"I'm not scared of you, I'm really not. But, everything you do, everything you have done, that is what scares me the most," my voice grew quiet with each word I spoke, and I regretted them as soon as they were said. "I feel like my whole life is changing right in front of me, and I don't know what to do about it."

Safe. Unsafe. Safe. Unsafe. Safe. Unsafe. The process drives me around in circles. What do I truly feel?

Morpheus stayed planted into the hardwood floor, as though he belonged there, in my clutch. He had cradled himself into my waist like no one has ever done before, and had wrapped his strong arms around my form until my entire lower half had disappeared under him.

Oh, sugar, I feel like the Alpha.

There was no denying the obvious. I took my history classes, my mother was the teacher, and I had listened to Viviana study the ways of the wolf for many, many years. Way before she even met Max. Who was there to quiz her? Moi. Who was there to accompany her when she snuck off to watch the pack train or race with each other on the forest trails? Ég. Who was her support when she had to break it to her parents that she could no longer stay with them? Ich. And, who cared for her when her parents forced her to choose between him and them? Tôi.

It was all me.

This was the declared greatest part about being a mate. To Viviana, this was an Alpha exposing the most vulnerable side of himself to his other half, it was a big deal. I've been nothing but a bother to him this whole time, and the first thing he does when he comes home is let me guard his open back. She used to waste the nights away, raving on and on about how mates were the best thing on earth. Every year on her birthday, ever since she found out cooties didn't actually exist, she blew out her candles with the wish of getting her very own mate. And, yes, of course the thought of having one crossed my mind a few times, but if you asked me months ago what I would be doing right now the answer would not be what is happening.

It wasn't me that was stuck to the floor, bowing to him, instead it was the opposite. Morpheus had purposely placed me in front of him as though I had all the power in the whole wide world. His power. His control. His authority. All in the palm of my hand. The sudden understanding painted a vivid mental image of what was supposed to happen when mates meet.

The new view of things had me tangling my fingers through the thick locks of his hair, and pulling his head even closer towards me, the only response given was a low sigh of relief. Other than that, he had done nothing. Absolutely nothing. The only recognition that he was still there was the warm air blowing across my thigh, and the strangely reassuring weight resting on my legs, not to mention how the top of his head was pressing against my heavy chest. How is that comfortable? Can he breathe? What am I thinking, of course he can! He can, right? I took a short peek down at his face, and noticed how his head was clearly turned to the side. A content smile on his lips, and it was contagious. Why does he look so happy?

Because it's me. I had answered my own question as soon as I thought of it.

"I was never meant for something like this." As much as I knew that it was not the time for a confession, I had already started, and worry was itching at me like a mosquito. "This type of thing was meant for someone else, someone better and stronger, someone like Viviana or-or-"

"Stop talking." The growl reverberated against my stubby body. Too bad, though, because my stomach was turning and churning, and there was no closing my big mouth.

"Okay," I whispered quickly, surprised at his sudden choice to speak. The 'okay' didn't really mean anything to me. He says sit and I say jump. "But, are you sure that you're even correct? What if you're just confused? What if you really belong with another werewolf or a-"

My entire body was thrown back into the pile of clothes on top of the bed with no effort at all. I landed propped up against it like a doll, and after the initial shock weared off, I remained incredibly still. Morpheus crawled his way up to me slowly, dug his growing claws into my thighs, almost breaking the sensitive skin, and towered over me. "Do I need to repeat myself?"

I visibly gulped, "No."

"Why are you starting this?" He asked, up close and personal in my space. His features had began to contort to that of an angry dog, a possessive dog. His eyes sparkled with bits of black appearing in the green, glaring at me with his scrunched nose and elongating teeth. "You must see that I am not in the mood for you to act up. You must."

Shaking under him as if I was being scolded by a parent, I bit out, "I'm just telling you the truth, you must see that!"

"How is that the truth?" He scoffed, turning more beast-like with each inch that he moved closer to me. "You do not seem to know a single thing about mates."

"I know that you can reject them!" My mouth was slammed shut with my own hand, smashing my teeth together and nearly biting off my tongue. Even my eyes widened at what I had just said. Why would I say that?

"Do you want to reject me, Emery?" He taunted as he tilted his head, tensing up above me. "Is that what you really want to do? You're not going to get very far with that little trick, mate."

My mouth went dry.

"Why do you hurt me so with those words?" He grabbed my jaw in his large hand, and I knew that if he wanted to then he could easily shatter the bone into millions of pieces, my plump lips puckered. "Imagine, the most accurate weapon to use against me would not be a gun, nor an arrow, nor the sharp teeth of a canine, it would be you."

He sized up my body, looking me up and down. "You are so small. You have the height of a pup and the attitude of one. Yet, you are the only being to ever truly pain me."

"You could do anything to me, and I would keep coming back." The sudden realization dawned on him. His expression faltered as he stared down at my trembling form, falling backwards slightly as he stood up straight next to the bed. Distress washed over his features, and in that moment, I felt how the curse of a mate bond affected someone who never had the unfortunate reality of being at the bottom of the food chain.

"Can you not feel it?" He took hold of my hand and pressed it against his chest. To feel how his heart was beating faster than anything I have ever felt made the sparks sizzle wildly against my bare skin. "The bond? I know you can. It may not be as strong for you as it is for me, but I know that it is unlike anything you have ever felt before."

I smiled softly up at him. He's right. "There are so many stories of you, legends and opinions. This was so unexpected. I don't feel ready, at all. It's like you came out of nowhere, and so suddenly. You told me that we met too soon. When were we supposed to meet, do you know?"

"I have waited a sickeningly long time for you. To have been woken up in a world so different from my own was less than meaningful to me, because you were there to greet me," he spoke with such honesty, that I was completely enthralled. "The only way I knew how to treat humans was with that of violent and hateful actions. I was expected to unlearn that during my time of imposed unconsciousness. And, truthfully, my mate, I am not quite there. But, I can assure you that there is only one human who I can say that I do not wish harm upon in the slightest bit."

"Is it me?" I whispered.

Morpheus bent down again to face me, and his gaze softened. He ran a hand through my wet hair, gently gliding through the darkened stands, and dipped his head. My long eyelashes fluttered before I closed my eyes.

And, his lips met mine.

💕