Chapter Twenty-Seven

Regan’s POV.

It was a little humiliating to know that I might have to get Lena’s ‘permission’ in the future in other to spend time with her dearest friend.

It was clear to see that Lena enjoyed having me ask for her permission.

Lena was like my little sister.

And I suddenly felt like I was in a relationship with my little sister’s dearest friend.

We walked peacefully around the familiar environment of the pack, knowing that we would barely come across anyone else since almost everyone was at the pack house for the evening meal.

Even though it was dark out, the full Moon gave a soft glow of light to illuminate out path and the cool breeze simply meant I could hold her closer.

I led her towards the edge of the pack, just outside the woods, knowing that no one, no matter how much they tried, would overhear whatever conversation we were about to have.

“Will tell me something about yourself now?” I asked, after a while.

She looked up at me with a beautiful smile.

“You have never been curious about me before”, she observed.

“Well, I did not want to believe I had feelings for you before”, I said with a teasing smile that made her laugh softly.

She turned back to the path ahead of us.

“What did you wish to know?” She asked.

“Everything”, I answered almost immediately and she gave me a smile.

“Well”, she began. “You already know my name”, she jested before going on. “I don’t remember much about my childhood but I know that I was born in the West”, she said.

I turned to look at her in surprise.

“You were born in the West?” I repeated in surprise.

She nodded.

“I remember that”, she said. “We lived in a small cabin in the woods. Me and my parents”, she told me as I tried not to think too much on her revelation yet.

I could ponder on it later.

“My father would shift to hunt for our meals and my mother would…” she suddenly trailed off and came to a stop.

I watched her struggle for a moment before she confided.

“I cannot remember what my mother did”, she said with a laugh of self mockery.

I pulled her into my arms when I saw her eyes begin to glisten with tears.

“I cannot remember what my mother did”, she repeated.

“There is no need to feel bad about that, my dear”, I told her. “I’m certain you have fond memories of her”, I said in an attempt to lighten her mood.

“That is just the thing”, she said as I released her. “I do remember her, but only in my dreams” she said. “I have dreams that I am not sure are dreams. I believe they are memories of my time with them. But each time they come, they turn into nightmares and I do not wish to believe that such horrible things actually happened”, she said.

I ran my hand up and down her arms when she shivered at the thought of her dreams.

“If you do not wish to think about it”, I said. “Why don’t you tell me of something else?” I suggested. “You could tell me something not much people know about you”.

She looked up at me with the uncertainty plain to see and I cursed myself for having to put her in such an uncomfortable situation.

But I had to know.

If what Nana said was to be believed and there might be a possibility that she midget ever be in danger, I needed to know all I could do I could help her in every way possible.

So I had to know.

“Well”, she said hesitantly and looked down. “I have a birthmark across my back that is more of a scar than a birthmark”, she said and immediately added. “I cannot show you now but maybe I will someday, sometime in the future”, she said as if afraid that I would get her to reveal it to me.

I smiled at her, lifting a hand to tuck away strands of hair that fell across her face back in place behind her ear.

“I will never make you do anything you’re not willing or ready to do”, I promised. “You have my word on that”.

She smiled at me and surprisingly leaned upwards on her toes to place a kiss beneath my jaw.

I stiffened momentarily in shock as she leaned back.

She had never once initiated any physical contact we had and though I was more than happy to initiate them, it pleased me that she was becoming bold enough to do so.

“Shall we continue our stroll?” She asked and I nodded wordlessly.

She took me hand as we resumed her stroll and I wrapped my much larger hand around her small one.

“If I am being completely honest”, she said as we walked. “The only fond memories I have that I can remember are the ones I made after coming here”, she said. “I have a lot of happy memories here”, she said.

But when I turned to look at her, she wasn’t smiling. Instead, the same worried expression I had seen earlier had once again made an appearance.

I pulled us both to a stop.

“I will never force you to share your thoughts when you do not wish to”, I told her, looking into her beautiful eyes to let her know how much I meant every word. “But I wish that you would trust me with your worries”, I said.

I watched as she thought about it before looking away from me.

“It is not something I should worry about”, she said.

“Yet it is clear that it worries you”, I told her before lifting a hand to take her chin and turn her face back to mine. “Tell me”, I urged.

“I am worried”, she said. “That not everyone in the pack approves of our relationship”, she finally confided.

