Learning someone is like
learning a new language.
~Mel
"Since Reese has the tracker now it makes finding Benny boy even more complicated. He knows someone's on his tail, he'll trace his little tracker to Reese's pack and be more careful."
The distinct scent of warm vanilla cookies had War's head snapping almost painfully to the source. Was he supposed to be listening to Khan about the plan to find this man? Yes, but he couldn't get Pomelia out of his mind.
He completely fucked up two days ago. Not only did he freak out about the sex talk, but he turned all primal on her and scented her out of sheer worry and fear. He should have known it was a sensitive topic. She was basically training to be a nun so of course, those things made her uneasy and he completely dismissed her. The last day and a half had been awkward. He had left a mark or two on her neck... She acted normal towards him but he knew she was bothered.
Pomelia whisked past them, giving them a slight smile before she headed to the kitchen. That was where she had been within the last two days. She was always cooking...or cleaning or reading. At night, she would hold his hand to go to sleep...but that was it. At least he hadn't made out with her in his sleep like the first night they spent together.
"War."
Rolling his eyes, he looked towards Trent, who was glaring at him. "What?" He snapped, glaring at the man. Ever since Pomelia arrived he hadn't been to keen on Trent.
"Oh nothing just that your mate is crying."
War immediately stood up and rushed into the kitchen. Sniffing the air, he did smell a sour, salty scent mixed in with her sweet vanilla one. Pomelia was cutting some sort of vegetable while wiping her wet cheeks with the back of her hand.
Her cheeks were flushed and she was biting her bottom lip. She seemed genuinely upset...like someone had hurt her. "What's wrong?"
Glancing up to look at him, she immediately averted her gaze as more tears fell. "I'm fine." War could hear the lie in her voice and even heard the influx of her heart beat. War closed the distance between them, going behind the marble countertop and standing next to her.
War was quiet, just watching her cook. Her hands were trembling as she continued cutting her food and War didn't like that. "I don't like when you're upset."
Taking a deep breath, she looked up at him with tears in her eyes. "You're ashamed of me," she whispered brokenly as War felt his stomach turn. She must have said it wrong. How could he, War, be ashamed of having Pomelia for a mate? If anything he was honored to have such a beautiful and kind mate.
"No. No I'm not," he defended himself, grabbing his mate and making her look at him. She continued to look away from him, wiping her tears with her hands trying to shy away from him. Why was she thinking like that?! He didn't get it. "You're... you," he stalled thinking of what he was trying to say. Why was he having a problem with this? "You're the best thing about me."
She froze. War felt his stomach-churning. Did he say the wrong thing? He should have kept his mouth shut. When did it ever pay off telling someone his feelings? "I am?" She sniffled, giving him a wary look. "You don't act like it, War. I like being your mate...but you don't act like you enjoy having one."
How could he? He held her hand at night, he let her get in the shower first, he sat with her while she read and he watched her constantly when he was available to do so. "Why are you thinking like this?"
"You haven't let me out or introduced me to anyone in the pack. I don't understand why. The last time I asked you was yesterday morning and you...you seemed really upset about it."
Of course. Why was he such an idiot? He had been holding her captive in the house. Her wolf must have been itching to shift by now... "I'm sorry, your wolf must be upset." She averted her gaze. He had to address the other issue too... "And my pack members aren't good people. You wouldn't like them."
"War, boy you need to be better with your damn words." Sensing another male near, he grabbed his mate by the hips and pressed her closer to his body. A gasp left her lips and her thin fingers immediately went to the back of his hand, rubbing them soothingly. Gods, he loved when her fingers would glide over his skin. It was so soothing.
It was Alpha of course, a smug look on his face. "Oh I didn't know you could hear us, Alpha Khan."
"We're werewolves sweetheart. Now I have to say what you said hurt me a bit, War. Bad people? We aren't bad people, Pomelia. Sure some of us are outcasts, exiled from our home packs, ostracized from the religious community for our way of life but bad? That's a stretch wouldn't you say?" He could hear Pomelia's heart beat increase. His hand pressed more into her soft flesh, glaring at Alpha Khan. Why did he have to interrupt their conversation?
