“Well, I carried her into the house after her panic attack, and she refused to let me go. Pam seemed pretty pissed off at the sight of my carrying her in, until I told her what happened. Then she came into Anna’s room and saw her literally clinging to me as I rubbed her back trying to cox her to sleep. Pam threw me out of the house, only to have Anna shun her. At dinner, Pam asked me to go reason with Anna about eating. Pam viewed it as I was Anna’s friend who she would listen to. Pam came upstairs as Anna had finished eating to see me holding her and rocking her, while Anna begged me to take her anywhere but there. I knew I needed to help her; she is my mate after all. I stood my ground against a very baffled Pam, who decided she had no choice but to let me take Anna with me. They want me to return her tonight, but I have a feeling, Anna’s not going to go.” I explained.
“After my conversation with Anna, she’s ready to book a flight out of here just to get away from her mom. I told her she’s welcome here anytime if she needs to get away.” Sofie replied. “Though what would that mean about your job there?”
“If I can’t get Anna to leave tonight, I’ll probably be fired. Though we all know I only started working there this summer after I saw Anna at the market last February. I did my research to learn who she was and why I haven’t seen her around before. Her visits were so unorganized that I needed to work all summer to take a chance of meeting her for real.” I reminded them.
“At least they don’t know where you live.” Paul offered.
“No, but if they wanted to, we will have the sheriff knocking on our door.” I pointed out. “This is complicated because she is still only 17 and let’s face it, I’m not.”
“Are you sure she’s not a wolf?” Sofie asked out right. “That spark in her seemed vicious enough that she could be one.”
“Did you smell a wolf on her besides me?” I asked her sarcastically. “If she was, this would have gone down so differently. Now I need to find the right time to tell her about me, and we'll use it. I want to tell her all about wolves, and mates, and answer whatever questions she may have, but now is definitely not the right time.”
“I’m still not keen on the idea of telling a human about us, but since you two are clearly mates, we’ll have to make an exception.” Steve replied. As our Alpha, Steve had to think about what is best for our pack.
When we were finished working on the shed it was almost four in the afternoon. God, I wanted to shift and go for a run, but Anna was at the house waiting for me. Paul shifted and took off into the woods as if to taunt me. I ran into the woods, before removing my pants and shifted. I really don’t need to tear my damn jeans off shifting then go up to the house buck ass naked. I took off in my wolf form, enjoying the wind rustling my fur. It felt great.
A new scent had Paul and I stopping in our tracks. It was the scent of another wolf. I took a good sniff and realized it was definitely male. This had the fur on the back of my neck standing up. Who the fuck was this close to our house? Was my human mate in danger by being here? Paul and I searched around to follow the scent, but lost it somewhere near the road when the wolf got in a car. When we got back to the yard, we shifted and pulled our pants back on.
“Whoever it was, they left before anyone woke up.” Paul commented as we began walking up to the house. “I’ll notify Steve and the others. You go be with your mate, and good luck convincing her to leave tonight.”
“After what we just found, I want her close. I can’t protect her if she’s forty-five minutes away across town.” I pointed out. Paul just nodded. “But if it’s an attack on us, she’s not safe here.”
“The problem is, we don’t know who it was, or what he wanted. I have never in my life come across that scent. It was new.”
I let out a loud sigh. Anastasia Keller was my sole concern at this moment. Keeping her safe was more important than anything else. As I began walking up the steps to the back deck, I smiled as I looked at her sound asleep in the lounge chair. Her wavy blonde hair curtaining around her head and shoulders like a pillow. She looked like a damn angel. When she began to stir, I knew our bond was letting her know I was close to her.
Chapter 7
Anastasia
I woke up to find Charlie standing in front of the chair smiling at me. “Hey.” I called to him as I opened my eyes. I let out a yawn and stretched my limbs before standing up out of the chair. I hadn’t planned on falling asleep, but the sun felt good on my skin.
