Mara Leigh
I gaped at the mark on Ella's neck, not paying attention to the training that was going on in the middle of the circle that the pack had formed. It was just a black crescent shape at the base of her neck, similar in shape to Blythe's. The major difference between them was that Blythe's was gray and Ella's was black.
When Beau had told me about his family heritage, I hadn't realized that he was able to mark her. I'd still assumed he'd be just like he'd always had been, but maybe not. It made me wonder what else he'd be able to do in the future.
Several tears slid down my cheek, and I blamed them on PMS. I didn't know why I was crying. I was thrilled for Beau and Ella.
Maybe that's what it is, I thought. Tears of happiness?
The couple beside of me was oblivious to the rest of the pack around them. Ella's head was resting on Beau's shoulder, and his arms were around her. They were so sweet together. I wiped away another tear, trying to hide them from Xander, who I was sure would take them for sad tears. The idiot would probably think I was jealous of Ella.
I sniffled and muttered, "Shoot. Stupid, stupid period hormones."
I hadn't started yet, but I had a feeling it would happen sometime today.
"Hey, Ella," I whispered, my eyes moving back to her mark. She and Beau looked over to me.
"Hmm?" she murmured.
"Can I ask you a personal question?"
"Of course," she grinned.
"Did it hurt?"
"The mark? No, it honestly felt wonderful."
I smiled back at her, loving how easy she was to talk to now. But I couldn't imagine a bite feeling good, much less 'wonderful'.
"So you got a ring for Xander," Beau interrupted, smirking. I just rolled my eyes at him.
"I caught him looking at it a lot at breakfast this morning," he continued, his eyes sparkling with glee.
"If he gets to mark me, I get to mark him," I whispered plainly.
"Sounds like a good point to me," Ella poked Beau's chin with her finger, causing him to chuckle.
I laughed a little at their obvious love. It just radiated off of them.
"Mara Leigh," Xander's voice came from the center of the circle, making me jump. I looked at him, forcing my eyes to meet his and not look at his bare torso.
"Could you please stay quiet and not distract from the training?"
Wow, I was expecting him to be louder than that....
He didn't even sound irritated. He must be trying not to have a repeat of what happened the last training day.
"Yes, Alexander," I said as sweetly as I could, teasing him with the name he'd tried to get me to call him the other night.
He raised his eyebrow at me, taken aback by his full name. I grinned back at him, and he winked at me before going back to talking to the pack.
Our relationship had grown so much in the past week or two. Quite honestly, I'd lost track of time, and didn't remember how long ago it had been.
Xander's birthday was in three days. The closer it got, the more I worried about whether or not he would like what I'd bought him. I thought it was great, but he might not would see the humor in it. But him not liking it was a risk I wanted to take.
His voice pulled me out of my thoughts.
"Time to change," he called out, his deep voice ringing through the meadow of a yard.
Like a choreographed dance, all the pack stood. As quick as a blink, wolves of different sizes and colors filled their spots. There was no abnormal cracking or bending of bones, or flashes of light to indicate the phase from human to wolf. My jaw had dropped open, looking at each of them in awe.
Beside me, Beau's hands were wrapped in the thick fur of a large white wolf that was laying it's head down in his lap, getting comfortable. My eyes darted to the middle of the circle, where the biggest wolf of all stood.
I didn't need to inspect him to know that he was Xander. Something about him called out to me, and I knew that even if he was mixed in with the pack, I would still know him. Not just that, but his bright green eyes and fur the light brown color of his hair told me who he was.
Something told me that they were conversing, I just didn't see how. Then I remembered something Xander had said before about being able to read the packs' minds. Maybe he could talk through whatever allowed him to read their minds.
I looked over to see what Beau made of all this, and was shocked to see how pale his face had become.
"What?" I whispered.
"Do you not hear it?"
"What?" I repeated.
"Xander's voice!"
I laughed at how scared he sounded. So Xander could communicate with them. It was good to know, but I felt left out. I couldn't hear anything.
"I don't hear it," I explained. "You must be able to because you're half and half."
"But I didn't hear anything before now!"
"Calm down," I teased. "I'm sure it had something to do with the marking."
He glanced from me down to Ella and gasped. It was comical, and I found myself giggling again.
"Ella says that's what it was," he whispered, his face still white.
I let the conversation drop to give him time to grow accustomed to the strangeness of it all. Turning back to what was going on in the center, I watched as a giant black wolf went to stand in front of Xander. It's silver-gray eyes looked so familiar.
They began circling each other slowly, and I immediately began to worry, looking at their bared teeth and the claws at their feet.
They could do some serious damage, I thought, imagining the blood that I could have been about to see.
Suddenly, Xander leaped and the black wolf followed his movement, jumping to meet him halfway. The clashing of brown and black fur partnered with the snapping of teeth and growling made me want to look away. I didn't want anyone to get hurt.
I heard a snarl of pain and knew it was Xander. I bit my lip to keep from yelling to him, feeling that it would be wrong to. I didn't want to be a distraction. The black wolf rolled onto his side, dodging Xander's snapping teeth.
