Karter

                “I’m not sure sir but they looked cozy to me. They came pretty close to kissing on the porch but I kept trying to keep my wolf steady in the small space of the bushes beside her house which made them move. It scared her so she went inside,” Jason says making me want to punch a hole through the wall.

Who in the fuck is this Summers idiot and why is he around my fucking mate! And almost kissing her no less! And why in the fuck is she allowing another man into her personal space! Allowing him to touch what’s mine! Pulling her fucking hair behind her ear, I’ll pull his fucking arms off and beat him with them! I pace back and forth across the floor huffing. As if I needed anything else to piss me off today.

            I woke up to news of two pack members injured and in the infirmary from fighting one another. They’re two of the neighbors who turned each other in under suspicion of treason. Apparently Mr. Leigh didn’t take too kindly to being accused of criminal acts against his Alpha and decided he’d teach Mr. Lombardi a lesson. The idiots are being treated and then forced to separate. I’ve had men all day moving their things to houses on opposite ends of the property.

I groan and bang my head against the wall, “Anything else Jason?”

He takes a moment to answer as if he’s mulling something over, “No sir, nothing else. I’ll continue to watch over her like you asked. Would you like for me to get rid of the human?”

The thought to do just that crosses my mind causing me to fight it back, a few times.

“No Jason. Thank you for your service and loyalty, but all I need from you is to protect her.”

He replies with, “Yes Alpha,” and snaps our mind-link.

I look out the window as I plop down into my office chair, the weather outside looks as gloomy as I feel. The sky is an awful shade of murky gray; the white clouds and lightning are the only illumination in the sky. The earth beneath looks as if it’s caught in a constant black and white photograph. I sigh as the rain begins to fall from the pregnant rain clouds above. Jason is now stuck in this weather because of me. I grab my cell phone and shoot a text to Dylan’s friend Andrea asking her to take Dylan out until our date later.

It wasn’t until I was pulled into an alley the other day while I was in town that I found out what Dre is. The fireball she conjured from her hand to threaten me with gave it all away. She wanted to know what a werewolf wanted with her best friend and threatened to burn my balls off if I didn’t give an answer that she found suitable.

I couldn’t hurt her seeing as she’s Rose’s best friend so I had to tell her that we’re mates. After she squealed and jumped up and down for ten minutes I made her promise to act like nothing had changed and she agreed. I of course would feel more comfortable knowing a wolf was protecting Rose but I guess a witch is the next best thing.

“Once a witch named Andrea arrives you can come home and get out of this weather,” I mind-link Jason.

I immediately cut our link and fire up my computer before he can try to convince me to allow him to stay. Jason is by far one of the most loyal wolves in my pack and he won’t like leaving his post. I can smell the warm stew my mother is cooking and smile. By the time he gets here it’ll be fresh off the stove to warm him up. He’s been watching Rose for me since I met her, braving the elements, only switching out with me to come home, change clothes, and rest. It’s about time he gets a real break before he ends up sick. It’s hard for us wolves to get colds but when we do, watch out. People say men make bad patients’ well male wolves are so much worse.     

            A yawn involuntarily escapes my mouth and I feel the urgent need to stretch. After hours of pack business I finally can start getting ready for my date. I groan loudly once I remove my eyes from the computer screen they’ve been glued to for the past few hours. The damned rain outside hasn’t let up. In fact it’s gotten worse. I was going to be all romantic and take Rose out on a picnic and lie out to look at the stars but now that’s ruined. Not only would we get rained on to all hell but the ground is way too wet to be sitting or lying on.

I grab my cell again and tell Dre to keep Rose busy for a little while longer before running into the kitchen where my mom is. She’s washing the dishes from lunch and about to start preparing for dinner.

“Hey ma?”

She dries her hands on the towel beside her and turns to me, her eyes, a near reflection of mine, narrow as she looks at me, “What do you want?”