I felt a frown pull my eyebrows together.

She was worried that my pack did not approve of us?

“Why does it worry you?” I asked and she looked away once more.

I had noticed she did that a lot when she did not want to disclose something.

I turned her gaze back to mine.

“Why does it worry you?” I repeated firm, needing to know.

“Because”, she began, her voice trailing into a whisper with every word she spoke. “I can see it in their eyes that they do not believe I deserve you”, she said. “And I know it too”, she said and let her eyes fall as she continued. “You are an Alpha of one of the most powerful packs here in the East. You are respected and feared. It is only good that whatever she-wolf you have at your side, however temporary, live up to who you are. Or has a wolf at the very least”, she finishes with self depreciating smile that had Rage growling in anger.

It was his anger that made me realize that I was angry as well.

Before I could accidentally hurt her, I took my hand off her and moved away to put a good distance between us.

She watched me move away with an expression that was a mixture of hurt and confusion before her expression settled into acceptance.

It only made me more angry.

It angered me that she thought that way. That she believed she did not deserve me and it took everything in me to restrain myself from walking over and shaking such thoughts out of her.

Instead I settled for standing where I was with my fists clenched tightly at my sides as I spoke.

“Look at me”, I ordered. “I knew I sounded harsh but I needed her to understand how serious the words I wanted to say were.

She looked at me, a hint of fear that she tried to hide from me visible for me to see.

“Listen to me carefully”, I told her. “I will not repeat myself”, when I was sure she was focused on what I wanted to say, I continued. “I want you”, I said. “I have never wanted anyone as much as I want you. I love to catch glimpses of you, to bask in the glow of your smile and drown in the fragrance of your scent. I live for the softness of your skin and the perfection of your body that I now have no doubt that the Moon Goddess made for me”. As she stood in shock, I continued, now taking steps towards her. “This is not temporary”, I said, correcting her earlier statement. “It is my greatest mistake to have not made you understand that. That from the moment I touched you, you were no longer someone casual. That from the moment I kissed you”, I said approached her and punctuating my words with each step I took towards her. “You. Were. Mine”, I said.

A gasp escaped her but I didn’t care. She had to understand.

“I said nothing before because I didn’t wish to scare you”, I continued. “But I need you to understand. You are mine, Jasmine. And I will rip apart anyone, limb by limb, if anyone tries to take you from me”.

I brought my hand to her cheek and softly caressed it even as she remained frozen.

“I do not care what anyone had to say, my pack or otherwise”, I told her. “Anyone that has a problem with us being together can come to my and I will be glad to answer them”, I said with a sinister smile as Rage brought an image of us ripping them apart to my mind. “I will never let you go. Not unless you want me too”, I lied. I wouldn’t let her go even if she wanted me to.

“This is not something temporary. I want you to be my mate”, I allowed that sink in before asking. “Do you know why?”

She could not respond.

It seemed she could not recover from her shock long enough for her to nod or shake her head. So, I simply answered my question.

“Because, aside from the simple fact that I cannot imagine my life without you”, I said. “You are beautiful, and kind and so special even if it is clear to see that you do not believe it”, I told her. “You are loving and so pure that I want to shield you from everything that could taint you”.

I took her face in my hands.

“I know you do not believe me when I say this. But it is I who do not deserve you”, I said as her eyes turned misty and tears began to escape them. “You are more than you know”, I said. “And I would be the luckiest werewolf to have ever lived, if you would agree to be my mate”.

At that, she burst into tears.

I pulled her into my arms as she sobbed, wondering if I had taken it too far.

Perhaps I could have waited on telling her I wanted her to be my mate. It had probably been too much for her.

It was just that I could not bear to let her think she was unworthy or undeserving of only the most wonderful things life could offer.

Although her telling me about her family being from the West brought up concerns within me, I pushed aside the thought to cater to her at the moment.

Since only very few werewolves resided in the West, it was common knowledge that the werewolves of the West often had witchcraft powers since the West was where the witches resides and some witches had affairs with werewolves that resulted in their werewolf offsprings being half witches and possessing such abilities.

If indeed she had been born in the West, perhaps Nana had been right and one or both of her parents had put a containment spell on her to protect her.

The only question that still raised the hair on the back of my head was simple.

From what?

But I decided to think about that later as I pulled her tighter into my arms and planted kisses on the top of her soft hair.