Unknown POV
I had been avoiding this moment for almost a year. I don't know how they'll react to me being here, so I've been hiding, sort of. It's pretty easy to hide when the whole pack is distracted by the Alpha mate being out of commission. I wasn't planning on showing myself yet, but something told me that it was time.
Sneaking past border patrol was not as easy as it was a few weeks ago, in fact it was fairly difficult. Whatever Bayne and Aaron were teaching them was working. As I got closer to the pack house I hid my scent and made myself look tired and weak, I tried to look like a human that got lost in the woods. I noticed more and more people were giving me questionable looks and they tried to be subtle when they sniffed to catch my scent. After not catching a scent some of them frowned, but most just went about their business. I was a human in their eyes, not a threat. Foolish really, Bayne would have their heads for that, but I guess their idiocy was the only thing keeping me alive.
When I reached the front door I took a calming breath and knocked. It took a few seconds, but eventually an older looking woman answered the door. When she saw me she quickly and discreetly sniffed.
"Hello dear, can I help you?" she put on a sweet smile.
"I need to speak to your Alphas." I told her. Her eyes widened and she sniffed again. When she still didn't catch anything she looked into my eyes and tried to make sense of it all.
"Alpha's Josh and Aiden are currently unavailable, but I can take you to see the Alpha Female. She'll want to meet you." The woman stepped aside so I could enter and tried to hide something behind the smile she wore.
"I really would like to talk to Alpha's Josh and Aiden first." I thought I was ready to see Bayne again, but when she opened the door, I froze.
"Nonsense, you should meet the Alpha Female first. You won't get to talk to the Alphas unless you meet with their mate and she approves." The woman practically pulled me into the house and slammed the door behind me. She then pushed me down the hall and stopped in front. I could smell Bayne through the door, her scent seeped into my soul and made me feel like a little girl about to get in trouble with their mother. I couldn't believe it, I had been gone for about a year and a half, and I still felt like a child around Bayne. The woman opened the door and walked in ahead of me. I could feel my hands shaking and the fear of disappointing Bayne overcame me. My knees nearly gave out and my breath got caught in my throat.
"Alpha Bayne, there's someone here who would like to speak with you." The woman said with her head slightly bowed. Bayne was sitting on the couch looking over a stack of papers.
"Thank you Susan." Bayne didn't even look up as she spoke to the woman, but Susan didn't take any notice to it. She just gave a quick nod and walked out. I didn't know what to do, Bayne hadn't looked up yet and I didn't know what to say to her. What do you say to someone who thought you were dead and haven't seen in a year and a half?
"So, what did you do?" She still hadn't looked up.
"I don't understand..." my voice was shaky and I didn't sound like me.
"No one comes to see me unless they've done something. Although it's strange that you choose to hide your scent at this point." I had forgotten that I was masking my scent until she said something. "So, what do you have to say?"
"I just came to say... Hi." I mumbled a little. I truly didn't know what to say and Bayne hasn't looked at me yet.
"Hi... that's all you have to say?" she slowly lifted her head to look at me, finally. When our eyes met I was surprised that she didn't immediately say something. Nothing about her features changed, she just stared at me for what felt like forever.
"Hi..." I didn't know what else to say, that seems to be the theme of today's meeting.
"You're supposed to be dead." She raised one eyebrow and looked me up and down for a few more minutes, waiting for me to explain myself.
"I was. And now I'm not..." I couldn't explain it very well, all I knew was that I woke up in a pile of ash and smoke.
"What happened?" I took a deep breath, preparing myself for an explanation that I wasn't even sure I understood when I caught a scent.
"Hey Bayne, I need to go over some of these stats with you, some of the guys are looking a little—Oh, sorry. I didn't know you were busy with someone." His voice made my heart soar and the butterflies in my stomach flutter. I hadn't realized how much I missed him until this point. I turned around to get a look at him, and what I saw stole my breath away. His hair was tussled with a 'just rolled out of bed' look. He had been turning around to leave when he stopped to examine me further. I saw a change in his eyes the minute he recognized me.
"Tori?" his voice was quiet, almost afraid that if he spoke to loud it wouldn't be true.
