{seven}

Aria's POV

I slowly wake up, tangled in the sheets. I roll over and find my mate missing. His side is still  warm, which means he left not too long ago. I start to sit up, so I can find Damon, but I momentarily get distracted by the amazing view in front of me. The luscious trees stretching to the ocean, the beautiful blue water crashing on to the sand. I snap out of my trance and get out of bed, my bare feet hit the cold wood floors. I exited the bedroom and head downstairs, as I descend the stairs, I can see Damon in the kitchen. He's facing me, looking down at the frying pan in the stove, giving me a good look at his shirtless torso. He senses my presence, looking up at me. He gives me a warm smile, as I walk over to him. Once I reach him, he pulls me into his arms.

"Good Morning, gorgeous." His sexy morning voice says, I look down at the frying pan, seeing eggs and bacon.

"Good Morning, babe." I look back up at him, I threw in a nickname which sorta scared me. He lightly purrs at the nickname.

"I have something special planned for today, I think you'll like it." He beams, picking up the spatula and moving around the bacon, still holding onto me.

"Oh! I love surprises!" I exclaim, I've never really had a surprise before. Or at least a fun one.

"Breakfast is almost ready, do want anything to drink?" He asks, letting me go, walking to the fridge.

"Just some water, thanks." I say, taking the water bottle he hands me. He gives me a plate of eggs and bacon. I go sit down by the counter, while he makes some coffee.

"Thank you for breakfast, Damon" I say, now eating my bacon. He sits down next to me, with a plate of food and a mug of coffee.

"Your welcome, I wanted to make sure my mate was ready for the day" He says. We eat in a comfortable silence, when I'm done eating, I go to wash my plate but Damon stops me.

"A maid will clean it, let's go get ready." He says, grabbing my hand and leading me upstairs.

"Can we visit here once we're King and Queen?" I asks, admiring the beautiful house.

"Of course, we'll be King and Queen. We'll do whatever we want." He smiles at me.

"I know that, but can we keep this house for us?" I say, hoping he understands.

"Yeah, this will be our vacation house." He jokes, pulling me into our bedroom. Our. That sounds weird to say....but I like it.

"I need to shower before we go." I say, looking at Damon.

"Can I join?" He smirks.

"Not yet, Alpha." I joke, causing his eyes to darken. I walk over to the closet, only to be grabbed from behind by Damon. I squeal as he throws me onto the bed. I bounce a bit giggling as Damon runs and jumps on the bed next to me. He rolls over, hovering over me.

"Does the princess like being tickled?" Damon asks, looking at me mischievously. My eyes widen in realization at what he's about to do. His finger poke my sides, causing me to laugh uncontrollably. I try to fight against him, but he pins my hands above my head with one hand while the other tickles. After a few minutes of tickling, Damon starts pecking my face. My nose. My cheeks, my forehead. Everything but my lips. Soon I get desperate for him to kiss me.

"Ugh! Just kiss me already!" I exclaim. That seems to be all it takes for him to finally kiss me. It starts out as a sweet kiss but slowly turns into a lustful kiss. He swipes his tongue across my lip, asking for entrance, which I grant him. His tongue explores my mouth as he finally lets go of my hands and grabs my waist. My finger run through his hair, as our tongues battle for dominance. His lips then leave my mouth, traveling down to my neck. I lean my head back to give him more access. His lips feel so good on my skin, I've never felt like this before. He kisses around my neck until he finds what he was looking for: my sweet spot, the place where I would bear his mark. His places a soft kiss on it, I feel like my head is going to explode at how much pleasure I felt from one kiss. He starts sucking and lapping at it, that's when I feel his canines brush my skin. I have no problem with him marking me but all of a sudden I get these haunting thoughts.

Damon leaving me.

The pack turning against me.

My parents throwing me out of the kingdom

Hundreds of thoughts cloud my mind as I feel a tear fall down my face. I start crying as the thoughts keep coming. It starts to get hard to breathe, I can hear someone trying to talk to me but all I hear is voices and I can't make out what their saying. I feel myself being enveloped in something warm. The thoughts slowly stop and I start to calm down. I feel Damon's arms around me, him whispering "I'm sorry" over and over again. As I become more aware of my surroundings, I realize I'm sitting on Damon's lap as he rubs my arms. I lean my head against his shoulder.

