Chapter 35 Chapter 35

Chapter 35 Chapter 35
"What were you thinking?" she scolds me once more. I close my eyes and feel her punishment on my scalp. "Do you actually think that low of Casper?"

I hiss in pain as she keeps on scrubbing harshly at my scalp. "You should be thankful that I have a mixture for stupid mistakes like this." She pauses and continues, "I shouldn't have showed you those pictures."

"It's not your fault, it's mine. I don't know what came over me," I say as she picks up a towel to dry my hair with.

"Why would you want to change the color of your hair for such a stupid reason?"

I sigh. "I don't know what came over me," I repeat.
"How did Casper take it?" she asks as she plugs in a hair dryer.

"Not well. As you can imagine," I say a little louder so my voice won't be drowned out by the noise of the hair dryer.

Isabella enters the room and looks at Dakota in shock. "I'm surprised that you know how to work a hair dryer."

Dakota chuckles and turns the hair dryer in her direction, which earns a shriek from Isabella. "I'm not a cavewoman, you know."

Isabella giggles and nods before looking at me and frowning. "What were you thinking? That was incredibly stupid of you."

"I don't know -I-I don't even have an excuse."
Her eyes soften. "It's okay to feel insecure, but don't let that affect your relationship with Casper. From what he told me, he's worried that you ended things. All this-" she waves her hand around, "-is not fair to Casper or you."

Dakota pauses. "You did that?"

I nod, and she frowns deeper. "I hope he fights for this, because clearly you've lost your damn mind."

"Casper is fucking pissed and, if all goes well, you'll be getting it good later," Isabella winks.

"What does 'getting it good' mean?" Dakota asks.

"You really don't want to know."

She switches off the hair dryer and combs my hair out before putting it in a ponytail. I look at my hair in the mirror, and it is back to its normal brown.

"Thanks, Dakota," I mutter as she packs up her herbs. "What can I do to pay you back?"

"You want to pay me back?" I nod. "Then patch things up with Casper."

I purse my lips and shake my head. "That can't happen." I doubt Casper even wants to see me again.

"Fine." She puts all her herbs in her basket and picks up her staff. "Live with the guilt of not fulfilling an old woman's wish." She leaves.

Isabella looks at me. "Please mend things with Casper. You weren't thinking straight, and don't let your petty insecurities stop you from being happy." She leaves the room, leaving only me with my thoughts.

I bite my lip in thought and look in the mirror. I pull my hair out of its ponytail. I run my hands through my hair, which feels so soft now and is back to its original colour.

I see the door open from my mirror, and Casper enters my room. He doesn't look happy at all. Why would he, when he's dating the shittiest person ever? I turn around to face him and meet his glare.

"We're going out in ten minutes. Get dressed."

"Look, Casper, I know you're pissed off, bu-"

"This is not something you can argue your way out of."

I swallow. "What about dinner?"

"You're going to eat dinner where we're going. Now get dressed," he says and leaves the room.

I have an insane urge to defy him, but I decide not to test him. I quickly dress in a black top and washed-out jeans. I'm putting on mascara when he enters my room.

"Are you ready?" his gruff voice asks.

I look at him and play with the bracelet on my wrist. "Casper, I know you're pissed off right now, but let's calm down and talk about this."

"You've said enough, Odetta."

I shut my mouth immediately.

Victor, Isabella, and Javier are already eating dinner when Casper and I come down the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Javier asks with his mouth full of peas. I walk over to him and kiss his forehead.

"Your dad and I are going to have dinner somewhere else."

"Like those dates that you have sometimes?"
I shrug. "I guess so-but we'll be back before you fall asleep."

"Tomorrow morning," Casper says, and I look at him.

"You didn't say anything about that." I glare at him.

"No room for arguments," he simply says, and we have a stare-down.

I decide to back down and let him have his way. I kiss Javier one more time, and Casper also kisses him before we leave.

"Have Dakota over," he tells Victor before we leave.

