Chapter 34 - unedited (Updated 8/9/2013)
*Tuesday 28th June*
Ara shifts a little in her sleep before sitting up in Xander's dark blue bed. He laid next to her, thankfully wearing his PJ's – a simple pair of boxers and a shirt – with his arm spread and reaching for her.
A pile of pillows was laying between the two though, separating them since Ara certainly did not feel as comfortable as she should be laying next to Xander. She sat up, resting her back against the cushioned head back and rubbing her eyes.
The sound of the door cracking open shoots her up and in waddles Caleb who had escaped his crib. He giggles, running over to Ara who had a big smile on her face.
When Caleb reaches closer to the bed, Ara leans down and picks him up. With a small smile on her face she rests him on her lap and cuddles up with him.
His face nuzzled into her neck along his small arms wrapped around it. She rested her hands softly on his back with a sigh of relief and happiness. Relieved she made it out alive and happy that she was with her baby boy.
Right now, she didn't want to remember that night at all. Never again, just no. She needed something to get her mind off the kidnapping and she didn't know what to do.
"Hey, I didn't expect you two awake until later." A new voice speaks groggily, rubbing his eyes and flipping his hair away from his sleepy face. Ara smiles a little, holding Caleb still on her lap.
"Yeah. Well I'm hungry, how about you?" She asks, pushing the covers away from her. She refused to look at Xander, his deep morning voice was holding a slight effect on her.
"Food sounds nice. You have to try Marnie's delicious blueberry pancakes, you'll fall in love with them." Xander suggests, smiling at the memory of his excellent nanny who had been there for him since day one.
Ara flattens her hair a little with a smile. She looks straight into Xander's eyes, holding it there for a second – along holding her breath. It was entrancing to stare into his beautiful violet eyes and she just couldn't move away, or make out the words she was going to say.
"Y-y-yeah. That sounds g-good..." She stutters nervously, covering up her embarrassment with a laugh. He sure does have pretty eyes, and she once again still finds it unbelievable that this was her mate, something inside just made her feel so calm and free around him.
A joyous wonderful feeling that bring a whole hurricane into her stomach because stuff the butterflies, this hurricane brings them to shame. And she hated feeling so vulnerable and weak around him, even though he believes that she is strong and independent.
Xander sends her a dazzling smile and rolls out of bed. Literally. He just turns and turns until he falls flat onto the ground with a soft thump.
Caleb laughs at his not so good of a role-model father and copies him, rolling across the bed and straight onto Xander's hard stomach. Xander laughs, not affected by the extra weight that just joined him on the floor.
"Don't give him ideas. He could get hurt!" Ara scolds in a half-playful tone, rushing over to the side to see Caleb laying across Xander's stomach.
Xander nuzzles his nose into Caleb's forehead with a laugh.
"Of course not. Caleb will always be strong and tough like his daddy." He replies narcissistically, sitting up and setting Caleb beside him. Caleb, not really knowing what's going on smiles with a small giggle and climbs back up the bed, using Xander's shoulder and head for support.
Xander would make small 'oof' sounds, but nothing a big guy couldn't handle.
Ara rolls her eyes and folds her arms. "That's totally believable." She sarcastically states.
Sure he looked big and tough, you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover. Even though she knows he is strong and tough.
He scoffs at her, getting himself off the floor and swinging Caleb high up into the air with happiness that his family is back together.
They all walk together in silence out the room and down the stairs, Ara thinking mostly about Xander and this mate bond while Xander is out of his mind and holding himself back from marking her straight away.
He was scared to even attempt to talk about it, because he was afraid to lose her. So he just kept quite and was waiting for the right moment at the right place and the right time to make his move.
"Hey! You guys are up early, why don't you come join us for breakfast? The whole family has been dying to meet you." Lily announces with a huge smile when she notices Xander, Ara and Caleb stroll swiftly down the stairs.
Ara simply smiles softly and nods politely. "Sure, that sounds nice."
Lily leads them through the large main area and into a slightly smaller but very long dining room, and just like she had expected it was fancy yet modern with the whole long table and about a million chairs on each side.