"Hey... You look well."
"You look... not dead..." his eyes were wide when the words came out of his mouth, his mouth was agape as he stared at me. "I... How did you... We—we watched you die. The house... the house came down around you. I—I died with you that day."
"I know—and I did die, I was just sent back." I told them.
"What do you mean you were sent back? Once you die, that's it, you're dead, end of story. You don't come back." Aaron was almost yelling, but not because he was angry, he was confused and scared. I could see it in his eyes. He may be able to hide his feelings like Bayne can, but he can't hide them from me.
"I don't fully understand it myself, but when I... died, I was sent to face judgment. I met with the Goddess and she seemed angry with me. She told me that I got in the way of her plans. That I wasn't supposed to die that day. I spent a few minutes in Limbo and then woke up under ash and what was left of the house." Aaron had come further into the room and sat down next to Bayne.
"If you weren't supposed to die... then..." Bayne put the pieces together and came to the same realization that I did when the Goddess told me this.
"That means I was... Serko's bullet was meant to kill me, but you stepped in the way. I was supposed to die." Aaron's voice was low and his eyes were down cast.
"That's the conclusion I came to. But I can't figure out why the Goddess would want that for us. Killing you wouldn't have done anything but send me into a deep depression. I couldn't imagine living without you."
"Not completely true. Had Aaron died that day you could have experienced a blinding rage that would have allowed you to severely injured Serko or possibly kill him." Bayne made a point, and I hate to admit it, but it makes sense.
"So you're saying that if I had died instead of Tori, Sercko would be dead by now?" Aaron sat there wide eyed and slightly scared. No one knew what would have happened if the circumstances were different. Only the Goddess knew that, and she didn't tell me.
"That's what it sounds like." Bayne said in her usual tone of no emotion and no sympathy. I looked at Aaron and waited for his reaction. When nothing came from him I sat down on the couch next to him. I let my shoulder brush up against his and instantly felt warm and happy.
"Why can't I smell you?" Aaron asked with a furrowed brow. I almost smiled at the change in subject. Aaron definitely knew how to distract from sensitive subjects.
"I forgot..." I smiled up at him and let my scent out. Instantly he inhaled and buried his nose into the crook of my neck. I felt him smile into my shoulder and chuckled at the growl he released.
"You don't know how much I missed you." Aaron growled out. I nearly moaned when his lips met the skin on my neck. He smirked and nipped at my ear, trying to get more of a reaction out of me. "Why did you make me wait so long?" Aaron had moved us so that I had my legs draped over his thighs, his head still in the crook of my neck and his hands on my waist.
"I didn't want you to be mad at me." I said thought a moan.
"Why would we have been mad at you?" his voice was muffled by my skin.
"When I woke up I wasn't the same... I didn't want you to see me like that." I pulled away from Aaron as much as I could, but he held me close. I didn't want to revisit that part of my past, but I knew that Aaron was going to dig until he found out. I gave a sigh and told them. "When I woke up I knew what had happened, I knew I had died, but I didn't have control over my body. My mind was aware of what had happened but not of what I was doing. I didn't get control over my body until a few days later. I'm not sure what happened in those day in between, but I do know that when my body was finally mine again I was covered with blood."
"Who's blood?" Bayne's voice startled me a little bit, I had completely forgotten she was there.
"Human blood..." I whispered. Aaron's hands tightened around me and a growl escaped. I began to feel like I was right, they both hated me. I knew it was too soon.
"How could you?" I knew it... "How could you think that something like that would change our feelings for you? Nothing will ever change my feeling for you." Aaron made me look up at him and gave me a small sincere smile. He brought his thumb up and ran it across my cheek, I hadn't realized I started crying until I felt the tear he wiped away. I returned his smile with a shy one of my own. Something in his eyes changed as he rested his palm on my cheek. Before I knew what was happening my lips were crushed against his in a passionate kiss. His lips were soft but demanding, his mouth tasted like mint. He was everything I had imagined him to be, and better yet, this was my first.