The car ride is long and silent, and I squirm in my seat for most of the ride. He drives for two hours before we finally reach our destination.

I look at the two-story cottage in front of us and marvel at its beauty. Casper leaves the car and slams his door hard, and I follow suit. I walk slowly behind him as he stops at the front porch and pulls out a bunch of keys from his jeans pocket. He quickly unlocks and opens the door. He steps back, leaving the door wide for me to walk through first. I enter the house, and the interior is prettier than the exterior. It has a very homey aura and look.

"Do you like it?"

"Um - yeah, I do."

He walks past me to the kitchen. "You hungry?"

I nod and follow him. He pulls out a foil-covered lasagna from the fridge.

"I made this earlier," he simply tells me before putting it in the microwave. "How about you wait for me in the sitting room?"

I walk out of the kitchen to the sitting room and sit on a fur-comforter-covered couch. I just sit there in silence and wait for Casper.

He comes out with two plates of lasagna after some minutes. He hands a plate and fork to me before taking a seat on the sofa to my left. I take a bite and my eyes widen.

"This is delicious," I tell him, and he smiles.
"It's chicken lasagna."

I take another bite and moan, "Fuck, this is good." I eat some more. "Javier told me that this is delicious, but I think I underestimated his words. I would kill for this."

"Glad you like it," he murmurs, and that's the last thing he says to me. The rest of dinner is just a silent, awkward mess. I hate it. Even when we kind of hated each other, it wasn't this bad. He finishes his food before me and leaves the sitting room.
I feel his stare at the back of my head. I place my plate on the glass table in front of me and turn to look at him.

"I'm sure we didn't come here to stare at each other all night," I say.

"You're right. I brought you here so we could talk."

"About Adrianna?"

"No - about what the hell went down yesterday and what has been going on with you this past week."

I avoid his gaze and he continues, "Why would you dress up as Adrianna?"

"Because I thought you would like it. I wasn't thinking, I'm sorry."

"Did I say something to make you feel like you needed to do that?" He sounds concerned.

I want to rush to his side. "No, no. You didn't say anything. In fact, nothing about this is your fault. I just-I-I don't know, it's stupid."

"There's nothing you could do that I'd think is stupid."

"I know, but I just can't seem to fully believe that you would want me."

"Why wouldn't I want you? You're smart, you're funny, beautiful, witty, you like Javier, and you like me. I've been a bitch to you."

"But I bet Adrianna was better."

He looks at me in frustration. I'm sure he's trying to be patient. "Can you just stop it? Stop comparing yourself to her. She's my past, and you're my present and future. Why can't you understand that?" He runs his hand through his hair.

I stand up and look at him. "It's easy for you because Mason doesn't even stand a chance against you. You're better than him in every way possible. You don't even need to try and I'll choose you in a heartbeat, but Adrianna was the perfect Luna and I'm just - me." I feel tears threatening to fall. "I got rejected and I always felt like it was because I wasn't good enough. I thought there was something wrong with me - something so bad that even my mate, someone who's supposed to love me, rejected me. And even after I learned the truth, I just couldn't build my self-confidence up. Seeing and hearing about Adrianna just made me feel so worthless. Like I am nothing compared to her."

"You need to understand, Odetta," he says calmly. "I want you for you. If I wanted Adrianna, I'd have gone looking. There are many black-haired, green-eyed women out there."

Tears stream down my face from his words. "Why?" I ask. I just had to ask. "Why would you settle for less? Why would you settle for me?!"
He comes closer to me and rests his hands on my face, wiping the stray tears off my cheeks. "Because I love you, Odetta. You're not less, and if it comes to it, I'd spend the rest of our lives proving it to you."

I stare up into his eyes at his words, trying desperately to find any sign of deceit, but find none. In the heat of the moment, I do the one thing that makes sense to do.

I kiss him.

Hard.

He responds immediately, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me closer. A few tears escape my closed eyelids and he pulls away to kiss them away. Then, his mouth is back on mine.