War shrugged. "It's my opinion."
"I'm sure War didn't mean it that way. Alpha Khan can we be excused?" Pomelia questioned as War's wolf decided to snarl out loud. He thought he was doing a pretty good job at suppressing it but unfortunately not.
That seemed to fuel Khan's fire. "Of course. War you know what you have to talk to her about." Yeah, War knew what he had to talk to her about and his entire body tensed up about it. His mate was so fragile...this was surely going to break her.
Without saying anything else, War drug Pomelia away from the kitchen and into the second living room in the house. Once they were both seated comfortably, his mate placed her hand on his bicep. "War, you don't have to be scared to tell me anything. I-I have something to tell you too actually." What did she have to tell him? Whatever it was, she was becoming extremely fidgety.
"Hey, my favorite awkward little couple. You guys coming to the bonfire?!"
Glancing at the doorway, he internally rolled his eyes upon seeing Jess. She was in a bikini top and a pair of shorts. War's eyes trailed over the hickeys peppering her neck, stomach and even at her thighs... he wondered how Pomelia's skin would look in that light. All flushed and puckered from his mouth marking her sweet flesh. Of course, he did see a mark or two on her neck that was still present from the day before but that was it.
"There's a fire?" Pomelia questioned as War felt a smile tug on his lips. He really enjoyed his mate...when she wasn't avoiding him and smiling of course.
Jess chuckled. "No, no it's like a big fire pit where we drink and play games and just I don't know fuck around." War could see Pomelia's eyes on him, wondering what his decision was going to be. If he said no then she really would think that War didn't appreciate or even like her.
"We'll come for a little bit."
Pomelia broke out into a full-fledged smile, making him feel great about his decision momentarily. "I get to meet your pack," she smiled, squeezing his arm a bit tighter.
"Yes you do, babes. I also went shopping today for some more shorts and came across the cutest dress that you would like so I got it." Jess tossed the bag in the air and War caught it with ease, before handing it to Pomelia. "You know since War still hasn't taken us shopping yet."
He frowned at the woman. "I'm taking you guys tomorrow."
"Thank you Jess! I'm going to try it on now." His mate excitedly jumped up from the couch and threw her arms around Jess, making her laugh loudly.
"Oh my god you hug so tight for such a little thing." Once their hug ended, Jess handed Pomelia something small. "And here's some lip gloss, it's a blush pink just a little bit of color."
His mate was looking at the lip gloss as if it were foreign. "Oh wow...thank you Jess!"
"No problem, babes. Go try it on, Daddy War bucks will be up soon to help you." His mate glanced at him and her cheeks reddened, before she rushed out of the room.
War glared at Jess as he finally stood up and stretched a bit. "Why are you buying her stuff?" He knew Jess was a friend, but it was odd and he didn't like it. She hardly knew Pomelia.
"Maybe I want a little taste of Pomelia myself. You know Pomme means apple in French. I just want a little bite," she smirked.
He should have known that, that was a possibility with Jess. She enjoyed both men and women and he didn't know why it didn't click with him before. "Stay away from her."
She pouted, poking out her bottom lip. "Aw c'mon War. A little three way action would be fun."
"Jess," he warned, glowering down at the woman who was smiling entirely too hard. She was lying. Lying about it all. He could tell and that infuriated him even more. "Why are you doing this?"
She rolled her eyes, taking her hands through her auburn hair. "She reminds me of my sister, okay?"
War never, ever heard anything about Jess's past. It was something that she among others kept quiet about. He was sure the only person who truly knew everything about everyone was Alpha Khan... "That good enough for you, daddy war bucks?" He could tell what she was saying was the truth.
"Yeah."
"Good. Now, where is that Sai Khan at?"
War knew right then and there that Jess was the type of female who had a death wish. "Don't use his first name...he'll be upset."