With a strong thrust of its paw it hit Xander across the side of his head, and blood flooded from the scratches. I wanted to scream. How could they fight each other like that?
Whining, Xander laid down on his belly in front of the black wolf, covering his wounded face up with a paw. The black wolf lifted its head to the sky, a victorious howl coming from deep in its throat. Suddenly Xander jumped forward and snapped his teeth almost gently into the black fur of his opponent's neck.
I wanted to clap at the winning move. Xander shifted back into human form, his hand clutching the side of his face. Blood ran like a river down his neck and shoulder. The gaping slashes on his face were visible under his hand, yet from the grin on his face, you wouldn't have known he was hurt.
"I know you didn't just fall for that, Huck," Xander teased, grinning at the wolf in front of him.
Huck! No wonder the eyes looked familiar....
Huck switched into human form, holding his neck. His wound was nothing compared to Xander's. I respected Xander for not doing worse than he had to, unlike Huck.
"I thought you'd given up, Alpha," Huck came back, smiling.
"Never," Xander laughed, holding out his fist. Huck fist-bumped him, and went back to where he usually sat.
Xander turned to the pack sitting around him. "Now it's ya'll's turn. Two of you come on up. Three if you want to try it."
He walked over to sit next to me, and I immediately started fretting over what to do to help his wound. I got off the towel I was sitting on and tried to use it to clean the blood from the wound. Xander blocked me.
"You don't need to do that," he whispered.
"You're bleeding!" I whisper-yelled, too worried to be patient with his being a guy.
"And I'm a werewolf," he retorted. "We heal pretty quick."
I raised my eyebrow at him, trying to hold in the choice words that I was thinking. His face had been slashed open. He needed medical care.
Xander rolled his eyes at me, smirking, but removed his hand for me to look at his wound. Or should I say, what was left of his wound. In just minutes the slashes on his face had healed into long pink scars, and was quickly disappearing.
In awe, I watched as the scars disappeared. If the blood hadn't been covering his neck and shoulder, it would have been impossible to tell he'd been hurt.
"You're...healed...." I whispered.
He chuckled. "It still hurts! You could kiss it and make it better."
I slapped his arm as hard as I could, not even making him flinch. He wrapped his arm around me, and even though he was covered in drying blood I leaned into him. We sat together and watched numerous other pairs of wolves, along with one trio come to the center of the circle and fight.
~~-~~
Laying on our bed, looking up at the ceiling, I wondered what Xander was doing. He'd disappeared shortly after training was over, claiming to have had a meeting. Since then I'd been in bed, trying to stop the cramps that had began to overcome me. The bleeding hadn't started yet, but I was getting the symptoms.
I turned on my side, bored out of my mind. It was already growing dark outside, and he wasn't here. On an impulse I sat up and ran down the stairs to Xander's office. He wasn't there, and I hadn't expected him to be. Grabbing a pen and a stack of sticky notes, I started writing random short messages and sticking them in different places. One on his laptop, one on the back of his swivel chair, one on the inside of his door, one on one of the walls, and one on the front of his desk.
Then I retreated upstairs and proceeded to write small messages and stick them around our bedroom, this time getting crafty with where I put them. I put one in each of his drawers, all hidden by his clothes, one inside his closet, one under his pillow, and many more in other places.
The messages weren't as sweet as I wanted them to be, but I'd never been good at things like this. I figured it was the thought that counted. By the time I'd gotten the pen and sticky notes back to his office and went back to the room, it was almost ten o'clock.
Where is he? I wondered, plopping back down on the bed.
Throughout the night I drifted in and out of a light, restless sleep. The dreams that I had were all about Xander, which didn't surprise me at all.
Rolling over, I sighed and opened my eyes, giving up trying to get back to sleep. The room was still empy except for me. I got up and cut on the lamp beside of me, lighting up most of the dark room. I could see on the clock that it was past four in the morning.
Why isn't he here? I whined internally.
After a few minutes of sitting there staring at the door as if I could make him walk in, I got up and headed for the bathroom. As if my morning wasn't bad enough, I found out that my time of the month had finally arrived.
Oh the joy, I thought, getting into the shower. It's a good thing I went shopping when I did.
I took my time getting clean, wanting to relax. The hot water soothed my muscles and I began to think.
Xander's birthday was two days away, on Sunday. I didn't know if I should plan a party for him, or if someone else was going to....
What if someone's waiting on me to plan it?
Well, I just had all of today and tomorrow if I was going to plan it. So I needed to get to it if I was going to. But I'd ask Blythe if anyone else was planning him one before I did anything. Ridiculously, I was jealous at the thought that anyone else would try to throw him a party but me.
I'm his mate. The luna of the pack. It's my job, isn't it?
I got out and dried off. Wrapping myself in the towel, I went back into the room to hunt for clothes. It felt like a sweatpants day. Pulling them out of my drawer, I felt a presence behind me.
"Mara Leigh," came Xander's growl.
I turned toward it, dropping my clothes to the floor and clutching my towel when I saw his face. His hard eyes were glowing, and he was visibly shaking.
Crap, what did I do this time? I haven't even been anywhere or talked to anyone!
