Roxanne’s POV:
The tingles that spread throughout my body made me and my wolf feel safe and very calm.
A smile formed on my face as I inhaled his amazing scent deeply.
It wasn’t my intention to embrace him out of the blue. But seeing him try to comfort me in his own cold way made me want to cling to him for just a few minutes, even if he were to push me away.
As I closed my eyes, I waited for the moment he would push me away or warn me off harshly as he usually did. When a few minutes went by without him doing anything, I opened my eyes and smiled as my wolf purred happily at how our mate wanted our closure as well.
“Garren,” I called in a whisper as I felt him tense.
“Thank you,” I said softly, then continued to talk.
“I know how much you hate me because of what my father supposedly did to you. But if you can talk to me about it, we can…” I cut my sentence short when he pulled away and stood up with an angry expression on his face.
“For a second there, I forgot who you really are and why you are here. Thank you for reminding me, Roxanne.” He said bitterly, then turned and walked out of the room as I stared at the door helplessly.
“What the fuck?” I whispered in a low tone, then threw myself on the bed.
“Astrid, is our mother’s love life repeating itself with me?” I asked silently.
“Yep,” came her simple response.
My parents’ love story was told to us in many different versions by different pack members, but something that the stories had in common was how my father mistreated my mother at first because of the curse, fear, and lack of affection.
He was the exact type of man I would have hated and not looked at if it were me in that situation. But seeing how their relationship grew and changed showed me how powerful the mate pull was, as well as fate.
Unlike our mother, who feared our father whenever he got angry, showed respect for him, and chose to be meek towards him, I was different. I wasn’t going to let my mate’s few bad words get to me so easily. At first, I let them for some unknown reason, and they did hurt me, but now I was going to be tough and act as I used to act in my pack: unfazed and unbothered.
I stood up from the bed and quickly went into the bathroom to take a bath. After I finished, I returned to the bedroom and put on a new set of boxers that I had found, along with one of his shirts.
I moved over to the nightstand and put on the big slippers that were next to it. Then, I left the bedroom, following his scent, which led me into a huge living room. Everything in the living room looked old, yet very expressive and unique. The sides of the tables and couches were adorned in gold, and the chandeliers above me looked like they were made out of diamonds.
My mate sat on a smaller chair that resembled a throne, with his back turned towards me.
As I approached him, I noticed that his hair was tied back into a ponytail. In his left hand, he held a wine glass filled with blood, while his right hand held a file.
I stood still, debating whether or not to talk to him.
“Remember, you said we weren’t going to act like our mother?” Astrid reminded me, which prompted me to walk in front of him.
His eyes remained fixed on the file, even when I cleared my throat to get his attention. It was clear that he was deliberately ignoring me.
“My love,” I called out, hoping to elicit a reaction from him.
For years, I had witnessed how my parents called each other in such a way, and it always brought them happiness.
He lowered his file and raised his eyes to meet mine.
His jaw tightened, and his eyes flickered from their usual color. For a split second, he smirked, then took a sip from his glass.
“I want to apologize for what I said earlier. I’m your enemy, yet I was getting too comfortable and way out of line just because you are my mate,” I said, and that seemed to get his full attention.
“What exactly are you playing at?” he asked with a raised brow.
“Nothing, I just realized my mistake,” I answered calmly.
“I hope so,” he whispered and then went back to looking at his file.
I moved and sat down on the couch, which was next to him, observing him seriously.
He was in a black business suit-jacket, vest, trousers-fitted slim fit, and he looked very divine and very handsome.
To think all my life I thought of Larson as the ultimate male Greek god when there were men like Garren. Were my eyes rotten, or was I too crazy and stupid?
Just thinking of my mate totally naked in front of me made my cheeks heat up and my nipples harden.
If he had black tattoos around his back and arms, with his hair let down and a firm ass, I would die! Ah, he would fuck me in any way he wanted and felt like without me putting up a fight.
I swallowed hard, then lowered my gaze to my lap and moved my legs together. I was getting wet just by thinking about him, and yet he was in front of me treating me as if I was invisible!
If he could pick up the scent of my arousal, would he think of me as a slut? I wondered to myself, then glanced at him.
Luckily, he seemed not to pick up my current scent because his gaze was still on the file. It came as a blessing to me that he was different from my kind.
“Think about something else,” I told myself silently but got startled when his glass fell from his hand and shattered on the floor.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
When he opened his eyes and looked into mine, goosebumps spread throughout my body.
His eyes were glowing red, and he clenched the file in his hand.
“What?” I asked, my voice sounding like a moan.
He stood up and threw the crushed file on the floor, slowly approaching me.
When he stood in front of me and leaned in, I found myself leaning backwards until I hit the couch.
“You are deliberately doing this to me, aren’t you?” he asked huskily, his voice deeper, as I slightly parted my lips to inhale deeply.
“Doing what?” I whispered.
He roughly grabbed my hand and moved it to the bulge in his trousers. I widened my eyes in shock, looking at it and then at him.
“No,” I instantly spoke out loudly.
How was he erect?
Did he, by chance, smell my arousal?
Those questions went through my mind as I stared back at him in shock.
“I figured you would say that, that’s why I want us to check. So, shall we?” he asked in a low tone, then grabbed the shirt I was putting on and ripped it off with a smirk, as a cold breeze swept past me, making me shiver.
When his cold hand went on my stomach, I wanted to move, but his other hand pressed on my shoulder, pushing me back.
“Garren,” I called in a pleading tone as his cold hand on my stomach slowly slid into my boxers, while his eyes and expression said it all.
He wanted to scare me and have me running away like a little child because my presence was strongly affecting him.
I stayed still when his index finger brushed against my clit, making him grin.
“Do you now want to run away?” he asked huskily, and I swallowed hard.
Yes, I did. I badly wanted to push him away and run back to the bedroom, yet my pride and wolf were against that idea.
Something in me knew that if I were to run away, he would take that as his excuse to never touch me again.
I gathered all my courage and smiled at him proudly.
“What? Don’t tell me you are scared to go further than this,” I said seriously, and there and then, I knew how I had dug my own grave because his expression turned serious and cold.