Brayden

26 A Mate*

"So... what are you in college for?" She asks as we sit in the diner.

"Lawyer currently." I answer her as I take a bite of my steak and eggs. I do love breakfast for dinner.

"Currently? What else have you studied?" She asks.

"Well, I have a degree in social work and one in psychology. I was able to test out of a few classes. I took as many as I could each semester, even summer classes. I want to help pups like we did this week. Get them out of the system and into a pack." I explain to her, and her jaw drops.

"You are more than I ever expected." She tells me.

"So I'm not a pup?" I ask, teasing her a bit.

"Maybe... I'm not sure." She says, biting her lip. Oh no! I can't handle this.

"Stop." I growl.

"What?" She asks, still biting her dang lip.

"This." I sigh, running my thumb across her lip to pull it from her teeth.

"Sorry." She whispers, her breath catching. "It's getting late."

"It is." I agree.

"Maybe we should find somewhere to stay the night." She suggests, and my heart starts to race.

"What are you suggesting, Chelsey." I ask, not wanting to read too much into the suggestion.

"That we get a hotel, mate." She answers.

"Check, please!" I immediately call to the waitress.

We make it to the hallway in front of our room before she begins kissing me. I feel my canines elongate, ready to pierce her skin.

"Chelsey... I don't know if I can." I whisper. My teeth scratching her neck. "I want to mark you too badly."

"Do it. I don't need a ceremony. Make me yours for the rest of our lives." She tells me, and I don't waist a moment to mark her. I never thought I'd elope, but I'm happy for.. oh my! Before I can finish my thoughts, she sinks her teeth in.

"Mine!" I growl tearing open the door and throwing her in.

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

I wake up to the feeling of fingers tracing shapes on my chest.

"Morning, mate." Chelsey whispers, kissing my cheek.

"Morning." I say with a grin, looking down on my beautiful mate.

"Do you still need to take me back to my sector?" She asks.

"No... but don't you want to say goodbye? Get some things?" I ask her.

"I guess... or you could take me home and have the Alpha get someone to send my stuff." Chelsey suggests.

"Alpha... Crap Ari!" Oh no, he's gonna kill me!

"What's wrong?" She sits up, giving me a worried look.

"Well... Ari... Alpha Aaron... he's been kinda like a dad to me. He also is the one that told me about mates and mates ceremonies and will likely rip my head off when he finds out we eloped." I explain.

"Won't he be happy for us?" She asks.

"Yeah, he'll be happy we found each other, but he'll be disappointed in me for not waiting and having a ceremony. He's kinda old fashioned." I say.

"At least we marked each other before we mated. We just didn't do the big ordeal. It's like getting married at the courthouse. We still did it right." She argues.

"Maybe... but Ari wanted to be there for me. He'll get over it eventually, but he won't be happy about it." I say.

"Come on. I'm sure it won't be that bad. I mean, he loves you, right? He should just be happy for you." She says, standing up. "Let's get ready and head back. I'm sure it won't be as bad as you think.

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

"Hi ya, pup!" Clay greets me as we walk up to the pack house. "Thought you were dropping the girl home."

"Slight change of plans Clay... I'm taking her home with me." I say and he cocks his head to the side. I think he caught sight of my mark on Chelsey because his jaw drops.

"Tell me you didn't!" He says walking over to me and grabbing the collar of my shirt. He pulls it aside to see Chelsey's mark. "Well... I guess Congratulations are in order but dang boy! Do you have no self control?"

"We've known each other over a week." I tell him.

"Yet you told no one you were mates the entire time and then ran off to God knows where to mark each other! I'm happy for you, Bray, but I would have liked to be there for you... I'll clear Aaron's schedule. I have a feeling your talk with him will take longer... it was nice to meet you..."

"Chelsey." She finishes for him and he nods shaking her hand.

"I'm Beta Clayton. Good luck." And with that, he's gone, and I lead her to Ari's office.

"Come in, Bray." Ari says as soon as I knock. "Clay linked me that you had something to tell me... and you knocked, so it must be big."

"Well, Ari... I'd like to introduce you to my mate, Chelsey." I say, leading her over to him.

"It's nice to..." he starts holding a hand out to shake, then turns to me. "You marked her."

"Yes, sir." I respond.

"Recent." He says.

"Last night." I affirm.

"Mated?"

"Yes."

"Before?"

"No, I marked her first."

"Ceremony?"

"She didn't want one."

"You?"

"I'm just glad she accepted me."

"Happy?"

"Extremely."

Ari sighs and sits back down at his desk. Chelsey just kept bobbing her head back and forth, trying to track our conversation. Many people don't get it when Ari starts his one word questions.

"I'm glad you found each other, and I'm happy that you are happy... will you at least let me throw a party for you to celebrate?" He asks after a moment.

"Of course, Ari... I didn't mean to leave you out of it... it just kinda happened." I tell him.

"Now, what's with this, 'I'm just glad she accepted me.' Were you going to reject him?" Ari asks Chelsey, and she gulped.

"Ummm... Alpha... sir...." she stammers. She is so scared I can smell it. I take her hand in mine and answer for her.

"When we first met Chelsey being 20, thought I was too young for her. She nearly rejected me, yes, but she got to know me and decided against it." I explain.

"My mate is 5 years younger, and I never considered rejection... why were you so concerned with two years?" Ari asks.

"It... it's different for girls, sir... I thought he'd be too immature. I was wrong. It's odd for the woman to be older, but now I think it doesn't matter when you find the right person." She explains, never looking up.

"Well spoken, miss Chelsey, and believe me, we've all been deceived by little Brayden's age. He's very different from most young men his age." He responds, causing me to breathe a sigh of relief. "Oh, and your party is tonight at my house. Clayton, EV, their mates and children are coming. Also, I invited Eric, and he is ticked thst you didn't say anything when you two met. Good luck with that, pup!" Ari grins at me.

"Oh, and one more question, Bray."

"Protection?" He asks. This one takes me a minute to get. My face turns red before answering.

"No."

"Good luck with that." He says as he leaves the office.

Well crap!