The Alpha's Disobedient Mate

(4)

After a moment of sulking on the coffee table, Darcy returned her empty plate to the kitchen. She would have begun to wash it as well if Jace weren't also dropping his cutlery into the sink. His scent filling her nose at their closeness, it makes her want to reach out and grab him, pulling him close and taking in the beautiful smell.

"Go get ready for bed." Jace jerks his head towards the stairs.

"I don't have anything to get ready with," Darcy retorts, causing one of Jace's fists to land on the counter in frustration. It took everything in herself not to jump at the reaction.

"Come with me," he mutters, stalking off. It's a moment before Darcy follows. As much as she didn't want him, as much as she kept questioning the Moon Goddess's decision... In a sense, maybe she always did want a mate. Her ideal mate though... He would have been a rogue too and they would've been happy living in no-man's land, living in an apartment and working part-time jobs and just living out the little things. This? This is very, very far from the image Darcy painted in her mind.

The garage is as she left it as she makes her way towards Jace who opens the passenger side door for her. A little thanks escapes her as she slips into the car. What... Where were they going? To her apartment? Now? She presses her lips into a thin line as she tries to distract the thought by looking around at Jace's beautifully fancy car. His door shuts beside her and she lets herself look over.

Jace is out of a painting. His muscles were the right kind, not too much, not too little, allowing the t-shirt to be almost tight around his bicep. His jaw perfectly chiselled and his dark hair looks black in the low lighting of the garage. His eyes find hers and she feels... out of place. She would never live up to his looks. Again, she mentally questions the Moon Goddess. Here she sits, in a fancy and expensive car, with a man who looked like he should be made into a Greek god statue or a wax figure. A perfectly beautiful man. A perfectly handsome man. Darcy almost reaches out to let her fingers run through his smooth dark hair.

"Darcy," Jace's face contorts slightly in confusion. Darcy savours the emotion, she figures she wouldn't get much out of him. "I asked where your house is?"

She sweeps her gaze away for a moment. If she told him... But all she desperately wants is to go home. So after a moment of deliberation, she tells him. The car speeds them off quickly after that. The trees fly by, light flickering into the car with the little sunlight left in the day. Jace drives fast, way over speed limit fast. It's slightly unnerving for someone else to drive so quickly, it's harder to trust another driver. They make it to her apartment once the light has finally faded.

Darcy finds her spare key before heading to her apartment door. She looks to Jace for a moment, where he waits beside her. Something churns in her stomach, not that her apartment is messy... But it's not clean, and the slightest murmur of embarrassment runs over her spine. She scolds herself mentally for it directly after it happens, she's never been embarrassed about it before.

The first thing she does is open her laptop, clicking on a random playlist to get music flowing in the apartment. It calms her a little. Jace follows her into the bedroom, his gaze falling around the room, looking a little more tense than usual.

"Do you need help packing?" Jace's gaze finally finds her. A feeling settles in Darcy's stomach, of course he wasn't going to let her stay here. Why did she even let herself think it? Her face pulls itself to a cringe for a second before she finds a duffle bag, not replying to his question. Jace picks up a bra off the floor, tossing it into the overflowing hamper. Darcy cringes again, the cleanliness embarrassment seeping into her bones once more.

After a moment, she starts packing her clean clothes. Her room is overly simplified since a part of her rogue self always was ready to run. A fake plant is the only decoration in her bedroom. Belongings were all shoved in drawers to remain hidden, curtains almost always pulled shut. The bed held a stuffed animal, the only belonging she kept after... The experience she shuts out of her mind before she can let herself think of it.

Jace moves around her apartment but she doesn't pay much mind as she finishes putting the clean clothes into the bag. Jace returns, starting to place her toiletries into the duffle bag as well. He also takes care of her laptop, the music stopping as he packs it and some other electronics away too. Darcy finds herself just sort of watching, surprise on her face. She chases it away to pack up her makeup, adding it to the full bag. Jace waits patiently as she chases down a few leftover things in the apartment to add.

"Alright..." Darcy mumbles, zipping up the bag.

Jace takes the bag, walking out. Darcy looks around her apartment, giving it a silent goodbye. Then she grabs her stuffed bear and the accompanying blanket from the bed. They helped her sleep, she needed them. The bear was also that... keepsake. Darcy walks back out, goodbyes to her safe place in her mind. She slips into the car, the passenger side door already open for her, Jace closing it softly after her.

Once he gets into the drivers side, he gives her a long look. She clutches the bear and blanket close, her face suddenly burning and she knows her cheeks are turning red. Darcy quickly looks away, not wanting to face judgement. But she dares a glance back, and on his generally emotionless face, she could swear a smile was playing at the corners of his lips.

***

Jace's POV

Jace also never asked for a mate. He had hopes she'd be a high ranking wolf, but here he is paired with a rogue. Granted, she may be one of the strongest wolves he's ever seen, she didn't even shift to fight his own pack. She is also beautiful. Absolutely stunning. Blonde curls framed her face, and her hair smelled like honey, he could tell when he got close. Brown eyes found his occasionally, always a challenge swimming in them. Her skin is truly golden, like the sun always kissed it.

She carries herself like a born alpha despite where her rank lies. It is truly something to behold, like you're standing in a queen's presence while with her. Yet the queen sat in the car beside me, clutching a worn teddy bear and a blanket, legs curled up beside her, drifting into sleep.

Darcy seems to have enough conscience to turn on the radio, finding a station before turning the volume to a point it seems to shake the car on all the low bass tones. Despite the loud tones, she still manages to fall asleep, curled up against the side of the car. Jace reaches over at one point, brushing a piece of hair away that curls by her nose. Touching her feels right. He had to focus on not pulling the car to the side of the road and scooping her up to hold her while she slept. She seems so much more peaceful now than any time he had seen her before.

A part of him wishes he could show his emotions more to her, she seems as reserved about a mate as he is. But Jace's father raised him with no emotions, raised him to hide them, to keep them far far out of anyone's reach. Emotion is weakness. To feel too much is a weakness. Jace understood that. It may be one of the things he most easily understood growing up. So now, before her, he struggles. He found himself occasionally wishing to show her a smile, even just to cheer up the dark look on her face.

It drives him mad. Feelings he's easily kept in check wanting to fall out to please this girl he hardly knows.

Darcy seems to half wake up once he parks back in the garage. Eye's flickering open but grogginess seems to stay as she searches around like she's not quite sure where she is yet. Her eyes find him and he watches her reach out to him for only a second, before she pulls her arm back. She rubs her eyes and stretches out before curling up again like she's ready to go back to sleep.

"Come on, we're home," Jace says softly, getting out of the car. He goes to her side, gently opening the door so she stops leaning against it. She mumbles something completely unintelligible as she unbuckles herself. Her eyes half closed, still practically half asleep. Jace almost smiles again at that.

He places a hand on the small of her back, something she doesn't immediately reject. So he leads her to his bedroom, which he let his pack clean up once he and Darcy had left earlier. She doesn't waste much time crawling onto his bed, still in her clothes, and falling right back to sleep.

Deciding maybe pushing her to sleep in his room is enough, he grabs himself a change of clothes and finds a guest room so he doesn't disturb her. Darcy. A queen. A queen full of attitude. He glances out a window, looking to the moon, asking silently why the Moon Goddess chose her of all women, of all wolves. Of course... No response.

"Goodnight to you too," he mutters, rolling onto his side on the guest bed and letting himself fall asleep.