Getting to Know Each Other

JAMES

I was so pleased she agreed to come with me. I brought her to my lodge because this is the place I love most in the world, and I want to share it with her.

It isn’t a grand building; it hasn’t been built to impress and intimidate like my pack house, but it represents me. The person I am when I’m not being the alpha of my pack.

After the events of the weekend, when I had almost lost my mate to Ryan, I knew I had to change. I couldn’t let things continue as they were. Allie is my mate.

If anything happens to her, I wouldn’t be able to live without her.

We need to talk properly. I need to show her who I am. I know now that the thought of us being mates is more difficult for her to accept than it is for me.

I could tell when we walked through the door that she loved it. Now I just need to convince her over lunch that I’m a person she could fall in love with.

While she’s upstairs freshening up, I start to prepare lunch. Martha, an omega, had left two steaks, vegetables, and the ingredients to make a pepper sauce.

I pull the steaks from the fridge so they can reach room temperature and get to work on the vegetables and making the sauce.

I’m so engrossed in what I’m doing that it takes a few seconds before I realize Allie has entered the kitchen.

She smiles at me. “I love watching you cook. You’re so absorbed in what you’re doing…” She stops and blushes, realizing what she has said. “Sorry, I didn’t mean…”

“Don’t take it back,” I urge. “I want you to enjoy being here with me.”

“Here, have a glass of wine,” I offer, pouring red wine into a large glass. “I want you to relax and enjoy today. I want us to get to know each other, if you’re willing.”

“Yes, I am,” she says.

I am so relieved that she is finally prepared to open up and give me a chance. I start to hope that she can forgive the way I treated her when we first met.

“How should we start?” she asks.

“Maybe you could tell me a little bit about why you came to Linton, and what you want to do with your life. Then I can tell you a bit about my life.”

She begins shyly, “Well, I’ve always wanted to come to Linton. As soon as I knew the place existed, I was determined to attend the university here.

“It’s the only place loners are accepted and allowed to live their own lives without fear of being attacked or moved on by a pack.”

I wince, thinking that it’s alphas like me that have made Linton the only place safe for my mate.

“I really wanted to go to school, get a degree and a good job. Especially if it’s a job that will help other loners.”

“How do you plan to help them?”

“I can’t train to be a real healer, but if I study human medicine, I’ll learn some healing techniques that can help wolves. Our physiology is close enough that I should be able to provide some help.

“Lone wolves can’t go to human doctors if they get sick or injured, because they might discover what we are. If I could treat them, I could help save lives.”

She’s so enthusiastic that I get caught up in what she’s saying. I realize how caring she is and how much she wants to help others. “That’s a great thing to do for your fellow wolves.”

“Even if they’re ~rogues~?”

“I might have been too harsh lumping all lone wolves into the same bracket. I can see that you and your friends aren’t as dangerous as the rogues who have attacked my pack.”

“Thank you. I’m pleased you can admit that we are not all feral killers,” she says sarcastically.

“You have to understand that my father was killed by the rogues in Ryan’s pack. They attacked our pack and would have killed all of us if we hadn’t stopped them.”

“I get that,” she says softly. “It must have been terrible to lose your father and deal with the attack on your pack, but that doesn’t give you the right to treat us like we are crazed killers.”

“I know that now. I can see that you’re different. I can tell a lot of the loners in Linton are not there to cause trouble.

“They’re part of the community, and I’m prepared to change my stance toward them and give them a chance. But I still need to be vigilant.

“It would be so easy for Ryan to send some of his wolves here as students and use them to infiltrate the city and weaken our defenses. I can’t let my guard down.”

“After meeting him, I understand why you feel like that.” She shivers thinking about him, and I grasp her hand to reassure her.

She smiles her thanks. “If you give loners the chance to prove themselves, they could help fight Ryan. Wolves like Danielle hate him as much as you do. He killed her parents and destroyed her pack.”

“I hadn’t heard about that. I’ve tried where possible to offer sanctuary in my pack to wolves who have lost their own packs due to rogue attacks.”

“It isn’t just about joining another pack. For us, it’s about being free to live our own lives.”

Does that mean she doesn’t want to be part of my pack, to be my luna? Panic grips me. “Is that how you feel?” I’m desperate to know.

“I don’t know. I’ve never been part of a pack. It has always been just me and my mom.”

“Never?”

“No, never. We always steered clear of packs. Mom didn’t want anything to do with them. She didn’t like alphas, and she was right not to.

“Whenever we entered a pack’s territory, they would try to attack us, or run us out of town.”

“Is that why you can fight so well?”

“I suppose so. Mom taught me. She felt it was important that I could defend myself.”

“And she was right. Where is she now?” I ask her, feeling guilty that I already know the answer to my questions thanks to my beta. But I want to hear the answers from her own lips.

“She died in a car accident, a hit and run. They never found the driver of the car that killed her.” She trembles as she finishes speaking.

I can feel the pain and grief that surrounds her, and I pull her into my arms. I’m desperate to comfort her.

After a few minutes, she pulls away, and I feel an instant coldness, loss at no longer having her in my arms.

“Sorry for breaking down like that. I miss her so much, and sometimes I feel so alone without her.”

“You’re not alone,” I tell her protectively. “I will always look after you. You’re my mate. I will always be there for you, whatever happens.”

She looks at me, and I watch her expression soften as she takes in my words and realizes that I mean what I say.

I pull her slowly toward me again and gently press my lips to hers. She doesn’t move away from me, but returns my kiss.

Sparks ignite.

I growl and deepen the kiss. I’m elated as I feel her respond. There is no denying the passion between us.

My tongue demands entrance to her mouth, and when she opens her lips I begin to explore her mouth possessively. My tongue tangles with hers.

I’ve never experienced a kiss like this before and I don’t want it to stop. I want to know every inch of her.

I don’t know how long we spend kissing. But I know I want more of her, that this kiss will not be enough for me. I pull away from her, and she whimpers in disappointment.

I move to the side of her face, trailing kisses as I make my way down her neck to the spot where she will soon wear my mark.

As I lick and suck, electricity surges between us. I’ve never felt anything as wonderful as holding this woman in my arms.

She moans in pleasure.

I want to take her now. It would be so easy to make her mine. She’s as overcome by passion as I am, but I have to stop. This is not the way I will take my mate.

She deserves better.

Reluctantly, I pull away.

“As amazing as this is. We need to finish lunch and then I need to take you home.”

“Already?” she pouts.

“Yes. I want to touch you, taste you, make you mine. But this isn’t the right time for us to take this further.

“You don’t really trust me yet. When I make you mine, I want you to be sure.”