The Last of White Dawn

Chapter 13: Settling In

"We're not mated Seb." I try a harsher approach to things. As much as I understand, I need him to understand that he's put us at risk and we cannot afford to lose our place here.

"We're not; but I can feel it," he offers, taking a step toward me, his arms reaching out to grasp my wrists. "I wish you could feel it to," he mumbled under his breath.

"Five days Seb," I found myself whispering in response as he drew me into him. His arms wrapped around my shoulders and my hands found their way to his waist. I let him pull me into a gentle hug.

"Do you know how long five days feels, Lexi?" His nose traces along my hairline, down my cheek. "You'll understand soon enough," he whispered directly into my ear sending little shivers down my spine. Seb gently pushed my chin up to meet my lips with his. Unlike the last time he kissed me, this was slow and sweet. I could feel the sweetness of his feelings flowing through me. His hands tangled slowly in my hair and he sighed against my lips.

I pulled back and looked up at him, "promise not to do it again?"

"At least not for five more days," he said as he pushed my hair over my shoulder.

I sighed, "close enough."

A knock on the door made us both jump. Seb's hand flew to the back of his neck and a blush crept into his cheeks. "That would be the supplies."

"That it would be," I chuckle as I head for the front door. There were five boxes stacked and waiting to be unpacked. "Oh good, something to keep us busy."

* * * *

Finally, I had unpacked the last of the shoes into the walk-in closet. It took me almost an hour to convince Seb that he should unpack the kitchen instead of rooting through my undergarments in the closet. After that, it took another three hours to short, hang, fold, and put away all the clothing the pack had supplied us. I turn to look out the bedroom window and see the sun starting to set.

Figuring it must be close to dinner time, I decide to pick out a new outfit for our first interaction with our new pack. I run my hands over the selection of clothes. A navy-blue long-sleeved blouse calls to me. I carefully pull it off the hanger and slide it on, feeling the cool, soft material on my skin. From the drawers I pull out a pair of light blue jeans. Finally, I pick out a pair of low navy-blue heels. Looking in the mirror, I think it might be a little over the top for dinner.

"Wow," Seb gasps from behind me. "Don't you look absolutely stunning?"

I shake my head. "It's too much."

"I disagree." Seb doesn't leave space for arguments. Instead, he pulls his dirty shirt over his head, tosses it to the side and selects a dark blue pull-over sweater that he somehow transforms from plain to drop-dead gorgeous.

"Are you ready to meet the pack?" I try to ignore the feeling in my stomach as Seb reaches for his belt and I turn away from him.

"I know some of them. I'm excited but I'm also nervous about it. This pack is much bigger than mine."

"You're telling me," I chuckle sarcastically.

"You can turn around."

Seb looked practically edible in his sweater and jeans. I could see him waiting anxiously for a judgement. "You look spectacular."

"Let's go get some dinner!" Seb grabs my hand and practically yanks me out of the closet, leaving a puff of smoke in my wake.

Before I could get another word out, Seb whisks us out of the apartment door, down the stairs and stops us in front of the main hall doors. He watches carefully as the crowd gathers inside. There are a handful of long tables lined against the wall with piles of food on each. There are people filed along the tables, picking from each of the piles and then leading themselves off to find an open spot at any of the massive tables. Only one table stood out from the rest. At the front of the room, there is a shorter table on a wide, short platform with platters of food already stacked on top of it and about ten chairs tucked in around it.