"Oh I know." She adjusted her bikini top, till it looked as if one of her breasts were going to pop out then skipped away, most likely going to cause chaos in the house.
Not even worrying about what the hell was going to happen between those two, he made his way up the steps and to his room. He wanted to see what kind of dress Jess had brought his beautiful mate.
Opening the door to his room, he was surprised to see a partially naked Pomelia in front of the mirror. War bit the inside of his cheek, checking out the backside of his mate. She was in nothing but her white bra and cotton panties, the front of her being hidden by the dress that she was holding against her skin. She must have been too excited to care about running into the bathroom like she usually did when changing.
"It's a nice color," he commented, as he watched her reaction through the mirror. Her eyes widened and she immediately tried to spin around so that he could only see her covered front. Unfortunately, his mate was a bit clumsy and winded up falling to the ground with a big thud.
She whimpered and he immediately rushed to her side and helped her up on her feet. His idiotic brain told his eyes to sweep over her front while the opportunity presented itself and that backfired quickly...
Pom held her hands over her important bits and took a few steps back from him. He quickly picked up the new dress and held it out for her. "Here...I didn't mean to look." That was a lie and she knew it by the way she was staring at him. "Okay, I did mean to look."
She grabbed her dress and disappeared into the bathroom. War slapped his hand over his forehead and raked it over his face. What was wrong with him? He just had to check her out and be an idiot. And to top it all off his gums were beginning to itch. His wolf really liked her a lot, as did he and unfortunately didn't really want to wait to mark her. Between his dick and his mouth, he was in a predicament...
He started to walk it off, pacing the length of their room while thinking of gore and blood, and guts. His mind and body weren't cooperating and he could hear the bathroom door opening. "War...um can you help me with the zipper?"
"Fuck," he cursed under his breath as his canines began to involuntarily elongate at the sound of her voice. Was this what having a mate was like? Why couldn't he get it together? "One second," he said through clenched teeth.
"Are you hurt? You sound...stressed."
War moved towards the door as her voice sounded as if it were coming closer. "No...my wolf wants you. I don't want a repeat of what happened...the other day." It was too late because her soft hand was already on his back, rubbing the spot gently. "I don't want to hurt...you."
She was quiet...again, just sliding her hand over the middle of his back in an odd pattern. Why was she not moving away from him? Did she want him to attack her like he did before? Gods...was what wrong with this woman? "It's okay, War. You won't hurt me or do anything crazy like that. I promise."
Why did she have so much faith in him? Her hand was extremely soothing...but he couldn't trust himself with her. He could just stake his claim on her. It would be so easy to pin her to the door, expose her neck and sink his canines into her soft flesh. Too easy, because she was weak...
"You can do it, War. Just zip up my dress...you won't attack me." Looking to his hands, he realized how shaky they were. Gods, why wasn't she feeling the effects of the bond? Pomelia should be in the same shape as him...
The more he thought about it, reason took over need and he began to calm himself down. Turning to look at his mate, he noticed that her body slightly shook while staring up at him. "Where is your wolf?"
His mate seemed surprised by the turn in events. "Um...that's what I had to tell you," she said cryptically as her heart beat began to skyrocket yet again..
"What's wrong?"
She twisted her lips while fidgeting with her hands under his intense gaze. "I don't have a wolf...well I never shifted. I don't have the little voice in my head with primal thoughts."
That was it? He was expecting something much worse than that. It was risky though, having a mate equivalent to an omega when he was Beta tier... "Why can't you shift?"
"I'm not sure. I know my mother was human though."
She had a human mother? So her father had to be a Lycan. How could she have a heat but no presence of a wolf? It made no sense. "So your father was lycan?"
His mate shrugged her shoulders. "I suppose so...I don't know who he is."
It wasn't uncommon for a wolf to abandon a human he impregnated. He may have found his true mate along the way or he might've just been horny...Whatever the case was he felt bad that his mate had to grow up without knowing her parents. "Do you know who your mother is?"