Side by side in each seat sat one of each family member of Xander's. His father sat tall and firmly, full or authority and power even though he was laughing along to his family and eating his specially prepared breakfast.
An empty chair stood on his left, reserved for Lily while the other two on the right were reserved for the new additions to the family.
Xander held the chair open for Ara and she nervously took a seat on it as he tucks it in. Her fingers were shaking a little and she swore she could feel her palms sweating. She really wanted a good first impression.
Xander took a seat between Ara and his father, Caleb settling in his lap and suddenly becoming interested with the utensils, in which Ara hastily snatched away from him.
On her right sat on of Xander's younger twin sisters; Mabel. The fifteen-year-old Mabel was quite interested in her older brother's new mate and immediately began introducing herself along with her sister, Maia, who sat opposite her.
"Hey, I'm Mabel, Xander's sister. I've heard so much about you, well not directly at me but I overheard a lot of things and I'm so glad to finally meet you! This is my sister Maia, she's not very talkative but she'll warm up to you after a couple of hours." Mabel spoke quickly, a huge grin on her face as she talks to the human.
Maia sent her a small smile, showing a little flash of her braces. Ara smiled back at her, wanting her to open up to her and show that she was friendly.
"Nice to meet you Mabel, Maia." Ara replies nodding to each person as she says their name, "I'm Arabella Pierce, well everyone just calls me Ara. Except for Xander, he calls me Bella for some odd reason. My son over there is named Caleb and it's nice to finally meet you two too. I heard quite a bit about you two so it's so nice to finally meet you." She adds awkwardly, fiddling her thumbs in her lap and her face looking quite flushed.
"Arabella Pierce, after about what, two, three years? I finally get to meet you! I'm Jonathon Gray, but please just call me Jonathon." Xander's father's voice interrupts, making Ara whip her gaze to face him with a smile.
"You too Jonathon! I'm sorry we didn't come earlier I just wasn't really ready to be introduced to something so new." She apologized, though the smile on her face couldn't leave. Xander laughs a little, bouncing Caleb on his lap.
"Actually, Ara's parents don't even know she has a child yet. We're planning to go there for Christmas, with Caleb." Xander reveals cheekily, making Ara send death glares his way. Of course, that wasn't necessary and it certainly caught everyone on the table by surprise, even though they could tell she was human.
"Oh. That's quite surprising." Lily mumbles, staring at the pancakes on her plate. Everyone – besides Xander and Ara – were wondering why Ara's parents didn't know about their own grandchild. But understanding it from a human's point of view, it's quite hard for them but they get that human's wouldn't be as ecstatic as they would when they start a family at a younger age than usual.
Pancakes draped in syrup and melted butter was put in front of Xander and Ara, forcing Ara to fight the awkwardness and quickly starting to eat the pile of three on her plate.
"So what do you do, Ara?" Mabel eagerly asks, she was a social butterfly and loved just simply talking to new people and learning things about them.
Ara bites her lip, looking at Mabel then her food.
"I'm uhm...working as an advertisement model for my Aunt's uhm, clothing business. She owns Mariah's Butterflies." She says with a smile. She didn't know exactly what to call it, so with her quick thinking it got her clothing business.
Mabel and Maia's faces lightened up when Ara said 'Mariah's Butterflies' due to it being one of their favourite labels. They had nearly every clothing line and collection, including certain parts of the Lingerie.
"No way, I have like a closet full of everything from there! No wonder you look kind of familiar, I must have seen you at one of the shop's advertisements in Paris!" Mabel nearly yells excitedly. Ara smiles, knowing her Aunt's label was worldwide and pretty well-known.
Xander shakes his head a little in amusement. He sure loved his family, but he sort of felt embarrassed about it right now, even though he had no reason to be.
"Hi! I'm Peter." A cute little voice joins in from behind her, making both Ara and Mabel turn their backs to face the little boy.
He stood there standing tall and smiling, showing a wobbling tooth. With the trademark black hair but lighter purple eyes, he stood there analysing the new face in front of him.
