Brandon’s POV
My mate is feeling overwhelmed, and I am worried about her. I wasn’t trying to make the whole group stop when I stopped to check on her. I knew she wasn’t OK. I knew that she had it rough before, but to hear her sobbing, worried about going to my pack. It breaks my heart. I want her to be happy there, to know that it is her pack too. I want her to feel just as safe there, as she felt at Blood Walker. I knew that I would have to stop anyone from giving her a hard time there. She is my mate, and I already love her completely. It makes what I felt for Liza feel like a 3rd-grade crush. It was nothing, Liza was just a tiny speck on the horizon, but Raven is a colorful sunset that fills the sky, and captures you with its beauty.
I can tell she loves me too, I feel her emotions since we marked each other. She is excited about going with me, but memories from her previous pack are causing her to have some serious doubts. Seeing her memories are making me want to go there and start killing the lot of them, all of them were guilty, and need to be punished. She was not safe anywhere she went. I have seen too many of her memories, and I am horrified at how she was treated. I know that having that viper of a twin here, as well as Cheryl would have ruined the party for anyone, but not Raven. She is like a breath of fresh air. She is loving and kind, she didn’t dwell on what happened earlier with Cheryl and all the crazy things she said. She was understandably angry, as I was, over what Reagan did. But she knows that focusing on Reagan, or Cheryl, was not the thing to do. Raven told me that thinking too much about them is just giving them power. Power to live in your mind, to keep your focus on them, and Raven doesn’t want that.
Raven believes that when we do move off, things will get better. She cleared the air with me earlier when we spoke about Justin. His obvious pull toward her is concerning. He wants her, he did not hide it, and he clearly challenged me to try to best him where Raven was concerned. Justin is delusional. Raven cleared that up quickly, she has no interest in him at all. None. She was very clear about it, and when she told me the story, I do not blame her. She was betrayed by someone she cared for, with the mate bond there which made it even harder to get past the hurt, and the pain, that he caused. He was all for taking Reagan’s offer and riding off into the sunset with her, so why now is he wanting to get Raven back?
Hearing him try to extort Alpha Cole into trading the proof of Raven’s abuse for him to have time with her, was not an option. He was just trying to charm her, and try to get her back. He was mated and marked, I heard what she had done to him, and that was why she figured she could do it again, this time to me. I did feel a little bad for him, I was told he changed his mind about being with Reagan, after checking on Raven after she fell. That was his own karma catching up with him. He accepted the deal because he was scared to be mated to the most beautiful woman that I have ever seen in my life. He is truly an idiot, and apparently blind. He was not strong enough to have her. He was weak, and now he will have to live with it, for the rest of his life. Some of my opinions about Raven could be my mate bond talking, but she is gorgeous and smart, Justin really messed up.
I was about to tear into Justin myself when she told him that they would never be together. I hope it was for the last time, but according to Raven she has told him time and time again, and he won’t accept it. I can see it in his eyes. He has convinced himself that it is the bond that is connecting them, but it isn’t. His clear lust for her is what is driving him. He wants her badly, and he is willing to go to great lengths to get what he wants from her. I cannot allow him to get near her again, he is not desperate yet, but he is getting there. Soon he won’t be able to control the desire that he has for her, he is absolutely delusional, and not in his right mind. I have already spoken to Truett’s dad, the former Beta, Edward Logan, as well as Leander Peters, the new Gamma, to have them increase our patrols. They knew that they had my clearance to make changes to the patrols and change the time frames for the patrols as well. We needed a new pattern, to me, we need to do this every year from now on, or whenever the ranked wolves changed out. No sense in us being predictable. It is my job to protect Raven now, and I am taking it seriously.
Now that I know that Silas and Cheryl are at Silver Blade, they know I will be bringing my mate back to Black Adder soon. I will not be letting them have any success to try to take my mate away from me. I will have a town hall to introduce my mate, and our new members, to the pack, and I will make sure that everyone knows that anyone that helps the former Peter’s family, will be considered an act of treason. They will be banished as well from our pack. I will also reiterate that anyone who helps anyone that has been banished from the pack, will be banished, or worse, depending on what happened. I cannot take the chance for any of my members to assist them in any way. I know that Silas and Cheryl will try again, and again. They will try to hurt my mate, or end her, to try to get me to accept Cheryl.
