______________________

Chapter 51

I groaned as I slowly opened my eyes. My head was throbbing and I tried to move but couldn't. I snapped my eyes open, looking around my surroundings. My eyes widened severally as I noticed that my hands and feet were tied down to a chair. I looked around and squinted my eyes as I looked around the dark, dim room. My frown deepened as I noticed that I was in some kind of cottage of some sort as I looked out the window to see trees surrounding me. I looked around the empty, small room and bit my lip when I saw nothing or no one. I was alone.

I bit my lip and closed my eyes, to try to calm myself down. Many questions roamed through my head. Where am I? Who took me here and why? My heart rate speeded up as many stupid scenarios entered my head. Who would want me and why? I opened my eyes and prayed that someone would open the door and save me.

I started shaking my hands, trying to release myself but it was no use. I was tied to the chair tightly. I tried shifting into my wolf but couldn't feel her. That worried me a lot and I started shaking my head. Where was my wolf? I whined out in fear. Above all days, why was I kidnapped on a day when I wanted to talk to Mason.

Mason.

I wonder if he's looking for me? Did he even notice that I was gone? Besides, how long was I out? Many questions roamed through my head and I started thinking of him. I should have listened to him. Now, I don't know what will happen to me. Will I ever see him again?

I immediately shook my head and forced those thoughts out. Don't think like that, Tiana. Of course, you will see him again. I don't know what I'll do if I never see him again. I don't even know who took me to know what they want from me. The thought of never seeing Mason again frightened me. I never had the chance to tell him my feelings, and now I'm afraid I'll never get that chance to do so.

I closed my eyes and tried to stop the tears from falling. I let out a frightened sigh but opened them when I heard something from outside. My eyes widened as I heard someone running and try to open the door. I furrowed my brows in confusion when banging on the door was heard. Whoever was outside wanted to get in. My eyes widened in fear and a gasp escaped my lips when the door flew open.

My eyes widened even more as I saw the person in front of me.

"Tiana?" Mason whispered, looking relieved and happy. He came running towards me and that's when I noticed his features. He looked horrible. His eyes were red and puffy like he was crying. He looked tired and afraid. "Thank goodness, I found you." He immediately ripped the ropes from my hand and feet and pulled me up to him, engulfing me in a tight hug.

I sucked in a breath. I was really confused. What happened? And how did he find me this fast? I pushed this aside and hugged him back. He dug his nose in the crook of my neck and inhaled my scent, muttering stuff I didn't understand. I dug my face into his chest as his arms tightened around my waist.

"I was so afraid that I lost you. I was afraid that I'd never see you again," he whimpered into my neck. My heart broke at his voice and I tightened my arms around him. Being in his arms was perfect and it felt like home.

"Mason, what happened?" I asked, softly. He pulled his face out of my neck and looked at me with sad eyes.

"I don't know. I went to your room to see you gone but then I found a note on your bed. It said that someone took you and that's when I went crazy. I searched everywhere for you. I found this cottage and knew you were in here because of your scent. I was terrified that I lost you, Tiana." He whispered. I felt tears threaten to escape at his words. He looked like a broken man and all I wanted to do was pull him in for a hug.

"Don't ever leave me. I don't think I can live without you," he whispered, tightening his arms around me. "I love you so much."

My eyes widened at his words and that's when the tears fell out of my eyes. It felt like the breath in my throat was stuck and couldn't come out. Mason was looking at me with sad, broken eyes but they held to love in them, something that I never saw in his eyes before. Realizing his words made my heart speed up. I never knew that Mason loved me. I never even knew that he was capable of love. But that made my heart flutter and made me really happy.

I nodded my head and pulled him in for a hug. "I-" I whispered, not able to continue from the overwhelming sensation. "I love you too," I managed to speak out, in a very soft voice. He inhaled my scent and started whispering soothing words into my ear.

"I'm never going to let you go," he whispered, pulling away and looking at me with a smile. He wiped the tears from my cheeks and that's when I returned the smile.

"Don't," I whispered. He leaned in and place his lips onto mine, making me wrap my arms around his neck. I heard a deep growl emerge from within his chest. I let out a satisfied sigh and kissed him back with as much passion.

