Fate Mate

Chapter 14

We arrived at a small cottage, Nolan's home. It seemed very modest and quaint, nothing like the pack mansion. A miniature garden decorated the front of the house, and the scent of sweet flowers and nectar perfumed the front pathway. Although one hundred different flowers swayed in the gentle night breeze, one flower over-populated the rest: an early purple orchid. 

"This is your house?" My eyes studied every precious spectacle of the exterior.

Nolan nodded. He walked a few steps behind me, allowing me to take my time in examining the little garden that lined the walking path. A peaceful quiet descended over us.  When we reached the front door, Nolan turned a key and welcomed me into his home. We walked into a cozy living room, with a fire already crackling in the fireplace. The fire light illuminated the space, flickering in the glass of picture frames that decorated the walls. 

The house was so... normal. 

Nolan shut the door behind us, and I turned toward him. We stared at each other, searching for any words to fill the empty space between us. I was nervous, and I realized that, maybe, he was nervous too... 

"Your home is beautiful." My compliment sounded lame, but Nolan cracked the smallest, gracious smile. 

"I want you to stay here from now on. I can keep a better eye on you, and it is far safer than the pack house." His words caught me off guard. Stay here? With him?!

"Errkay... I'll need to grab my things from the pack house, but--" 

Nolan cut me off. "No. I already asked Sophia to bring them over tomorrow morning." 

"Thats really not necessary. I don't have many clothes." I might have protested more, but a low growl rumbled from deep in Nolan's chest. I knew when to pick my own battles. 

Silence settled over us once more, but, finally, Nolan quit beating around the bush. "Alright Charlotte," I shivered when he spoke my name. "What do you want to know?"

"Everything." I admitted, and he led us toward a couch across from the fireplace.

"I'll start from the beginning then. Dominic's my twin." 

I almost laughed, "You know, I've actually gathered that much." Anyone that saw the two men standing side by side would have been able to guess it. Nonetheless, one hundred questions begged to be answered in my mind. Chief among them: If he is your twin, why did you force him to live as a rogue?

Nolan let out a huff that might have been his version of a laugh. "I was born first, and he was supposed to follow shortly after, but something went wrong. Once I left  the womb, my mother became very sick. It took her two more days of agony to finally deliver Dominic, but by the time he was out, she was too weak. She died within minutes of giving birth to him."

"I-I'm so sorry..." I didn't know whether to comfort him, but he seemed very composed, so I did not try.

"Apparently, a witch had prophesied my mother's death. Her goodness would perish at the hands of pure evil. The prophecy claimed that Dominic's evil poisoned my mother. I was immediately chosen to be Alpha instead of him, and he became an outcast plagued upon the pack."

My brows furrowed in confusion. My pack had never been one to believe in prophecies, so I couldn't understand why such weight would ever be placed on the words of a witch. "Dominic was a baby! Your father cast out his own son!"

Nolan's eyes narrowed. "You think I don't realize that? I felt his pain from the time we were pups. Because we are twins, Dominic and I are linked in a special way. He has Alpha blood in him, too, so he became a threat to my position. My father repeatedly denied Dominic as his son, and, one day, Dominic decided to become rogue.

But a year after he left the pack, he led an attack on one of my father's patrols. Dominic killed our father." I couldn't detect any remorse in Nolan's unwavering voice. Did their father deserve to die? Did Nolan hate their father, too? 

"So you had to become Alpha?" I asked.

Nolan nodded and leaned back into the couch. "Dominic stays out of my way for the most part. Although, occasionally he will make himself known. He has paid especially close attention to the pack ever since you arrived." Nolan studied me carefully before continuing, "In fact, he is watching the house right now."

"What?!" My head whipped to the windows, but I could only see black.

"Don't worry, he's just looking out for you. After what happened between you and I yesterday, he thinks that I will snap and harm you..." He paused for a moment, his blue eyes meeting mine.

"Will you?" I whispered, but I wanted to know the answer.

"No!" He leaned away from me on the couch, as if offended that I would suggest such a thing. "Charlotte, I have accepted that, somehow, you are my mate. I'd sooner die than cause you any harm." 

"Oh... okay..." Heat rushed to my cheeks, and I quickly tried to change the subject. "Why is Dominic so protective over me?"

"Like I said, Dominic and I are connected. He feels linked to you in the same way that I do." He ran a hand through his dark hair. "And judging by your behavior, I would say that you feel something for him too."

