Ember
Seth just stood there and pulled the knife out as if I didn’t just freaking stab him. My gun was still pointed at him. This was creepy as fuck.
” What the fuck, Seth?” I said, keeping my gun up. Was he going to kill me?
“Nice throw”, he said. Before I could blink, he had already snatched the gun out of my hand and tossed it on the bed before picking me up and holding me against the wall. It was an intimate position, and I was breathless as I stared into his eyes. He took a sniff in the air before growling slowly, putting his head against my neck. I knew I would be freaking out, but the sparks from his nose to my neck threatened a moan to come out. I was still. Unmoving. I wanted this moment to last forever. Reality set in and I pushed him away from me.
“Why are you here Seth?”, I asked him. I looked at the door, which was opened a little. How the hell did he even get in?
“Carter has a key to your apartment. I came to talk”, he replied. Laying on the bed. I grabbed a med kit from my bathroom.
“You couldn’t knock on the door like a normal fucking person?” I asked. Annoyed. I walked to him with the med kit, but he just smirked and lifted his shift. The wound had already closed and healed. It was pretty amazing.
” I am not a normal person”, he said to me. I crossed my arms, looking at him all comfortable on my bed.
” Again, I’ll ask. Why are you here, Seth”, I asked him. Tomorrow was my day off, and I wanted to spend the night watching Hell’s Kitchen. This was definitely not in my plans.
” Like I said, I came to talk. Carter mentioned you had some questions that needed to be answered. He sat up and looked at me. I sighed.
” Next time, knock on the fucking door. I could have killed you”, I said, frustrated. I laid down beside him. Hell’s Kitchen was playing in the background.
” I doubt that, but good try though”, he said. I rolled my eyes. Now that he mentioned it, I still did have questions from last night. ” So, what does the human want to know? I hated him saying that.
“First thing’s first, Seth. My name is Ember, not human. I hate that shit. Stop calling me that” I said to him, scowling at him. He looked amused. I held eye contact until he broke it.
“Fine, Ember it is.” He spoke. I was happy for once. He propped up on his elbow and I did the same.
” Why are humans and wolves not allowed to mate by choice? Carter gave me a book on your laws, and I’m curious, ” I asked him.
” The offspring of a wolf and a human creates wolves known as Lycan wolves. Those who are not fated by Selene, create out of control Lycans. They never take human form. They are born a beast, which usually kills the mother, whether she is a human or wolf, because of the structure of the Lycan. Only fated wolves with humans are able to produce strong Lycans. These Lycans will be able to change to human form at will. They will be born human and will be taught to move. They will not succumb to their beasts, but will be able to learn to control them, as we control our wolves. Human and wolf-fated mates have not been created in almost three hundred years, which is why we were surprised to learn you were human. ” He explained. I was shocked.
” So, if we were to… You know… Would we have Lycan children? ” I asked and he nodded.
” Thats fucking nuts”, I said to him. He smirked again. Was it me, or was he smiling more and more lately?
” What was that, when you first came in here and pinned me on the wall?”, I asked him.
” You’re mate smells. It’s stronger here, because you live here. It entices my wolf side to mark you. Sometimes, I can’t control that, though I do my best”, he said to me.
“Mark me?” I asked. He reached out and touched a spot on the right side of my neck, sending a shiver through me.
” When mates accept each other, they mark each other with a small bite “, he said, and my eyes widened. A bite?
” Relax. It only hurts for a moment, but then it is bliss after. The bite signifies to other wolves that you are mated and not to be touched by them”, he explained.
” So, you’re basically saying that you own me”, I told him. I was no one’s property.
” No, and yes. If Carter and I mark you, it will signify that you are our mate. That way, unmated males would not try to seduce you, or sleep with you. It says you are ours and ours only. Our mate. Our Luna. Our scent will be all over you,” he said.
” You don’t want me as a mate though. So how would that work? Do I just say the words and reject you now?”, I asked. His eyes went wide, and I suddenly found myself pinned underneath him.
” Don’t you ever fucking think of rejecting me”, he said. I was pinned beneath his body, but not in an uncomfortable way. More of a, your mine, kind of way. I looked deep into his eyes.