Ara couldn't help but inwardly 'aww' at him. "I'm Arabella but you can call me Ara." She said sweetly, a dazzling smile on her face, showing the perfect white teeth that took her two years with the over-bearing uncomfortable braces.
"Nice to meet you Ara! Do you want to see my toy car collection?" Peter asks excitedly, reading to make a run to his box of toy cars and rush back to Ara. She needs and smiles at him.
"Oh Peter, we're eating breakfast, you can show her afterwards, okay?" Lily suggests. Peter sighs and nods his head obediently.
"Yes mama."
He rushes back to his seat next to Mabel, which is opposite to yet another male in the family. This time, he looked like a younger version of Xander, except very shy as he hadn't introduced himself yet.
Xander places Caleb into Ara's lap since Ara definitely could not finish that stack of pancakes by herself and Caleb did need to eat.
"So when is Ara going to start her training?" Jonathon pops out the question. He knew full well she was human and if she was going to become future Queen of Wolves, she'd need to be tough, smart and strong. But just like Lily had mentioned the day before, Ara might have a drop of werewolf blood in her which might be the reason as to why she's mated to a future Alpha.
Xander sits and eats quietly, pressing his lips into a thin line and staring at his food.
"We'll get her training after the trial. She needs rest for now." He states simply, unsure of what was going to happen. Ara sits quietly, minding her own business while feeding Caleb.
It was a quiet breakfast, a little awkward for Ara but she survived it.
They all left the room, each starting off the day with something new but Xander's younger twin sisters decided to spend the day with them and get to know them better.
Ara had gotten ready, and by ready that means had a quick shower and changed into simple leggings and one of Xander's sweatshirts.
They sat in the game room, being exactly what it is called, a room full of games. They had an Air Hockey table, a pool table, a shelf full of games and much more.
Ara was leaning in the corner of the couch with her feet rested on Xander's lap and Caleb on her lap. The twins had put on some random movie and they turned the volume real low to talk to each other.
Maia sat on the floor close to Ara and Mabel sat next to her, each laying their heads against the couch.
Xander all of a sudden straightened up in his spot and opened his mouth to say something, because this was now the time he would tell Ara absolutely everything. And by everything, he means everything.
"Mabel, Maia can you please take Caleb downstairs?" He asks, not bothering to sugarcoat it. He sent them a look, making them quickly pick up Caleb and walk out the door faster than you could say 'Sir Quackalabob'.
Ara sits up, slightly confused. She props herself onto her elbows while Xander refuses to make eye contact.
"You might want to get comfortable now because I decided to get this over with and tell you everything." He states, twiddling his thumbs in his palms. Ara sits up and right next to him, sitting Indian style on the couch.
She now was finally going to know everything. Everything. Including a few things she might not really want to hear.
She sat nervously, of course everything was all fine and she just met his family now she's going to know everything he promised to tell her eventually.
Of course she shouldn't of been nervous as much as she was but she is. What if this information sort of scared her away, she already knew her future. It was all planned out for her but it wasn't, she knows that her life would be with Xander, and as much as she hates it she loves it too.
She sat still, very still. It looked as if she weren't even breathing, but Xander was practically panting, even Ara could hear his heartbeat.
"How should I start this?" Xander asks, mostly to himself rather than to Ara.
"Why don't you tell me about this mating thing. I'm ready to hear it all." She replies, even though she's not sure if she really is ready to hear everything.
"I told you about soul mates when I first came into your apartment." Xander laughs and smiles at the memory of himself barging into her apartment.
"And as I said, you're my soul mate. Honestly, I don't know how I am mated to a human but I honestly am glad that it's you. But no wolf can be mated to a human, so there's something different about you. Something I'm not sure about, but you could just have a bit of were blood in you because you cannot just be a full human." Xander stops to take a breath and slowly let Ara take this all in.
She nods, signalling him to continue. Ara had blood in her, something other than human DNA running through her veins. What on Earth could it ever be?
"But my mother believes that you'll eventually phase into a wolf once I...uh...mate with you..." He trails off, thinking of a better topic to discuss rather than the mating method.
