You're Mine

16: Worth It

     "Of course I accept you, Rose. Every second of this is worth it and I would choose this forever with you. Why would you ask me that?" Zander returned my question.

"I just... I don't know," I responded. I didn't want to anger Zander again by bringing up Christian again, but his comments this morning had been replaying in my head all day. "I know that when two wolfs meet they usually know they are mates, but it took you a while to even be able to tell me that and I'm still figuring out the role it plays in everything going on," I started before pausing briefly.

"Rose, what are you thinking? You can tell me anything," Zander encouraged me.

"I just know that sometimes this whole process you're talking about can happen in just a single day and here we are talking about taking the next step happening months after the first step," I said without looking up from my hands on his leg. "I know that can have really negative effects for you and can even hurt you and I just don't want to do that. So I guess I just wasn't sure if it was all worth it for you," I told him.

"How would you even know that? Who told you that? I know it wasn't Sapphire or Kobe. Oh my gosh, did Christian say something like that to you?" I didn't look up. "Rose, look at me," I did what he said. "Did Christian say that to you?" he asked. I nodded slightly. "Rose I promise, I have never been happier in my entire life. I'm not rushing any of this, I promise. It's in my nature to go faster, sure, but it's nothing I can't handle. I would take being exactly where I am right now with you for the rest of my life over spending any of my future apart from you."

"Are you sure?" I asked him hesitantly.

"I'm positive, Rose," he said with so much love in his voice. But then I felt his energy shift as his body clenched anger painted his face. He slammed his fist against the steering wheel and I cringed. "I don't know what Christian is doing, but it's over," he said harshly. I hadn't seen him get this angry especially this quickly.

"Zander, I promise it's okay. I just wanted to make sure you were comfortable and happy with where we are," I clarified.

"Rose, look at me," he said turning towards me as he put the truck in park in the driveway in front of his house. He grabbed my face gently and whispered, "of course I want more with you. I'm probably going to want more with you every single time I look at you for the rest of my life no matter how fast or slow we go right now. It's okay, it's normal, and the attraction isn't even exclusive to me as your mate, you are truly just attractive and desirable anyways," he explained. He took a deep breath and then continued, "of course, my feelings for you are amplified because we are mates and I feel all of it. But your comfort and happiness is worth the wait," he exclaimed as his lips formed a small smile. "And it will be worth the wait when we have to explain to your mother that we are getting married and having babies and why you're not working a regular job that she expects. That's all happening so soon and on the human timeline, it won't make sense. Then," he paused, "if you choose to become like me, you'll have to go away for a little while as you transition and when you come back, you'll be a little different, if you choose that. I'm trying to go slow with you now because I know that it's all going to feel so fast here soon to everyone around us and I just want you to be happy," he explained. "I want you to be able to hold on to all of the pieces of your humanity that you want. That's worth going slow to me," he added.

"I see," I paused and looked at him, "and I understand. Thank you for that. I need you to know that I'm happy as long as I'm with you and I'm ready to take on all of it," I smiled at him.

Zander jumped out of his seat and ran around the truck to open my door and hold me close as I stepped down. I looked up to see a gorgeous cabin made of dark logs bigger than any I'd ever seen before. "Wow, this is beautiful," I told him. The whole property was surrounded my forest and despite the size of the house, it almost seemed to be a part of the wilderness.