” Fine”, I said, when I couldn’t take the heat of his stare anymore and looked away. Satisfied with my answer, he went back to his propped-up elbow position.
” Besides. Carter and I are of one soul, as I’m sure he may have told you. If you reject one of us, it will affect us both. You would not feel it, but it would hurt our wolves and leave us in a very dangerous position,” he explained. I thought about it. I really couldn’t have one without damaging the entire bond.
“Why don’t you want me?” I asked him. He seemed to pause and think about his answer.
” It isn’t really a matter of wanting you. It is just a promise I made to myself. A promise you broke today, in the break room” he said. I was confused.
“What promise did you make?” I asked.
” That I would never allow another human to touch me”, he said. It made sense. I kissed him. Me. The human.
” Why would you ever make that promise?” I asked. He was silent for a few moments.
” I can’t. It is something I haven’t even told Carter,” he said. I didn’t want to force it out of him, but I can tell he was hurt.
” Well, you don’t have to tell me, but I can see by the look in your eyes that someone, probably human, hurt you really badly, and I assume you made that vow because of it. ” I said to him. He looked at me in surprise but didn’t deny it.
” Look. I won’t touch you again, but I will say this. When Ryder hurt me, and I was going through dealing with it, all I wanted was to swear off men and love, for good. I was prepared to just work and go home. I wanted to make no friends. Nothing. I didn’t want to let anyone in. Even now, finding out Ryder killed my mother in his wolf form. I was even prepared to swear off werewolves, but then I thought to myself.
How is that even fair to the good ones? The good people I met, or even the good werewolves I have come to know and even care for. I can’t hold the rest of the apples accountable for the actions of a bad apple from the bunch. In that wisdom, I allowed myself to be open to being happy again. People like Carter and Jax came into my life and took a chance with me. I am now asking you to do the same, Seth. Take the chance with me. We can heal our hearts together. Two broken people, shared by our hurt from the past. I can only assume that is why Selene paired me with you.
For a moment, I thought maybe I was just going to be a lesson, but maybe now, I think maybe you and Carter are both my blessing instead. ” I told him. I had a tear rolling out of my eye. I didn’t realize it until Seth wiped it away. He was silent, taking in everything I had said. He laid down and grabbed me. Pulling me to him. He was letting me touch him, and I was not going to abuse the privilege. I wrapped my arm around him. I felt a kiss on my head as I drifted off to sleep.
Carter
I had just finished paperwork when Seth came into the room. He smelled heavy of our mate, and I loved breathing her in.
” How is she?” I asked him.
” She stabbed me”, he told me, smiling. I sighed. What the fuck?
” What did you do, Seth?” I asked him.
” Scared her but. You know I like to keep her on her toes’ ‘, he said to me.
” You are a pain in the ass. Keep it up, and she is going to reject the bond”, I said.
” She won’t. She promised me” he said. My eyes went wide at that. She did, did she?
” What happened tonight?” I asked him. He was silent for a moment.
” She asked me her questions and I answered. Then the craziest thing happened, ” he said. I waited for him to continue.
” She opened up to me, trying to get me to open up to her. The crazy thing is, I wanted to do it. I really, really wanted to. I just couldn’t. Instead, she held me until she fell asleep. This mate bond is having the literal opposite effect I want it to have”, he said, sighing. I smiled. I knew Ember would get him to come around eventually. Tomorrow is her day off and I had plans.
” You let her touch you. I would say that is a very big step, Seth. It’s a step in the right direction. We should be sweeping her off her feet, not pushing her away.” I spoke. He groaned. It was something he did when he was deeply conflicted.
” She is off tomorrow. I take it you’re taking her to the cave”, he asked. I nodded. He knew me well enough. The cave was a place we found when we were young. It contained a waterfall that went into a small lake, and you could see the sun when you looked up. There were flowers all around the lake and small green plants. We kept it hidden, as it was our place to go to get away from the outside world.
” Join us. “, I told him. I have a good feeling for tomorrow.
” I suppose,” he said. He looked conflicted. I was hoping he wouldn’t do anything to fuck up this bond we have, but knowing Seth, something was bound to happen.