Alone Until I Met You (Completed)

(15) The Mark and Extreme Pillow Fight

After restlessly tossing and turning in the bed for most of the night I finally got fed up and judging by the constant streaming of curses coming from the living room I could tell that Colt was just as mad. Without putting too much thought into it I grabbed the remaining pillow off of the bed and made my way over to the door. I didn’t even try to be stealthy or anonymous as I swung the door open and marched over to the couch where my mate was lying.

His head shot up at the sound of me coming near him and instantly he started growling. Before he could growl out any unwanted words at me I pulled back my arm that was holding the pillow threw it right at his face. Since my attack was completely unexpected Colt didn’t even think to bring his arm up to block it and it hit its mark head on.

“If you would have told me the reason why I wasn’t allowed to kiss you then I wouldn’t have done it and we wouldn’t have had to go through this big fuss.” Because I was sleep deprived my words came out bitter and louder than I had initially planned but I didn’t let it stop me.

“Maybe if you opened up and told me what was going through that brain of yours I wouldn’t have to pull stupid stunts to figure it out on my own, but no. You have to be Mr. Secretive and keep me in the dark on everything!” Colt started to rise from the couch with his fists tightly clenched to his side and face drawn in a threatening snarl but I continued to let the pent up rage flow out of me. “You knew I was your mate from the moment you saw me in the forest. You knew and you’ve been keeping it a secret from me from that very moment and then you have the nerve to call me untrustworthy.”

I could feel the angry tears that started to collect in my eyes and I got even angrier. “You’re the one that can’t be trusted Colt, not me. You’re the one that pissed off Kirk in the first place, you’re the one that let me follow you back to the city and you’re the one that is lying to Jackie about Hailey still being alive!”

Colt froze and stiffed at that last remark and I immediately wished that I could take it all back. I watched with a tight chest as his frown on his face deepened before he lowered his head towards the ground. His shoulders sagged ever so slightly while his fists tightened and untightened as he tried to decide which mood to take.

My throat felt tight and dry as I looked over him. His hair was ragged from tossing and turning all night and there had been purple bags under those brilliant green eyes. I felt a strange pain echo through my chest and then ring throughout my body. Did I hurt his feelings? I wondered.

Cautiously I took a small step closer to him and stretched my hand out towards him but before I could so much as scrap the surface of his skin her jerked away. My eyes shot up towards his face in an effort to read it but I was suddenly blinded by white pillow.

The pillow had caught me so off guard and had hit my face with such force that it made me lose my balance for a moment. I stumbled on my feet for a second while the pillow fell into my outstretched arms. I blinked up at Colt with both confusion and shock only to see him raising his own pillow up and swinging it at me.

Managed to maneuver my body so that it was only a partial blow but it still made me lose a little bit of balance. “Colt what are you doing?” I yelled out at him.

He tightened his grip on his pillow as he took another swing this time hitting me in the shoulder. “You’re the one who started this damn pillow fight so I am simply following your lead!”

I did a quick duck before the pillow could touch the side of my face. “Colt you’re not making any sense.”

“I’m not making any sense? You’re the one that’s speaking gibberish.” The pillow twisted under his hand when it swung back to his side. “How can you stand there and accuse me of being untrustworthy? I’ve done nothing without taking in account your safety first. You follow me out of the forest I put you up in a place I know I can protect you in, Kirk finds out your my mate I make you leader of a pack, you make us officially mated and I sleep on the couch so that I don’t Mark you. So what if I’ve kept a few secrets along the way you should have had faith in me.”

“I’m going to save this Mark thing for a minute so that I can talk some sense into that thick dominate skull of yours.” I dug my nails into my own pillow and took a swing at his nasty mug. He back stepped it to dodge my attack so I advanced and swung again with a growl this time hitting him in the chest. “I followed my mate out of the forest because I was tired of being alone, you made me leader of the pack without even running it by me first, and you still haven’t justified your reason for lying to Jackie and Hailey even though she’s been your friend since you were a pup.”

He grabbed my pillow when I went to go and swing again at him and used it as a rope to pull me in. His eyes were narrow and his voice was low as he spoke, “How did you know how long Jackie and I have been friends?”

I rolled my eyes up at the man. “Maybe because she hung out with me all morning and we got to talking about your past.”

His eyebrows lowered and his lips drew back into a snarl, “My past isn’t something that you should be sticking your nose in.”

