Talking things out

Adina’s POV

As she followed Colin up the stairs, she got a mind link from Cernack.

‘Is it true?’ he asked.

‘It is,’ she answered, not wanting to talk about it with anyone just yet.

‘This is a problem,’ he replied, and she felt anger rise.

No, she couldn’t afford to lose her cool just now. She could feel Colin’s and Sean’s anger bubbling just under the surface of them both. She didn’t want bloodshed on their first day here. The first day with her mate.

The idea was still foreign to her, but the feeling of magic gently moving over her skin where he touched her told her this was no mistake. She blocked out Cernack.

Colin stopped in front of a door, his bedroom apparently, but once again, Colin and Sean squared off. Adina looked at Colin and could see that his eyes shifted from their light grey colour to a deep orange. He was losing control to his wolf; she realized. She once again stepped in between the two men, this time turning her back towards Colin, without letting go of his hand.

“Wait at the bottom of the stairs, Sean,” she said.

He gave her an angry look, which caused a deep growl from Colin. Adina could feel that growl vibrating through her body. Colin let go of her hand and instead took a hold of her waist, trying to pull her to the side so he would have free access to Sean.

Adina saw Sean’s brown eyes switch to blue. Perfect, she thought as she resisted being moved by Colin. She laid her hand on the arm around her waist but stood her ground.

“Sean, now,” she said, making it clear this was not a request.

She never ordered him to do anything usually. But this was different. He needed to listen to her.

“I am not in any danger, agreed?” she said. He reluctantly nodded. “Then you will listen to me, and you will go down and you will wait for me there. I will call you if I need you,” she said and after looking into her eyes for a moment, he bent his head in a slight bow, turned around, and left.

She let out a small sigh of relief. She could feel Colin slowly relaxing, gaining control over his wolf. His arm around her waist now pulled her against him, and she allowed it.

She relaxed with her back to his chest. He bent down, placed his nose against her neck, and took a deep breath. That sent a shiver down her spine, and she had to fight not to let a silent moan escape her lips. They stood like that for a minute or two before Colin guided her gently into the room behind them.

To call it a bedroom was an understatement. Rather, it was a small apartment. They entered a large room decorated in brown, forest green and cream colours. At one end of the room, there was an enormous fourposter bed. On the other end, a living area with a couch, tv and a desk. There was a small kitchen to their left and a couple of doors leading out of the room, which were closed.

“Come,” Colin said, once again taken her hand and leading her towards the couch.

They sat down. Adina had a feeling that Colin would have preferred her in his lap. And truthfully, she may have preferred that, too. But she needed a somewhat clear head, and she found that difficult with him around.

Her wolf was howling for her to throw everything to the side and just accept this mate bond, to mark him, let him mark her and complete the mating bond. It was distracting. So, she instead crawled up close to him, facing him, not letting go of his hand.

“Why did you step back from me? You are my mate, you have nothing to fear from me.” Colin asked.

Wow, not beating around the bush, she thought. But maybe it was for the best.

“This is complicated. For me, a mate bond is complicated,” she said.

She needed to make him understand. But she could see in his eyes that she confused him.

“It’s not that I don’t feel it. I do, I really do,” she said, taking her free hand and stroking the back of his hand that was holding her other hand. Making the sparkle of magic tingle her fingertips.

She wanted this; she wanted him. But she couldn’t do that to him. She already cared too much for this man to hurt him. He was an alpha. He belonged here with his pack. She could not stay forever, she was here temporarily, and she already knew that leaving him behind would damage her heart beyond repair. But it would be worse if they let this go further. She sighed and tried to explain.

“I live in constant movement. I never stay in one place. It’s a life I can’t ask you to share,” she said.

“You are my mate. You will stay here. This is your pack now. You are their luna.” Each statement he made had a firm determination behind it. She could tell he was not willing to step down.

“And what do I do when they come for me? What do I do when they find out where I am? You know why I’m here, why I move around,” she asked.

“I am your mate. I will protect you. As will the pack, we protect each other. All pack members are safe here,” he insisted.

“And what will I do when you and our pack get hurt or killed because of me? How could I ever live with that?” Adina was desperate to make him understand. But instead of seeing her point, Colin smiled. Adina was confused.

