CHAPTER 13 — MATES

She opened her mouth, letting him invade it slowly, the way he wanted to. The way she needed him to. Her eyes drifted to a close and his tongue caressed the insides of her mouth, leaving her breathless. He broke the kiss, but they stayed close, so close when he blinked, she could feel the fluttering movement against her face.

She smiled. "I'm all yours."

"I know." He picked her up, her hair falling on him as she wrapped her legs around his waist. He caressed her bare legs, causing her to gasp a bit as he started kissing her chest, down to her plump firm breasts. He stopped and looked up to her, then tried to set her down, but she stopped him.

"No." She uttered and he kissed her lips again. They moved into the tent, each seeking each other's mouths, each breathless, each full of desires.

She lay comfortably in his arms, her hair over it, her eyes closed as he looked at the news updates he had asked for from Seth. His restaurant's patronage had dropped really low, and Maria, one of the kitchen cooks had run away with some money. Everything was in disarray and the ones who remained were losing confidence, as he wasn't there. He sighed and kept the phone aside.

"It will be alright." She said, her eyes still closed.

"How do you know what's happening?" she shrugged but didn't open her eyes. "Can you listen in on my thoughts?"

She shook her head. "Not all the time."

His eyes widened. "Explain."

"As a vampire, I can listen in, but as your werewolf mate, it cancels some of it out, so I can only listen when your thoughts are loud."

His brows creased, forming lines on his forehead. "Wow. So, if I wasn't your mate..."

"You are my mate," she said, now opening her eyes. She reached up and smoothened the lines on his forehead. "Don’t think of a possibility where you're not," she added and turned away.

"I'm sorry."

She shrugged, her back still to him. Was she pissed? He looked at her profile and her face seemed expressionless. "Stop. I am not pissed."

He slapped his forehead and lay beside her. "Elsa, I am sorry." No response. "Elsa…"

She stood up and left the tent, and subsequently, the house. He sighed and followed. "Elsa…"

"What?"

"I am sorry."

"Whatever." He watched her For a minute, then shrugged.

"Fine." He said and walked away, leaving her standing there, her eyes thinned.

"Now, I can’t think." He made a face as he walked begrudgingly. He picked a wild rose and sighed. "Well, I hope she likes it." He muttered and turned in the direction of home, knowing it'd take him some time, since he had come far.

"Hmm...what is this for?" She was holding his sneakers and tweaked in in her hand. "Doesn't look that useful." She shrugged and tore It in half. She picked his recipe book. "He reads? Well, that's new. Let me see..." She was about to tear it in half when he came in.

"What are you doing?" She froze in position, then turned slowly, biting her lower lip.

"Why are you here?"

He shrugged and came closer. "Because...in the few days I have been here, this has become home for me." she was looking up to him unblinkingly and he pulled out the flower. "Here, darling. I went to get you this. It took some time, but I assure you, you are worth it."

She collected it, her rigid posture now gone, and she looked about to cry.

"And yes, Elsa, you are my mate." He said as he cupped her face, her hair between his hands and her face, bouncing. "No one else. Okay?" She nodded and he pulled her in his warm embrace.

"Thank you, Dale. You don't know how happy you've made me."

He released her and looked into her eyes. "That's why I am here."

She nodded and he kissed her forehead. "You healed my eyes...now you're healing my heart too." Her arms were now around his waist, and he smiled at her.

"What were you doing when I left?" A lump formed in her throat. He had been too focused on her, and he hadn’t noticed that half of his things had been torn in half.

She swallowed. "Dale."

He looked at her with expectant eyes. "What is it?"

She grabbed his arm and turned him, so he had his back on the mess she'd made of his things. "Please, don’t be angry."

He pouted. "I wasn’t angry, Elsa. When I left, I just went to get you a flower."

She shook her head. "Not that...I did something, really bad…I want you to not be angry when you see it."

He sighed. "Fine. What is it?"

"I..." She let go of his hand and moved away, towards the entrance/exit opening. "Don’t be angry." She said and he palmed his face, before moving closer.

"Elsa, you're acting strange. Are you about to become a werewolf or something? Or you wanna feed?"

She shook her head. "Just stay there." She moved away from him and when she made sure she was right at the entrance, she said in one breath. "More than half of your things are all destroyed!" And bolted out the door before he could even understand.

"What?" She had run out already, and he stood there, confused. Deciding that he would let her do what she wanted and come back, he turned towards the inside of the house and went towards the tent, where his things were. The mess he saw on the floor made his eyes bulge as he saw his new air Jordan's lying on the floor in half, his favorite hoodie, in half, his grey sweatpants in half. His hands went to his head as he took in the mess.

"More than half of your things are all destroyed!"

He understood now. "Elsa!"