container of rice. I sit down on one of the stools in front of the counter and just watch.

She opens the fridge again. She pulls out stake, mushrooms, onion, some pea pods, sour cream, and parmesan cheese, a jar of brown goo stuff, and two tomatoes. What was she making? I was watching, but I'm more of a sandwich guy, so if I can put whatever on a few slices of bread, I'm good. We have a few cooks for the Packhouse, but it's never anything fancy. My teams need a lot of protein because we shift often. This was a whole new world. How would all these things come together?

"Do you not like risotto?" Amelie caught the perplexed look on my face.

I've never heard that word before, "I don't know what risotto is. So, I can't tell you if I like it or not." I feel a bit like a kid watching their mother cook, just in awe and wonder.

She giggles at me. "Well, you will get a lot of new things with me." She smiles slightly, pushing a loose hair behind her ear.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." I didn't know how someone could come across as strong and delicate at the same time, but she does. About 20 minutes later, she sets a bowl in front of me and sits down on the stool next to me. My bowl is much bigger than hers. "You could have given yourself a bigger portion."

She looks and me and giggles again, "you're almost three times my size. My portion is perfect. Eat up, tell me what you think."

I look at the bowl. It has stake strips and cooked tomatoes on top of rice mush mixed with vegetables. "Umm… you left the pods on the peas." Did she forget a step?

"Those are snow peas. You eat the pod and peas. Are you five? Stop staring and try it." She raised her right eyebrow at me. I didn't want to disappoint my mate, but this looked weird. I picked up my fork and tried it. First, just the stake on top. It was perfect, and the tomato and some brown sauce had a great savory flavor. Next, I tried the rice and vegetables under. It was great! The different textures and flavors are playing off the smooth and rich rice. It was amazing.

"This is good. How did you come up with this?" She laughs.

"I didn't. Some Italian did a long time ago. It's good, right?" She knew I was a basic food eater, and she wanted to see how far she could push me. I did not mind it at all. It let me have a glimpse into who she was.

Amelie puts her fork down and turns on her stool, and looks at me. I am mid-bit with my fork in my mouth when she says, "why don't you bring your stuff down to my room. I think we should try to get to know each other as much as possible before I go back with you. I want to know you more before I become a Pack Luna and mother. Everything in my life just changed in a day, and I want to take this time while you are here to at least ease into our relationship. I don't think you are going to reject me, and I'm not going to reject you, so I don't know… what do you think?" She let her guard down for just a moment, and I could see how fragile she really was.

I put down my fork and caress her cheek and pull her forward slightly. I kiss her on her forehead. "I would love that. We can go at your pace. This is a lot for me too. I have a confession to make." She looks up at me with wide eyes; I could see the storm in them was calm at the moment. "Ever since your brother's Heir Ceremony, I have dreamed about you. I think I already knew then that you might be my second chance, mate. I do not know how or why I was drawn to you. After our dance that night, I went for a run to clear my head and to get you out of my mind, but I ended up finding you at that clearing. I could not look away from you. I thought you were the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. You always seemed to be on my mind. So, I told myself coming here today, I needed to keep my distance and not disturb you, but once I smelled and saw you. I knew you were mine."

A tear rolls down her cheeks; she stands up. I'm still sitting on the stool. She leans ins and wraps her arms around my neck, and softly whispers, "Thank you." I wrap my arms around her waist and just hold her for a moment. I had already started falling in love with her months ago. Now I was permitted to see that love through.

"Ahem," we look behind us, and standing in the doorway is… well… everyone.

Amelie pulls away, "What? You didn't bring popcorn to the show." Her feistiness was back in an instant. She sat back down and continued eating.

"Alpha, we have completed the training schedule and would like to go over it after lunch, Sir." Matt stands at attention, trying to move the conversation quickly.

"Yes, James, are you ready to go over your training schedule?" I ask. He's still in shock a bit and just nods his head. "Good, meet my team and me in your father's office in 30 minutes. Matt, Move my things to Amelie's room if that's OK with you, Alpha John."

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that. Celeste already had that done after you two came back holding hands." He puts his arm around his mate's shoulder and smiles.

"Thank you, Luna." Amelie shyly looks away from everyone.

"Yes, Luna Celeste, thank you for your consideration." Celeste smiles and nods. I also turn and focus on my food. When they all leave, Amelie starts snickering and trying to hold back her laughter.

"Well, I guess it's not like we were hiding anything." I can't help but laugh with her. Finally, we finish up, and I help her load the dishes in the dishwasher.

"I'll see you a little later. I need to meet everyone about the training schedule." I don't want to leave her, but I have to. I know we will have more time tonight.

"OK. I'll see you at dinner then." She grabs my arm and stands on her tiptoes, and gives me a peck on the cheek. I am elated. Now I didn't want to leave. I smile and kiss the top of her forehead. I could get used to this. I leave to go to Alpha John's office.