I tugged my pillow out of his grip and took a step back. “Why can’t I learn about my own mates past? Are you worried that I might find out about you being leader of the Blackpaw clan? Or maybe that you and Kirk had been more like brothers than friends? Or maybe I’ll find out about how you got all of those scars on your chest? Is that what you’re worried about?”

I swung my pillow at him again only to have him swing his at the exact same moment canceling my move out. “You want to know how I got these scars? Fine I’ll tell you, after Hailey died everything went south. Kirk started a damn mutiny on me and the entire pack turned on their own Alpha, after that he locked me up in a cell for a year and literally ripped me apart. Imagine having everyone that you’ve known since you were a child come down into that cellar and tare the skin right off of your bones!”

I could feel my anger vanish with a snap, “Colt.”

“Shut up. I don’t need your pity Allie, I really don’t.” He took another swipe at me with his pillow but at misjudged the distance and missed me. “When Kirk realized that he wasn’t being satisfied with my beatings he let me go. At first I thought he had let me go because he remembered that I had been his friend. It wasn’t until I started dating again that I realized just how wrong I was.”

I cocked an eyebrow at him, “You started dating?”

He growled. “Of course I started dating. I was a rogue, I was alone, and I had no place to go. I met this one human at the bar and we ended up dating for three months until Kirk found us out and killed her. That’s when I knew that he would never leave me alone. After a while I thought that it would be best to just run away but then I end up finding you. In the middle of nowhere mind you with some black wolf stalking you in the nearby brushes.”

Gradually while he was talking his raised voice had lowered until it was almost down to its normal tone. “I don’t regret saving you from that wolf Allie, I really don’t and I’m not even mad that you followed me here, but I am pissed that I don’t have the means to protect you and sometimes it gets me so riled up that I can’t think straight. If I told Jackie that Hailey was really dead she would nag me nonstop for answers and truthfully I’m not ready to give them to her yet.”

The worry and sadness that filled his eyes had me dropping my pillow to the floor and running towards him. Before he could reject me or anything else I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my face into his scarred firm chest.

“You have every right to keep something like that to yourself and I am so sorry that I pried it out of you but Colt, you’ve been protecting me more than anybody else ever has. There is no reason for you to be mad at something like that and I know you don’t want me to say this but I am so sorry Colt.” I whimpered into his chest. “I’m sorry that I’ve made life difficult for you and I’m sorry that I haven’t been listening-

He pulled his chest away from head slightly and brought his hand to my chin. Slowly he lifted it up until I was facing him. The cool green eyes that were starring back into mine didn’t hold an ounce of hatred or anger in them and instead they were filled with something much warmer. He lowered his face down to mine until his warm breath heated the surface of cheeks.

“Allie,” He said calmly, “Stop apologizing.”

I could feel tears building up in my eyes and the back of my throat. “But I really am-

His smile stopped me dead in my tracks. It was such a slow easy smile that somehow completely transformed him. His eyes sparkled warmly and his featured softening into something comforting but still powerful. The long jagged scar that marked the side of his face almost vanished against the brilliance of his smile.

“An Alpha doesn’t apologize to her Beta,” He said teasingly before leaning down to place his lips onto my cheek. He pulled away from my cheek before I the warm tingling feeling I had gotten from his kiss could reach my stomach. I frowned up at my mate as he grinned mischievously down at me. “Now I think we were in the middle of doing something before we got into our little moment.”

Before I could even raise an eyebrow at him he leaned back and slammed his pillow into the side of my face. I yelled playfully at the sudden attack and shoved him down to the couch before running for my own discarded pillow. He growled at me from behind and started to chase. I skipped to a halt to where my pillow was and scooped it up quickly before making a dash for the kitchen.

I could hear Colt’s grunt of approval when I spun around the kitchen table and used it to keep him at a distance. His wolfish eyes flashed their gorgeous gold color as he smiled over at me. “You think a small table is going to hold me back?”

My eyes flashed from the table to his face and the smile on my face started to waver. “You wouldn’t dare.”

A wolfish grin spread across his hard lips as he grabbed ahold of the bottom of the table and flipped it off to the side. “Ah but I most certainly would.”

I let out a scream in between my fits of laughter as I tried to run past him. He went to grab me around my waist but I was already swinging my pillow at him. It hit him square in the jaw before the pillow ripped. Soft white feathers flew everywhere and I was momentarily stunned the sudden surprise.

Colt however had almost expected it as he lunged for me with a carefree growl. We rolled around nipping and growling like a pair of new born pups in the mess of feathers. When we finally stopped we were both covered in the white things and breathing heavily.