I don't know how long we were kissing, but we immediately pulled away when we heard whispering.

"Yes. We did it." A familiar voice spoke. We then heard a smack and someone winced.

"Shh. Be quiet!" Someone else spoke. "I think they heard us.."

"No. They're too busy sucking each other's faces off." The same person said.

"Yeah, he's right." Another familiar voice said.

"You idiots. They heard us. I know it."

"Hey...It was your idea in the first place. So if we get caught then you're the one getting into trouble."

"You guys helped me out so if I get into trouble then so are you two."

I looked at Mason and frowned. He had the same frown on his face and that's when we started looking around the cottage. I knew at a times like this we should've been out of the place and not making out but his confession made us forget about everything. Now, we were looking for where the voice was coming from. They were really familiar and I knew exactly who they belonged to.

We saw a room behind us and that's when Mason stalked towards it with anger. His fist was clenched as he and I walked up to it.

"Shit! They heard us all right. He's coming here." A voice I knew spoke.

Immediately, Mason flung the door open and glared at a nervous Lina, Ryder, and Tyler. My mouth hung open as I stared at them with shock. Mason had an angry expression on and Lina waved at him, releasing a nervous chuckle.

"Hey, guys...What are you doing here?" She asked, nervously. Ryder and Tyler nodded their heads with her but I went in front of Mason and crossed my arms against my chest.

"I could ask the same. What's going on?" I questioned. They let out another nervous laugh and looked at each other, deciding who was going to speak.

"Since it was your idea, why don't you speak?" Ryder asked Lina. Lina scratched the back of her neck and pouted.

"Ok, ok. You guys caught us. We're the ones who kidnapped Tiana," Lina confessed. Mason growled out but I grabbed onto his hand to try to calm him down. He looked down at me and closed his eyes, pinching his nose with his thumb, and pointer the finger.

He soon opened his eyes and glared at them.

"Explain," he growled.

"Well...You and Tiana took forever to confess your love to each other so...I thought that once you think that you lost her then you'd regret not telling her how you feel so when you see her then you'll confess, kiss and makeup. You know what they say, you don't know someone's values until you lose them," Lina explained, rubbing her arm nervously. "But hey, it worked."

Mason let out another growl and I shook my head. I can't believe she did that. This girl is indeed crazy. Who does something like this? But I got to admit, she was kind of right. I gave her a small smile but smacked her on her head.

"Ouch," she pouted, rubbing the spot I hit her.

"That's for making me think that I was actually kidnapped," I spoke. "Even though I'm not mad at you, I'm still quite upset. Please don't ever do that again."

She offered me a sheepish smile and nodded her head, before looking at Mason and I. "I'm sorry that I frightened you. But I thought of no other way for you guys to finally confess to each other. You both are so stubborn." Mason shook his head and let out a frustrated sigh.

"I can't believe you, Lina." He muttered. She smiled and hugged him.

"Hey, you should be thanking me. Now you guys are going to be a happy couple and make cute babies!" She gushed. Mason broke out into a grin and shook his head, hugging his sister. My cheeks heated up at her words but I tried to hide them. I then looked at Tyler and Ryder, who was smiling from ear to ear.

"Hey. Don't look at us like that," Ryder spoke, placing his hands up in the air. "She practically threatened us to take part in this." I rolled my eye.

I can't believe this girl.

Lina and Mason pulled away and he wrapped an arm around my waist, making me bite my lip. My eyes then widened when I remembered that I couldn't feel my wolf. "But how come I can't feel my wolf?"

Tyler nodded his head and spoke, "Lina was able to get her hands on something from the medical room without Sam knowing. She gave you something so you wouldn't feel your wolf for a short period of time. But don't worry, it will go away soon."

I looked at Lina with wide eyes. She shrugged her shoulders and placed her hands up in a defensive manner. "I couldn't let you shift and ruin everything." Mason shook his head but then frowned.

"How come we couldn't catch your scent?" He asked, sniffing the air. I sniffed the air and frowned, I couldn't smell their scents. Ryder smiled and glanced at Lina. She offered us a goofy smile.

"I also took something from the medical room to mask our scents. I couldn't let you guys smell our scents. Then our cover would have been blown," Lina explained. Mason ran a hand through his hair.