“What?” she asked.

“You said our pack,” he said happily. “Adina, you know you belong here just as well as I do. You belong with me, you are mine.”

Adina couldn’t help herself, but smiled in response to his smile. But she lowered her head so that he wouldn’t see.

“Is this because of him? Is there something between you two?” Colin asked, and put his fingers under her chin to make her meet his gaze. He didn’t need to specify who he was referring to.

“No!” Adina said firmly and met his eyes, trying to make him see that this had nothing to do with Sean.

“Sean may be overprotective. That is his job. But there has been nothing between us other than friendship,” she said, trying to explain what Sean meant to her.

But it was hard putting it in to words. Colin looked into her eyes for a long period before nodding as he accepted her explanation.

“I am your mate. I will protect you from now on,” he said, implying it was time for Sean to retire.

“I’m sorry, my friend, but I will not send Sean away. You two just need to deal with the fact that you both want to protect me.” Adina said.

This was not something that was up for debate.

“I do not care that you think you will leave this pack. We have time to change your mind, little dove. But when you stay here, you will stay in our bedroom and you bodyguard will not be sharing a room with us. He will get his own room on the guest floor. He may not like it, but I do not share my mate with anyone,” he said looking at her.

The thought of Sean in a sleeping bag next to the big bed in the other end of the room while Colin and her slept in the bed made her laugh.

Judging by the surprising look on Colin’s face, this was not the reaction he had expected.

Colins POV

Her laughter rolled over him like soothing waves of music. He did not understand why she was laughing, but he was willing to do anything to make her continue. She gathered herself and shook her head.

“Sorry,” she said, still beaming a smile at him so big that he could feel his heart picking up the pace. It was like pure sunshine.

“If I agree to stay here,” she said with a vague gesture to show the room. “I need you to agree to some ground rules,” she finished.

“You are my mate. We will live together,” he said, and his wolf agreed. He had been waiting for his mate for a long time. There was no chance that he would let her put up a wall between them. Adina tilted her head and gave him a new smile.

This was not the full-on sunshine smile. It was more of a quirky, patient smile, and it made him want to cover her lips with his own.

“If we share this space, you can’t mark me or complete the bond without my permission. And by staying here, I do not agree to take any of those steps in the future.” She said seriously, shocking him.

He would never force her to do that. He felt sick just thinking of it. But the thought of not marking her, of not completing the bond. It was equally foreign to him. His wolf growled. This was his mate. He wanted to mark her.

“I understand it is a lot to ask and if you feel like it’s too much, I will stay in another room,” she said.

“No. You will stay here with me. I will do nothing to you without your consent. But I can not promise I won’t try to persuade you. I want you. Not as a roommate, but as my mate. I will do whatever I can to make that happen, with your full consent.” Colin said.

Adina looked at him and then nodded. Colin felt himself relax a bit. It was not exactly how he had thought meeting his mate would be like. But he was happy to have her close.

“I will have them bring your things up,” he said.

“We need to go downstairs. Cernack keeps trying to contact me. And Sean, you and I need to have a talk,” Adina said, standing up.

Colin stood up and pulled her to him. When he felt her body against his own, he placed his hands on the small of her back. Her scent was all around him and his wolf purred from the pleasure of feeling her.

“I am going to kiss you,” he said, waiting two heartbeats for her to object before bending down, gently placing his own lips on top of hers.

Adina’s POV

Colin’s lips were soft, just like his kiss. Adina responded, letting her hands run over his chest, up to his neck. Gently pulling it towards her, signalling him not to stop. The kiss got deeper, and she could feel him sliding his tongue across her bottom lip. She opened her mouth, allowing him access.

She pressed herself against him as he explored her mouth. His hands caressing her back. She ran a hand through his hair and in that moment, nothing existed besides Colin and her. The magic sparkles running all over her where their skin came into contact with each other.

Finally, they came up for air, and Colin leaned his forehead against hers.

“We could just stay here,” he said with a heavy breath, making Adina laugh.

“No, we can’t. I need to say goodbye to alpha Aries and Cernack. I have kept them waiting far too long. And we really need to talk with Sean,” Adina said.

