Chapter Thirty-Seven

Regan’s POV

The mating ceremony passed by in a blur.

I could barely pay attention to anything else that happened and I honestly did not care.

My entire being was simply ensnared by the beauty that was my mate.

She was beautiful.

More beautiful than I had ever seen her before and Rage howled with pride that she was now ours.

The thought of someone else having Jasmine as their mate made me want to go on a rampage.

She had on her ceremonial dress and her hair was styled perfectly.

She was perfection and I could barely take my eyes off her.

“You will burn a hole through her if you keep staring at her like that”, Luke said from where he was seated to my left.

The truth was, I could not help it.

“Be quiet”, I told him, absent minded as I continued to stare at her.

“If I had known you would behave like this, I would have helped her escape”, I heard him say and whipped my head around so fast that he moved away.

“What did you say?” I asked, Rage already growling in my head.

He didn’t look the least frightened at the murderous glare I had directed at him.

In fact, he leaned back into his chair and shrugged a shoulder.

“I offered to help her escape”, he said casually as if we were talking about the weather. “She refused of course”, he continued as I tried to keep Rage back from killing my closest friend. “I do believe she may just adore you as much as you do her”, he said and looked over my shoulder to someone behind me. “It is clear as day to see”, he said and gave a nod for me to look over my shoulder.

Still harboring less than friendly thoughts, I did as he wanted and looked over my shoulder to see my mate’s eyes on me.

She smiled when my eyes locked on hers and I instantly forgot the reason for my anger mere moments before.

My mate.

I still could not wrap my head around the fact that Jasmine was finally my mate.

Mine.

Mine to love, to protect, to cherish, to comfort and to grow old with.

She was the most precious thing to ever exist and she was all mine.

Slowly, caught in the trance of her beauty, I turned back to face her as she was seated to my right and took her small hand once again.

I brought the hand to my lips and placed a small kiss on it.

She smiled, making my heart beat faster, and I leaned in to place a soft kiss on her neck.

Somehow, that didn’t seem to be enough for me and I started to suckle on her soft skin.

She let out a soft moan and I felt all the blood in my body rush south at the sound of it.

Before I could indulge more, I was pulled away from her by a hand on the back of my shirt.

I turn to glare at Luke.

“Control yourself”, he scolded and went on before I could loose my temper and take a swing at him. “We are in a room full of werewolves”, he said. “It would be very unwise to get her worked up when unmated werewolves could catch her scent and she has not been marked by you yet”, he advised rightly.

As the truth of his words dawned on me, I caught the faint scent of her arousal and looked around to see if any other male wolf had caught it too.

Fortunately, we were seated at a table far away from the other members of the pack and the only unmated male wolf within our space was Luke.

He must have caught her scent as well.

But when I looked at him, his eyes only revealed annoyance as he looked around the room as well.

“I suppose it is time to call it a night”, I said.

He nodded. “A wise decision”, he said and stood to make his way over to the other werewolves who were eating and drinking in celebration of our ceremony.

As soon as Luke left, I turned back to Jasmine to see her laughing at something Lena -who was seated to her right - was saying.

I cleared my throat to interrupt their conversation.

They both turned to me at the sound.

“I believe it is time we retired”, I said to them, my words obviously meant for Jasmine.

She turned pink at my announcement and Lena laughed.

“Very well”, Lena said as I wondered what would cause my mate to blush so profoundly. “You may have her for now”, she said and pushed her chair back to rise to her feet.

“Will I always have to share my mate with you, Lena?” I asked, frowning in annoyance.

“I’m afraid so”, she said with no remorse. “I found her first”, she said.

I frowned. “That is not true”, I said. “I saw her first”, I told her immaturely.

She smiled in mischief.

“Well, if we are to be truthful then we both know that it was Luke who saw her first”, she said. “So if there is anyone that should have a claim on Jasmine, it is Luke”, Sh said with a small shrug of her shoulder.

The thought of anyone else - including Luke - having any sort of claim on my mate brought a repulsive feeling I absolutely hated.

“No one will ever have any claim on her”, I all but growled at Lena. “Jasmine is mine and mine alone”, I told her. “All mine”, I said with a glare.

She seemed amused rather than offended at my outburst and simply lowered her head in a mocking bow.

“Of course, Alpha”, she said and turned to her friend who watched our exchange in silence. “I will see you tomorrow, dearest”, she said and walked away to join the others after shooting a meaningful smile at Jasmine.

I turned back to my still flushed mate and put out a hand for her to take.

“Ready?” l asked and she nodded, taking my hand and allowing me pull her to her feet.

As soon as she was standing, I bent and swept her off her feet and into my arms.

She gave a shriek of surprise as she wrapped her arms around my neck.