I blinked and he was in front of me, looking me up and down. I felt uncomfortable under his hot gaze. I didn't know what to do, what to expect.
"Whatever it is, I didn't do it," I whispered, my voice shaky.
He slowly eased toward me, and I began backing away.
"I need clothes on...." I whispered.
Xander growled, and took quicker steps toward me. I backed up faster, trying to avoid him getting too close.
What is his deal?
"What's wrong?" He didn't answer. "Xander, may I please have a minute to get dressed."
Once again he growled, this time reaching out for me. I backed up, staying out of his reach and bumped into the the wall. He trapped me in an instant, pinning my body against the wall with his.
"Xander, please back up," I asked, hating how shaky my voice was.
Impossibly, he got closer to me, his body pressed against mine. Instantly I realized that he wasn't angry. From what I could feel, he was the opposite. More uncomfortable than ever, I wiggled, trying to get him off of me. I wasn't ready for anything like this.
"Xander. Move. Now." I tried.
He growled, making me want to slap him. I wiggled some more, but he just pressed against me harder, the feel of him freezing me.
"Mine," he almost purred, breathing on my ear.
I shivered and tried to tell myself that it was from fear. He brushed his lips against my ear, slowly kissing his way across my cheek and to my mouth. I couldn't recall why I had been trying to get him to get away.
When his lips met mine I tried to fight my response and failed miserably. Tingles shot through me, and I wrapped my hands in his hair and copied what his tongue was doing to mine. He growled for the fifth time, low in his throat.
What am I doing? Stop it, Mara! I yelled at myself.
But my body totally ignored me. I felt his hands at the hem of the towel, sliding under it and feeling the skin of my thighs. As his hands gradually slid upward, my conscience broke through. I mustered up all my strength and broke away from his mouth.
"Stop it now, Alexander, or you will regret this!" I raised my still shaky voice.
He actually backed away a step, his eyes flashing back to normal and then turned bright again. I took the chance to take a deep breath and ease away from Xander. If I could just get to my clothes and get into the bathroom, there was a lock on the door. Maybe it could keep him away until he got over what ever was making him act like this.
When I'd eased as close as I dared to my pile of clothes, I grabbed them up and sprinted to the bathroom. His warning snarl ripped through the room, but I somehow managed to get the door closed and locked just as he jumped toward the door.
Quickly I got dressed in the clothes I had managed to pick up, which sadly, was only panties, a shirt, and sweat pants. But beggars couldn't be choosers.
Xander was beating on the door, his growls coming at a rapid rate, blurring into one long rumble. I really didn't know if the door was going to hold, and it wasn't like I'd be able to stop him if he broke in. I shivered as I remembered what had happened just a minute ago.
If he was wanting something like that from me, it wasn't going to be for a while, and he was gonna marry me first. I didn't care what kinda issues he had going on. It was my body.
The growls and shaking of the door went on for what felt like hours. Finally it stopped.
"Mara Leigh," Xander's voice came through the door. "Baby, open this door for me."
I ignored him, rolling my eyes. I backed up against the bathtub, hugging my knees to my chest.
"Mara, sweetie. Please just open this door. I swear I'm not going to hurt you."
Oh, I know you wouldn't hurt me... But I don't want you doing what you would do.
I heard him sigh, and what sounded like him sitting down against the door.
"I just need you in my arms. Please Mara Leigh. Let me in."
No.
"Do you not like me? I thought you liked me. You bought me this beautiful gift."
I sighed lightly. No matter what he said, I wasn't going to believe him. He just wanted in here. There was something wrong with him. Otherwise he wouldn't be talking like that.
"Mara, why won't you let me in?" he whined. If this had been a normal thing, I'd have been giggling at him.
After a pause his voice came again, this time different.
"My mate," he whispered, hypnotically. "Let me in. Open this door for me. I know you are listening. I know you want to open the door, love. Please let me in. I need you."
I found myself edging toward the door, unable to hold myself back. Something inside of me was forcing me to move.
I somehow held on to the sink's counter, keeping myself away from the door for a few seconds, until he spoke again, in that same hypnotizing tone.
"Mara. Please let me in. You know I won't hurt you. You know you want me with you right now."
Before I could think to stop myself, I unlocked the door. Xander was in and had me thrown over his shoulder in a flash. I was carried to the bed and tossed down on it, Xander crawling on top of me, pressing me into the mattress.
"Why are you dressed?" he muttered, hands squeezing my hips.
Moving around frantically, I tried to get him off of me. "Will you please stop this?"
"You're mine," he growled into my ear. "How dare you hide yourself from me."
I snorted, my anxiousness morphing into anger. "Let me go."
Instead of answering he dipped his head down to me once more, and I turned my head so he didn't hit my mouth. It didn't deter him at all, as he moved quickly down to my collarbone and nibbled up both sides of my neck.
Even through my irritation, I felt the tingles spreading through me again. Slowly my anger faded away as his fingers traced my sides and arms. He wrapped his fingers with mine and pulled my arms to the side, holding them down.
Then Xander did something that I wasn't prepared for at all.
He bit me.