Chapter 2

(Harper’s POV)

Oh my Goddess, oh my goddess. I was currently holding hands with Colton Stokes, and he was my fated mate. I shyly looked up into his eyes through my lashes and saw that he was watching me intensely, and I immediately blushed at the look in his eyes and looked away again. I heard him chuckle, and I blushed even more. 

Alpha Daniel finished talking, and everyone clapped, and I had to break contact with Colton’s hand so I could clap too. Not that I remembered anything the Alpha had just said. The clapping died down, and I felt sparks on my back as Colton placed his hand on me and began to guide me through the crowd quickly. I made an attempt to look back to see Katie but noticed that she was preoccupied with talking to Damien. 

We left the room. Colton grabbed my hand and pulled me into the gardens and around the side of the building. Once we were around the corner, he spun me around to face him and backed me up against a wall. He buried his face into my hair, his nose grazing my neck, and took a deep breath, sending shivers down my spine. 

He growled in appreciation and whispered, “MINE!” and began kissing down my neck. I gasped and held on to his arm. I felt a heat in my stomach when his teeth grazed the spot on the crook of my neck, and my breathing became shallow. Colton lifted his head, and he had a lazy smile on his face.

“Wow, Strawberries, you smell amazing.” He hooked his finger under my chin and lifted my head to meet his eyes. From this close, I could see that his eyes were hazel, and there were flecks of gold in them. I took the time to really look at him. I mean, I had seen him from afar but never this close before. He had a soft face that didn’t have any sharp features, apart from the slight point to his chin. He had a heavy stubble, and his medium brown hair was shaved short at the sides but then longer on top, and it was slicked back. From what I can see, his body was basically that of a Greek god, but then he was a future Beta, so it was in his genes to be beautiful. 

I trailed my hand down his clothed chest over his black shirt, and I felt his hard toned muscles, and my hand continued down as I felt his eight pack under my fingers. My hands ended up at the line where his shirt disappeared into his tailored black trousers, and I hovered there. Suddenly I felt very hot, and that heat in my stomach was getting warmer. I involuntarily bit my lip as I noticed a bulge in his trousers.

“See something you like, Strawberries?” His voice sounded husky as he watched me. I looked into his eyes, which seemed to have more gold in them from a few minutes before.

I tried to compose myself. “Erm….” 

Shit. Think, Harper. 

“Erm…” 

Oh crap, I was struggling to think of, well... words at all.

“What’s on your mind, Strawberries?” he teased. He knew what was on my mind. It was written all over my face.

“Why do you call me Strawberries?” I asked, and he grinned and buried his head in my neck again and took a deep breath again, and then nibbled my ear before whispering, “It’s what you smell like to me. Strawberries.” It felt like electric currents were running down my body, and I gasped.

“You smell like beautiful juicy ripe red strawberries.” And then he was in front of me, and his lips were so close to mine, his voice was a low husky tone again. 

“I wonder if you taste like them.” He closed the gap and pushed his mouth against mine. His lips felt as soft as they looked as they pushed against mine. His hands glided to my hips, and he pulled me towards him, so I was flush against him. I gasped into his mouth, and he took the invitation and plunged his tongue into my mouth, and the kiss deepened. I put my arms around his neck, and he pushed me against the wall, not breaking contact with my mouth or body. 

The heat in my stomach dropped, and something lower down awoke in me. He finally broke apart from me just as I started to wonder if you could die from kissing and if it was a worthy way to go. We were both breathing heavily and just looking at each other.

He looked at me with a heated expression. “As much as you match the name strawberries, I would like to know the name of my little mate,” he breathed.

“Oh!” I gasped, “it’s Harper,” 

“Well, nice to meet you, Harper. My name is Colton.”

I nodded, “I know,” and then blushed because I wondered if I sounded like a stalker .“I mean, that you are our future Beta, so everyone knows who you are.” I felt very hot again. “But me, I’m not Beta, or any rank really, so I’m not known, really.”

He watched me with an amused look while I rambled on before he placed a rough finger on my lips to shush me.

“Calm down, sweetheart.” He chuckled. “No need to be so nervous.” I focused on getting my breathing back in control while he rubbed circles on my hand with his thumb again.

When I felt a little more composed, I smiled at him. 

“Thank you,” I said, and he smiled in return and placed a soft kiss on my forehead. 

“Should we go back to the party?” I asked 

He growled. “I’d rather not,” he said. “I’ve just found my fated mate after three years of looking, and the last thing I want to do is to take her back into a room full of sex-starved unmated werewolves.” He looked me up and down with a look that made me want to clench my legs closed. “Especially when she looks this good.” Then he leaned in closer. “And when I can smell the amazing scent of her arousal.” I blushed again, and he chuckled.

“I’m a Beta love,” he said, and I quirked my eyebrows. “Alphas and Betas tend to run on heightened senses and urges, including the possessive nature of a newly acquired mate, and I suspect if we went back in there, I would rip some guy’s head off for just glancing at what is Mine.” That last word rumbled into a growl, and I nodded, trying to avoid the strong urges that my own body was expressing down below.

“We... erm, we could take a walk,” I suggested, and he smiled 

“Could we head towards somewhere more private so we can get to know each other,” he asked with a glint in his eye. “I mean, I would take you to my room, but there is a big party downstairs, so not ideal for talking.” 

“Oh, yeah,” I beamed. “My house is about twenty minutes away on foot.”

“Perfect, lead the way, Strawberries.” He linked his fingers in mine, and we started walking to the front of the house and down the drive.

We talked about so many things as we walked. I told him about my family. He knew of my dad and knew Tommy. We talked about his family, which was basically him and his parents. We also talked about hobbies, music, and TV. By the time we reached my house, I felt like I had learned a lot about him and knew he had learned a lot about me. 

I let us in through the front door and switched on the light. Colton stood by the door, looking nervous. I looked at him, puzzled.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, taking his hand 

He smiled and looked down at my hand, and then when he looked back up at me, his eyes were pure gold, and there was a look of pure raw heat. 

He growled before saying, “I am trying to be a gentleman here.” He started to walk me into the wall behind me and both his arms at either side of me, trapping me between his hard body and the wall. “I don’t know if I can control myself around you,” I gulped and tried to suppress a moan. 

“Then don’t control yourself,” I whispered. “We are mates, aren’t we? It’s only natural, so -”

His breathing became more ragged the more I talked, and he crashed his lips down onto mine, interrupting what I was saying.

“Bedroom,” he gasped as he broke contact. I pointed up the stairs, and he growled and smashed his lips to mine once more, claiming them as his, and lifted me easily as I wrapped my legs around his waist, and he carried me up the stairs to claim my body too.