Her sound of surprise drew the attention of the pack and on seeing her in my arms, they began to make loud teasing noises as well as comments with double meanings.

Jasmine buried her face into my neck in embarrassment as I walked us out of the hall amidst the noise and cheers of our pack members.

I led her out of the pack house and to our house, knowing no one else would be coming home.

I took her to my room which she would start to occupy as well, noting that her things had already been moved in.

Her scent was already noticeable in the room and it pleased me.

As I took a deep breath of it, I finally noticed her breathing.

She had fallen asleep.

My heart softened as I realized how tired she must have been.

Feeling a soft smile appear on my lips, I made my way over to my bed and laid her on it as gently as I could.

I must not have been careful enough because as I started to move away, her eyes slowly blinked open.

She looked at me for a moment, as if dazed from a dream before slowly lifting her hand to touch the side of my face.

“You’re here”, she whispered, gently caressing my face.

“I am”, I said, moving to lay beside her on the bed, with an elbow keeping me up.

“You are perfect”, she said in that same tone that did things to me.

The look in her eyes as she spoke pulled me in, leaving me hypnotized by the she-wolf beside me.

“No”, I said. “You are”, I told her.

She smiled on hearing that.

“I’m yours now”, she said and I could no longer resist the urge to lower my head and kiss her head.

“Yes”, I confirmed as I drew back. “You are mine. And I am yours”, I told her.

“You are mine?” She asked, her gaze soft.

I nodded gently. “All yours”, I promised.

She laughed softly at that.

“You’re mine”, she repeated. “All mine”.

Unconsciously, I was smiling as well. Feeling absolute relief and joy from her reaction.

“I’ve never had anyone who was all mine before”, she said all of a sudden.

“But now you do”, I told her.

“Now I do”, she agreed with a smile before the smile slowly vanished from her face.

I heard her heart beat speed up before she spoke.

“Will you kiss me now?” she whispered, almost breathless and I felt my heart skip a beat.

I nodded, somehow finding it difficult to use my words.

She gave a small smile and lifted her chin, offering me the best delicacy I could ever want.

I wasted no time in accepting my offering.

I bent my head and allowed our lips touch in a soft kiss, feeling the softness of her lips against mine.

Then I wanted more.

It started from little pecks. And when she finally opened her mouth, I allowed my tongue slide in to taste her properly.

A groan escaped me just as I heard her moan.

Her small hand slid into my hair and tugged gently as she bit my bottom lip.

I almost took her then.

Rage wanted us to.

But I had to remind him that our mate was as delicate as the flower she was named after and deserved to be treated with care, not ravished as we both wanted to at the moment.

I felt her other hand start to roam about my back and bit back another groan, bringing my hand up to her face before allowing it wrap gently around her neck.

I tilted her face up with my thumb and took possession of her mouth.

I bit, licked, nibbled and suckled until she was a moaning mess beneath me, her hands pulling me closer as her body rocked against me. Searching for what I was sure she didn’t even know.

I finally released her mouth and pulled away to look at her.

She looked… ravished.

Her hair was in disarray, the knots of the style it had been in coming undone, her eyes dazed and hooded, her lips swollen from my kisses and she was breathless, panting for breath, her breasts rising and falling from beneath her dress as she struggled to breathe.

She looked perfect.

Way better than I had imagined or dreamed about.

And I hadn’t even started.

For a moment, I wondered how she would look after I had done all the things I had always wanted to do to her.

After I had taken her so many times that she would be unable to walk properly for days.

That thought alone reminded me of something I had all but forgotten.

I could not take her yet.

Despite how much I wanted to, I could not.

I had spoken about it to Nana and she had promised to make a potion to help me, but with all the preparations for the mating ceremony, she had been unable to finish with making the potion.

If I tried to take her without taking the potion first, I would be unable to control my strength and would certainly hurt her, or worse, loose control to Rage.

He could even kill her without meaning too.

Rage whined as a pulled further away from her.

“Is someone wrong?” She asked, still breathless as she pushed herself up to lean on her elbows.

I shook my head, suddenly remembering the cut on her palm she had acquired at the ceremony earlier for the blood oath. It was neatly and properly covered but it was another reminder that my mate was no ordinary She-wolf.

“It is nothing”, I said and moved closer to carefully push her back onto the bed.

“Are you certain?” She asked with suspicious eyes as I laid on my side beside her.

I nodded. “I am”, I said, seeing the disbelief and another emotion I could not place before she looked away.

“Can I at least hold you?” I asked, knowing I was not helping my current state but unable to resist.

She nodded and I pulled her into my arms, knowing that there were questions floating around in her head.

But she said nothing.

I had everything I had ever wanted in my arms but I still couldn’t take her.

Closing my eyes, I buried my nose into her hair, hoping it would distract me from my thoughts.

It did not.