Twenty- One

We need to talk.

That's exactly what she had said when she messaged me and as clueless as I was in relationships, even I knew that people didn't use this sentence if they wanted to deliver some good news.

So, she wanted to tell me something bad. Like what? Maybe, she didn't want to be my girlfriend.

No, that couldn't be. I have to be positive.

If I was being completely honest, I had never noticed Zara before my birthday, the day I came to know she was my mate. I must have passed her in the halls once or twice, but I don't think I gave her any special attention. And I wonder why?! It does make me sound like a dick, but that's just how it is!

She was just so perfect. I remember the day clearly. I was sitting in one of the many boring classes of the day, severely disappointed that I hadn't found my mate on my birthday. All the pack women were present to wish me a happy birthday before school started and none of them was my mate, much to everyone's disappointment. It was practically unheard of for a white wolf to have a human mate. That just meant my mate must be from another pack and I would have to travel far and wide to find her. Those thoughts depressed me beyond measure and that was when my wolf started to get excited all of a sudden. 

It begged me to get up and let him take control. The teacher was away so I didn't need any permission to get out of the class. Being an alpha had Its perks!

I let my wolf take over and after walking down a step of stairs and a few hallways, I knew why my wolf was going crazy because the most amazing smell hit me. The smell of chocolate and pines. That smell felt like home and I knew what was happening. My legs started gaining speed on their own and I felt myself running in the hallways to get to the person who was supposed to be my other half. 

When I saw her, I wasn't disappointed in the least. Us wolves were usually more attractive than an average human, but the girl in front of me wasn't average at all. She was simply amazing and was rummaging through her locker. She was hugging and cursing under her breath and I smiled at her frustration. I felt like the luckiest wolf because I had just found my mate........ and she was a human. 

That was where the real trouble began. 

I have messed up with the mate bond more than once. I had even rejected her, even though I didn't want to. We alphas always had to make tough decisions and that particular decision I took, tore me apart every day.

The moment I said I rejected her; I felt my wolf howl and whine in distress. I felt the bond between us strain, but not break. This meant only one thing, she wasn't eighteen yet, which gave me another chance to redeem myself and make the right decision about accepting my mate, alpha duties be damned!

I was willing to give her anything her heart desired and I was willing to try for her. For Zara. For my mate. It gave me a weird sort of satisfaction to say the words out loud, Zara, my mate.

That's why I wanted to start our relationship based on truths, instead of half lies and euphemisms. She had asked me the reason why I had started to give her attention abruptly and there was no other way to explain it without telling her who I was. And just telling her won't do, I had to show her. 

Shifting inside the school was banned, there were human students too, and alpha or not, I wasn't keen on doing border patrol for a month. It would take her some time to adjust, I knew that. The fact that werewolves were living with you, studying with you, and doing everything with you could be a hard concept to digest for humans. I had seen plenty of human mates freak out and I wouldn't mind if Zara would freak out too. Honestly, I would be worried if she didn't.

I had to give her time. I think she would be alright and take everything in stride before lunch. 

She was ready to come with me when I told her I would tell her everything, but before that, I had to show her. I was pretty sure, she would have never imagined that she would see me morph into a wolf, ever. 

I had no idea where I could take her, to show her my true form. My wolf was extremely excited to transform in front of our mate. He was bursting at the seams, he wanted to show Zara how powerful, magnificent, and predatory he was. But when I led her to my car and opened the door for her, I decided where I wanted to take her, my grandparents' cabin. Our first date happened there and it was only natural that she came to know the truth about my kind there.

She was nervous, I could tell. Hell, I was too. I was going to give her the shock of her lifetime.

"You do trust me, right?" I asked her to break the uncomfortable silence in the car. 

She fidgeted in her seat as if she didn't expect that question. Truth be told, neither did I. "I don't know you well enough to trust you, Harper."

It was the truth, she didn't know me, at all. It was unnatural for mates to stay away from each other after they found their half. It had been over a month that I had found her and I didn't know a thing about her, well, except how she liked to eat her chocolate. Still, I thought she would be diplomatic with her response and not shoot me down cold.

"Do you think I will harm you in any way?" I asked while steering my car in the right direction towards the cabin.

"I don't." Her voice sounded more confident this time. It was a relief to know that she trusted me enough to come out here with me, alone. That meant the world to me and my wolf. At least I wasn't starting from scratch!

"We are going to my grandparent's cabin." I just wanted to keep the conversation going at this point, I just wanted to talk to her. I loved listening to her voice and I would do anything at this point to hear more from her.

"Oh." It was as if she heard my thoughts because, after that, I couldn't get a word out of her. I must have looked desperate and I'm pretty sure that I made a fool out of myself, but I yearned to hear her voice, anything that wasn't just monosyllabic voices or grunts.

My grandparents meant a lot to me and for me, having my first date with my mate and showing her my true self near their cabin, meant I had their blessings. It would sound weird or superstitious to some, but that's just the way I have always been. And if last night's date had anything to do with my fortune, I was pretty sure she would take this news in good spirits.

I helped her out of the car when we reached the cabin. I didn't know about her, or how humans felt when they touched their mates, but when I touched her hand or any other part of her body for that matter, sparks shot through my whole body making me weak in the knees and it made me never want to let her go. I just wanted to touch more of her, not just her hand, but every inch of her skin, with mine. Imagine my disappointment when I had to let go of her hand, after helping her out of the car.

