Mate

Eleven

The next day, I was waiting on the outskirts of the forest, leaning against a tree and staring at the ground. I sighed and pulled my phone out of my pocket. 11:53 am.

Tucking the phone away, I leaned my head back against the tree and waited in silence. The next seven minutes seemed to pass as slow as hours.

The next time I checked the clock, it was 11:59. I watched as the numbers changed intently. 12:00 pm.

Looking up, I nearly screamed when seeing Julian's big brown eyes inches from my blue ones.

"Fudge nuggets!" I shouted instead. Julian made a face in response to my odd words.

"Fudge nuggets?" He chuckled.

"How long were you there?" I asked, wanting to smack him.

"I just got here," he smirked.

"Don't do that again."

"No promises."

This time I did smack him, lightly. He rubbed where I hit, murmuring a sarcastic 'owie'. He then stood straight.

"Well, have you made your decision?" He asked, getting down to business. I sighed. It wasn't really much of a choice, now, was it?

"I'm staying with your pack. My grandma wanted to stay home," I stated. His eyes lit up and he smiled. "So she's back home packing for me."

I'd already packed most of my things this morning, but set off at 11:30 to meet up with Julian here. Gran said she'd finish packing up for me with a kind smile, but I could tell she was sad that I was leaving by the look in her eyes.

"Great! I'll send my delta to bring your belongings to the pack house immediately," he informed, still smiling like his life depended on it.

"He won't have any power once he passes the gardens outside our house," I warned. "You won't be able to contact him until he leaves. Not unless he has a phone or something of the sort. We have aconite planted."

He nodded. His brown eyes dulled and fogged up as he contacted his third in command. I sighed and wrapped my arms around myself, glancing around.

"Come on," Julian said, snapping me out of my little trance. I looked at him, seeing his hand outstretched to me and a small encouraging smile on his kissable lips. Hesitantly, I took his hand with mine, taking notice of how his hand was bigger and rougher than mine, but not so much so that it nearly swallowed mine. His fingers where long and thin as they wrapped themselves around my hand, sparks shooting up my arm and vibrating through my entire body at the simple touch.

I was fascinated by these small movements as he began leading me into the forest.

•~•~•~•~•

I wasn't much amazed by the pack house. It was large and it was bricked, just like any other house. Except the fact that it was five stories with many, many windows on each floor. The inside was elegant and spacy, but not too much so.

Apparently, there were elevators, as well, by the stairs. Two of them. Julian explained how my room would be on the fifth floor, where his room, his beta's room, his delta's room, and his office and a conference room was. There were a few extra rooms for any visiting alpha's to stay, and he's allowing me to occupy one of them.

"At least until you're comfortable with sharing a room with me..." He'd made sure to add before showing me to my room.

Later, his delta(the green-eyed blondie from the forest, who's name was Dustin) brought me my luggage with a happy grin.

"Luna," he'd greeted. I was definitely not going to be called that. I immediately told him to call me Aspen.

Now I was nearly done unpacking. I pulled the last bits of clothing out of the suitcase, preparing to hang the shirt up on some hangers, but my phone suddenly decided to make itself known by blaring Kesha's 'Blow' at the top of it's nonexistent lungs.

I winced. I'd never much loved Kesha, but Toni had set her as his ring tone when I'd first got the dang thing and would immediately change it back when he realized I'd changed it. He's no loner in that 'Kesha is bae' phase, but I've grown to know when he's calling thanks to her vocals. That, and I'm too lazy to change it.

I picked it up from it's place on the bed and accepted the call, putting it on speaker and continuing to unpack.

"Hey, Toni," I began.

"Where have you been?!?!" He screeched. Monkey poop. I completely forgot about our plans to meet up!

"Toni-"

"We were supposed to meet at Starbucks! I have so much to tell you - get your big butt over here now!" Toni freaked.

"Toni, calm down. I'm sorry! I forgot about the Starbucks thing, I can be there in 30," I promised.

"You better!"

"Love you," I chuckled.

"I love you, too," I could hear the pout in his voice. The phone beeped, signaling that he had hung up.

I quickly finished unpacking and left the room, heading for the elevator.

"Aspen, where are you going?" A voice stopped me.

"Starbucks to meet a friend," I turned to look at Julian. He shook his head.

"You can't just leave. It's dangerous."

"Too bad, I'm going whether you like it or not." I turned on my heel and pressed the down button.

"You best listen to me, little mate." I heard right behind me and jumped.

"No," I said simply, stepping into the elevator when it opened. Turning to face him, I saw that he'd stopped the doors from closing.

"I don't know if you noticed or anything, but you're a witch. A clan of vampires knows you exist and-"

"And who's fault it that?" I retorted, only to be ignored except for a sharp look sent in my direction.

"And I need to know that you're safe at all times."

"I'll be just fine with Toni," I glared. His face went red with fury.

"I don't want you with any other man!" He roared. I shoved him hard on the chest, catching him off guard, and he stumbled back a few steps.

"Good luck keeping me from him," I said coldly as the elevator door slid shut.

~~~

Sorry, this took forever for me to write for some reason. I didn't really know what to do with it so... Tada! Filler. Hope you're enjoying!