Chapter Eighteen

Dylan

Finally I'm able to leave that damned house. Since it's a Sunday and Dean's been putting off doing his Alpha duties- whatever that means - he's left me in the somewhat capable hands of Dre for the day. There are only a few days until Christmas and neither of us have done our shopping but can you blame us? It's not every month you turn into a werewolf for the first time.

We've been at the mall half of the day and it's packed to the brim with people. There isn't a place you can move without stepping on or nearly stepping on someone. Apparently we aren't the only late shoppers. The first half of our day was spent relaxing at the spa. Swedish massages, facials, manicures and pedicures, the works. I ended up getting the same mani and pedi I always do, black polish on my toes and all black acrylic on my fingers. Dre went for a rainbow of colors, none of them matching but somehow all going together. The transition from this morning to now is like going from a coy pond to a shark tank.

"What are you getting White Chocolate?" she asks, smacking my hand from the orange sweater I was about to pick up.

I roll my eyes, "I don't know yet."

Quiet as it's kept I'm pissed at him about last night. He had me so close to coming and for what? His amusement? Jerk. But it taught me to be more observant because I have to get him back. There's no way I can't.

"I know what you can give him," she drawls seductively.

I burst into giggles when I see the lacy outfit she's holding up.

"What?" she asks, brow furrowed, shaking the see through material in the air, "This is the best gift you can give him. The boy's been waiting long enough and you are his mate, it's about time you let him see the cakes girlfriend."

Rolling my eyes I snatch the scraps of material from her hand and hang it back up on the rack, hoping it'll get some of the eyes in the store off of us. Dre never knows when she's making a scene. Well, either she doesn't know or she doesn't care but either way it makes for embarrassing times for me. I've gotten very good at my awkward apologetic smile while I usher her out the door.

"Would you stop pushing? I'm walking just fine on my own," she grunts, straightening out her purple chiffon top.

I'm about to reply when something catches my eye, causing me to walk ahead of her and straight into my destination, Hot Topic. It doesn't take me long before I find exactly what I'm looking for and head to the counter.

Dre is waiting outside when I come out, she hates the look of the store, says it's too creepy for her.

"What'd you get?"

"You'll see," I smile secretively.

*

"Did you have a good time hanging out?" Dean asks before kissing my temple and wrapping me in a hug, his hands dangerously close to my ass.

I nod instead of answer, not trusting my voice to not sound as wanton as the slight action made me.

"I can feel it too," he whispers into my ear.

I blink my eyes open, focusing in on his smirk as he pulls away from me.

"So what'd you get?"

I'm able to grasp some willpower then and snatch my bags away from his prying eyes, "You'll see on Christmas. How are we doing that by the way?"

He sits on the couch and pats the seat beside him, "We can do it any way you want. I didn't know if you were talking to your mom again and to tell you the truth I've been hoping you'd bring it up first."

I sigh, taking a seat beside him. I haven't spoken to my mother in what feels like years even though it's only been a few weeks. She initially kept calling, it was almost like she knew I found out, but after blatantly sending her to voicemail she stopped. It's been very strange not talking to her and yet seeing and speaking to Dean's mom every day. We've become really great friends and she's a fantastic mother figure but no one can replace my real mom.

"I guess we could do Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning here and then go there for Christmas dinner and maybe spend the night if things don't get too out of hand. I'm just," I stop and sigh again, "I'm so mad. I just wish she would've told me the truth."

He pulls me to his chest and holds me there, "You just have to forgive her the same way you forgave me."

I roll my eyes even though he can't see, "That's totally different Dean. She's had twenty-three years to tell me the truth and instead she lied. Every single birthday she told the same lie about how my father died of a heart attack and how proud he would be of me. I just can't get it out of my head."

We both stay silent for a while after that. I focus in on the sounds of his breathing and the steady thrum of his heart. It's beginning to become a stress reliever for me. Even if I just focus in and remember the strong steady sound of the most important organ in his body I can find my center and calm down.

"I'm sure he is proud of you," Dean whispers.

Not really knowing how to reply to that without crying I don't and eventually fall asleep.

*

Warm covers surround me in the empty bed I'm lying in. I have no idea what time it is or for how long I've slept but the sun is out again and the smell of food is wafting through the air and calling my name. The closer I get to downstairs the harder my stomach growls. I turn the corner to the kitchen with a smile on my face that immediately drops once I see who's warming the food.

"Hello Mr. Jarreau," I mutter awkwardly and ease by him to the refrigerator.

