Unforgivable

III. One Step Closer - Part 13 - Give Me A Reason

Sage didn't know what had happened, but Mara had literally fled his room once they'd finished making love. And since then, she had been avoiding him. This left him completely confused and unable to concentrate on his work. When Aaron suggested that they go for a run, he accepted straight away, hoping that this would help him to clear his mind and to understand why this perfect morning had turned out so badly. Had he done something wrong? If so, he wanted to know what it was so he wouldn't do it again, and also to be able to apologize because it wasn't voluntary.

As they jogged along, they were joined by Amaia and Orion. When they paused to drink from the river that ran through the pack's territory. And as soon as they stopped, Amaia and Orion opened a mindlink between the four of them and bombarded Sage with questions about what had happened to make Mara act so weird. Indeed, they had found Mara very troubled this morning.

"I have no idea. I was hoping you could enlighten me. Didn't she tell you anything?" Sage asked them.

"No. She has completely shut down." Amaia replied.

"Yeah. It's been a long time since I've seen her like this." Orion confirmed.

"Fuck... I screwed up, didn't I? If only I knew what I did..." Sage sighed.

"Tell us what happened, maybe together we can figure out what happened." Aaron offered.

"It was perfect. I woke up with her in my arms and we were both surprised to feel sparks between us again. So we decided to explore how it felt, you know to feel sparks everywhere. And then she ran out of my room without a word, without any explanation." Sage related.

"That doesn't make any sense..." Orion commented.

"I don't get it." Aaron added.

"I know... It's driving me crazy. Where did I go wrong?!"

"Something else must have happened. Aren't you forgetting something? Why were you able to feel the sparks you no longer felt? What changed?" Amaia commented.

"She told me she loved me for the first time... She accepted our bond verbally. But she was happy to feel the sparks when she woke up. Do you think the sparks were too intense when we made love?" Sage asked them, desperate to understand.

Under any other circumstances Aaron would have burst out laughing and couldn't help but tease Sage about what he just said but this wasn't the time, not when his best friend was so anxious.

"No, I don't think so." Amaia replied.

"Let us talk with her and we'll tell you what we find out." Orion added.

"Let's go home then." Sage added before cutting the mindlink and running towards the pack house.

Once near the house, All shifted back into their humans. Aaron felt bad for his best friend, as he noticed that Sage was so preoccupied that he didn't realize he had his shirt on backwards. He pointed it out to him before they entered the pack house. Taking off his shirt, Orion immediately noticed something Sage had forgotten to mention.

"Something did happen and you didn't tell us!" Orion muttered before running inside.

"What!" Sage frowned, looking to Amaia for an explanation.

"Don't look at me. I have no idea what he saw." Amaia shrugged before following Orion.

Sage and Aaron looked at each other and followed behind Amaia. Orion's scent led them to the wing where their offices and their fathers' offices were located. The door to Sage's father's office was open, and with their keen ears, they could all hear the exchange between Mara and her Gamma.

"You almost marked him! You can do more than just use your wolf claws! You'll be able to shift once you're marked, I'm sure of that, Mara!" Orion said excitedly to her, completely forgetting the troubled state she was in.

"Orion..." She sighed.

Amaia joined them in the office while Sage and Aaron preferred to stay outside and listen from a distance. It was a good thing the whole wing was soundproofed.

"Why are you so worried about this Mara. Talk to us." Amaia begged her, coming to kneel beside her.

"I have...." Mara began before sighing and continuing, "I'm always in control but not there. It was so good, so right... And I almost lost control. And if you were right, Orion, if I could really shift... Can I have control over her when as a human our barrier is unclear. Will she be able to handle our thirst for blood and revenge? The pack doesn't need a bloodthirsty monster."

"Out. All of you out." Sage ordered entering the office.

Orion and Amaia nodded before leaving the office and closing the door behind them.

"I don't think your wolf is a bloodthirsty monster... You're both in control of this body, you'll be in control of your wolf's too."

"We don't know that until I shift." Mara denied it.

Sage took a few steps to close the gap between them, hugging her before sitting down on the couch in the office.

"Trust yourself like I trust you baby." He said to her before kissing the crown of her hair.

"I'm scared..." She whispered so low that if it wasn't for his keen hearing he wouldn't have been able to hear her.

"I am here for every step, for every decision. You are not alone. If you want to try to shift I'll be there, we could even go to neutral territory if you're worried about the pack. Or you can also decide not to shift and I'll support you too. I love you just the way you are, with your two personalities." Sage explained to her.

"Thank you Sage." Mara declared, giving him sa hug in return.

She sat up suddenly as she felt something poking in her stomach. Her eyes had changed, Mara Vengeful was there, a playful look on her face.

"What is that I can feel, Alpha?" She asked him with a sly smile.

"To be honest, knowing you almost marked me is a huge turn on. You want to check by yourself how thrilled I am with this news." He challenged her, loving her playfulness.

She brings her face close to his, their lips brushing, "I think I should. Afterwards it must be painfully hard to be in this state. I should probably give you a hand."

He hissed with pleasure as he felt her hand slide down his hard member.

"I thought I did something wrong. I was so worried, Baby!"

"Sorry my Alpha, maybe you should punish me..." She murmured languidly then bit his lower lip.

He growled, the idea was tempting but not here... Not in his father's office and not knowing his parents who would find a way to return the favour with much delight.

"As much as I like the idea, I don't want to do it here. I want to mark you in a more private place where no one will come and disturb us."

"You don't know everything about me." Mara warned him.

"In that case, tell me everything I need to know because I want to mark you. I don't have the patience to wait any longer... The next time we have sex if my wolf takes over, we'll mark you and I don't want to fight him for it, so I'll let him do it without regrets." He said honestly.

"Let me show you then." Mara added, running her fingers over his temples.

Suddenly he felt overwhelmed by her memories. After a few minutes and when she had finished sharing everything with him, he finally opened his eyes and looked at her from a different angle, astonished.

"Wow, you are just extraordinary." He whispered.

He cleared his throat and added in a firm, determined tone, "Our room now!"

"Make me!" She challenged him, her eyes full of arousal.

He grunted his approval, stood up holding her, placed his hands on her ass, and ran to his room.