I laugh at her suspicion, “I can’t just come and say hello to my mother?”

She narrows her eyes even more, “I could hear the question in your tone son, I know you. What do you want?”

I roll my eyes. I haven’t been able to get anything by her since I was six years old. I hate it. “Well I kind of have a…meeting…tonight…and I need some food for it.” I grimace at how dumb that sounded and pray to the Moon Goddess she doesn’t ask any questions.

She nods, her eyes still narrowed in suspicion, but she doesn’t push the issue any further. I grin and run upstairs to get dressed.

*

            The room is set to perfection. I finish sprinkling the rose petals all over the floor and dim the lights. A smile spreads across my face looking at my handiwork. I closed Rose’s Murphy bed to give us space in the living room for our indoor picnic. The white sheet laid across the floor is a nice contrast with the dim lighting of the room and the blood red rose petals all over the place look a little dramatic but I still think they’re a nice touch. I lean over to light the two long white candles and they almost immediately fill the room with their vanilla aroma. I got a text from Dre about five minutes ago saying they would be back in ten, leaving me five minutes to prepare myself. Hopefully Rose doesn’t kick my ass for “breaking in.”

If I wasn’t clear on how powerful of a witch Dre is, I am now. When I called her all in a huff about having to break into Rose’s apartment to set up for tonight she laughed at me and called me a big baby, then she told me to check under my pillow. I was confused at first but went to check anyway. The glittering gold colored key caught my eye immediately. I couldn’t speak, my breath caught in my throat. “You’re welcome,” was all she said before laughing again and hanging up. Only the strongest of witches are able to materialize objects and normally they have to have seen where the object will end up in order to send it there. An unnerving shiver goes down my spine at the thought of the limits to Dre’s power. She’s definitely someone I need on my side if anything ever happens.

The handle on the front door starts to rattle just as I finish sitting down the last fork. I straighten up and smooth out my gray t-shirt and makes sure the collar is down on my plaid short sleeved button up. Clearing my throat I pull down the tan cargo shorts I have on, sitting them on my hips the way I like them. The shock that comes across her angelic face when she steps into the room quickly dissolves into a content expression, calming my rapidly beating heart.

She’s a vision. Her hair is up in a tight ponytail with pieces framing her heart shaped face and almond shaped honey colored eyes. I smile lightly taking in the light pink cardigan she has on over the white tank top that encases her succulent breasts, as strange as it seems I’m glad she kept warm while she was out. My eyes continue to drag down her tight waist to her wide hips and thick thighs encased in a pair of black skinny jeans all the way to her dainty feet covered in brown heels. I notice her toenails are painted a fire engine red and I stiffen in my underwear.

“You didn’t have to do all of this, we could’ve just gone to the movies,” I hear her say, dragging my view from her curvy body to her beautiful face.

I nod and bring her over a glass of wine as Dre closes the door after winking at me.

“Had we gone to the movies I wouldn’t get to stare at your pretty face all night.”

She giggles and takes the glass before taking a gulp, at least I’m not the only one who’s nervous.

I usher her towards her seat on the sheet and take mine across from her. In this lighting her eyes are reflecting the flame from the candle making it seem as if her eyes themselves are ablaze, it’s breathtaking.

“So what’s on the menu? I’m starving,” she jokes, rubbing her hands together in front of her.

I smile and lean over to the basket my mom prepared. I checked it before I left the house in case she wanted to pull one of her jokes and fill it with dog food.

            “Well first, these are for you,” I say handing her the bouquet of pink roses from beside the basket. Her eyes light up as she accepts them and immediately pushes them to her nose.

“How did you know these are my favorite?” she asks, sitting them to the side.

I grin and pull out the dishes, “I have my ways.”Focusing on the task at hand, I sit out the sliced Italian loaf, fresh mozzarella, prosciutto, and sliced tomatoes.

“Would these happen to be the same ways that you got into my house?” she asks.

