The Alpha's Bed

We arrived at the packhouse, leaving the owl outside where she belonged. I pushed the door open with my foot and tried to carry her smoothly up the stairs. She winced slightly as the light hit her eyes and I turned her body to protect her from the discomfort. My beta Jackson watched me from the landing above us with a concerned look in his eyes. "Is that?"

"Sh, she's sleeping," I answered more calmly than I had in weeks. He smiled ever so slightly but the doubt in his eyes didn't leave. I brought Hazel into my room and laid her on the bed. I watched in awe as my mate slept.

Her tangled hair was crusted with bits of the forest and her face was stained with mud and her tears. All I wanted to do was clean her, wash her body, comb her hair, and care for her. I had other base desires of course but seeing her now caring for her was all that I truly wanted.

I laid down beside her, pulling the length of her soft perfection against me, shuddering at the feeling her nearness inspired. She was much colder than she'd been when I held her against the wall of the alley earlier.  I wrapped her snuggly in my blanket and mind-linked for one of the Omega's to send up a clean comforter for later.

Something was very wrong, but as my heat spilled into her, it seemed to have a healing effect. Her perfect lips were much paler than the heated pink they were when we'd kissed, but they were slowly regaining some of their luscious color. My wolf made a wild purring sound I'd never heard before as the joy of a simple moment with our mate surged through us.

About an hour later I felt her rustle beside me. I sat up looking over at her as her eyes fluttered open. I stared into the lovely depths of her green eyes, the color resembled blades of grass in varied hues overlapping one another. The sorrow on her face moved something inside me, I felt compelled to fix whatever ailed her. “What is it, my love?” I asked, unable to stand another moment of her suffering.

“How can you call me your love after everything I have allowed to happen?” She trailed off as her breaths came short and quick. Hysteria threatened to overtake her.

“I don’t know what’s wrong, but I assure you, you are certainly my love.” She rolled over, pressing her face into my stomach. I wanted to lay beside her and hold her but I didn’t dare risk moving her just now. She wrapped her arms around me and sobbed into the soft jersey material of my t-shirt.

“My wings are gone.” I didn’t even think of it at the time, I was so overcome with having found her but I supposed it made sense that wingless was not her usual state of being. “It’s my fault, it’s all my fault.” She sobbed.

“How could that be? It’s not your fault.” I assured her quickly, without giving much thought to the words. I just needed to calm her, her sorrow was digging a hole inside me that was nearly as painful as the one caused by her absence, though that was neatly filled with her here.

"It is, I made the deal with the witch willingly. I drank her damned potion, I promised her an open-ended favor. She collected alright, she stole my wings. I'm going to die and, and I don't even know your name. I'm lying in your bed, crying against you after having only officially met you today." The words poured out of her so quickly they must have been waiting for some time, that, or her mind worked quite a lot faster than mine.

I pulled her away from my stomach, curling her legs up and holding her entire body in my lap. “Well, my name is Garreth, and I am the alpha of the Forest Edge pack. I know your name is Hazel as you so kindly informed me as you were running away from me. Maybe we did officially meet today, but you saved my life seven years ago. I owe everything to you, I have loved you all that time.” I gave her a playful nudge and couldn’t tell if it lightened her mood at all.

“I don’t know who this witch is, or why she wanted to steal your wings, but Hazel I swear to you, I will do anything to help you even if you decide to reject me as your fated mate. I will love you for the rest of my life, even if you do not feel the same for me.”

She shifted in my arms until her eyes connected with mine, green and gold. "I will die without my wings, much faster than you can help me. I will not reject you even if I do not truly understand what is happening between us. What would be the point in rejecting something that feels so right? I never stopped thinking about you, you know?" She confessed.

Her words melted some more of the ice that grew in my chest. "You seem stronger since I picked you up and brought you here," I told her, focusing on the most pressing issue at hand. Even if she changed her mind about rejecting me, her life came first.

She nodded her head. “I do feel much stronger, I am certain I would have died if you didn’t find me. I think I can feel just a bit of your magic within me.” She concluded with a wondering look in her eyes.

"I feel a bit of you within me too." I smiled at her with all the warmth blossoming in my chest. "Though it would be much stronger and permanent if we completed the mate bond." I swept the dirt-encrusted hair off of her forehead, almost laughing at how even her filthiness endeared me to her.