I rubbed my nose in his neck and took a deep inhale. He still smelled of clovers and fresh rain but a hint of his natural musky smell was starting to seep through and I could help but growl in appreciation. Colt wrapped his arm around my chest and pulled me closer to him. A slow burning fire set flame to my skin at the feel and smell of my mate. I smiled warmly at the tingling sensations sparked up whenever his skin touched a patch of mine.

How had I survived without this man for the last twenty years? I thought suddenly, Why was is that this warm feeling of fulfillment and completion had never stirred inside of me until now? I leaned up on my elbows so that I could look into his emerald eyes and I was suddenly filled with something sizzling hot.

Colt noticed my fiery gaze immediately and laughed roughly to himself before leaning in and brushing his lips against my forehead. I whined when he pulled away from me and he just laughed even more. “For someone who has no clue of what being Marked is you sure have a way of demanding for it.”

Caught off guard by his reference I blinked up at him curiously, “What does it mean?”

Colt reached up with teasing eyes and plucked a feather out of my hair. “What does what mean?”

I frowned at him before lifting up my hand and smacking his away from my hair. “What does being Marked mean?”

“Oh that’s what you were asking about?” He smiled playfully up at me and I feel my heart squeeze painfully in my chest. “You see I’m in a little bit of a dream right now so excuse me for getting a little distracted.”

I rolled my eyes playfully down at him before lowering my head and taking a nip at his chin. He grunted approvingly at my behavior before pressing me back into his chest. I laughed at him trying to keep me confined and took another bite at his expressed chest.

The man’s voice became husky and heated as he whispered warmly into my hair, “If you don’t keep that foxy little mouth to yourself I’m not going to be able to answer your question.”

I smiled as a warm feeling sizzled in my lower abdomen and then slowly nodded against his chest.

“Well,” He grunted out. “Being Mark is what the male does to his mate after they are mated. Some people will just clump the mated kiss and the Mark together as one thing but it is something that deserves its own category. Think of it as a human marriage. The wedding is the mating half of the wolf relationship and the Mark is like the honeymoon.”

I frowned into his chest. “I don’t understand that analogy.”

“That’s right you were a woodies shut in.” He raised his arm up and ran it through his thick dark hair. I glared up at his hand enviously as it moved each perfect strand effortlessly. “Okay well then I guess I’ll just have to say it straight out. You get the Mark after consummated being mates.”

“What?” I blinked up at him questionably and he groaned.

“Why is this so difficult to explain?” He looked heavenwards before slowly returning his eyes back to me. “Once we have pups of our own I’m having you explain this to them.”

Heat rose to my cheeks at the mention of pups. It was almost expected for us to have some but for some reason hearing him saying ‘pups of our own’ had me in a fluster.

“That’s it!” Colt exclaimed as he stared down at my reddened face. “Whatever act you are thinking about for making pups right now, is it.”

My throat tightened as I wiggled uncomfortably against Colt. “You mean mating?”

Colt let his head fall back and hit the floor with a thud. “Why didn’t I think of that word? It is so simple and…anyway whatever. So during the final moments of mating the male wolf will mark his mate with a bite to the neck completing the claim that they are forever together. The Mark shows other wolfs that the female is spoken for or taken.”

Shyly I gazed up at him and asked. “Why can’t you Mark me then?”

Lazily Colt brought his hand up to place on the side of my face. He caressed my cheek bone lightly as he spoke to me. “Right now we still have a small chance of fooling everyone into thinking that we aren’t mated yet. If I were to give you the Mark then everyone would know that we were mated. Basically it’s like we would be posting this news on a giant billboard tempting Kirk to come out and attack us.”

“Oh,” I blinked up at him with a slight disappointment and then I thought about the position we were in right now and instantly started to feel better. “I don’t mind waiting for a little while but in the meantime we can still kiss.”

I went to lean up to kiss him firmly on the lips but he moved his head at the last second and I ended up pecking his chin.

“Actually Allie,” He started out and I felt a lead ball drop in my stomach. “Kissing on the lips is a huge no.”

“What? Why?” I whinnied up at him.

He let of a disheveled sigh and started to move me off and away from him. “Because Allie, it took a kiss on the lips to form a mating bond and it takes a kiss on the lips to start off the Marking.”

******************************************************

I hope that you all enjoyed it :) I know that some people started to hate Colt for that last one and i hope this one brought out his more romantic side. XD Thanks for reading.