Book 2: Chapter 02

Sienna What Aiden said couldn’t possibly be true, could it? Recognizing your mate happened the instant your gaze connected with the other. My gaze had connected with Aiden’s dozens of times, but usually the only feelings stirred up inside me were rage and regret.

“You’re lying,” I blurted out, my throat dry. “I know how the mating process works, and if we were mates, we’d know by now!”

“I’m the Alpha. The rules don’t apply to me. The only way I can know if you’re my mate is to spend time with you and get closer to you.”

“Get closer to me? Sure,” I responded skeptically, “In bed, I suppose?”?

“When an Alpha meets his potential mate, his emotions go haywire. He has to rely on his senses and nothing else. First he marks her, and then he lets her come willingly into his bed to feel her dominance and to see if she’s capable of handling him.”

My heart started beating out of my chest as Aiden stepped closer.

“We both know that you’re more than strong enough to lead a pack. You’re beautiful, dominant, and you have me heeled like a damn cub at his mother’s tit. No one makes me bend like this, but you.”

Was he actually being submissive to me? His words were touching me in a way that made me want him to touch me everywhere.

What was wrong with me tonight? The Haze was becoming unbearable.

He could sense my physical need, but he also knew what I had been through tonight. He gently put his arms around my waist.

“Do you want more?” he asked.

Yes, I fucking wanted more. I was tired of repressing it, but this was the Haze, not me.

There was a chance that he was my mate, but what if he wasn’t?

As I began to pull away, Aiden must have felt my trepidation because he eased up and gently put me on the edge of the bed, resting his hand on my face Without warning, he leaned in, and his lips found mine. Everything melted away, and my world became a sensory explosion of feelings as every single one of my heightened senses went wild with stimulation.

It was everything I’d hoped for—my first kiss.

I was overcome with emotion, not only because of the kiss, but the club, the Haze, everything. As I broke down, Aiden just held me.

We fell back onto the bed, and I nestled into his body until the tears ran out. My mind finally shut off, allowing me to fall asleep in his arms.

*****

I kept my distance from Aiden for several days after the incident at the club. I needed some space to work through what had nearly happened to me, and since the Haze didn’t care what was appropriate, it felt like the best decision But after that kiss, Aiden was all I could think about. I hadn’t really gotten a chance to thank him after he brought me home that night, so now I found myself at his doorstep once again.

Before I could knock, he swung the door open.

“Sienna.” He grinned. “I thought I scented you.”

God, just the sight of him sends my Haze into high gear after days of separation.

“I…uh… I just came to thank you for the other night,” I stammered. “You were really there for me when I needed you.”

Aiden pulled me through the doorway and scooped me up in his arms. “You don’t have to thank me. I’d never let anyone harm you. You need to know that.”

I could see he meant it. And I wanted to thank him. I needed to thank him. Without words.

So this time, I kissed him.

And now his mouth was on mine, licking, nipping, and biting me into a state of ecstasy.

When I opened, letting him in, his tongue brushed mine and I succumbed to the melting heat.

The kiss started slowly, our mouths testing each other, sensing what the other liked, but neither of us could hold back anymore, and before I knew it, we were kissing as if we were two hungry ravenous wolves.

We stumbled backwards into the bedroom, and he threw me down on the bed, crawling over my body with pure lust in his eyes. His movements were slow and methodical, sizing up my body, deciding where to strike next. He caressed the mark he’d made on my neck with his soft lips.

The tiny hairs on my body rose at the G sensation of him floating over my mark.

He pressed a kiss on the mark then opened his mouth and let his tongue play around the bruise, licking it with long, deep strokes that made my body shiver uncontrollably.

Then he bit down, at the same spot, and I almost exploded from the brutal sensation of the Haze. My vision blurred, and I cried out, not from the pain but from the incomparable pleasure that surged through my body.

I was sure this kind of feeling could only come from the power of a real Alpha. I lost control of my wolf, and my nails turned into claws, which I dug into his back, ripping his claws, which I dug into his back, ripping his shirt, causing him to growl in surprise.

I was going to leave my own marks, thin and red, all up and down his back.

He flipped me over on my stomach in retaliation, hiking my dress up to my waist and pressing his bulge against my ass while gripping my hips. His hand went back between my legs, slid my panties aside, and entered deep this time.

After years of masturbating with my own fingers, I never realized how much better it would be when someone else’s were inside me. Now I knew what I was missing out on.