“What does that entail, exactly? You have to understand I don’t know much about werewolves.” I pressed my lips to the space where her long graceful neck met her shoulder, positively thrumming with the sparks our bond lit up inside me.

"To complete the bond I must mark you. I do not know if you will have to mark me back seeing as you are a nymph. Pairings such as ours do not happen very often. I will bite you right here, and it will hurt at first but become extremely pleasurable." She gulped nervously and took in a breathy inhale. Her pulse quickened against my lips. "Once I have marked you, you will know if you need to do it back, the desire will overwhelm you. That is the first step in completing our bond and merging our two souls as one."

"And the next step?" She asked with a hint of fear and desire mixed in her voice. My lips still moved against her neck and despite everything, I could smell her sweet arousal perfuming the air around us.

"The next step would be me taking you, mating you, filling you with my seed," I growled. I meant to explain it more gently, but the feel of her skin against mine and the smell of her had my wolf and I nearly frantic.

“You mean sex?” The innocence of the question brought me up short.

I pulled my face away from her neck, needing to read her eyes. “Hazel, my love, have you ever had sex?” I couldn’t believe this marvelous creature hadn’t been ravished before. Everything about her screamed to be taken.

She shook her head and dropped her eyes from mine. “It’s not that I don’t want to try, it just never was an option for me.” There was a touch of sadness in her voice I didn’t quite understand. My mind drifted back to that nymph I met in the forest who acted like there was something wrong with my love. I would find the answer to that question another time.

“We wouldn’t need to mate right away if you didn’t want to, but I am certain marking you would improve your condition. Is that something you would consider, bonding your soul to mine?”

She looked up at me then, staring into my eyes with deep consideration. "Yes." She agreed. "Every part of my being is telling me to give in to whatever it is you want from me like your desires are my own." Her sweet fingers trailed my cheek.

"I swear to you I will never take more than you want to give." She smiled as a blush warmed her cheeks. "You're filthy, my love." I interrupted our moment, meaning to say that more gently as well. I was sorely out of practice when it came to being personable. She looked over herself in embarrassment. "No," I told her as I grabbed her chin and forced her to look into my eyes. "Don't be embarrassed with me, let me take care of you. Something tells me it's been a long time since you had someone who would."

A small crystal tear formed in the corner of her eye and fell down her cheek. She nodded her head. “Wrap your arms around my neck, little nymph.” She obliged me and I scooped her into my arms as I stood, taking her to the ensuite bathroom. I had a shower in the corner and a large clawfoot tub in the center of the room.

I sat her in a chair and turned the bronze handles filling the porcelain with steaming water. I wished I had oils or bubble bath or anything of the sort, but the truth was I never used the thing. I didn’t even dream that she might want to languish her beautiful body here. I counted myself lucky to have the soap I needed to wash her.

Once it was filled I stood in front of her and helped her to her feet. "I want to see your naked body more than you can imagine, but for right now, I promise I will not gawk at you. I will help you undress and get you into the tub. Once you are comfortable I will wash your body. I will not lie to you and tell you that it is not an extreme temptation for me, but I swear to respect you, especially in this condition. You can trust me." I vowed.

She giggled and the sound both shocked me and delighted me. "Garreth," My name on her lips set my blood aflame. "I may die soon, and if I do, I have no plans of doing it as a virgin." She flashed me a minx-like grin. "I am more than happy to accept your help because frankly, I need it. I am also more than happy to accept your admiration and your advances. I just hope you like what you see."

I nodded at her as I bit my bottom lip trying to contain my joy and my lust. Here I was, thinking my mate was this fragile, sweet, beautiful creature. While she was all of those things there was a fire inside her, and a desire that I would be all too happy to slake. I helped her out of her ruined clothes, and pulled out some of the larger bits in her hair.

My eyes roamed over her, hungrily taking in the details of her body. Her breasts were magnificent, just a touch larger than small with perfect pink nipples. I couldn’t wait to take them into my hands and mouth. Her narrow waist gave way to the swells of her hips and her long legs seemed to go for miles. Between her thighs the most enticing thing I’d ever seen or smelled rested with a pretty tangle of blonde curls. I swept her up into my arms marveling at the feel of her naked skin against me.