Annabelle's POV
I stood, shivering next to Noah. It was completely dark, the stars the only light provided. There were hundreds of people stood in front of us, which was not helping my nerves. I probably should have dressed warmer. I wore black skinny jeans, a maroon knit jumper, brown boots and a maroon beanie. Most wolves wore coats, except a few of the larger wolves who didn't feel the cold as much.
Marcus stepped forward and hushed the crowd. He held a strange knife in one hand. It was curved slightly inwards, its silver metal gleaming. It was simple but beautiful. I couldn't really focus on that though. Marcus wore faded blue jeans and a black hoodie which hugged his muscles perfectly.
"Noah Williams will join our pack first." His powerful voice echoing around the clearing. Noah stepped forwards and took the knife off Marcus. He held it against his palm and cut diagonally across it, blood filling the crevices of his hand. Marcus did the same on his own hand. I winced slightly, my wolf not liking our mate to get hurt. I scolded her silently. Noah and Marcus shook hands, staring straight into each others eyes. They gripped a big harder than necessary, then Noah was back at my side.
"My mate, Annabelle Williams, will join us next." I slowly made my way over, nerves completely taking over. I could hear the gasps as people saw my face. I blushed and almost stopped, but I caught Marcus's eye. He nodded encouragingly so I shakily took the knife from him. Placing the knife on my skin, I breathed in deeply. Holding Marcus's gaze, I sliced the knife down. I gasped as blood trickled down my wrist. Marcus took the knife off me, still holding my gaze and held his still bleeding hand out. After a seconds hesitation, I took it. My eyes met his and for a moment, everything was silent.
Then there was a click. I could feel their minds- his mind. Feel their emotions. I stared up at Marcus, and for a moment longer, things were peaceful. All I could see was him, his eyes which had turned the colour of the night sky. I could feel his love, his fear, his nerves. He was just as scared of the mating as I was.
I blinked, not expecting it. I had always been taught that Alpha Marcus was ruthless, harming as many people as he possibly could. His quest for power, they said, was unstoppable. He was mateless, they said. After all, who would love a monster like him?
Me apparently.
Then the moment was broken. The pack started applauding, a few turning into wolves and howling. I blushed and stepped back, looking down. I can't feel like this. I can't let him get the better of me.
He's our mate. He won't hurt us. My wolf whispered, trying to reassure me. I frowned.
But what about mom? I replied, feeling her flinch. She went silent, obviously thinking of a new way to persuade me to accept him. I didn't even know if he wanted me. I mean, who would want a mate who looks like I do? Who can't even look people in the eye.
Noah's hand on my waist brought me back to reality. The crowd had started to scatter, leaving only a few behind. He started moving me towards his pick up, when a hand grabbed mine, yanking me from his grasp. I squeaked and went crashing into a rock hard body. I felt Marcus chuckle, the deep sound vibrating against me. I huffed, embarrassed, and avoided his gaze.
"You got your things?" He asked, his voice husky. I nodded, and grinned at Noah's face. He was frowning and pouting slightly. I reached forward and flicked his bottom lip. He slapped my hand away, grumbling. We had argued for about two hours, until he finally let me move in. I'm not sure why I even wanted to. My wolf was going nuts, telling me I had to. The logical side of me didn't though. Why would I want to move in with a guy like him? He had murdered whole packs in order to expand his empire. Our old pack had been close to war with him. He was also an Alpha. Like dad.
"It's in the pick up." Noah grumbled, kicking a stone like a five year old. I felt my grin widen at his childishness. His eyeline was somewhere between me and Marcus, so I followed it. Our fingers were still intwind, his huge hand clutched mine. I blushed and tried to pull my hand away. Marcus's fingers tightened, not letting me.
"We can move them into my car before we leave." Marcus said, his deep voice sending shivers down my spine. Noah huffed again, nodded and turned to lead us to the car. A gust of wind blew, freezing my already cold skin. I wrapped my free arm around my waist, hunching over slightly. Marcus looked down at me, "Cold?"
I shrugged my shoulders, "A tiny bit." That was a complete lie, and he knew it. I was shivering like the leaves above us. He let go of my hand, and for a moment I felt even colder. Then I realised what he was doing. He'd unzipped his hoodie and passed it over to me. I shook my head and took a step back.