He doesn't respond, instead he just walks past me and takes his food into the connecting dining room.

I make a sandwich and grab a bag of chips since he clearly is eating the breakfast leftovers Mama J saved for me. Hesitating before I sit, I take the seat farthest away from him at the table and open my chips. He looks down the table at me briefly from the noise of the bag but quickly looks away.

"What the fuck is his issue?" I ask myself mentally. I can feel myself start to get increasingly uncomfortable, almost stopping me from eating. Vaguely I hear silverware hit a plate.

"Are you uncomfortable?" he suddenly asks.

I sigh internally. I thought I was doing such a good job of hiding it. I hadn't stopped eating or anything even though I wanted to.

I look up at him but don't respond. His eyes connect with mine and he squints as if trying to see something in them.

"Answer me young lady," he says sternly, turning in his seat to look at me head on.

"Y-yes sir," the words tumble out of my mouth, clumsily tripping over one another.

He lets out a huge breath. "Well I'll be damned," he mumbles before yelling, "Karter get in here!"

In a flash Dean is at the archway, eyes frantically searching over me from head to toe, calming once he sees I'm fine.

"What is it dad?"

His father shakes his head. "Your mate," he says pointing over to me, "is linked to me."

A look of shock runs over Dean's face and I quickly flip through my mental dictionary of wolf terminology, trying to remember what linking is.

"Calm down," his dad says to me softly, "it's nothing bad, quite the opposite actually."

Something in his voice instantly has me calming and Dean getting angry. Before I can think about anything he's grabbing my hand and practically pulling me outside.

"Would you slow down?" I ask, out of breath.

We're halfway across the property and he's still irritated. I can feel the erratic emotions I was having earlier returning and shake loose of his grasp to stop and catch my breath.

"How are you feeling?"

When I look at him confused he asks again.

"Jittery," I reply truthfully, since it's such a hot damned topic.

"Good," he says plopping down on the ground, "He used an Alpha command on you to get you to calm down, I want to know it's wearing off."

I mentally file Alpha command in my dictionary.

"Is that why you were mad?"

He sighs and holds his arms out for me to sit in his lap. Once I'm seated he answers, "I'm not mad just...irritated. Yes because he commanded you but also because you linked with him before me. I've been trying since you turned and he gets the honor of linking with you first."

"I know he doesn't like me much," I reply and put a finger over his lips when he goes to deny it, "I can feel his emotions too remember? Like I was saying I know he doesn't like me but I think that's the reason I've linked with him. First it was your mom and now him, it's only a matter of time before yo-"

"Wait what?" he interrupts, "You've linked with my mom? When? Why didn't you guys say anything?"

I shrug, "It was probably a week or so into my transition. I thought she would tell you guys but when she didn't I thought we were just ignoring it because it wasn't a big deal."

He drops his head onto my shoulder and starts to laugh.

"This is why I love you Rose. Here my dad is just about ready to burn you at the stake over superstition and because you hadn't linked with anyone and you had linked with my mom the whole time!" he continues to laugh and go on but I stopped listening after his first statement.

He loves me? How? I mean...why? Do I love him? Does he really love me or does he just want sex? Is it like Dre said? Has he been waiting long enough for me? My heart is beating too fucking fast and exploding in my chest.

"Earth to Dylan," he snaps his fingers in front of my face, snatching my out of the panic zone.

"You love me?" I blurt without even thinking. I'm going to get tape for my mouth specifically for moments like these.

I can hear his heartbeat quicken as he turns me in his lap to face him.

The way the afternoon sun is shining through his hair makes it look lighter than it actually is, almost a dirty blonde color compared to its actual mid brown hue.

He runs the back of his hand against my cheek before turning it over and palming my face. "I do. I love you Rose. I think I always have."

"You have to," I breathe, seeing his confusion I continue, "I'm your mate. You don't really have a choice."

He shakes his head and slips his hand further back to weave his fingers into my already messy hair.

"We always have a choice and I'll always choose you," he whispers.

Both of us stare for a moment, each mesmerized at the person sitting before us. Him being the most confident and yet insecure, strong but not afraid to be weak, brave, intelligent, kind and sexy man I've ever met. And me being, whatever I am to make him want and love me the way that he does.

Before I can talk myself out of it I lean forward ninety percent of the way and lightning fast he comes the other ten. Our lips move together like old lovers with an insatiable hunger for one another. My legs end up around his hips and my back against the grass, causing me to moan and him to slip his honey tongue into my mouth. God, he tastes so good.

