Chapter 10

Jason is still beating on the door, and I'm ignoring him. In fear, I scrambled to the far side of the bed on the floor. Jackson had come out, I could tell by the way he was pounding on the door.

"Dakota, please come out."

Silence.

"Answer me!"

"I have nothing to say," I finally replied.

"I beg you, please," he pleaded. His words seemed so sincere, but I wasn't sure if I could believe him. "Dakota, honey, please. Come out, I want to talk."

Breathing deeply, I went to the door, considering opening it. I could still smell him on the other side, but I also smelled the faint smell of salt. He had been crying too.

Opening the door, he was standing there, red faced, puffy eyes. In between there was a minor pause, which must have been when he went to throw on a pair of sweatpants. At the same time, I heard him yelling at Sadie, and forcing Andrew to remove his sister from his home.

"Dakota," he breathed out.

He took a step toward me, and I backed up. "Don't come near me."

"Please let me explain," he begged. "I don't know why Sadie was in my bed; I swear to god." I crossed my arms; I wanted to believe him, but I know what his reputation was before we met. Girls were part of his daily life. He dropped to his knees. "Please, baby, don't leave me."

"Nothing can change what I saw, Jason."

"Give me the chance to make it up to you, please."

Thinking about it for a moment, I closed my eyes and considered the fact that we would both be miserable if I walked out. "You are going to have to really work to make me believe that you want to be with me."

A smile came across his face, "I will, baby. That's all I want, a chance to show you how much I care about you."

"For now, I don't know what I want to do."

Standing up, he took a step back. "Come to my room, let's talk."

"No. If we're going to talk, I want to do it downstairs."

"Okay, let me get dressed, and I'll meet you down there."

He walked back to his room to finish getting dressed, while I ventured down to the living room. Plopping myself on the comfy couch, I was thinking of all the things I wanted to say to him. I wanted to say things that made him truly realize that I was not going to let him treat me this way.

His stomping was coming closer, and I readied myself for our talk.

Curling myself up into a ball, Jason walked up in a tight fitting white t-shirt, and straight leg jeans, with his motorcycle boots. Oh god, please stop being so attractive.

He sat down rather close to me, but when I recoiled, he moved back to give me more room. "Why can't I sit near you?"

"I'm not ready for that, yet."

Nodding, we started the talk. "I know what you saw, Dakota. And I have to tell you that Sadie means nothing to me. She's just the pack slut. Yes, we did have a...thing, but we don't associate anymore. I only put up with her because she's Andrew's sister."

"Why was she naked in your bed?"

"She must have run here as her wolf; the gym door must have been open, and she snuck upstairs past everyone."

"No one else smelled her?"

"After a long training session, it's hard to pick up each others smell through the sweat."

"So, you're telling me that you trained all day, you got in the shower, and Sadie slipped into your bed, just in time for me to come home and catch her?" Shrugging his shoulders, I did not like that answer. "You seriously expect me to believe that?"

"I'm not sure what I have to do, or say, to convince you that I only want you."

"Say I believe you, explain the phone call to me?"

Knitting his brows together, he looked at me puzzled. "You mean when I called over to the pack house?"

"Yes."

Sighing, he looked down briefly, collecting his thoughts. "Everyone was waiting for me; I paused training because I wanted to check on you. If I'm honest, I was still feeling guilty about Jackson emerging this morning. I wasn't sure if you wanted to talk to me, anyway; you were so scared, and I wanted to give you space."

"Meanwhile, I was afraid you didn't want me anymore because I denied your advances. I thought that when I came back here you were going to reject me. Jason, I'm not someone who has ever been paid attention to. I just figured that when Jackson came out, and I denied him, that you both wouldn't want me. Then I saw Sadie in your bed, and I thought you would rather have her than me. That's why I ran."

He scrambled in front of me, cupping my cheek. "No, Dakota. I don't want her, not ever. I want you. I think you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. Your eyes shine in the sun, and I can't get enough of your curves. I don't ever want you to think, for a moment, that I would ever want anyone else. Ever. I want you to be my woman, my wife, and my Luna." I had no words to say after his speech. The sincerity in his eyes pierced my heart, and I could see the tears pricking in his eyes.

My first instinct was to throw my arms around him, and press my lips to his. Jason was taken by surprise, but when he realized what was happening, he contoured his lips to mine. Running his fingers into my hair, he deepened the kiss. His tongue pressed into my teeth asking for for permission, which I gave. My hands were running all over his chiseled body, and he leaned us back into the couch. We broke the kiss momentarily, looking into each others eyes. "Wait, Jason."

"What's wrong?"

"I don't want to go too far, yet," I admitted.

Leaning back to his knees, he pressed his forehead to mine. His minty breath fanned across my face. "You mean everything to me; I don't ever want you to forget that. Once your ready, you will be completely, and utterly MINE," he purred. My hands clenched onto his t-shirt hearing his body rumble.

We stayed in that position for I don't know how long. Picking my head up,  the back of my hand brushed gently across his cheek. Rumbling in response, I could see his eyes change color briefly. "I'm staying with you, Jason. You just have to promise to keep Jackson back." His body relaxed, and his eyes changed back.

"I promise, baby."

Right then the front door opened, and in poured Willie, Andrew, Diedre, Anthony, and Anica. "Oh my goodness," Diedre said. "Are we interrupting something?"

Jason stood, "No, Mom. We were just finished. Would have been nice if you called, though."