With a slight growl, Colin released her and Adina regretted her decision straight away. It felt like something was missing when Colin didn’t have contact with her. She realized that this was the first time since she had put her hand in his by the car that they didn’t touch each other.

Luckily, Colin seemed to be of the same opinion because he put his arm around her waist.

“Okay, if you say so. Let’s take care of business, baby,” he said and started walking.

When they started down the stairs, Adina had time to look around a bit more. The pack house was immense. Oak and soft textiles made up the interior. The wallpaper was decorated with green leaf ranks. Here and there furniture stood that seemed to fill a function. This gave a homy feeling and Adina felt right at home.

“The fourth floor is for the alpha and my family,” Colin explained. “It contains my office, your office, our apartment, and two extra rooms. The third floor is for my beta and gamma and their families,” he continued.

Adina had a vague memory of them. She hadn’t been paying that much attention when they were introduced, she realized, somewhat guiltily.

‘Are both of them mated?’ she asked.

“No, just Mateo, his mate is Julia.” He answered. “The second floor is for guests and the ground floor is for the community. We have a large kitchen, a dining room for smaller occasions and one that fits the entire pack. We have a library, gaming room, entertainment room, an indoor swimming pool, meeting rooms and a gym.” He continued.

“The school and hospital facilities are separate? “she asked as they finally came to the bottom of the stairs where Sean waited.

  “Yes, the school is on the other side of the village and the hospital is across from the training grounds. Although calling it a hospital is a bit of an overstatement. Our pack doctor is getting older and the she-wolf he has been training to take over isn’t quite doing as well as we hoped,” Colin said honestly.

The three of them had come into a large kitchen where Cernack, alpha Aries, Mateo, and Jason were eating lunch. All the four wolfs gave the newcomers a questioning look. Adina just smiled at them, letting Colin guide her to a barstool at the breakfast area. Sean followed her as usual.

“Are you hungry?” Colin asked Adina, but she shook her head.

“No, I haven’t settled down from the car ride yet. But I could use a cup of coffee,” she said when the smell of freshly made coffee hit her.

Colin looked a bit concerned, but nodded and took out two mugs and filled them with coffee.

“Sugar, milk?” he asked.

“Milk please,” she said smiling. He nodded and poured some milk in one mug before grabbing one sandwich that the kitchen crew had pre-made.

Adina watched him placing a mug of coffee in front of her and his own mug in the spot next to her before returning to the counter to get his sandwich.

He was really sexy, she thought as she watched his body when he had his back turned. She could see the contours of his muscles underneath his blue shirt. His shoulders were wide and she remembered the strength of his arms.

She realized that if she continued to stare at him, she would drool. She looked down into her coffee instead, noticing an amused look from alpha Aries. As Colin was turning around to come back, he stopped.

“Sean, anything you want?” he asked.

“Just some coffee thanks, black,” Sean answered and Colin brought over a mug with black coffee to him.

Adina sent a beaming smile toward Colin. She knew he had asked for her sake and the gesture sent a warm feeling through her body. As he sat down on the stool next to her, she adjusted her position so that her leg had contact with his leg. She felt him putting an arm around her, letting his hand rest on her hip. Once they had settled down, the others resumed their conversation.

They ate their lunch and Adina relaxed and enjoyed the situation. She found she enjoyed the company of both Mateo and Jason. Even Sean seemed to relax a bit and joined the conversation now and then.

“It is time for me to take my leave,” alpha Aries said standing up. “Cernack, will you join me?”

“I think I will,” Cernack answered.

“My lady, it has been a pleasure having you these months. Thank you for the things you have done for the pack. Even though it is sad not to have you with us, I am happy for you,” alpha Aries said with a look at Colin.

“Alpha Aries, it is I who should say thank you for putting up with Sean and me. We have enjoyed our time with your pack. Please give your family my thanks for taking care of us,” Adina said with a warm smile toward the older alpha.

“Nothing to speak about. If you need me, I’m only a phone call away,” he said as they followed him and Cernack out to the cars.

Before they stepped into the car, Adina gave the alpha a hug and heard a low warning growl from Colin. Aries just laughed and got in the car.

“I will be in touch,” Cernack said as a goodbye and stepped into the car.