“Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to reach an understanding with…” Aiden started his angry tirade as he rose to his feet, only to be interrupted by his dad.
“Calm down,” he commanded in a booming voice.
Aiden glared at his dad at that, not because he was a spoiled brat who didn’t like taking orders, rather because his dad had used his alpha tone on him… And that meant he couldn’t protest at the moment, and thus couldn’t give them a piece of his mind.
“You have to understand that we’re doing this for you,” his mom told him softly.
“Oh really?” He taunted, rolling his eyes as he said so.
“Yes, really,” his dad assured him as he put a calming hand on his shoulder. Aiden wanted to shrug it off but didn’t want to upset his dad further. “You’ll thank us later.”
“Right,” he scoffed.
“By choosing to give you 5 years, we’re allowing you more time to love one another,” his mother told him softly, “away from the palace drama, away from everything duty related.”
“I am the alpha ultra to be,” he stated proudly. “I can take it.”
“Yes, you can,” his dad told him with an easy nod. “But can your mate handle it, so soon?”
That had the knack to shut Aiden up.
After a while, he reasoned that they were right if only partially and excused himself to join his mate in the garden.
** ** ** ** **
Karen’s head spun with thoughts of pack duties, and other responsibilities. She didn’t know what to make of it. She wasn’t born into this lifestyle. She barely knew anything about it. But she was willing to learn for Aiden’s sake… the alpha ultra mate she had never known she wished for made it hard for her not to want this lifestyle.
Truth be told, however, she wasn’t ready yet. And thus, she was glad his parents gave her them some time to figure it all out. They could take this opportunity to get to know one another more at ease.
“Are you okay?” Aiden’s voice reached her ears from behind, after some peaceful time alone.
“I’m good, yeah,” she told him with a sweet smile as she turned around to face him.
He mirrored her smile and reached out a hand for her to take, and she did so without questioning anything. He beamed at her even though the gesture was fairly simple.
“I promise to be more straight-forward with everything,” he then told her in a soft tone.
She bit on her bottom lip at that, too worried about everything to be able to formulate a response right away.
His eyes darkened slightly, but his wolf didn’t take over.
“May I kiss you?” He asked as he sported a small hesitant smile.
“Please do,” she told him softly.
He leaned in and claimed her lips as his for the first time, which elicited a moan out of her lips. The shivers, the tingles, and everything delicious warred within her.
“You’re mine, Karen,” he growled under his breath, making her pulse quicken ever so slightly at the possessiveness she could sense in his voice, when they broke apart for air.
More than her heartbeat picking up the pace, her breathing grew ragged, and she could feel wetness smearing her panties. It was all she could do not to blush, and thus she averted her eyes because his stare was just much too intense for her senses.
Firming her resolve not to give in to his devastating playboy charms just yet, she told him simply, “You wish, Aiden. You wish.”
And with that, she turned on her heels and left him staring at her back. Karen was set on driving him mad with desire until he just stopped being such a gentleman and made her his already, reason be damned.