Hold My Calls

I tried to keep the kiss slow, soft, letting her know I was willing to let her take the lead, set her own pace, but I could barely control myself.

Not when Sienna—willful, strong, and unyielding—was finally giving me what I so desperately wanted.

There was no finesse when I deepened our kiss, when I tangled my tongue with hers, biting, licking, exploring, tasting every inch of her beautiful heart-shaped mouth.

It was like I’d been parched in the middle of the Sahara, and Sienna was my oasis.

I needed more of her.

I needed everything.

I needed to claim my mate.

Almost by instinct, our bodies moved to the bedroom, and I threw her onto my bed, my wolf baring its teeth inside me, satisfied to see her like that, Hazed and ready to go.

I couldn’t believe this was happening. She was in my bed, my home, her scent mixed with mine, and I couldn’t hold it in anymore.

Crawling over her body, I reached my mark on her sensitive skin and licked it, nipping at it, feeling the urge to bite her again.

So I did just that—my teeth sank into her neck, and I heard her cry out in total ecstasy.

The Haze made my vision swim, and I fought to have some sort of control, but when she started clawing at my back, ripping my shirt, I knew control was a faraway dream.

I growled, my cock rigid and ready. I was surprised it didn’t poke a hole through my pants.

I flipped her over onto her stomach, pulling up her dress, and she quickly started grinding her ass against my bulge.

~Easy now,~ I tried to cajole myself as I slid my hands under her panties, and when I felt her entrance soaked, I knew I was naive to think I could take it easy.

I put one finger inside her. Then two. And before I could even do much of anything else, Sienna inhaled sharply, crying as her thighs spasmed, her back arched, her face flushed.

But my wolf had had enough foreplay. ~Inside her~, it urged me. ~We need to be inside her!~

There was nothing I wanted more.

I took my fingers out, watching her whimper, but when I started spreading her legs, readying her to accommodate my much larger form, she suddenly tensed and screamed, “No, stop…STOP. I don’t want to go any further.”

Hazed out of my mind, I thought the request to be ridiculous. Was she fucking with me?

“You’re still Hazed,” I murmured, letting myself ease on top of her, bringing my lips closer to hers. “And so am I. Don’t you want me to help you relieve it?”

“No!” she said with such conviction that I froze. “I don’t know if you’re my mate yet, and I don’t know that you ever will be!”

She sat up so suddenly, pulling her dress back down her thighs, trying to compose herself. She looked shaken, scared, and I didn’t understand why.

~What are you so afraid of? Is it me?~

That’s when something occurred to me. But it couldn’t be… No werewolf would be that much of a masochist…

“Sienna,” I said, the edge of a growl to my voice, “are you a virgin?”

The sudden widening of her eyes made her look like a deer in headlights. She seemed almost afraid to answer, and I hated seeing fear etched on her face. It was so jarring.

But not as jarring as her answer.

“Yes,” she murmured.

My wolf sat up inside me, its head cocked in confusion. The human part of me, too, was far too gobsmacked to articulate any sort of response.

So I simply asked, “Why?”

She lowered her gaze, her fiery-red hair falling over her shoulder like a veil. “Aiden…”

“Answer my question, Sienna.”

This wasn’t just a question from a man to a woman. This was a question from an alpha to his pack member. Because going without sex, for a werewolf beyond the age of eighteen…

There had to be a reason. There just had to be. And as her mate, I deserved to know.

Our Haze died down, and it seemed she was able to take a proper breath this time. Still, tension rolled over her body, making her close her fists tightly.

“I’ve been saving myself for my mate,” she said. “I can only truly love my mate, and I don’t want to give something special to someone who isn’t.”

There was something off about her statement.

Purity culture was somewhat of an anathema to werewolves; sex was an accepted thing, a good thing. There was no shame in it; in fact, we basked in it, relishing it.

She wasn’t telling me the truth.

I pried her palms open, seeing that her nails had dug into the skin, bloodying it. Concerned, I looked back up at her, but she turned away.

“Sienna,” I said, “I need you to tell me what’s going on.”

“Please,” she whispered, “don’t make me do this… I can’t.”

“This is clearly tearing you up inside, whatever ~this~ is,” I said, letting out a growl because she was shutting me out again. “How do you expect me to ignore this and pretend like nothing is wrong?”

“I’m not your mate,” she retorted, and I felt the words cut deep, even though I knew they were said in ignorance rather than anything else. “It’s not your responsibility to take care of me.”

But it was. And that made me want to protect her from whatever was causing her so much pain. “I made it my responsibility when I marked you!”

At first she looked indignant, like she was ready for a fight, but then her face dropped, and her voice came out tired and wary. “Look, if you drop this, I’ll…I’ll do anything.”