My hands went to his neck as I pulled myself closer into his embrace. His taste was addicting, I couldn't get enough of it, enough of him. I didn't want it to stop, but my lugs started to burn and I had to take a breath. His lips continued down my face to my neck, making my head fall back as he relentlessly sucked on the sensitive skin. My face started to heat up, making me pant, something in my stomach tingled. I started feeling dizzy and light, like I was floating. Nothing could ruin this for me, no one could take this feeling away from me, and if anyone tried... I would rip their throat out.
A throat cleared, pulling me out of my lust driven high. I let loose a growl that held power and anger, looking around to find who had interrupted my sweet utopia. The only other person in the room was Bayne, and I knew that no matter how angry I was, I would never be able to bring myself to hurt her. I tried to settle myself down, both from the incredible feeling Aaron had given me and from the rage flowing through my veins, but it wasn't working. My wolf didn't like that Bayne had not only gotten so much time with Aaron, but also that she was present when Aaron was clearly mine.
"Oh relax Tori. Why don't you two go get a room?" It was more of a demand rather than a question.
"Somewhere private sounds like a great idea." Aaron's voice was husky and deep, his eyes had gone to black, showing how close he and his wolf were at the moment. Before I knew it I let loose another growl and practically dragged him out of the room. He was laughing the whole way and I couldn't understand why... that is until I got to the bottom of the stairs and remembered, I have no idea where I'm going.
"So, where too little wolf?" he asked around a chuckle. My growl was quiet, almost sounding like a purr, and I smiled.
"You tell me..." I reached up and nipped at his chin, just to drive him crazy. It obviously worked because the next thing I knew he had me over his shoulder and was running up the stairs, taking two, sometimes three at a time. I couldn't help but laugh at his enthusiasm. He had us up to what I assume was his room in seconds, and threw me on the bed before the door fully closed. I laughed and watched as he staked over to me like a hungry beast looking at his next meal. "Someone's a little excited." I giggled.
I took in his lust filled eyes and bit my bottom lip in anticipation. He climbed onto the bed and crawled over to me, placing his hands on either side of my head and his knees on either side of my hips. He traced my cheek bones and trailed his fingers down my neck to my shoulder. I shuddered and moaned, letting him know without words how his touch made me feel. I then reached up and put my hand on the back of his neck, pulling him down for another heartfelt kiss. I felt him smile against my lips and chuckle a little bit. I released his head and looked up at him.
"Looks like I'm not the only one who's anxious." He chuckled again and went back to assaulting my neck with little love bites. His right hand went to my side and tugged at my shirt. "This... needs to go..." he sounded out of breath, but we had just started. He began unbuttoning my shirt, starting at the top and kissing the new skin as it was exposed. My breath caught in my throat. When he got to the third button reality came crashing down on me again.
"WAIT!" I was out of breath and my voice wasn't as loud as I wanted it to be, but that didn't matter, Aaron heard me loud and clear. He stopped and looked down at me with concern written on every feature. He looked at me, waiting for me to tell him what was wrong, but all I could do was sit up and cover up. I felt awful, I wanted to be comfortable with him, but I just couldn't.
"I'm sorry, I thought you wanted—we don't have to do anything you're not comfortable with..."
"No, no I do want to... I'm just..." I couldn't find the right word to explain to him what I was feeling.
"You're just not ready." I shook my head and looked him in the eye. I wanted to tell him, I just didn't know how. It would be easy to show him, but that would scare him into leaving. I couldn't stand it if he left, not again.
"It's not that I'm not ready, or that I don't want to... I do, but..." I took a deep breath and looked down at the floor again.
"You remember what I said not ten minutes ago? Nothing will ever change how I feel for you." He had said that, but what happens when he sees what I'm so afraid of and can't keep that promise? "Whatever it is you can tell me..."
"I'm afraid of how you'll react to it..." I said under my breath.
"Well, the only way to find that out would be to bite the bullet." I looked at him with a raised eyebrow and just stared. "Too soon?" I smiled, he really did know how to take my mind off of things.
"I was left with a reminder..." I told him with a sigh.