I will make sure to send a clear message to them tomorrow. One where they will be made aware of the result of anyone trying to hurt Raven, or me. There will be no second chances, no redemption, or grace. I will end whoever tries it. Raven is perfection. I am so thankful to have her as my mate, and I cannot wait to see her bear our pups. Just the thought of us having pups makes me happy, and I will not hesitate to make sure that Raven knows that she is it for me. I only want her, and I can’t wait to complete our bond tonight if Raven is OK with it. Whatever she wishes, I will make sure it happens. My mate is the most precious person in my life, and I will live to make her happy. I knew she is sad to leave Blood Walker, but I will make sure that she is happy and safe, at Black Adder too.
After Raven calms back down, we continue on to the packhouse. I am trying to keep my excitement down, but Axe is going crazy in my head. He wants to complete the bond, he doesn’t want to take the chance of anyone taking his mate from him. He wants to get to meet Emerald, he has bonded with her already. He is completely enamored with her, as much as I am with Raven. She uses her thumbprint to take us to the Alpha floor, and she is really shy. It is so sweet to see the furious blush across her cheeks. She won’t meet my eyes, she is getting nervous and I need to calm her down.
“Raven, we have marked each other, if you want me to wait a few day’s before we complete the process, I am OK with waiting. I found you, and I made you mine with my mark. That is enough for me right now. We can take this slowly if you want to. Don’t feel like we need to complete the bond tonight. I can wait until we go back home tomorrow” I told her. Raven finally looks at me and said in almost a whisper, “I am OK with completing it tonight. I just don’t know what I am doing.”
My heart sing's that I will have all her firsts, and feels sad that I couldn’t offer her the same. Liza did a real number on me, much more than even my parents knew. It was the reason that I was not with anyone again. I had been hurt too badly. I knew that my mate would be the only person that I would be able to trust. If I hadn’t met my mate, I would have eventually given the pack over to Krew. That way his children would take over the pack to keep it in our family. I would not have gotten involved with anyone else again. I learned my lesson the hard way, and I just couldn’t take the chance of being hurt like that again. It took me years to get past it and to tell the truth, it still affects me. I have real trust issues with anyone who isn't in my immediate family. It was the reason that Cheryl’s plan could never have worked. I had already been burned once, I would not be scarred by another betrayal ever again.
I smiled down at Raven, as she lets us into her room, and I am in bliss. Her scent is everywhere in this room and I have to stop myself from going over to grab her pillow to inhale her scent. Raven excuses herself to go take a shower, and I immediately lay down on her bed and do exactly what I wanted. Her scent surrounds me and I cannot remember a time when I was this relaxed. I must have managed to take a quick nap because the next thing I know I heard some noise and jostled awake to see who it was. I see Raven in her closet packing things into a suitcase. I see some clothes for tomorrow on top of her dresser. She is bent over taking her clothes off the hangers and folding them into the suitcase. From the other bag near the door, I see she has already cleaned out her dresser and is more than half done with her packing already.
Checking my watch I see that I was asleep for at least an hour, I have not taken a nap in a long time. I must have needed the sleep. I guess I felt so comfortable with her scent all around me, that I just crashed. I have completely crumpled my suit jacket as I was just planning on laying down for just a moment, and honestly just fell asleep. I hope that she is not disappointed in me. I go to my duffle bag and grab my lounge pants to sleep in. I may not be intent on completing the bond tonight, but I want as much skin-to-skin contact as I could get with her tonight. I took my jacket off and placed it on the back of a chair, and then slipped into the bathroom. Raven was innocent and would probably be more uncomfortable with me stripping off my clothes in her bedroom in front of her if she did notice that I was up.
She will get over that soon though, but for tonight, I plan to just ease her into it. I was happy enough getting to sleep with her, in the same bed tonight. Now that I have found her, and we are marked, I am not willing to push her further than she is willing to go. I smiled as I undressed and slipped into the shower. I used her body wash, it was not floral, just a clean scent. I was going to skip my hair because I was a little taller than the showerhead in her bathroom, and it would be difficult. I had washed my hair earlier today in my shower when I got ready for the party and would just take a shower with her either in the morning, if things went well, or tomorrow night. I can feel myself getting hard at the thought of it, I cannot wait to shower with my mate. My mate is gorgeous, and I have to think of things to calm myself down. I didn’t want her to come in here and catch me mid-stroke as I help myself out. That would pose an embarrassing situation. Plus, I wanted it to be Raven herself to sate my lustful desires. I wanted her and only her in my life.
