Venus sat in the office, waiting for her mate to come. After she requested for Lorenzo to shift back, he padded out the door.

After a while, her mate walked in wearing khaki shorts and a white tee shirt with canvas sneakers.

He looked very very handsome and very ... Normal.

Venus tried not to drool over him, watching his tattooed covered thick arms flex upon movement, the way his jaw ticked and clenched when he was angry or just him being ... him.

Venus shook her head, okay her thoughts were going haywire, what was going on? She wondered.

Her body felt a little more heated than normal but she ignored all that and concentrated on the situation at hand.

"I see you're waiting for some answers," Dante said, his thick deep voice ringing out in the silent house.

Venus nodded and he stood in front of her, folding his arms over his chest, making his muscled arms more bulging and very very distracting.

Venus gulped, praying to the moon goddess her body wouldn't betray her.

"Come, let's take a stroll in the garden," he said, holding his rough hand out as she shyly tucked her small delicate hand into his large one.

They rounded the stairs and headed out, walking in the lush green grass.

"You may ask what you want to," Dante said gruffly, letting go of her hand, and Venus suddenly felt sad, missing the warmth of his hand.

She took in a deep breath and started.

"I have many questions Dante, but I will only ask a few for now," she said, her shoulder grazing with his bare arm as they walked.

"First I wanted to ask why you did all that, why you avoided me like a plague and kept me at a distance, Lorenzo explained the Ariana situation, and that's settled but-" Venus was cut off from her rambling when Dante placed his forefinger on her lips, silencing her.

"One at a time Venus, but I get what you're trying to say, I did all that for two reasons, first being I never wanted a mate, ever. And then you came along and your 5'6 self and bought more havoc in my being than my entire existence altogether.

I was losing control around you and that made me rage over myself and naturally you." Dante explained, and Venus listened to him carefully.

"And second?" Venus whispered, feeling her heart clench upon his words.

"Being my mate would put you in a lot of danger, you'd be a target to all my enemies, a weakness they think they can use against me,

and I refused to put you into that mess, which is why I tired pushing you away,

not only that but I've always felt that a mate is a distraction, I feel as if I wouldn't be able to be a good alpha because you'd also be a priority then and I'd worry myself to the ground over your safety" he said, smiling a little at the end and then looking down at his little mate.

"I tried, I really did, but you're the most stubborn little wolf I have ever seen,

you always manage to get under my skin even if I willed against it," he stated, his hands behind his back, his being emitting raw power and dominance.

Venus bit her lip, trying to hide her smile.

After a moment to silence, Venus asked the one thing that was on her mind the entire time,

"Dante I wanted to ask, uh, about your father," she asked, cringing as she said it.

His body stiffened upon her words, and he turned around to look at her, his beautiful eyes stormy.

His jaw flexed and he stood still, his gaze hot.

He turned around and continued walking again, Venus struggling to keep up with his long powerful strides.

"My father was a bastard, I killed him myself, and now some fucking how he is alive," Dante said gruffly, growling in the end.

Seeing that his anger was surfacing.

Hesitantly Venus slipped her hand into his, hoping to calm him down, upon touch, he jerked his head back to look at her, and then their entwined hands,

sighing deeply, he tugged her along with him, hands joined.

"My mother was a lovely woman, gentle and graceful, and my father too was a good man, after conquering a few packs his thirst for power increased, he changed.

As mates it was very rare to see such a sight, a mate neglecting another, from that it turned into beatings, and as a 9-year-old and only child I watched my mother in suffering from afar," he said, his voice rough and his eyes distant,

he tightened his grip on her hand, and Venus soothingly ran her hand gently across his arm.

Her eyes stung from hearing her mate's past.

"Then he came down to me, beat me senseless, none of the pack members knew of it and mother didn't try telling anyone,

she was still in love with my father despite his doings, she'd cry every night while tending to my wounds. One day while I was out in the gardens I heard a scream from the house,

I ran and went in, only to-" Dante stopped, breathing deeply, his eyes shut and his face morphed into pain.

"I found my mother in a pool of her own blood with my father standing over her, my father then locked me up and I couldn't even go to her funeral,

that sick bastard told everyone she had a lover and when he refused to give her permission to leave with her lover she killed herself,

days later I managed to break out, took a silver knife from my father's drawer, and killed him in his sleep," he finished, his voice held no emotion, his face blank.

Venus gulped, turned him around to look at her, and she then wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging him. He was stiff at first and then he hesitantly put his arms around her.

Still in each other embrace, she whispered achingly,

'I'm so sorry,' and the sincerity of her words made Dante wrap his arms around her more tightly, bringing her close to his chest, his chin on her head and arms around her small frame.

She felt so small and fragile in his arms, the feeling of protectiveness hit him with renewed force.

She sighed.

"I know what you must have been through, with all the abuse," she whispered.

Dante was silent for a while,

"Venus you don't have to t-" he was cut off when she shook her head and looked up at him.

"I want to," she said, and there was so much trust and willingness in her beautiful earthy brown eyes Dante felt his heart slam against his ribs.

"My parents were killed, everyone said it was the fire but I know it wasn't, I was given into the custody of my uncle,

after some time the pack started treating me like shit, they demoted me, and then the beatings started, my uncle would beat me every chance he got, no reason,

the night I escaped the pack was attacked, and since my uncle was mateless, the night before he tried to- he tried to," Venus couldn't say it, her throat was clogged and tears stung her eyes.

A loud ferocious growl escaped Dante as he held her close to his chest, his head in the crook of her neck, inhaling deeply.

"But I got away, nothing happened," Venus whispered.

The silence that followed was comfortable. Everything was out in the open.

There was no turning back.

"Well, what to do we have here,"

________________________________

Hello darlings.

Happy Friday, yes another chapter, good things are to come my babies, I'm starting to like dante he's so ugh. Anyways i hope you all are doing well

I wanted to urge you all to comment your thoughts and feelings so i know how I'm doing, you can even correct me if seen fit.

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