"So usually us wolves take at least a century to find our mates, some are going three centuries without their mates, while others are finding theirs much sooner like I did. It's becoming more frequent now, to find the person you love at a younger age actually. My Parents found each other a hundred years ago and didn't have any children until of course I happened a few decades later. I will be allowed to take reign when I'm twenty-five but don't have to. If I don't find my mate by twenty-five, I of course won't take the reign, but I have found my mate and in about four years we will certainly be ready to take it. If you're still not ready by then, then we will wait until you're ready to take it." Xander stops again and Ara just nods, letting the information pass through.
"You can continue." She says softly, leaning her head against the couch.
He nods, running a hand through his silky black hair before taking a deep breath.
"Before I can take reign, we're going to have to mate. And before I will mate with you, I don't won't you to mate with me unless you truly want it. Not for anyone, not for me but for yourself and yourself only. I won't make a move unless you're ready." Xander explains slowly, unknowingly moving closer to Ara.
"I'll need to mark you, a mark will rest on your neck and will match mine like a puzzle piece, telling everyone you belong to me and me only. No one can touch you but me. But I can't just mark you, I have to mark you during...during the climax. And in that moment, the whole world will just stop, not literally but according my dad, our souls will be combined into one and entwined together. Since they are tied together from then on, if one of us dies the other will die too since one of us can't live without the other." Xander bites his lip, just thinking about mating with Ara got him really dizzy and can't explain all of this properly.
Ara felt Xander's arousal, and that got her too. Of course, right now Mother Nature is doing her best to get these two patient people to hurry up and get together.
No one noticed that he had stopped talking and they were stuck in one of those moments just like they were in this morning. Lost in each other's eyes, like their inside soul had taken over.
Before anyone could react Xander, pulls her close and swoops down, pressing his lips to hers. She didn't even care, Ara reacted in a surprising manner by wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him closer.
He places his hands on her waist, gripping them tightly as he gently entwines his lips with hers. A hand caresses one of her cheeks and he pulls her closer she's practically in his lap.
Things got very heated, her hands tangle through his messy yet silky beautiful black hair and he leans her down onto the couch where he ends up hovering over her. A moan comes out from the back of his throat when she tugs on the end of his hair.
She doesn't even know what she was doing it or why, but hell she loved it. He was pulled down on her, squishing her body between him and the couch but not breaking the kiss. They'd stop for a few seconds before getting right back into it.
He breaks the kiss, moving down to make a trail of kisses down from her jaw to her neck.
That opened Ara's eyes fully, realising what was going on. She just willingly made out with her baby daddy, the man she'd met three years ago when they made Caleb, and who she is falling for.
"Xander stop..." She whimpers, her body betraying her while her mind trying to focus on the task here.
But he doesn't stop, at least he doesn't want to but he respects Ara and her wishes and would never force her into anything ever again.
Slowly his lips leave her neck and he pushes himself off her body so he just looks like he's doing a plank over her.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I didn't mean to I thought, I just it, something just–"
"It's okay. I kissed back." Ara admits, cutting him off. She sat up with Xander leaning back. Her legs spread out over his lap again. Her head was dizzy and she couldn't focus on a thing.
"Well, that was interesting."
**********
A/N: OMG HEY GUYS SORRY FOR NO UPDATE IN LIKE FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!! I have been so busy fitting in school, annoying parents, friends and a guy ;)
My grades have gone lower and I'm studying like the asian kid I am to get it higher and back up to my average. Except for science, everyone in my family suck in Science 'cause science sucks. SCIENCE WON'T HELP ME PAY THE BILLS SCHOOL BOARD, A GRAVITATIONAL PULL WON'T GIVE ME MONEY AND WILL NOT PAY FOR MY COLLEGE TUITION. Just saying.
But honestly I am so sorry for not updating in forever. Writer's block sucks and I've been going crazy trying to figure out how to word it. So far this is just a filler chapter, sorry but this is better than nothing!
**2020: ironic, I'm now in University studying science.