I don’t look up at her but I don’t have to, I can hear the humor in her voice. Once I finish setting everything up perfectly I sit back and answer her. “Yup,” I say popping the ‘p.’

She grins and looks down at the food I’ve arranged. “What do we have here?” she asks, inspecting the food.

“Italian loaf, prosciutto, mozzarella, and tomatoes,” I respond trying to gauge her reaction. I remind myself to never have my mom set up a picnic for me again, obviously this stuff is too basic.

“I’m a little nervous,” she says after a while, “I’ve never had fresh mozzarella or prosciutto before.”

I smile, maybe I was too hard on my mom’s idea. “Well you’re in luck because they’re both delicious.”  

I fix her a combination of the ingredients and hold it out for her to taste. She’s apprehensive at first but finally leans forward and takes a bite of the concoction. I watch her expression carefully and notice the changes in her. She goes from unsure to curious and finally to acceptance.

“It’s really good,” she says with a smile before leaning forward to eat the rest out of my hand.

Her soft lips lightly graze my fingers and we both gasp at the sparks that ignite in that one little touch. She flies back to a sitting position like my fingers are on fire and eats her food slowly, cautiously. I can see the wheels in her head turning, trying to figure out what it is between the two of us. I want so badly just to tell her. Just to blurt it out and finally get it over with. But I don’t. We aren’t at a stage where our being mates would even matter to her. She grew up a human therefore the only relationship she’ll be comfortable with is one that goes at a human’s pace.

            I’m about to make myself a slider when she stops me and makes it herself before holding it up to my lips. The little smirk on her face is making her right dimple come out and I poke it as I take the entire slider in my mouth.

We continue with this back and forth of feeding each other until all that’s left is one tiny bite. I take it into my mouth along with her finger. Her eyes widen and I snicker slightly as I play with the tip of her index. Running my tongue over it slowly, sucking it lightly and nipping the end before letting it go. She slips it ever so carefully from my mouth and I can hear her breathing raggedly, making me smile.

            “How was that?” I ask her, my smile still cocky as I put everything back in the basket.

“Brilliant,” she whispers touching her finger to her bottom lip.

I feel myself harden at the sight. That same fucking finger was just in my mouth a second ago and now she’s trailing it along her juicy lip. I swallow hard and grab my wine to take a gulp. I have to get myself together I have one more surprise in store for her.

“I had this entire day planned. We were going to go on a picnic in the park and watch the sunset together until nightfall and then we’d lie out and look at the stars.”

Her eyebrows raise. “Smooth,” she teases.

I wiggle my brows at her and press a button on the machine set up beside the basket. Hundreds of tiny stars shoot into the air and cover the ceiling. While her attention is on them, I blow the candles out and lie back on the sheet. To my delight she lays right next to me and after a while places her head on my chest. The content feeling I get from having her by my side like this is like nothing else. The only time I’ve ever felt this complete is when I’m in wolf form, running through the forest.

“This is the best date I’ve ever been on,” she whispers.

“Good. I like being the best, I like being the only even more.” I bite my lip after I say it not meaning to almost reveal my hand.

She stiffens and I can’t hear her breathing anymore. “I went out on a sort of date yesterday with a co-worker. It was just to the movies but…yeah.”

I feel my heart sink at her admission. I already knew about the outing but to hear it was a date saddens me. However, I’m elated that she told me the truth regardless of me already knowing. “I’m glad you told me.”

She physically relaxes and snuggles closer to my side making my heart clench. “I am too. It was driving me crazy not saying anything. Thank you for not getting angry.”

I grimace thinking about earlier today. She’s right I wasn’t angry, I was fucking livid and I want to tell her so but instead I settle for, “You’re welcome.”

We lay in silence for a while neither of us wanting to break the peaceful silence in the room.