I don't wait for him to ask for access. I know he wants it, so I part my lips and his tongue invades my mouth. I let him take control, and I can feel his wolf's approval as he groans in appreciation into my mouth.

Both his hands snake down my hips and grab my ass, squeezing it gently, making me moan into the kiss. He grunts and pulls away, moving his lips to my jaw, kissing it all the way down to my neck. He kisses the base of my neck, sucking and nipping on the skin there.

"Casper," I moan. He continues his assault on my neck as he carries me upstairs to a room.
He quickly brings his lips back to my mouth. The kiss becomes more heated, and he carries and places me on the table in the room. My hands roam his shirt, one eventually planting itself in his hair, tugging it slightly.

He moans into my mouth, his hands going down to the hem of my top and slipping underneath. My hands grip his shirt, and I grunt in frustration at the obstruction. He immediately pulls away, trying to unbutton his shirt. He fumbles with the first two buttons before growling and ripping the shirt apart, bringing his lips back to mine in a hurried kiss. His hand goes under my top and to my breasts. I pull away and pull my top off and over my head, tossing it away.

Casper's eyes narrow to my lace black bra and his eyes flash gold. He moves to pin me against the table, pushing all the things off the table and onto the floor. Our lips meet again as Casper's strong grip is on my bra, ripping it off my body. His lips leave mine and trail down to my chest. He kisses my breasts, licking and sucking, teasing me.

"Casper," I groan, arching my back to bring my body closer to his.

Then, finally, he secures his lips around one of my nipples, sending me into a state of euphoria. A loud moan escapes my lips and Casper grinds his hips into mine in response. I grind mine back into his, and he's quick to rip my jeans off my legs, fumbling with his after. Soon, the only pieces of clothing left are my matching black lacy thongs and his boxer briefs.

He takes those off, too.

And our naked bodies are left.

He pulls away, just far enough to force out a question. "You said you've had sex just once before, yeah?"

I nod.

He grins and goes on his knees in front of my parted legs. Fuck yes, this again. I grip the edge of the table to keep from moving around.

Warm and wet, his tongue darts in and out of my pussy, making me moan. I'm confused whether to push him away or pull his head closer and hold him there. This continues for ten sweet minutes before I feel a tingly sensation that spreads from the top of my head to my toes. I scream out in ecstasy, and he waits for me to come down from my high. He gives my lips a parting kiss before he decides the time has come. He stands up, but his hand doesn't come up with him. He climbs on top of me and slips his finger into me and I moan, closing my eyes and silently praying for the bliss I felt to never leave. He moves it in and out, and when he sees I am accustomed to it, he puts another finger to join the first and carries on like that until he has three fingers in me.

And he has large hands.

But, no matter the amount of preparation I have, nothing prepares me for when he enters me.

Oh, Moon Goddess, save me!

I grip his arms and back, groaning into him, but it only makes him more turned on.

"You can scream as loud as you want, we're in the middle of nowhere," he tells me and thrusts into me hard, earning a loud moan from me.

His thrusts become harder and harder, and I give him scratches that would surely take time to heal. There is nothing delicate about this. It is feral, and I love it.

I grind my hips against his and he does the same, both of us falling into the same rhythm. After what seems like an eternity, we start to climax.

I grip his back as he pounds harder into me, calling his name again and again, until we come.

Perfect synchrony.

After we come, we remain like that, our breaths heavy, with him still inside me. I bury my face in his neck, inhaling his scent and calming my wolf who was purring her delight. As I keep inhaling his scent, though, I feel my wolf coming forth and I don't stop her.

We both want this.

I start to kiss his neck, earning a small moan from him as he grips my naked waist. Then, my tongue comes out, licking the part I saw as mine, nipping on it and planting kisses there.

Casper feels my teeth but does not respond. Instead, he moves his head to give me access. My wolf, now partially shifted and seeing through my eyes, purrs her approval.

She and I bare our teeth and sink them deep into his neck without a second thought, part of the mate bond immediately sparking to life.

He's my mate! Alpha Casper Lyall is my mate!