"What kind of reminder?" he was confused and wanted to help me. I slowly unbuttoned my shirt but kept my head down and away from him. When I got all the buttons undone I shrugged the right shoulder off, just enough to show him the scar that was left on my arm and chest. It continued down past my hips and on my calf on my back and the front, but it was only on my right side. I felt his eyes go to my shoulder, and travel down my arm. A tear escaped my eyes as I felt his fingertips brushed my shoulder.
"Tori... I am so sorry." His words caught me off guard, he was sorry? Sorry for what? "We should have gotten you out of there, then burned the house down." His right hand came up and cupped my left cheek. I closed my eyes and leaned into his hand. He thought it was his fault... I thought he would have shied away from my marred skin.
"You don't have to apologize. It not your fault."
"Is this why you wanted to stop?" I simply nodded too ashamed to say anything. "Oh, baby..." his voice was a whisper and broken. He pulled me into him for a tight hug, making me feel safe and protected. I quickly wrapped my arms around him and hugged him back just as tightly, if not tighter. His hand rubbed my back, soothing me and calming me down, but what really took my mind off the upsetting subject was when I felt Aaron's lips press gently against my right shoulder. He continued to kiss down my arm, covering all the skin that had been scared.
"Aaron..." I couldn't get anything else out before he slipped the rest of my shirt off, gently pushed me down to my back, and continued to kiss down my side. The scar covered half of my stomach and a third of my back, but he didn't back away in disgust, instead he showered me with his kisses. He took care to not bite any skin that was scared, but that didn't take any of the heat away from his mouth. He continued to travel down my side and came to the top of my jeans.
"Just tell me if you want me to stop." He said as he unbuttoned my jeans and slipped them off my hips. His kisses continued past my hips and down my leg, again making sure he graced every inch of my scared skin with his mouth. Heat started building in my stomach again. I reached down to grab his shoulders and pulled him back up so we were staring into each other's eyes.
"You are wearing too many cloths." I breathed out. Aaron growled and nearly ripped off his shirt. When he had succeeded with his shirt he fumbled with the button on his pants. I laughed when he cursed at the button and tried to shimmy the jeans off his hips without unbuttoning them. I stopped him by placing my hands on his shoulders and bringing his lips back to mine. When his hands came away from his waistband I trailed my hands down his chest and continued down his stomach. I smiled and bit his lip when I raked my fingernails down his abs. His growl sounded more like a purr.
I guided my hands down into the waistband of his jeans and found the button without breaking the kiss. It took me less than a second to get his pants unbuttoned and past his hips then he took over and kicked them off. His hands came down on my hips and moved his mouth to my neck. His wolf was near the surface, I could feel his k9's extending as he left open mouth kisses to on my neck. My hands skimmed up to his shoulders, holding him closer to me.
"Aaron..." I was panting and not sure what I wanted him to do.
"Tell me." his voice was deep and steady, how was he not panting?
"I—" I was distracted by his attack on my shoulder.
"You what? What is it you want?" his breath graced the spot he had just kissed and sent goosebumps down my arms.
"You..." I gasped. That seemed to be the only encouragement he needed because the next thing I knew Aaron was sucking on the junction of my neck and shoulder. His k9's were fully extended and the muscles in his shoulders twitched every few seconds because he was trying to hold his wolf back. I entered complete bliss when the pain of his teeth punctured my skin. The pain was excruciating, I wanted to scream, but my voice was stolen from me. Aaron's teeth dug deeper into my flesh and I thought for sure he was going to rip my throat out or puncture an artery. I put my hand on his shoulder while I tried to say something. I had an overwhelming urge to mark him as well. I brought my head up and ran my teeth across his neck. The actions sent a shiver down his back and I think I felt goosebumps spread across his back. I felt my teeth lengthen and come to a point. I ran them down his neck until I found his sweet spot. He growled and clamped his jaw harder. The pain had finally subsided enough for me to get my thoughts together and mark him. As my teeth sunk in to his muscular shoulder his blood spilled into my mouth. It didn't taste like anything I had ever tasted before and it made my wolf crazy. We both released each other at the same time and examined our marks.
"Mine." Aaron said with a breath, his eyes were still black from his wolf.
"Mine." I felt my eyes darken the longer I looked at him. I had been waiting to claim him form the moment I met him, and now... he's mine.