His expert tongue out-ranks my own but following his lead I'm able to keep up. Our heavy breathing fills the empty meadow, the birds sing along, creating a tantric orchestra. With a lot of grunting and gasps I end up on top of him, pinning his hands down with my own, teasingly kissing him. The fact that with just a flick of his wrists he can have me truly pinned turns me on even more than I already am. It isn't until he actually does it that I feel close to combustion. The weight of his body on top of mine feels even better than the tantalizing kisses he's delivering that send tingles from my toes to my head. My clothes start to stick to me from the sheer body heat and arousal, causing him to grip my thighs in his hands and roll his body against mine slowly.

I let out a long low groan and lift my pelvis up to meet his. I need this so badly.

"I can't tell if I can just read this sexy little body of yours or if we've finally linked," he laughs before leaning down to kiss then bite my neck, leaving a hickey.

"Does it matter," I groan, pulling him closer to me with my feet.

He laughs again but continues grinding against me at just the right angle. I can feel my entire body heat up and I smile knowing this time I won't have to concentrate on not calling his name out. This time it's going to be him making me arrive at the gates and freefall into heaven.

"Fuck," we both groan.

I close my eyes ,biting my lip, and ride out my orgasm with his final sharp jerks and he holds his breath until he's finished.

I can hear his breathing return to normal before he looks down into my eyes and kisses my lips softly then more hungrily.

"Alright alright you hound dog," I joke in between kisses, "We both need to shower."

He rolls off of me and onto his back, putting his arms behind his head.

"I'll give you a head start," after seeing my confused look he explains, "you're going to get it for all of your damned dog jokes."

I laugh but take off running towards the house anyway, knowing full well that if he wants to catch me he will. A part of me hopes he wants to.

Karter

There hasn't been any sex per-say but I've been very well taken care of for the past few hours. We can't get enough of each other. It seems like every time we get done we're back at it again, partially because I love watching her come. She always closes her eyes and bites her lip in the sexiest way and sometimes I can even get her to squeal. It's been interesting getting to know her body without ever taking her clothes off. I've personally never been one for dry humping but I'll take what I can get. For now it's what my Angel is comfortable with and what she wants she gets.

Speaking of what she wants, I ease out of bed and downstairs into my office. She told me a while ago how she loves her birthstone but she doesn't have any jewelry with it. I fully intend to rectify the situation today. I use my key to open the locked drawer and pull out the long box wrapped in Spiderman wrapping paper. Sticking the red bow on top I decide that she's going to love everything about it, or at least that's what I'll keep telling myself. If she hates it I'm going to know. We linked last night during an intense make out session and it's been crazy feeling everything that she feels. There's some worry and anger, most likely about her mom and probably my dad too but then there's this contentment that's so powerful when she's around me it overtakes my own emotions.

I've been trying not to let on that I'm concerned about the Dark Wood Tribe so her over-amplified emotions have been a godsend. She knows that we're working on leads into who attacked me and the pack but that's it, it's all she needs to know for now. There's enough going on for her right now with just turning and everything that comes with that, our relationship, and the drama with her mom. I just want her to be able to focus on one thing at a time and for now that consists of me giving her the best Christmas Eve she's ever had.

"How long have you been up?" I feel her soft arms snake around my bare waist and a light kiss to my back before I hear her voice. It's so cute first thing in the morning, all groggy and still filled with sleep.

"Not too long. I wanted to get started on breakfast for everybody," I reply, enjoying the warmth of her against my back.

The warmth is gone in an instant. "Do you need help?" she asks.

I smile. This is why I love her. She's so kind and generous. Just thinking of the way she took me in and helped me even after the night of my shooting. Her endless advice even when she had to go to work the next morning showed me the type of woman she is. She's selfless that way, in the way a Luna has to be. I can always count on her to put others first which means I will always keep her my first priority, so that she won't get left behind. The woman is fearless and demur all at once, sexy as can be but she doesn't even know it and wouldn't dare flaunt it for anyone but me. God, I love her.

"You can set out the orange juice for me," I finally say, she looks at me peculiarly to which I respond, "I love you Angel."

She smiles and kisses me quickly before nudging me to pay attention to the food.

