♥
Today is the committee gathering to bless the fallen from the attack on our district. All the Alpha's came together to prepare something to remember friends and family that have sadly left us.
It will be an emotional day but I'm looking forward to spending the day with Nate, seeing his pack and family too. It's an excuse to get dressed up, have a drink and be grateful for the people that are still around us.
I know for a fact that it was a close call on our end.
We could have easily lost Reign, I could have given up and both of us would have been dead. The thought makes me feel lightheaded but we're here, we're okay. Even if Reign is still technically in recovery.
Everett told her that they didn't need to come, he'd stay home with her and allow her to rest. But she refused, as the Luna and said that she had to show her face for all those that they lost and show respect for our pack.
I really admire her strength. Everett still hasn't left her side once and if I'm being honest, I think she's relieved to be leaving the house and interacting with other people. Of course she loves my brother but I could imagine how overbearing he's being because he cares about her so much.
I'm dressed down in a grey suit with a blue tie that matches the colour of my eyes. I can't remember the last time I wore this thing but I have to admit, I look pretty damn good in it. Even I'm impressed. Everyone else in the pack manage to scrub up well too. It's a wholesome experience.
As we congregate at the huge manor hall where we usually meet for committee meetings, it's clear that people here are grieving hard. Greeting others isn't as warm and welcoming as usual, instead it's condolences and sympathy for those we have lost.
It's going to be a difficult night to say the least.
I grab a glass of something fizzy and take a sip, sticking beside Everett and Reign as people come up to them. It's obvious Reign is already tired but she flashes a small smile and acts like nothing is wrong. Everett sees through her mask but she still refuses to go home.
"Angel," Everett says quietly and she peeks her eyes up at him. He lowers his head but I see his lips move. "You want to leave, say the word and we will."
She places a hand on his arm gently. "I'm fine," she breathes. "And as soon as I want to go, I'll let you know."
His eyes flick between hers slowly as he pulls back and nods. "Alright," he says deeply. "But I'm ready to go whenever you are."
"We just got here," she says, glancing around.
"And you are my mate who I care about more."
Reign closes her eyes. "I'll be okay for another few hours, promise. But maybe I should eat something, I'm a little hungry."
"Then let's go eat," he says as he threads his fingers through hers and pulls her away.
I watch them walk across the hall, a few people coming up to them but Everett politely telling them that he needs to take care of his mate. I melt a little when I think about how soppy he is–my big brother who is completely at his mercy for this woman.
A hand wraps around my arm and I twist to find my eyes settling on a familiar set of mousey curly hair and freckles. "Henry," I blink and rip my hand away from his grip. I can still feel his fingers pressing into my arm even though I step away.
"Hey, Milo," he moves closer, eyes fluttering a little. My throat tenses and I stare at him for a long moment. "How are you? You look well. I was worried about you, I didn't hear through Keanu or Danika about you, but I'm glad to see you here. Are you glad to see me too?"
My mouth hangs open and I shake my head. "Yeah, I'm fine," I say slowly. "It's nice to see that you're in one piece."
Not that I thought about him once. I could barely remember his name when I went to his pack house a month or so ago. I don't know why he keeps coming up to me like we're friends. I cringe at the thought of knowing I've had sex with him.
I wish I could erase it from my memory.
He flashes me a smile and steps closer, his body presence making me uncomfortable but I don't instantly push him away because we're in a room full of people. "You look so handsome tonight," he bites down on his lip. "You're making me a little hard."
"That's incredibly inappropriate," I put as much distance between us and stare at him like he's fucking crazy. "I told you before, I have a mate."
Henry has the audacity to roll his eyes. "And?" He huffs. "Loads of people with mates still come to Apollo's parties. There is one tonight after the gathering, you should come. I know you'll have a good time if you allow yourself to."
My nostrils flare and I step closer to him. "Which part of 'I have a mate', do you not understand?"
His eyes gleam in my direction and he presses a hand to my chest, trying to shove me into the wall. "It's sexy when you get all feisty," he purrs and lets his eyes roam over my face. "I've missed that side of you."
