My eyes slowly fluttered open, and I was looking directly upwards; the sun was trickling in through the vegetation above. I realized My head was laying on something, or someone and that was all it took for the memories of what I saw to rush back to me. I clambered to get my feet under me and shot up off the ground, looking around me almost expecting to see the wolf. But I knew better than that. The wolf I was looking for was sitting on the ground, legs sprawled out, arms extended holding himself up; Jordan.
I began to hyperventilate. Jordan shot up and tried put his arms around me, but I backed away from him.
"Leave me alone!" I yell, tears leaving my eyes.
"Baby, it's okay. I'm not going to hurt you I promise," he reacts to my outburst. He keeps his voice gentle and sweet, but when he sees that I'm still slowly backing away from him tears still streaming his resolve changes. He begins to look at me pleadingly, "Please, baby, I would never hurt you. Please, just come to me and let me explain. You don't have to be afraid. I'm sorry you had to see that, but it was the only way you would believe me. Please, Trisha, please."
For some reason his pleading has an internal pull on me, and I begin to take a step forward, he closes the distance between us and wraps me in his arms. I inhale his fresh, clean, yet woodsy scent with my head pressed against his chest. It instantly calms me, and I can feel his body relax into me as well. This is perfect. HE is perfect.
Up until this point I had made a promise to myself that I was not going to get caught up in another man. I was going to focus on me, my daughter, and my studies. That was it. And even though I have no clue what's going on, right now, right here in his arms I know that he is wheat I want and what I need in my life as well as my daughter's. In this moment right now I feel whole and happy. And it's crazy because 5 minutes ago I was watching him turn into a wolf.
I don't express to Jordan that I didn't think I wanted a relationship at all, and he looks scared for a moment, but I reassure him by saying, "And then there was you, how did you do this to me? You completely broke my resolve. I want to be with you and experience life with you so much that it hurts."
Jordan looks down at me with those beautiful green eyes lined with dark lashes and gives me a warm smile before he begins speaking.
"It's the mate bond. I'm a lycanthrope, or a werewolf as you've probably heard it called, and the goddess who created us, Moon Goddess, also created each of us a unique and perfect love that we will feel an immediate bond to. When you find your mate you have found your one true love, nothing except the love you feel for your children can even come close in comparison. We are mates Trisha. And if you accept me I will forever be bond to you. I will love and cherish you and Tasia, always. I will care for you and protect you and show you what true love feels like. You and I will be happier together than we can ever be with anyone else. We are meant for each other. So, with that being said, Trisha, will you accept the mate bond?"
My mind is racing 100 miles a second, and I don't know if what I'm about to say so the right answer or not, but before I can even collect myself I blurt out, "Yes! Yes, Jordan, I want to be with you!"
He takes me into a bone crushing hug, almost literally. Which is nice, but also kind of hurts a little and I let out a small squeak of pain.
"I'm sorry! I'm not used to having to be so gentle with someone. I've never been with a human before," he says guiltily.
I begin laughing at him, since it really didn't hurt all that much. And I relax into him just to enjoy this moment. I can feel him pulling on the ringlets of my curly hair making them act like a spring, and occasionally rubbing a circle in the small of my back. It was really nice just to be enjoying him in the moment like this. Even though we were just standing there in the middle of the clearing it was the most comfortable I'd been in little while. It was really lovely.
Jordan pulls away keeping his arm around my waist. "Well, I reckon we should probably get you back to Tasia. Even though I think I could stay here with you forever."
"Actually," I say bending down to pick a wild flower, accidentally nudging his thighs with my bottom, "I asked my mom to keep her overnight and she said that was fine. So, we can spend the rest of the day together." I say looking up at him smiling.
When I look into his eyes so I could swear I see them shift from his green to black back to his green again, and it startled me a little making me lean back for a better look. "I-uh- um I think there's something wrong with your eyes, Jordan."
He covers his face with his hands and slides them down his face almost in exasperation. He drags out a groan, before he replies to me.
"No they're fine. It's just my wolf was wanting control of me for a minute there."
"Oh," I say not really getting it. "Well how come?"
His eyes turn dark again, and he yanks me into him sending a shiver down my spine. "Because, mate, you're absolutely fucking perfect, and you doing things like bending over and rubbing against me gets my wolf crazed, because not unlike myself, he wants you. All of you."
His explanation has me blushing so hard my cheeks hurt from the burning sensation, and I hide behind my hair, before I ask him, "But you can control... that side of yourself, right?"
Jordan lets out a sigh before answering, "Well, yeah of course I can for awhile, but the bond you feel with me I feel 5x more because I'm a lycan, and the bond I feel with you my wolf feels 10x more because he's basically my soul. So, yes I can control him and explain to him that you're human, and you're not ready for the mating process yet, and he will stand down for awhile but not for long."
A few questions appear in my mind, so I begin asking him.
"You can talk to him?"
"Yes, in my mind we can speak to each other. I can also speak to other wolves in my pack through what's called the mind link."
"And when you say you can only control him for awhile, how long is awhile?"
He looks at me worriedly and then answers, "Well, it will take a toll on me, but I think I can keep my wolf at bay before he will force me to mate you for a couple weeks, maybe less. But I promise you Trish I will do my very best. I don't want to scare you to to hurt you."
I let out a shaky breath before proceeding with my questions. "What all is the mating ceremony? It can't be just sex if there's a name for it." I say almost scared to hear the answer.
"Well," Jordan begins hesitantly, "So, it includes sex of course, but there's also a couple of other ritualistic things that go into play that make the mate bond true and final. Either before or during making love to you I will mark you. The mark is a bite from my wolf basically, but it will only hurt for a second and then you will feel an extreme pleasure at the time and any time after that I touch it. After I've marked you, and we've made love we will have to announce to the entire pack that we are true mates. They must accept our mating and when they do it will basically be like being married in the human tradition, but a whole lot more exciting."
"That's kind of crazy isn't it," I say. "I mean you have to bite me? I don't know if I'll ever be ready for that."
He laughs but takes my hands into his, "It's not crazy to me because it's how it's always been, but yes I can see where it might be a little weird for you. But I want you to know I would never do anything that would truly hurt you. I just want our bond to be official and for us to be able to be happy together."
When he says this I just know that he's being honest with me. I can't explain it but I literally feel in my body his sincerity. I know without a doubt I can trust him. I feel safe and comfortable around him, and I love it. And I know I will soon come to love him too.
Jordan goes to grab a couple blankets from his truck and lays one out on the grassy field. He helps me to the ground and then covers me with the other blanket, pulling me close to him. He doesn't get under the blankets but I assume it's a wolf thing because I had noticed earlier when we were holding each other close that he was way warmer than me, but didn't look fatigued or ill at all. For the rest of the night we enjoy each other's company; legs entangled, breath mingling, chatting the night away while looking at the stars. I don't think it could get any better than this, unless my daughter was cuddled up with us.