“You enjoy your nap?” He asked, pulling me to him for a kiss.
“I did. I didn’t realize I was still tired.”
“Sophie told me you had an upsetting phone call. Do you want to talk about it?”
“We kind of have to.” I replied. I explained to him about my whole conversation with my mom and how I hung up on her after I yelled at her. He listened so patiently, and looked more concerned about me than anything else.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he spoke. “To be honest, the relationship you have with your mom is complicated. Though I understand that she’s upset we didn’t tell her about us, but our relationship did kind of form out of the blue. I do like your story, so I plan to use that when I talk to them in the morning. I wasn’t looking forward to admitting we’ve been having sex for over a month, before we started thinking about it as a relationship. I only told your mom yesterday about us, because I didn’t know how else to convince her that I needed to bring you home with me. I respect Pam and Bo because they are my bosses, but my love for you surpasses my respect for them. They expect you to be home tonight, but I’m not going to force you to do what you don’t want.”
“Thank you.” I replied, wrapping my arms around his neck. “So, are you finished with your project or do you still have more to do?”
“I’m all yours for the rest of the day babe.” He kissed my lips hungrily causing me to fist his hair in between my fingers. “I have to take you upstairs, otherwise everyone will get a nice show on this deck.”
“I’m not into performing shows.” I teased back with a smile. He grabbed my hand and led me back into the house and up to his room.
Once he locked his door, he came closer to me. I pressed my lips to his as he grabbed the hem of my dress and pulled it up over my head. He was so eager to take me; I felt his hunger for me. He unclasped my bra as I worked on the button of his jeans. We let our clothes pool to the floor, as he lifted me up. I intuitively wrapped my legs around his waist as he walked up the three steps to the bed. I held his shoulders, as he gently lowered me to the mattress, pressing me between it and him. He carefully trailed his lips down my body, before he painstakingly slowly pulled my panties off with his teeth. He was careful enough to graze his teeth over the inside of my thigh and calf as he pulled the material to my feet.
I bit my bottom lip when our eyes locked again. “You're biting that lip again.” He grumbled as he lowered himself onto me to kiss me. He took my bottom lip between his teeth, giving it a little tug. I moaned in pleasure, as I pulled it out of his teeth and took his lips again. He gently pushed his length into me as we continued to kiss passionately. I dug my nails into his back causing him to groan as I matched his pace with my hips.
His hands found their way over my sides, and up to my breasts where he took my nipples between his thumb and finger and gently rolled them as he pumped in and out. I let out a moan of pleasure that I just couldn’t hold in any longer. He felt amazing, and he certainly knew how to please me. Before long I felt the familiar fire ignite in the pit of my stomach as he continued his pace of pumping. His lips trailed down my neck as I fisted his hair, burying my face in the crook of his neck as another moan of pleasure took over.
He was going to make me cum, and I loved every second of it. The pleasure he gave me as I explored my body with his was groundbreaking. It was like all he wanted to do was please me and satisfy me. “Anna, I want you to cum for me.” He moaned into my ear before taking my lips with his again.
His pace felt great, his hands in the
ir slow journey all over my body was really turning me on. The kiss and the feel of his tongue on my neck sent me into drive. I needed him more than ever, and I felt his need and want for me with every thrust of his hips. I felt my climax creeping up on me. “Charlie…” I cried into his shoulder as my orgasm ripped through me, pulling him into his own as I went.
“That’s my girl Anna.” He sighed as we came down from our climaxes. He rolled off of me onto his back, as I gave him a pouty look from the loss of contact. He pulled me to him as if the loss of contact from me had the same effect on him. I laid my head on his chest as he stroked my hair. “I need to call Bo and tell him you don’t want to go home tonight, and assure him that I will send you to school in the morning.”
“I don’t have my homework. It’s all at home.”
“Then we’ll go back to your house early so you can get to school on time with your homework. I can drive you or you can take my truck.” He offered.