“Ever since I can remember, I’ve had really weird dreams. They started when I was seven years old; we lived in Colorado then, in a house in the woods. In the dream, these men came to the house. All of them had very dull skin and bright shimmering eyes. One of them knocked on the door and as soon as my mother answered and saw who they were she turned to me and told me to run. As much as I didn’t want to, it was like my body moved on its own accord and forced me to move. I could hear what sounded like snarls from a dog behind me and lots of screaming but I couldn’t look back, I just kept running. I ran for what felt like hours until I reached civilization and then a pain like nothing I ever felt shot through my chest. As quick as it came, it left and I was able to stop running. The need that I felt to be obedient to my mother’s command was gone so I finally turned around to where I came from. It was as if I hadn’t moved at all in the time I had been running because when I turned around I was still in the backyard of the house only it was on fire,” she breathes the last word sadly and holds me tighter. 

I blink rapidly at the information she just revealed and my brow furrows.

“What did you do after?”

“I told my mom about it,” she shrugs, “We moved by the end of the week and from there we moved all around until I turned sixteen and settled down here.”

My mind is racing and turning with all of the possibilities as to why an Alpha female would be on the run with her child and why in the hell vampires would put that fear in her.

            “Wow,” is all I can manage to say.

She sprawls he fingers out on my abs and lightly moves them individually. The slight action is driving me crazy with want and I’m thankful when she stops.

“I only told you because you asked me Thursday why I was awake. That’s why, the dreams only stop when you're here.”

I wrap my arm tighter around her hoping to make her feel safe.

“It’s a recurring dream?” I ask, feeling the comfort from being in her arms and the settling of our meal too much, I’m getting sleepy.

She stiffens again before sighing and relaxing. “No,” she says warily, “I have different ones. Sometimes they recur until-”

I scoot back and lift her chin so that she looks at me, “Until what?”

She bites her lip nervously looking around until her honey eyes fall on mine, “Until they happen.”

I can see the fear in her eyes and it makes my heart clench. I pull her back into my arms and hold her tighter than before making mental note to ask my grandmother about this once I get home.    

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A/N

I’m literally SO blown away! Sunday I was at 27 reads after I had to change some things around and now, just 3 days later I’m at 54! That’s more than I had initially! I know the number seems small but I’m literally SO happy! I squealed when I saw it lol Plus I have a new follower so S/O to Dream_Craziness thank you for the follow and I hope I don’t disappoint!

Now for story related business…

Awake is a little different from your normal werewolf story. When mates meet they do have the customary moment where the word, “Mate”, leaves their lips just because I think it’s too darn cute! But, they don’t have the insane I want to maul you immediately urge that I’ve read in some books lol I wanted my characters to have a little self-control XD

ALSO….

The customs growing up in werewolf packs in Awake are at the age of 16 if you haven’t mated with your mate, you take part in a ceremony where you inhale and ingest a mix of Magic (Alpha and other elders praying to the moon goddess), Wolfsbane, and Marigolds (said to be toxic to Weres but not in my book), to activate your wolf. Karter went through this ceremony however Dylan did not, she grew up as a normal human girl. In Awake your werewolf side never fades, it just waits under the surface until the ceremony happens OR you meet and mate with your mate.

ALSO….

Karter and Dylan will have insecurities. I know in most books the Alphas are self-assured and completely confident but in Awake, Karter will have moments where he doubts himself. Dylan will also have moments of self-doubt like any other person would. To me, those are the things that make the characters more relatable and realistic. However, with Dylan she won’t be weak, naïve, or stupid. Those are the three things I can’t stand to read about in any book of any genre. BOO! WEAK FEMALE LEADS! Lol Sorry I had a moment there! 

Anywho, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter I wanted to make it a little longer in thanks for the reads! The next will be up soon and even sooner if these reads keep going up the way that they are! This A/N is long enough so PLEASE… Share the story with your friends, Vote, Comment (I’d love feedback), and Fan me!

Once again thank you all so much,

WBN