The Pup's Mate

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Three

Arielle's POV

"So?" I prompted, sitting cross-legged in front of him as he sat down on the edge of the bed with his warm orbs staring back at me.

Until today, the thought of him as my mate still gave me the creeps. I was totally not expecting this to happen.

"Where do you want me to start?" He asked, while I zoomed out of the picture and began to searching through my memory of the part which I wanted him to explain.

Yes, that's right. The day when I first met him.

Clearing my throat, I swallowed my saliva in nervousness. "When the day we first... met." I murmured, feeling blush creeping up to my cheeks as I looked away.

I was expecting myself to meet my mate soon, not in this situation where we had met before. So to me, it was rather strange.

His hands clasped over mine as he smiled at me, his eyes twinkling in happiness. "When I first met you, I couldn't believe that you were my mate. It was shocking that my mate was still fourteen years old at that time. But, I embraced the age gap between us and waited for this day to arrive."

"Then why didn't you tell me? Why did you keep me in the dark?" I asked, my lips quivering as tears welled up in my tear ducts, threatening to fall anytime soon.

His rough thumb reached for my left cheek as he brushed away a tear which had escaped. "I'm sorry, Arielle." He said, bringing my hand to his lips as he gently kissed my knuckles.

"I didn't want you to get hurt, for fear of losing you. As we weren't in the same pack, it was going to be hard for me to see you. So, I chose to suffer alone." He whispered, pulling me into his arms swiftly.

Wrapping my arms around his waist tightly, I let out tears which I had been holding for so long. Just right there and then, I had exploded into a million pieces. So, did he.

Curling my fingers into a fist, it made contact with his hard chest as I cried. "You moron, why did you have to suffer alone? Why didn't you tell me?" My voice which was muffled by tears came out unstably as I continued crying in his arms.

At this moment, I finally realised that I had always belonged in his arms. Just like how his arms comforted me or when he simply embraced me at the porch, secretly behind the eyes of our parents and his sisters.

His fingers raked across my brown waves as he wiped away my tears. "Don't cry, baby. It's all my fault." He cooed, planting a chaste kiss on my forehead.

I nodded, slowly calming down as I was held in his arms.

When I had made sure that my crying was done, I pulled away and turned around, quickly wiping away my tears with the strength I could muster.

Arms wrapped around my waist as I gasped in surprise. "I have been wanting to do this for a long time." He whispered, burying his head deeper as he took in my scent.

Being surrounded by fried chicken and salted fish, did I even smell that good?

"Yes, you will always smell this good." He answered, as though reading my thoughts. Wait, did I say that out loud? "Yes, you did, babe." He answered again, kissing his way up my neck before turning me around to face him.

"How about a cuddle?" He suggested, kissing each of my cheeks which must have turned red like tomatoes right now. I was blushing, he must have noticed that.

I nodded, feeling myself being pulled into his embrace as I laid beside him with an arm wrapped around my waist. I liked this feeling, so comfy and cosy with my mate.

But I didn't want things to progress too quickly at the point where I had to complete the mating process with him. How should I tell him so as not to make things too awkward?

"Tristan." I called out, gaining his attention as his eyes flickered from his fingers brushing through my brown waves to my eyes. "Yes?"

I gulped, biting my inside cheeks as I chuckled slightly. "Can we... take things slowly?" I asked, facing downwards as wisps of my hair covered my face.

The tomatoes on my cheeks must have multiplied the redness by now. It was such an embarrassing topic to bring up. I was going to go bonkers really soon.

His fingers tilted my chin to face him as he smiled warmly, chuckling deeply at my words. "Don't cower in front of me, babe. I don't like to see you doing that." He chided in a jokingly manner while I pursed my lips into a thin line and nodded slowly.

"And to answer your question, we will only move on to the next stage if you are ready for me. But, please don't take too long, your heat may come faster than expected." I nodded at his words, slowly digesting what he was saying.

Mom had mentioned before that the heat was a terrible process for her and she really disliked it. She had went through that when she was with dad. So, the only way to avoid the heat was to complete the mating process with my mate.

I hated the thought a lot. I was really, really insecure when it comes to my body. Perhaps, because I wasn't born to be flawless. "Don't worry, when the time comes, it will be just me and Al gaining control. Tristan won't be able to see anything." Nat reassured my insecure thoughts, giving me a grin.

"Shall we sleep now or do you want to go to the porch instead?"

A/N _ Love this chapter a lot XD Who loves Tristan? *raises hands*

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