"I'm fine, babe." I say, taking deep breaths.

"I'm so sorry, Aria, I should've known I went to-" he rambles, but I cut him off.

"It's not your fault, I wanted you to mark me, but all of a sudden I had a panic attack." I say.

"But I'm the one who triggered it, you seemed to be in pain and no matter what, I couldn't help you. I need to call the doctor and ask what we can do to help you" Damon says, about to get up from the bed. I've gotten over the panic attack, I used to get them in the Kingdom. I am a bit embarrassed that Damon had to see me break down, but I'm over it.

"Wait, what about my surprise?" I ask, stopping him from getting up.

"Are you okay with leaving the house?" He asks, unsure if I'm truly 'ok'.

"I've been locked up my whole life, as much as I love this house, I want to explore." I smile, pleading at him with my eyes.

"Fine, go take a shower and get ready. I'm gonna call the doctor and then we can go." He says, I hop out of bed, grab my clothes, and head to the bathroom. I start the shower and do my routine, I get out of the shower, put on a pair of short overalls with a white shirt under and white sandals. I don't normally dress this casually. I blow-dry my hair with a blow-dryer I found under the sink. I walk out of the bathroom, looking for my toiletries bag. I see Damon sitting on the edge of the bed, wearing a grey short sleeve shirt and black jeans. He was looking at his phone.

"Damon, where is my bathroom bag?" I ask, leaning on the bathroom door frame. He looks up at me and smiles.

"Well don't you look beautiful? It's still in your suitcase." He says, grabbing his shoes. Once I have my bathroom bag, I finish up getting ready.

"Alright, I'm ready!" I say, walking out of the bathroom. I'm so excited to see what the surprise is!

"Let's go, we're gonna walk." He say, grabbing my hand and leading me outside. He's carrying a backpack, which I guess has stuff we'll need. We start walking through the woods, I'm not quite sure which direction we're going. I start to hear water...wait I think I know!

"Are you taking me to the beach?!" I exclaim, grabbing his arm and stopping dead in my tracks.

"You guessed it, come on, we're almost there." He smiles, I start jumping in excitement. I start jogging to the beach, Damon following. I start to hear the waves and the seagulls, pushing me to run faster. Then all of a sudden, the trees clear, and I see the beautiful ocean. I stop at the edge of the forest, right before the sand starts. This is my dream, to feel the sand, swim in the water, soak up the sun, but am I ready to fulfill my dream. Damon comes up behind me, smiling at the beach.

"Go....live your dream." He says, I take off my shoes and slowly step into the sand. It feels amazing under my toes, I keep walking, soon the walk turns into a marathon, my goal: the water. I run until my feet touch the water. And then I freeze. This is more than I could have ever dreamt. It's amazing. I look back at Damon, seeing him walking towards me.

"Is it everything you thought it would be?" He asks, standing in front of me.

"It's so much more." I smile, hugging him. He spins me around. We dance around for a bit until I realize something. "I didn't bring a bathing suit."

"That's what's in the bag, also my swimming trunks and some snacks." He says, pulling me back to where he set the bag down. He hands me, my bikini. I've never worn one before, how'd he get one.

"Where did you get this?" I ask, holding it up. It's pretty, it's a simple black bikini, nothing too revealing.

"My mom went and bought one, I hope it fits." He says, pulling his trunks out. "You can go change behind a tree, I'll change out here."

"What if someone comes by?" I say, shocked he's so comfortable changing out in the open.

"This is my private beach, no one else has access to it." He smirks, his Alpha pride coming out. I go behind the tree and change. I walk to see Damon setting out a blanket. I grab his hand and pull him into the water.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

What did ya think?

Do you think Damon caused Aria's panic attack?

I NEED YOUR HELP!!

Should I time skip a month to keep it moving? Or should I focus on right now?

Please let me know! I'm trying to update a lot bc I'll be gone for two weeks in a bit and I've got the writing bug.

Word count:1787