“I’ll decide in the morning.” I told him sleepily. He sighed, gave me another kiss then got up. “Where are you going?”
“We need dinner, and I need to make that phone call. So, I’m getting up to go grab you some food, and when I come back up, I’ll call Bo back.” He explained. “I’m going to wake up one more morning with you in my arms babe.” He pulled on his jeans and stepped out of the room.
I sighed as I rolled over to look up at the ceiling. I was totally falling in love with this man, and it had nothing to do with my grief. The sex with him is completely out of this world, not to mention the way he listens and tries to understand my perspective before providing his opinion on anything. This connection with Charlie is beyond comprehendible.
As I lay thinking about Charlie and our connection, and thought crept into my head. I felt a similar connection to Sal, and yet he was able to leave me. Sal told me that he couldn’t leave me if he tried, and then did. But Sal and Charlie are nothing alike. Charlie only wants to please and satisfy me. I have worked hard for almost a year to put Sal behind me, and Charlie is truly helping me accomplish that task.
When he came back in the room holding two plates with sandwiches on them, I smiled. “One is ham and one is turkey. Light mayonnaise on each, a pickle on the side and some chips.” He announced as he took a seat on the bed.
I sat up, letting the sheet fall around my waist leaving my breasts exposed to the air. “I’ll take the turkey please.” I replied. He handed me a plate that I happily took, I noted that he had cut the sandwiches in half which made it easier to eat them. We ate in silence for a while. “Could use some water or sweet tea to wash this food down with.” I teased.
“When I bring the plates down, I’ll return with a cup of tea and a bottle of water for you.” He replied by taking my now empty plate.
He kissed my forehead before heading out the door. I checked my phone as I waited for his return. Debbie had sent me a message of condolence and assured me things would get better. I rolled my eyes at her reply, so much for her giving me some words of wisdom. I thought about how I would respond if our positions were reversed, and honestly, I would respond the same way. I can’t blame her for not really knowing what else to say.
When Charlie came back to the room, he set a glass of homemade sweet tea and a bottle of water on the nightstand next to me. He gave me another kiss as he pulled his pants back off and slipped under the covers. I took a few thirsty sips of the tea, then laid back down next to him. He picked up his phone and dialed Bo. I held my breath knowing we were going to hear about it.
When Bo answered, Charlie explained how I wanted to stay one more night, but he would have me home in time to get my things for school to ensure I’m not late for school. Bo did a lot of mumbling into the phone, but Charlie seemed to not be phased by whatever Bo was saying. When he hung up the phone, he let out a loud sigh. “Well, you have your wish. What you said to your mom this afternoon really upset her. Bo agreed it’s be best to keep you and her separate for a bit, since you’re really driving that knife home and twisting it.”
“What do you mean?”
“Your mom is only trying to be there for you, and at some point, you told her you would just go home to the East Coast.”
“I told you I said that after she started going on and on about our age difference. I told her she can’t stop me from being with you and if she got you in trouble, I would leave and never speak to her again.” I defended my words. Leave it to my over dramatic mother to only recall some of the conversation that she initiated. I let out a groan as I looked at Charlie’s expression of bewilderment. “I’m not really going to leave yet. I was just trying to make a point and my anger got the better of me. I promise I’ll talk to her after school tomorrow and try to smooth this all out with her.”
“I like that idea. You do realize that at this point Bo and I are playing defense between the two of you, and you’re the viler one here. I understand you’re going to deal with your grief in a variety of ways, but you are taking it out badly on your mom. She loves you, but you won’t give her a chance to be there for you.” He explained pulling me in close.
I laid my head on his chest thinking about what he was saying. Was I really being that mean to my mom because of my grief? I let out a smile sigh as I realized that he was right, I was being pretty harsh to my mom. Maybe this was the event that made me snap and begin to express my true emotions towards her. I’m not a therapist, so I won’t really know. But Charlie was pretty impartial to this and tells me how it is without sugar coating it. It was part of what I loved about him. His bluntness was too similar to mine to ignore and it made me realize that with him I won’t have to decipher the meaning behind his words.