"I did call, Jason. You don't have your phone on you."  She gave him Mom tone, and he flinched.

"Diedre, this is his house. He doesn't always have to have his phone on his person," Anthony defended.

"So what's going on?"

"We're here to start cooking for later," Diedre responded.

Puzzled, I wasn't quite sure what she meant by that. "What's going on later?"

"Just a little get together with the whole pack, where Jason will announce that he has found his mate, his Luna, and his wife."

"Mom!" Jason gritted.

"I'm sorry, honey. We can't hold it off--

"She's been here two days. Can't we wait a few more?"

Anthony and Diedre looked at each other, shrugging their shoulders. "I suppose we could make some phone calls, and put it off for a couple weeks," Anthony replied.

Jumping off the couch, I threw my arms around Anthony. Suddenly, I ripped myself off, realizing that he probably was not the hugging kind. He chuckled at me, pulling me back in for a hug. Like Jason, he was so comfortable. "Thank you, guys for postponing."

"We want you to be comfortable, sweetheart," Diedre answered. "What we can do is start planning what food we'll have, and maybe even call your parents to come too." Then I found myself throwing my arms around Diedre. Giggling, "Oh, honey, we want your life here to be the best it can be."

Continuing to the kitchen, I looked back to see Jason smiling at me. He was proud that I was with him, and proud that I was so happy with the turn of events. The more  I was around him, the more I was able to see how much of a wonderful man he was. Jason has shown me that I have self-worth, and that no matter what size I am, he cares for me.

Diedre leaned close to my ear, "Looks like you and Jason are getting closer." A blush came over my face, and she laughed at my embarrassment. "Has he done it yet?"

Cocking my head to the side, I wasn't sure what she meant, for a moment. "I'm not sure what that means."

"Jason!" she called.

"Yes, Mom," he answered, coming into the kitchen.

"You haven't told her about marking yet?" Panic hit his features, he wasn't sure how to answer his mother. "Well?"

"No, Mom. I haven't explained that to her yet."

"You know that Dakota must be marked before we can have the ceremony," she scolded.

They were arguing in front of me, and speaking to me as though I wasn't there. Rolling my eyes, I took a seat on the stool next to me waiting for them to be done. Anthony came into the kitchen with Willie, and Andrew. I felt my arm being nudged by Anica.

"Why are they arguing?" she whispered.

"Apparently Jason was supposed to tell me about marking before the ceremony, and he didn't. Diedre appears to have issue with that."

Willie, and Andrew were snickering to each other. "Shut it, you two," Anica snapped.

"Hey, it's not our fault that Jason didn't tell her about the customs," Andrew said to his sister.

"Don't you two have anything better to do?" Anica sniped.

Willie's eyes turned to Anica, longingly. "Come on, Andrew. Let's go down to the gym." Anica watched as the two left, focusing on Willie.

Narrowing my eyes, I furrowed my brow at Anica. "What was that?" I asked, quizzically. "Anica!" I said louder.

"Oh, what? Nothing, I swear." Sweat started to form on her forehead.

"Is he your mate?"

Shrugging her shoulders, "I don't know yet. I'm not quite old enough to find out. My birthday the same day when the ceremony is, I guess I'll find out then."

"Are you worried it won't be Willie?"  Dropping her head, she shrugged. Her emotion were getting the best of her; she was trying to hide it. Instead of pursuing the subject, I hopped off the stool, and gave her a hug. "Keep your head up."

"Dakota?" Diedre called.

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Come, dear. I would like you to call your parents and have them come too. Of course, your brother and his mate are welcome."

Skipping for joy, I headed for the phone with Anica behind me.

Dialing the number, I was so excited to speak to my mom.

"Hello?"

"Mom?"

"Dakota! Oh my goodness. How are you, sweetheart?"

"I'm good Mom--"

"Is Alpha Morgan treating you well?"

"Yes, Mama. Very well. So, what are you guys up to two weekends from now?"

"I'll have to ask your father, but I don't think we're doing anything? What's going on?"

"We're having a ceremony in two weeks to announce my arrival as the new Luna to the pack--"

"Oh my god! Did he mark you already?"

Moving the phone from my ear, her loud screech caught me off guard. "No, Mom. He didn't--"

'Let me talk to her,' I heard in the distance. "Dakota, it's Devon."

"Hey, Dev, what's up?"

"We'll be there, all of us. Can Ashley come?"

"Of course. It wouldn't be a party without her."

"We'll see you in two weeks." He paused. "Hey, Dak..." His tone was turning sad.

"Yeah, Dev."

"We...I miss you."

Tears threatened to escape. "I miss you too. I can't wait to see you."

"Bye, Devon. Give everyone hugs from me."

"I will. Bye, Dak."

Hanging up, a lone tear dropped from my eye. Anica put an arm around my waist, putting her head on my shoulder. "You miss them, don't you?"

"More than anything," I answered.

"You'll see them in two weeks." She tried to reassure me.

"Dakota," Jason's voice called.

We both turned hearing his voice. Anica excused herself. "Alpha," she nodded.

He nodded back as she walked away, but his eyes were trained on me. "What's wrong?"

"I called my family, they'll be here in two weeks." I smiled, trying to show him I was alright.

Pulling me into a warm embrace, he kissed my hair, tangling his fingers in. "I want you to be happy here. Happy with me."

Looking up at him, he smiled, and kissed my forehead. "Hey, there's something we need to talk about."

Eyes wide, I had a feeling it would be about what Diedre mentioned about marking.

Oh no.