The orgasm ripped me into two, and that was just from his fingers. I was suddenly eager to find out what it would feel like with something much bigger inside me.

God, the Haze was completely taking over. I wasn’t thinking straight. I just knew the pleasure was so good I didn’t want it to end.

Why hadn’t I let this happen sooner? My mind was so hazy I couldn’t remember. Aiden started unzipping his pants.

Would this be my first time?

No, he‘s not my mate yet. But why does that matter?

My head started to hurt. Aiden began to spread my legs apart, and a nauseous feeling entered the pit of my stomach.

No... Emily. Not like this.

“No, stop…STOP. I don’t want to go any further,” I screamed.

Aiden cocked his eyebrow, thinking we were still playing a game. “You’re still Hazed,” he murmured, closing in on me again, his mouth an inch away from mine, “And so am I. Don’t you want me to help you relieve it?”

“No! I don’t know if you’re my mate yet, and I don’t know if you ever will be!” I blamed the Haze for being so harsh, but I didn’t have the strength to fight off my desire in that moment.

Aiden looked like a startled pup as I haphazardly sat up and tried to compose myself. His surprise quickly shifted to realization as he looked me up and down.

“Sienna,” he growled, “are you a virgin?”

My heart stopped. I wanted to tell him anything except the truth in that moment, but for some reason, I opened my mouth and uttered a timid, “Yes.”

His expression of confusion said it all. It was unheard of for a werewolf to be a virgin at my age. Sex was imbedded into our very beings, but I had my reasons for staying a virgin, and Aiden didn’t need to know them.

This was my burden to bear, my promise to keep.

“Why?” he asked suddenly.

I lowered my gaze to my sweaty palms. “Aiden…” I said hesitantly.

“Answer my question, Sienna.”

The Haze was dying down, and my clarity was returning, but the answer to Aiden’s question would never be clear. He couldn’t possibly understand how deeply Emily had affected me and how I was complicit in what had happened.

I closed my fists tightly, digging my fingernails into my skin, trying to block out the bitter memories.

“I’ve been saving myself for my mate,” I said, not entirely convincingly. “I can only truly love my mate, and I don’t want to give something special to someone who isn’t.”

It was immediately clear that Aiden could see I wasn’t telling the whole story. He walked over to me and pried my palms open. Blood trickled down as my claws retracted. He looked at me with a deep concern, but all I could do was turn away.

“Sienna, I need you to tell me what’s going on. I can’t just let this slide.”

“Please, don’t make me do this…I can’t,” I pleaded “This is clearly tearing you up inside, whatever this is,” Aiden growled. “How do you expect me to ignore this and pretend like nothing is wrong?

“I’m not your mate. It’s not your responsibility to take care of me.” I retorted. “I made it my responsibility when I marked you!”

I saw that he wasn’t going to back down, but I wasn’t going to either. When two people came to a stalemate, one had to compromise, and I was tired.

“Look, if you drop this, l’11—”I hesitated. “I’ll do anything.”

“Anything?

Begrudgingly, I nodded yes.

“You’ll move in here tomorrow so I can keep an eye on you. No excuses, no delays.

Tomorrow.”

“I won’t have sex with you,” I told him, just so he would get any ideas out of his Hazed mind. “Not until we know if you’re my mate or not. Also, you don’t get to dominate me. I’m not going to let you order me around, so if you’re thinking I become your property by moving in, then the claws are coming out and I’ll stop playing nice.”

His mouth curled into a devilish grin. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”Full .. I hugged both of my parents tightly. “You guys don’t need to be worried about me. I promise.”

“Yes, of course…you’ll be fine,” Mom said, bursting into tears. “My last daughter leaving the house and mating with an Alpha. I can’t believe you’re all grown up!”

I remembered how my parents had acted when Selene had moved out. It had been just the same.

Even though she was their daughter by blood and I’d been adopted, it didn’t make one lick of a difference to them.

It made me love them all the more for it. I was going to miss them. Biological parents or not, they were mine. And maybe my mom was being melodramatic, but, right now, I appreciated it.

“I’ll be back soon, relax,” I said, hugging them one last time. My mom’s hug was a bit too tight for comfort.

Luckily a loud car horn beeped outside, offering up an escape.

“That must be my driver! I’ve got to go, but I love you guys lots!” I yelled as I ducked out the door .