I pursed my lips, considering his words. "I wouldn't say that..." I chose my words carefully. "It's different. With you, I feel so..." I trailed off, realizing that I'd dug myself a verbal hole. There truly wasn't a good way to complete the damn sentence. I crossed my arms against my chest. 

Nolan raised an eyebrow. "I make you feel so what?"

I focused all of my attention on the flames that danced in the fire place, putting on their own little sensual performance. "Nothing." 

Even though I refused to look in his direction, I could hear the smirk on his lips. "Never mind that, just as long as you know that you are my mate and not his." One long moment passed, then a hand reached out to cup my chin. "Look at me Charlotte."

I blinked in surprise but did not resist the gentle tug. Our eyes met, and a thousand butterflies swarmed in my stomach. He was closer now, only a few inches between us on the couch. Every natural instinct screamed at me to close the distance, to lean into his entrancing touch. 

"Now, have I told you everything you want to know?" He asked, while his thumb traced my cheek. 

"No. But that's good enough for now." A mischievous smirk played on my lips, and Nolan let out a half-chuckle before removing his hand from my cheek. The heat of the moment dissipated, but a new comfort settled over us. He extended his arm across the back of the sofa behind me, and it almost reminded me of a something a normal couple would do. 

"How is Abby? That's why you came home early, isn't it?" I couldn't believe that I had forgotten about my friend! 

"No, I was coming home any way because..." He stopped suddenly before continuing, "Abby's birth only made me get home faster."

"Why were you already on your way home?" I prodded, paying attention to how a muscle in his jaw twitched.

"I hated myself for leaving you after what happened. And, well, my wolf was anxious to see you again." 

"Oh." Only his wolf? I knew the comment should have made me happy, but it only reminded me that he did not actually love me. And you don't love him either, Charlie, so shake it off.

"They were able to get the baby out in time, so it is healthy. Abby is still weak, but her body is already healing itself, so she will be fine." Nolan seemed oblivious to my disappointment.

"I have to go see her..." Shame crept into my words. 

"No, the doctor's won't let anyone but Raegan visit her right now." I wanted to ask how he knew, but then I remembered that he and everyone else in the pack could mind link. "Besides, it's getting late. You should get some sleep."

"The second bedroom is not... decent... right now, so you will have to sleep in my room." He added quickly, "I will sleep out here."

"I don't have anything to sleep in," I admitted.

"What's wrong with the clothes you have now?"

"Nothing, it's just..." I looked away sheepishly, "They smell like Dominic."

Nolan growled, and one thousand shivers traveled up my back at the possessive grumble. In truth, he looked like he might shred the clothing off of me at any second. Somehow, the thought didn't scare me. Nolan pulled me up from my spot on the couch and led us through a small hallway. A door opened into a large bedroom. 

My attention turned to the king-sized bed in the center of the room, with a dozen red pillows decorating its surface. I was so preoccupied by Nolan's bedroom that I didn't notice my mate pull his shirt over his head. 

"Put this on," Nolan instructed. I took the shirt from his hand and brought it slightly closer to my nose. Gods, I could bathe in this scent. 

He grabbed a pillow off of the bed, muscles contorting under his skin with every movement, and then turned back toward the door. "Goodnight Charlotte."

I didn't have time to reply before he shut the door behind him. "Goodnight, then." I huffed. 

I found myself almost lost in the large room without him, but eventually I shed all of the clothes that smelled like Dominic and slipped on Nolan's large, dark t-shirt. The t-shirt went down to my thighs and covered me up well, so I decided it was okay to sleep in.

I hesitantly walked over to his bed and slipped the blankets down so that I could get in. Once I was in, I became aware of the fact that this was most-likely the bed that Nolan had once shared with Sarah, and the thought made me want nothing more than to sleep on the floor. However, I made myself focus on other things, and eventually I fell asleep, completely surrounded by my mate's entrancing and wonderful smell.


*****Happy belated Valentines Day! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!  Please don't forget to VOTE and comment and share!! It means the world to me and inspires me to hurry to get more chapters up! 

Let me know if  you all are ready for some sexy tension between our main characters! Now that Nolan has accepted the fact that Charlie is his mate, I'm thinking we should turn up the heat a bit? And, of course, Dominic will likely want to stick his nose into the situation. Yeah?? ******