I turned to face her and saw her taking in the cabin. The cabin looked haunted in the night, I knew that, but in the day, it had its homely feel to it. She noticed it too, because I could see her lips lift upwards in a smile. 

Oh, those lips. I had wanted to kiss them so much last night. Hell, I had wanted to kiss her every damn day after I had a taste of them the last time, in the empty classroom. They were, by far, the best lips that I had ever tasted and I wanted to taste them for the rest of my life. They were the only lips that I wanted to taste for the rest of my life!

"Are you thinking about last night?" I asked her, my lips curling in a smile at the amazing sight of her.

"Yes, I am." She smiled at me, her plump lips curling upwards with a blush coating her cheeks.

"I had a great time last time. I didn't get a chance to tell you that." I nervously rubbed my neck. She made me nervous all the damn time and I loved it. I had to look cool and collected all the time to hold authority over my subordinates, and I couldn't be myself with them at all, well, except with Aiden, of course.

"I did too." Her eyes met mine and they twinkled, which had me shaking at my knees. "What did you want to show me, Harper?" She folded her arms across her chest, pushing her breasts up, and looked at me in an all-business stance.

Okay, now's the time.

"I'm going to show you, ok. Just keep an open mind about everything." She nodded at me. I think she could sense my nervousness too.

I grabbed the hem of my polo shirt and pulled it over my head, leaving my torso bare. I knew I had a good body, if I didn't, girls wouldn't be falling left, right, and center for me, but the reaction I got from Zara was worth capturing, and I regretted that I didn't have the foresight to bring a camera with me. I could hear her heart beat faster and could see her pupils dilate.

"W-what are you doing?" She took a nervous step back.

She looked so cute when she stammered.

"I won't do anything to you, okay? Just trust me. I just don't want to ruin my clothes." I chuckled and hoped it would calm her down.

She meekly nodded. "Are you going to strip down?" Her cheeks tinged red and I fell in love with the sight. She just looked so damn adorable; I couldn't have been luckier with a mate.

I laughed; I couldn't help but shake my head. The poor girl would probably have a heart attack if I stripped off my underwear too. "I'm going to leave my underwear on."

She nodded and I got out of my jeans. It felt natural for me to stand like this, almost naked in the forest, and with her, near the cabin, it felt like home.

Her eyes roamed up and down my body and I could feel her arousal in the air which brought my wolf into a frenzy, he just wanted to mark Zara then and there. But that part had to wait. I didn't want to scare her away.

"Just watch me, okay."

I looked at her and her eyes snapped up to meet my eyes, stopping her perusal of my body. She would die of embarrassment if I mentioned it to her, now. I think I would just use it later, to break off the ice in the car.

Her eyes were on me now. It was time to show her, and I let my wolf take control. My body curled and I felt bones rearrange themselves. I could feel my mouth change into a snout, a tail extending and fur sprouting out all over the surface. The transformation used to hurt initially, but now it felt like second nature. I felt my paws on the dirt-covered earth and took control of my enhanced senses.

I felt liberated and so did my wolf. It was a great feeling.

And then I looked at Zara. She was just standing where she was before my transformation. No, she wasn't just standing there, she was frozen and had a ...... horrified expression on her face. I took a tentative step towards her, just to placate her that the white wolf standing before her was Harper and that she had nothing to be afraid of. 

She took a hurried step backward when she saw me walking towards her. My wolf whined in distress at our mate backing away from us. I took another step towards her, hoping that she would realize that it was still me, and not some wild animal. I mean, she just watched me transform, she had to know that it was me.

As soon as my paw landed on the earth, she screamed in horror and tears leaked out of her eyes. She was afraid and I could see that. She needed someone to comfort her and my wolf was in a panic that our mate was going to reject us.

I hurriedly took two steps back and showed her that I meant no harm to her. I couldn't harm her, it went against my nature, but she didn't know that, and I had to tell her that. I needed to tell her that. We needed to talk, really talk, and I couldn't do that in my wolf form.

My wolf was restless and was ready to do anything to please our mate, even if it meant shifting back to our human form after minutes of transforming. My wolf would usually demand we go for a run, but this situation demanded something else from me.

I shifted back to my human form and hastily wore my clothes back. They were muddied, but I didn't give a shit about it. I had bigger matters to take care of, my mate being one of them.

My mate was sitting on the ground. She was hugging her small body, to protect herself maybe. She had stopped crying, so that was a good sign. Her face was tear-streaked and I hated that I was the reason for them, again.

I went closer to her and attempted to hold her, to put my arms around her and to comfort her, to explain what she saw and how much she mattered to me. That she was my mate, and I would do anything for her. She recoiled when she felt me come close to her and it took all of my willpower to not take her in my arms.

"Take me home." Her voice was harsh and scratchy. It sounded unnatural and I wanted to do everything in my power to remove the strain behind her voice.

"If that's what you want." My voice sounded small to my ears and my voice never sounded like that. This didn't go as I expected it to. My wolf howled at the back of my head and I felt his distress.

She got up to her feet and without looking back at me, walked to stand beside the car, her arms folded across her chest as if to protect herself. I begged her mentally to look at me but she didn't and a worried grunt escaped my lips.

I sighed and unlocked my car, ready to do whatever it would take to make Zara feel at ease.