And that quickly, my anger dissipated, replaced by relief. “Anything?” I asked, just to make sure.

She nodded. And I knew exactly what I had to do to protect her. To make absolutely sure she’d be safe, giving us time to grow closer, until hopefully she’d finally accept her feelings…accept me.

“You’ll move in here tomorrow so I can keep an eye on you,” I said, and I could see her body tense defensively. Good. I didn’t want her to be pliant. I wanted the real Sienna, fire and all.

“No excuses,” I continued, locking my gaze on her. “No delays. Tomorrow.”

She pursed her lips. “I won’t have sex with you,” she said tersely. “Not until we know if you’re my mate or not.

“Also, you don’t get to dominate me. I’m not going to let you order me around, so if you’re thinking I’ll become your property by moving in, then the claws are coming out, and I’ll stop playing nice.”

Considering she’d never played nice in the first place, this wasn’t much of a threat, but her defiance was cute regardless. I was just happy that she had agreed at all.

I let my mouth curl into a grin. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

I knew I still had to tell her the truth about us, but we were finally getting to a place of understanding, and I didn’t want to put that in jeopardy.

She needed time to get used to me, the idea of having a mate, and what that would mean. This was a test run of sorts, to see if I could get her to see me the way that I saw her.

And I was only going to get one shot at it, so I’d better not fuck it up…

***

I could barely focus on my work the next day, knowing that Sienna would be moving in with me.

I had an anxious feeling in the pit of my stomach all day—it could’ve been excitement, nervousness, or maybe even dread.

But as I was about to leave the pack house to pick up Sienna, Josh caught up with me. “Alpha Raphael Fernandez is on the line,” he said, panting for breath. “He’s asked for you. Said it’s urgent.”

If it wasn’t dread I was feeling before, it definitely was now.

Raphael Fernandez was the alpha of the Millennium, and an extremely busy man; he generally only called when you were fucking up somehow.

And this couldn’t have come at a worse time. I was Hazed, horny out of my fucking mind, and I needed to put my lips on a certain redhead before I lost my shit.

But being the alpha, mating season or no mating season, meant the pack always had to come first. At least until I told everyone I had a mate, then priorities were bound to change.

“Can this wait?” I said, irritated. “I need to pick up Sienna.”

Josh frowned. “Aiden, this is Raphael. He waits for no one, you know that. Just postpone your date with—”

“She’s moving in with me,” I interjected, growling. “It has to happen today.”

Because I had a sinking feeling that if I postponed it, she would get cold feet and tell me that she couldn’t do it anymore.

Josh looked utterly shocked. “Moving…in?! When were you going to tell me this?”

“I just did,” I said, still walking toward my car.

I knew this was a huge step, but I needed to be with my mate. I needed Sienna.

I needed her to start seeing me as more than just an alpha, just a potential would-be mate. I needed her to see me as a man, someone she could love, could rely on. This was the only way it could happen.

“I can go pick her up,” Josh said suddenly, stopping me in my tracks.

I turned to Josh, who was staring at me expectantly.

Josh had never quite managed to pull off the poker face he was obviously attempting because his eyes were always his tell, and there was a glint of mischief in them.

“Don’t make me regret this,” I growled, holding out my keys. “Or ~you’re~ going to regret it.”

“I’ll just take my car,” he said, then he gave me an emphatic nod. “You can count on me, Alpha.”

I was still unsure about sending Josh to pick up Sienna—I had a feeling my beta was up to something—but then my phone rang, and I saw that Alpha Fernandez was calling me ~directly~.

~Fuck, here we go.~

I shot one more warning look at Josh as he left, then took a deep breath and answered my phone.

“Good afternoon, Alpha Fernandez. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“So formal,” Raphael answered, smugly. “I’m sure you’re busy, so I’ll keep this short.”

My stomach was in knots already. The Alpha of the Millennium was the only other Alpha who could actually make me nervous.

“I’ve been hearing a lot of things about you lately, Aiden,” Raphael said. “Things that concern me. The other Alphas are talking.”

“Are you really listening to all that bullshit?” I growled. “If they don’t have anything better to do than gossip, maybe you should be looking into that.”

I was on thin ice, talking to him like that, but the only way to get an alpha’s respect was to stand your ground.

“I’m not saying I believe everything I hear,” he said, unfazed by my challenge. “I just want you to know that I’m ~aware~ of what’s being said. I’ll decide for myself.”

His tone wasn’t quite menacing, but it still unsettled me.

“Maybe we’ll be seeing each other sooner than I expected,” he said. “But for now, just know that I’m watching. Adios, Aiden.”

With that ominous goodbye, the call ended.

I wasn’t sure what it meant for me, but whatever it was…

~I’d better watch my fucking back.~