Pomelia shrugged, a sad look on her face. "No Priestess Arana said that my mother wanted me here and dropped me there when I was a few weeks old."
"And they have no records of your mother?"
He noticed that she was eying his hand rather harshly, and decided to hold hers. Apparently that was a good mood on his part because she smiled. "They do but they're confidential to priestesses and novices. A lot of us are orphans and imagine if we all got a hold of that information. Who abandoned us..."
"I won't abandon you." Why did War say that out-loud? What was he thinking?! He felt his face warming up before, Pom squeezed his hand. "And maybe we can ask them for your records now...now that you aren't one of them."
Her hold lessened on his hand, and he knew she was probably thinking about her old life... "You think they would? That would be nice to at least know her name," she said as her fingers traced over his arm. She seemed to like to draw on his skin... "Are you upset that I can't shift?"
"No...but if you have a heat then you have to have a wolf."
Pomelia's fingers were now drawing circles on the back of his hand. "I don't know what to say to that. Every time heat came around I would become really hot and my body ached then I would take the medicine and feel better."
His mate seemed worried and he felt guilty for making her feel such a way. "We'll figure it out...Let me fix your dress."
A chest pain suddenly flourished when Pomelia gave him a soft, sweet smile and then she hugged him. War couldn't catch up with what his brain was doing and before he could embrace her back, she was peeling away from him. He bit his tongue as she turned her back towards him. He could see that she was blushing...
War wasted no time zipping up her dress. He didn't want her to feel awkward since she was exposing herself to him...even if it was just her back. Once she was zipped up, she twirled around to face him.
"Is..is it too revealing?" Her cheeks were reddening, as her hands slid down her waist. "My collarbone has never been exposed so much and my ankles! You can see part of my calves. Priestess Arana would be so upset."
Both he and his mate started to laugh. Just the thought of someone reprimanding his mate over such a conservative dress made him laugh. He would promise to do harm against anyone who dared even shame her for wearing such a cute dress she felt nice in.
His laughter paused when a gasp came from Pomelia's lips. "What is it?" He questioned, watching her stare at him as if he did something wrong.
"Your laugh is just so nice. I like it," she told him as War awkwardly ran his fingers through his hair., wincing at the knot he found. "Do you want me to comb out your hair for you?"
War gave her an odd look. He wasn't a child...sure his hair was a lot to deal with but it was shoulder length. He kept himself well groomed. He had a beard too and he kept it up well enough. Or so he thought. He brought body wash that was shampoo and a conditioner all in one too. "Why?"
Pomelia blushes, nervously fidgeting with her hands. "Because you have beautiful hair that I would love to comb out. Maybe tomorrow night I can deep condition it if you want."
If it meant her hands would be running through his hair... sure. "The bonfire starts soon but if you want to...you can." It was an odd request though...
His mate squealed. "Okay I'll be quick!"
War watched his mate rush into the bathroom and come back with a variety of items, including one or two brushes and combs. "My hair is sort of curly so I think this detangle spray will work for you too."
He watched her set up her items on the table near their couch before patting on the seat. "Ok you sit and I'll kind of kneel on the couch and then I'll switch to the other side, okay?!" Why she was so happy? He didn't know but he enjoyed it. He did as he was told, and sat down where she wanted.
The next twenty minutes went by quick. They didn't talk much, and War was fine with that. His mate was too preoccupied with putting things that smelt of coconut in his hair while humming.
"Okay, I'm done. Let's look in the mirror!" She gushed in excitement as she attempted to pull him off of the couch.
Once he was up he made his way to the mirror and turned his head both ways, assessing her work. His hair seemed longer for some reason...what was in that magical bottle? "Thank you."
"You're welcome, I'm glad you like it. Now let's go to the um bonfire!" Pomelia grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the door.
She was so excited...to see the worse of his pack.
***********
Hey guys! Hope you all enjoyed.
Thoughts on this chapter?
How's quarantine life? Anything different/changed since last update?
Chapters 10 & 11 will be available on my Patreon by Wednesday.