"No, you'll get cold." I said, wondering how the hell he didn't have frost bite. I was wearing a jumper and freezing. He now stood in his blue jeans and a t-shirt, which hugged his muscled body and showed off his insanely big arms.
His angular face was lit up with a grin that shocked me slightly. I had never seen him smile before. He seemed to notice me staring, so his smile dropped slightly.
"Take it. You'll find I'm tougher than I look." I raised an eyebrow and poked his rock hard bicep, which actually kinda hurt my finger.
"Yeah, because you look like a chihuahua." I muttered, reluctantly taking the hoodie from him. I shoved my arms through the sleeves and blushed when my hands didn't even come close to the cuff. It was huge, finishing at the middle of my thigh. I could hear Noah snorting, trying not to laugh.
"Just get on with it." I said, annoyance filling my voice. Noah burst out laughing, holding onto his side. I could hear other people laughing and looked round to see Cece and Cory walking towards us hand in hand. Noah pretended to wipe a tear from under his eye and ruffled my hair up,
"Let's go shortie." He spluttered through his laughter and made his way to the car. I rolled my eyes again and followed behind him.
Marcus's POV
I watched amused as Noah and Annabelle walked ahead. Annabelle looked adorable in my jumper, that was about six sizes too big for her. I hoped she would become more comfortable around me soon. She was so timid, jumping at everything and clinging to Noah's arm all the time. It worried me that she might not be suitable to become the Luna. Luna's must be brave and fierce, helping to look after the pack with the Alpha.
Don't talk about our mate like that. Of course she's Luna material, otherwise the Gods wouldn't have put us together. My wolf was outraged at the thought, and to be honest, I wasn't happy about it either.
'You might want to hurry up, Alpha. It's getting darker.' Cody's voice filled my mind through the packs link. He was up ahead with Noah and Annabelle, and I felt a ripple of jealousy and anger course through me. He was too close to her for my liking.
I jogged up to them and wrapped my arm protectively around Annabelle's tiny waist. I could still feel her shivering, despite the jumpers she wore. I glared at Cody for a second, who took a step to the side, sensing my annoyance. We made our way to the edge of the woods where Noah had badly parked at the side of the road.
"There's a couple of big boxes and a few little ones." Noah said, dragging said boxes towards him from the pick up. I nodded and picked up the first one that I saw, which was the largest. Annabelle stared, wide eyed, as Noah and I took the largest boxes and threw them into the trunk. Cody grabbed the smaller ones and put them into the back seat of my Land Rover, which was black and covered in mud.
I was about to climb in, when a hand grasped my shoulder. I turned to see a worried looking Noah. "Look after her, ok? She..." He paused, trying to find the words. "She doesn't sleep well. She gets nightmares almost every night, and they've been getting worse."
"What about?" I asked, shutting the car door so she couldn't hear me. Noah shook his head.
"I can't tell you. It's not really my story to tell." He sounded nervous, and kept darting looks to Annabelle, who sat patiently in the car, leaning out the window to talk to Cody.
"I will look after her. She's my mate, after all." I replied, swinging the door open and hopping in.
Silently, I started the engine and began the short drive home. Even though the journey lasted around ten minutes, it felt like a lifetime. I could smell her sweet scent, hear her rapid heartbeat and sense her terror through the mating bond. My wolf was begging me to touch her, to do something. I gripped the steering wheel, trying not to crash the car.
"So how far away do you live?" Annabelle finally asked quietly, after a few minutes of tense silence.I glanced over at her, noticing how scared she looked. She was sat on the far side of her seat, pressed against the door. Her hands were clasped together on her lap so tightly I could see little white marks on her skin.
"About another five minutes. I need to be withing walking distance of the pack house, in case anything happens." I replied gently, trying to make her feel a bit more comfortable. She nodded, staring at her feet. I frowned. It's all wrong. We're mates, so why is this so... awkward? She shouldn't be shying away from me. In fact, she should be doing the complete opposite.
I heard a tiny gasp as we pulled up outside the house. My wolf growled at the sound, loving it. I coughed and tried to contain him. Horny bastard. Annabelle was staring at the house, her tiny mouth hanging open.
"You live here?" She said in wonder. I glanced up at the house, sighing. It was huge, and people usually had this response. I didn't understand it though. Father was the one who was obsessed with this stuff.
"Yeah. And now, so do you." I couldn't keep the victorious smile off my face at the thought. She peaked at me through her hair and gave me a shy smile in return.