I'm still waiting to hear the words fall from her lips but I know she loves me too. I can literally feel it. I don't think she knows exactly how to decipher her feelings right now. It's a hard enough thing to do when you're fully human. Try being a newly turned werewolf and accidentally linking to everyone around you. Now not only do you have to maneuver through your own emotions but theirs too. I'm perfectly fine with waiting until she has a handle on things to hear it, that way I'll know it's truly the way she feels.

*

Lunch went by quicker than expected and soon dinner rolled through. It seemed Rose and my dad are getting along better. He spoke to her, without prompting, three times which is even more conversation than he gave me. We all decided that after a few minutes of prep we would all reconvene in the living room to open our one gift for the day. Andrea is supposed to be arriving soon so she and Rose can do their annual gift exchange. She told me Dre's family is gone and she has no one for the holidays. As crazy and obnoxious as Dre can be, the story pulled on my heart strings a bit and made me offer an invitation to stay here over the holidays. Of course Dre being the diva she is made a big deal out of it, something about a tear coming to her eye and feeling a part of the wolf pack, but declined.

As we gather around the tree I can't help but glance at my family, eclectic and ever growing. I look over to Rose and then to her stomach and I can't help the smile that spreads across my face. I absolutely cannot wait to see her stomach swollen as she carries our children. The thought brings a tear to my eye that I quickly wipe away before anyone sees. Grey gives me a knowing look and a nod all the same.

"Who's next?" my mom asks looking around at the group.

"Dean can go next. I can't wait for him to see what I got him. It's the box with the Transformer's wrapping paper," she smiles, embarrassed at revealing her wrapping paper choice.

My mom hands me the box. "Bumblebee! I think I like the wrapping paper more than the gift already Angel," I exclaim and kiss her cheek before un-wrapping the box.

When I pull out the throw I grin because it's the Doctor Who TARDIS but my grin gets even bigger when I see what's written on the door.

"Bad Wolf?" I laugh.

She beams back at me, "It seemed fitting! Plus, you said you were going to start watching the show so now you can have merchandise to match.

I scoop her into a huge hug and kiss her cheek before whispering into her ear, "I'll show you how bad I can be tonight."

Her eyes bulge and she clears her throat making me laugh and kiss her cheek again.

"Alright Rose is last. Hand me the Spiderman wrapped box," I point to it and my mom grabs it.

"My favorite," Rose whispers, eyes shining, before she massacres the paper.

Her hands start to shake slightly when the realization hits her that it's a 'serious gift.'

"I feel like crap. I didn't get you anything...adult," she groans, handing the gift back to me.

I shake my head and push it back to her, "Nope, I love my blanket. Besides you're the grown up in this relationship not me."

Grey agrees and I flip him the bird to which my mother slaps my knee.

"Go on, open it, I'm dying to know what it is D-Rose!" Dre yells, scooting closer.

With that Rose opens the box and gasps, her eyes going wide.

"Holy crap," she breathes, making Dre crawl all the way across the room to see.

"Damn," she says, "Sorry Mrs. J."

"So...you like it?" I ask Rose. She's still speechless, I'm not even sure she's taking in oxygen.

After a few seconds delay she nods her head and her breathing turns back to normal, tears in her eyes.

"This is the best gift anyone has ever gotten me Karter, thank you," she says sincerely looking into my eyes.

I have her turn around and slip the cushion cut Peridot surrounded by Diamonds and 14K white gold around her neck. The chain hangs loosely and drops the stone right above her breasts, perfect placement.

"How does it look?" she asks smoothing her white t-shirt out.

"Beautiful, just like you," I reply and kiss her cheek.

Gags, kissing noises, and boos can be heard as everyone tells us to get a room and stop being mushy. For the next few hours we sit around and watch Christmas movies until all of the women are asleep. Andrea ends up staying the night on the couch while Dad carries mom to bed and I do the same for Rose. Connor and Grey both carry Denise since he didn't trust her safety to just him thanks to all of the eggnog he drank.

As I lay down beside my Angel I take in everything that has changed because she came into my life and I realize I could never be happier than I am in this moment.

***************************

Hello my good people!!!

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!! I felt like my writing was a bit off (I got too used to writing term papers). Like I said before I want to try and have this book done by 2015, IDK if it will happen but by golly I'm gonna try.

On to business....

The amount of support is as always B-A-N-A-N-A-S (childhood throwback)!!!!

1415 reads, 106 votes on Awake, Literally WTF!! Almost FIVE HUNDRED reads since last update!! Like what the actual FRICK! I adore every single one of you that reads past the Prologue!

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Until Next Time,

WBN