I grimace at his words and shake my head. "Trust me when I say I can't even remember getting with you," I spit harshly. Henry's eyes go slack, shock and hurt covering them but I'm not sorry. He needs to stop this behaviour. "I didn't even remember your name. I remembered nothing about it. So stop because I have no interest in getting with you ever again. It is never going to happen."
"Why are you saying that?" His lips twitched into a frown. "You came inside me."
My stomach rolls painfully. The thought makes me want to throw up everywhere but I stop myself because I don't want to somehow remember any of our encounter. "Stop, Henry." I growl. "Stop it."
His lips part and he takes down a satisfied breath. "So you do remember my name..." His hand raises again to grip my shoulder but before I can push him out of the way, a body walks straight up to me. I'm pulled from Henry's grip and shoved into the wall. Warm, large hands clutching my jaw.
"Hey, baby," I hear deeply, then lips hit mine and the smell of Nate swarms me. I take a relieved breath and I clutch onto him as he forces my mouth open with his tongue and dips it into my mouth, I groan deeply when he clutches me tighter and angles my head to get better access.
I quiver in his touch as he takes control of the kiss. Angry, possessive, mine.
My throat exhales a gasp into his mouth as he bites my bottom lip and pulls away gently. I focus on his dark eyes, but not because they're naturally dark, because they're full of ownership and lust over my body.
His hair is slicked back and tied at the base of his neck, I clutch his cheek gently. God, he is a masterpiece. One of a kind. My soulmate. "So fucking gorgeous," I murmur against his lips.
Nate quirks a smile at me. "Can say the same for you, handsome."
We chuckle for a moment yet I can still see Henry out of the corner of my eye, staring directly at us. Nate notices and turns towards him, eyes burning with rage. He must have seen Henry put his hands all over me, even heard what he said. But seeing Nate jealous, fuck, it makes my cock throb painfully.
His shoulders are all tense and his eyes set forward like he's about to kill the guy for even looking in my direction. "Are you still here?" Nate says to him with a bored tone.
Henry's eyes fly to mine and then back to Nate's. Something ugly warps on his expression, a look of pure destruction. After a few moments he stalks away, face like thunder. I take a slow breath as Nate steps in front of me.
"Who the hell was that?" He asks bitterly.
Now I get to analyse him. He's wearing a tailored navy suit that goes well with the colour of his hair, brown dress shoes, a pale red tie. My core tightens further and I don't know if I'm going to last all night staring at him.
He's beyond gorgeous. He's breathtaking.
"Just some guy," I swallow harshly.
Nate narrows his eyes at me. "Just some guy? Seemed like you two had history."
I sigh and drop my head to his chest. "Don't ask questions you don't want the answers to."
He's silent for a few beats and I glance up at him. His jaw tightens. "I see."
"Hey," I whisper and clutch his face gently. "I don't care about him. I only care about you."
Nate finally meets my eyes and nods. "I didn't like him touching you."
I smile. "I know, that's why you pinned me to the wall and claimed me."
"I'd do a lot more than that if the room was empty," he steps closer, his eyes clouding with fire. My knees shake beneath me. "A lot more."
He leans forward and presses a kiss to my lips. I enjoy every second but I grip his shoulders and glance around. "Nate." I whisper. "What about someone seeing? I know your father doesn't know."
"He won't be looking for me," he mutters. "He'll be too busy licking every Alpha's asshole."
A laugh falls from me and Nate smiles in my direction. "Well that's good."
"I need to tell you something," he says slowly.
I blink once. "Yeah?"
He parts his lips slightly and holds my stare. "I've decided to take over my pack as Alpha with Imogen by my side as Beta."
My eyes light up with awe and joy for my mate. I jump and wrap my arms around his neck, tugging his body towards me. "Oh my God, Nate. That's amazing. Oh, that's so amazing. It's what you wanted to do right? Not your dad."
He strokes his hand over my back and shakes his head. "All me, it was my choice and I want to do it."
