Holden's Heart

two | Darkness

"W-What?" The words barrel from my lips before I could stop them. I pull back from him causing a low warning growl to rise from his chest. His arms release me slightly his hand still places on the small of my back as I turn from him.

I wouldn't know if he was actually my mate or not due to the fact that I am 17 and unshifted. A female doesn't shift until she turns the age of 18, my wolf still suppressed.

I shake my head at the possibility of this man being my mate. My face holds an expression of shock as he did earlier.

"How old are you?" My mouth rushes the question out quickly his face holds experiences of a few years my elder.

"Twenty-three." His voice is husky, the sound caressing my ears sending shivers down my body. He pulls me closer again, his scent invading my radius. He smells of fresh rain and mint a striking combination that wraps its talons on me, crushing me, and ripping my breath from my lungs.

A sigh escapes my lips as the heaviness of the day resides on my shoulders. I can't be sure the stranger that sits in front of me is my mate, but I can feel the slight pull of the bond from my awakening wolf.

He notices the change in my demeanor as my shoulders shift forward slightly my form folding in on itself. He takes the hand from my lower back and moves it slightly higher while his other grasps the clothed flesh of my thighs. He scoops me up in a bridal hold and brings me towards the room that he had disappeared to earlier. With a slight push, the door opens, giving way to a medium sized room. A wooden bed holds a mattress covered with dark charcoal grey sheets and matching pillows. Besides the bedside two side tables that hold the color of the dark oak sit stable. A large door adorns the side of the room next to the right table.

The corner of the room holds a matching wooden dresser underneath a curtain-covered window. Besides it, the wall contains built-in shelves that hold books. Next to the shelves, a built-in closet is buried inside of the wall, it holds silver-colored nobs and the doors match the color of the rest of the wood in the room.

He walks towards the bed, placing me on the unmade sheets of the mattress. The bed dips with the weight of my body as he grabs the covers pulling them up to cover my body. He leans forward, placing his cheek against mine he rubs it slowly in a comforting manner before he steps away.

"Sleep." He commands softly his golden orbs of his wolf meeting my blue ocean ones before he closes his eyes and turns on his foot stalking out of the room shutting the door.

The darkness consumes me with the shut of the door, my eyes wander trying to grasp sight of my unknown surroundings. Without my control, a whine escapes my lips while thick tears travel the expanse of my cheeks.

Fear settles in my body shaking my core, causing the whines leaving my lips to become louder begging the man to come back.

My hands shake as my mind plays tricks on me, my uncles face appears in front of me, his devious smile grinning in the corner of the room.

"You'll never escape me Willow." He taunts me from the corner of the room causing a blood-curdling scream to sound from my lips.

In a second my mate's body comes barreling into the dark room, the door thrown open. A stream of light is brought into the room removing my uncle's face as my mate moves closer to my shaking body.

His firm hands scoop me up within seconds of him entering the threshold of the room. He cuddles me to his body his cheek pressed against mine as he smooths my hair down to my head. A rocking motion is felt as he shushes me firmly grasping me in his strong arms.

"Shh, it's okay," He shushes me nuzzling my face to his.

My sobs still rack my body, he situates himself into a laying position, laying me on my side and pulling my back to meet his front. His arms wrap securely around my frame as he continuously shushes me lulling me into a calming state. His words are continuous as I let sleep take me wrapped in his strong arms.