—————————Oak's POV—————————
I stretch then take notice that I'm as bare as I was when I was born and that Reiya was in bed with me! Then everything rushes back and I blow out a breath.
I whisper to myself thinking that Ray is a deep sleeper and sit up, "Wow... yesterday was quite the experience..."
"That it was..." I look over at Reiya and she seems to be worried about something.
I easily find what's bothering her, "I'm pretty happy that it was you... I don't know how I knew what to do but, you... you were, uh... you, were my first time..." I trail off realizing how pathetic it probably sounds.
"Wait... Really?" I nod sheepishly and Reiya's face goes red.
"What... was— was it that bad..?" She laughs and shakes her head.
"No, it— it wasn't bad." I let out a breath I was unknowingly holding, "T-to tell you the truth that was the only time that I... uh— I actually consented to... and," she wrings her hands, "And I hadn't only been... raped once..."
I look at her shocked and completely forget about my stupid worries. I wrap my arms around her and hold her close.
She takes a deep breath, "I-I was raped wh-when I was on-ly 10..." her voice is shakey and I pull her impossibly closer, "My— clan had pu-put me with th-this 'mentor' w-who took ad-vantage, of his, uh, his position... *shakey breath* he— *choked sob* he raped me a-all the time... un-til I— until I killed him, and, and ran... *shudder* H-he got away with it f-for about 5 y-years..."
I bury my face in her hair and give her a gentle squeeze, "I-I will never, never, force myself on you... I will do everything I can to protect you, I promise you."
Reiya nods numbly then turns around to face me and hides herself in my embrace. I stroke her hair and keep whispering that I'll do everything I can to protect her.
————————-Reiya's POV-————————
I slowly let myself calm down and allow sleep to wash over me again.
(That afternoon)
Yawning, I sit up and notice my clothes were washed and folded for me. Looking around I see a piece of paper. Picking it up, there's a note written on one side and on the other is a sketch of me sleeping. If I hadn't known it was Oak, the sketch would have been kinda creepy but I smile because Oak's art is really good. Flipping the page back over I read his note.
I didn't want to wake you up so I decided to sketch a little (The sketch is on the other side of this by the way). I also got your clothes washed then folded them myself. If you are hungry, feel free to find and raid the kitchen. Don't worry, the cook knows you may pop in. If you are looking for me, I'll be just down the hall in my office.
Hope you rested well,
Oak
My smile deepens and I get up to get dressed. I move fast and remember that I'm now officially Oak's mate. For some reason that fact makes me feel giddy! Deciding that food can wait, I walk into Oak's personal bathroom and pull my right shoulder free. The design that I find takes my breath away, it's black and uses 'negative' space to form the shape of a cat with bat wings! Never have I ever read about any mark that looks like this... Even though most marks are diverse, mine is definitely nothing like any mark that's been recorded.
Shrugging with the strange light and giddy feeling inside, I exit Oak's room and skip down the stairs towards where my nose tells me the kitchen is. Inside the kitchen I find a woman who looks slightly older than middle aged but looks just as energetic as me. I smile shyly and she smiles knowingly. Nodding her head towards a stool she bustles to a fridge and pulls out my favourite! My eyes most definitely grow the size of saucers which causes the woman to chuckle.
"Hello, you must be this 'Ray' that Oak told me about. I'm Jasmine, the Coven's chef." I nod and wave still too shy to speak. "There's something that tells me you might just like this stuff..." she hands me the whole tub of ice cream and a plate with some raw fish.
"H-how did you know?! I didn't even tell Oak..!" Jasmine chuckles.
"Oh... I have my ways" she winks and for a second I see some ears and a tail appear.
"No way..." Jasmine giggles and puts a finger to her lips.
I suppress a giggle myself then dig in happily. Not to long before I finish the whole tub of ice cream, Oak saunters in and smiles when he sees me.
"I had a feeling you'd be down here, with all the baking I hear you do from Ivy..." he stands to my left and tries (but fails) to not scrunch his face up when he sees what I'm eating.
I can't hold back my laughter and almost fall off the stool but Oak catches me regardless of my fishy breath.
"Be careful! I don't want to have to bring my little ray of sunshine to the hospital anytime soon..."
Rolling my eyes I ignore his warning and purposely drop my spoon then 'fall' while trying to pick it up. He grumbles about my theatrics but, forgets to block his thoughts so I can tell he actually found it funny.
"Whoops!" A fit of laughter falls from my mouth and Jasmine tries hard not to join me.
Leaning over to my ear Oak whispers, "Why pretend to be unbalanced if I can actually make it happen..."
I almost choke on the piece of fish I just popped in my mouth and he smiles victoriously.
In my mind I let down my walls and think "you could but don't forget that I can do the same to you... Only you'd be unable to walk for different reasons..."
Oak stiffens which makes me smirk and continue eating.