I squeeze him. "I'm so proud of you," I murmur gently. "So fucking proud."
We pull back and I hold his face between my palms, my eyes beginning to water. "Are you crying?" He dips his head and wipes the lashline of my eye.
A sniffle ripples from me unexpectedly. "Yeah, you've just come such a long way and I'm so proud of your growth. Of finally seeing how truly amazing you are, that you can do anything in this world and I'll stick right beside you."
Nate's eyes glimmer at my mini speech and he brings our lips together. "Thank you," he says sincerely. "I don't think I could have found the courage without you."
I shake my head. "Of course you would have. It's all you, nothing on me. You're incredible and you need to start accepting that."
"You have no idea what you mean to me," he nuzzles his head against mind gently.
My eyes flutter shut, feeling content. "You have no idea what you mean to me either. You saved me." I whisper.
We stare at each other for a moment before we share another earth shattering kiss.
"Come," he tugs on my wrist. "Viola, Elin and Zade are over here."
I follow my mate through the gathering of people. My eyes find Viola's first, they light up and she walks directly towards me. "Milo!" She says brightly before wrapping her arms around me.
"Hey," I say, embracing her. "You look pretty."
Viola pulls back and tugs at the dark pink dress that has puffy sleeves but drapes over her legs in an elegant fashion. "You think so?"
I nod and smile. "It's such a nice colour on you."
"Thank you," she smiles at me gratefully.
Elin steps forward to greet me, as does Zade. I wish we were all meeting under better circumstances but at least we can all be together. A girl with ashy blonde hair and green eyes steps towards me and I smile. "Hi, I'm Imogen," she says brightly.
I nod remembering Nate mentioning her before. "Hi, I'm Milo."
She giggles lightly. "I know who you are. Nate doesn't shut up about you."
Nate gives her a warning look but I think it's cute. We take a drink, walk around and chat to other packs from the district. I feel Nate at my side the entire time which I enjoy. Our hands brush occasionally and I want to reach out and hold it but I know that's his call to make when his pack doesn't know we're together.
I spot Everett and Reign from across the room and as I lock eyes with my brother, he makes his way over to us. Both of them greet Nate and his pack members. "How was the food?" I ask Reign as she settles beside me.
"Pretty delicious," she smiles, her eyes a lot brighter than before.
She definitely needed that energy.
Everett worms his way between us and I stare at him. He glances back at me. "What?"
"Don't you think Reign needs some space to breathe?" I say.
He stares into my eyes before flicking his gaze to his mate. Reign offers him a little smile, confirming everything that I'm thinking. He presses a kiss to her temple and takes a step back. "Alright," he grumbles. "I'll try and keep my hands off you, but it'll be hard."
Reign turns to him and laughs gently. "Hard? More like impossible."
A look of playfulness flashes across his eyes as he dips his head and kisses her neck, over her mark. "It is when you look at me like that."
"You failed." She laughs under a sudden breath.
"Then take me to jail," he grumbles before wrapping his arms around her and tugging her into his embrace.
Nate watches them and I smile. Everett might be a lot but they are cute together. He walks around the pair of them and meets me at my side. "It's sickening how much they love each other," he mumbles to me.
I bite back a grin. "Imagine living with them."
"It's refreshing though," he nods. "It's nice to see them so happy. I thought Elin and Zade were a lot but Everett and Reign are a different type of love."
My lips curl as I take his hand in mine gently. "Everett has always loved hard. You don't even want to know what it was like growing up with him. He's literally the definition of golden retriever energy."
This makes Nate laugh. "Yeah if golden retrievers were six foot four and packed with muscle."
"True," I chuckle along with him. "I'm glad you're here with me."
A sparkle erupts in his eye as he leans forward and presses a kiss to my cheek that melts my heart. "Wouldn't want to be anywhere else."
♥ ♥ ♥
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Author's Note
JEALOUS AND POSSESSIVE NATE. Hell yessss, I am so here for it.🥰🥵🫢
Ugh. Henry needs to do one. He's definitely got his eyes on Milo.😬
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