I exit the shower and towel dry as quickly as possible. I slide into my lounge pants. I made an executive decision by just being in the pants, it was why I didn’t grab a pair of underwear. I was still hoping to mate with Raven tonight, and I wasn’t planning to her changing her mind once she got a full view of me. I knew she would be shy, and probably scared, and I didn’t want to add to it by letting any more time pass in getting out of my clothes The longer she had to see me in all my glory, the more she may chicken out of what I wanted to do to her. I plan on working her into such a frenzy that by the time she does notice the size of things, I will be back with her, and working her up into a frenzy again to claim my mate. The Goddess created her solely for me. We were made to be together, she was made to be perfect for me, in everything between us. She will be able to handle me, I will go slow for her.
I came out of the bathroom and Raven was still inside the closet, but I could tell that she was almost finished. She was humming and I just stood outside of the closet, just out of her view, listening to her as she finished packing. She probably thought that I was still asleep, as she couldn’t see the bed from where she was. I just had a glance at her when I walked to the bathroom, and she looked so cute in her nightgown, even if it had innocent little cartoon rabbits on it. I will take her to get more gowns, as it makes me think that I am robbing the cradle with those large bunny eyes staring at me.
I watch her as she packs, she is working so hard that she doesn’t know that I have approached her. Since I was in the room, my scent would be in the room too. Her reaching up to get a small photo album off the top shelf in her closet caused her nightgown to rise up. Her thighs are exposed and my earlier problem is back with a vengeance. I would love to be kneeling there between her thighs on the bed before I show her a whole new world of pleasure. She is a goddess, and I cannot wait to worship her body as I go to make her mine. I am getting even harder imagining her face as she screams my name out as she comes undone. I am watching her close her suitcase, and when she looks up at me, I see her start. I have surprised her as I am now right in the doorway, filling it, and preventing her from being able to exit the closet. I was standing where I was slightly hidden earlier, but I guess I unknowingly moved closer to her. I apparently couldn’t control myself, I am drawn to my mate. I have never desired anyone as I desire her.
She gives me a smile, and I watch as her eyes drop from my face and slide down my chest. She is impressed, and I am glad that she likes what she sees. I train hard with my Beta, Truett, and we kind of have a fan club of sorts. We are well aware of the group of she-wolves that hang out after their training to watch us train. Some hide in the tree line, and some are bold and just stay right there letting us both know that if were interested, they were available. Most wanted me just to be Luna, but some just wanted to sleep with me as they have seen me shift and fully know what I have to offer them. I am proud of the hard work that I have put in on my training now, as I can smell her arousal. My Raven wants to touch me, and she is scared to make the first move.
She is intently staring at me. The mood has shifted in the room, and I can tell that she would love to reach out and touch me, but she is still holding back. I think that I will give my beautiful little mate some help then. I smile down at Raven and step forward into her closet. She is still focused on my chest, and my six-pack, and seems to almost be almost hypnotized by it. I am right in front of her, and my smile grows even larger. I can help her even more now as I lift one of her hands and placed it gently onto my chest. She is surprised at my encouraging her, and her hand is still for a little while. But she starts touching my chest, before gliding her finger down to trace a path to my V line. Her fingertip sliding down my body is making me very aware of just how much she affects me, even with just a simple touch. The path she has blazed on my chest and further south still feels the tingles as she continues tracing her way back up.
I have never felt this way before. Liza never made me feel anything except the base pleasure of sex. Cumming in her was the best feeling I had ever felt when I was with Liza, even at my young age. But what I am feeling now, at my innocent mate's touch, has me breaking a sweat trying to control myself. I wanted her to touch me, so she can get familiar with me, and know that I will only go as far as she wants to go. But if she wants to stop, I see another shower in the near future. Of course, I was praying to the Goddess that Raven would want to follow through, all the way until she was completely mine. I want everyone to see her and know that she belongs to me, heart, body, and soul, carrying my scent on her body, and my mark on her neck. Especially that punk kid Justin. He needs to get it through his thick skull. I am done with him and his wishful thinking that he will be getting anywhere near my mate ever again.
I feel Raven’s hand on my chest, and then feel her free hand touch my chest and I am really trying to temper my excitement. I am glad that she decided to use both hands. I am now really rethinking my shower now. I should have taken the opportunity I had, so I could be able to handle her hands moving on me. Her stroking the sides of my chest and run up and down, all over the place, as I tried to stand here and take it. Allowing her to get comfortable with touching me, because the next lesson will be me touching her. I am glad that she is getting so comfortable with touching me. I don’t know how much longer I can hang on before I need to touch my beautiful mate. I wanted to give her all the time that she needed for her to be comfortable with us doing this, but right now, I don’t know if I have the strength to be patient. She is consuming all my thoughts and as her soft hands touch me, I feel that she is the only one who has control right now, as all I want to do is grab her and take her to the bed right now.
Reagan Won't Stop