Charlie laid gently stroking my back in his normal soothing motion as my mind wondered. I had nothing more to say, because I know I’m in the wrong and he is only trying to help me. Being angry with my mom isn’t going to help anything, but it’s part of the grieving process. That much I remember dad telling me while I grieved mom moving out, mom moving away, and more recently Sal dumping me via text message. He would always say there are five stages of grief; denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. He would also point out that there is no real order to the stages, since everyone grieves in their own way. Right now, I feel like I’m going through three stages at once, and I hate it.
As I think about things my dad would tell me about coping with grief, I am beginning to feel some comfort. He was always preparing me for the death of a loved one. All those times I grieved over someone, they just took a step out of my life, they didn’t ever stop existing until now. My dad didn’t just send me away, he left, he’s gone for good. The reality of all this hit hard, and I began to enter into another panic attack. I clutched my chest and curled into myself off of Charlie as I gasped for breath.
“Baby, take small breaths. Focus on your breathing and the sound of my voice.” Charlie instructed as he gently brushed my hair off my face. “Just breath. Shallow breaths are better than none, so take them nice and slow. That’s it.”
I relaxed, leaning into his touch as the tightness in my chest was loosening. The air in my lungs was easier to move in and out, as he kept telling me to breathe nice and slow. When the attack had passed, I rolled back over to him, holding him as he held me. He began stroking my back again, and my eyes began to close. I felt his lips touch my forehead as I drifted off to sleep thankful to have him with me tonight.
Chapter 8
Charlie
I woke up early the next morning, wondering what the best way to wake this sleeping angel up without her being too grumpy with me. I decided gentle kisses may do the trick. I gently trailed soft kisses along her perfect jawline, before taking her plump lips in mine. She wrapped her arms around my neck as she began kissing me back, and deepening our kiss. My blood went straight to my dick. Ugh, of course it did, I’m making out with my perfect mate.
“Charlie, please.” Anna begged against my lips, holding onto my shoulders. I knew what she wanted,
and I was more than happy to please her. I shifted us on the mattress, pressing her to it, as I pulled her thighs apart to get better access to her wet core. I moved my fingers over her soft warm folds, before dipping them into her. My god, she was dripping wet for me already.
She bucked her hips against my fingers while I played with her a little. I relished in the sound of her moan. I pulled my fingers out of her, before pushing dick into her. It felt so good to slide deep inside her, and her gasp at my entrance made me smile. I kissed her lips as my hands trailed over her body, until I found a position to begin my thrusting. I know we need to make this quick, since we both need a shower before going to her mom’s house.
Her moans under me drove me crazy. I picked up my speed to push her to her orgasm a little faster. I love pleasing her, but we were on a schedule. “Charlie… Oh, Charlie… Yes!” She screamed as I felt her cum around me, pulling me into my own orgasm. I think that was the first time she screamed my name out more than once during an orgasm.
When our orgasms were finished, I rolled off of her onto my mattress. “As much as I don’t want to, we need to get moving today.” I told her, getting out of the bed. “We need to shower before anything. I can’t bring you home smelling like sex.” She smiled a mischievous smile that made her blue eyes sparkle. She truly was delectable.
She got out of the bed and followed me into the shower. She turned on the water then stepped in. I happily followed her in, watching in awe as the spray of water sent a stream of water over her supple body. I let my eyes trail over her delicious body as she scrubbed her hair with my shampoo. Her perfect breasts were plump and round with hard nipples. I wanted to lick her nipples so badly, I couldn’t resist. I leaned down as she tipped her head back under the water to rinse out the shampoo. I took her left breast in my mouth as my other hand massaged her right one. I grazed my teeth over the nipple, gently tugging it. She gasped and laced her fingers through my hair. She tugged my head up to face her, before crushing her lips to mine.
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