"I have one heck of a sister," he muttered but then glared at her. "Thanks to you, I made a search party and now everyone's looking for her."

Lina let out a nervous chuckle and scratched the back of her neck.

"Well, cancel it. Tell everyone that you found her," she claimed, smiling up at us. Mason grunted and closed his eyes. He looked like he was in a trance. After a while, he opened them and sighed. "Come on. Let head back."

We nodded our heads and walked out of the small cottage. I was still trying to register what happened. It was hard to believe. I looked back and frowned. I glanced at Lina and asked her a question. "Where did you get this cottage?" Lina shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. It was here for a long time. I guess it's abandoned so we decided to keep you here." I nodded my head but looked at Mason when I felt him grab onto my hand.

I looked at our joined hands then up at him. He was looking down at me with a small smile, making me smile up at him. I still can't get over the fact that he loves me. I thought that I liked him but when he said that he loved me, it made me realize that I loved him too. I don't know how and when, but I knew that these feelings were real.

He placed a small kiss on my forehead, making me blush. "Come on," he whispered. I nodded my head and that's when we headed back to the packhouse. There were lots of guards surrounding the packhouse and that's when I noticed that they were mostly the new pack warriors. Once we entered the packhouse, lots of eyes were on us. Whispering erupted in the air and many people shot questions at Mason.

Mason sighed then spoke. "It was all a misunderstanding. Everyone can go back to what they were doing." Everyone looked at us strangely before nodding their heads and that's when everyone walked away, making Mason pull me up the stairs. My eyes widened once I realized that we weren't going to my room, but to his. He pushed me into his room and slammed the door behind him. Before I could open my mouth and speak, his lips were on mine.

My eyes widened and I gasped as he kissed me with so much passion. I closed my eyes and wrapped my arms around his neck as he pushed me against the wall. His arms wrapped possessively around my waist, pulling me closer to him.

Once we were out of breath we pulled away, staring into each other's eyes. I felt sparks enlighten at our skin contact and my heart speed was fast. He lingered another soft kiss on my lips before touching my cheek with his finger. He cupped my face with his hands, staring into my eyes.

"I don't know how and when, but I realized today that I love you so much and I don't want to ever lose you," he whispered, making me feel all different types of emotions. I sucked in a breath and nodded my head. Those words made my heart speed and face heat up. I bit on my lip and stared into his beautiful orbs.

"I love you too," I whispered. He broke out into a large grin and kissed my lips again. When we pulled away, he pulled me to his chest and that's when I laid my head on his warm chest. I listened to his steady heartbeats as he roamed his hands through my hair, playing with them. He kissed my forehead before pulling away, staring down at me.

"I want to let everyone know that you're my mate and their Luna. I'm going to call on a pack meeting tomorrow if that's ok with you?" He whispered. I smiled up at him and eagerly nodded my head. I liked that. It was nice hearing that from him. He smiled and placed his hands on my waist, looking at me with dark eyes.

"But before that.." He whispered, pushing the strands of hair away from my neck, staring at me with eyes full of lust. "I need to claim you as mine." My eyes widened and I immediately knew what he meant. I sucked in a breath and nodded my head, giving him the green lights. He dug his head in the crook of my neck and placed a soft kiss on my neck, making me bite my lip.

He started placing sweet kisses on my neck, making me close my eyes to try to calm myself down. I held the moan that threatened to escape. Once he made his way to my sweet spot, he nibbled, kissed, and sucked on that spot, making my legs go weak. I held onto his shoulder to prevent myself from falling to the floor.

He bit on that spot, making me gasp. He stopped and glanced at me, making sure I wanted this. I nodded my head and that's when he went back to that spot and kissed it, before digging his teeth into my skin. A gasp of pain escaped my lips but immediately was replaced with pleasure.

I closed my eyes and let out a sigh. He licked the blood away and started to kiss that same spot, making me weak. A satisfied growl came out of his mouth and he kept muttering 'mine' against my skin. His arms went around my body, carrying me bridal style. I placed my head against his chest as he started walking towards his bed. He laid me softly on his bed and that's when I started falling asleep.

But before I completely fell asleep, I kept thinking of how Mason and I were officially together.

____________