I had been rushing around all day trying to get everything just perfect. I wanted my time with Ally to be as special as she was. I had this deep desire to make her smile, I knew that a lot of it was the Mate Bond, but there was another piece, one that I hadn't really given much thought to, which was I had always had a thing for the smart, kindhearted, nerd in my class.

It was a simpler time, there were no pack politics, no cliques, we were all just kids in class and we were all friends.

It was Spring's first real good day. We were outside at lunch recess, running around. There was this cute little girl running from her friends, with her pigtails bouncing as she giggled. Her voice sounded like an angel, drawing me in. Next thing I knew the giggle was coming from behind me and then suddenly her hands were on my arm.

"Tag, you're it!" She giggled and ran. I took off after her, but she was good at evading me. She ran around the tree and back to the structure jumping onto the slide, "SAFETY!"

"Nope, there is no safety." I claimed, reached out and tagged here. "You're it!" And I ran off.

Ally had a smile on her face, "Cheater" she laughed at me while getting up, "You better run!" And she once again took off after me. I was determined that she wasn't going to tag me so easily this time, there was no way she was going to catch me.

Just as she was closing in on me, the bell rang, pulling us from our game.

Ally may not be aware of it now, but she was catching me and unlike when we were 7 years old, I wanted to be caught.

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At 6pm I pulled up to the front of Allison's house. It was nothing more than a small ranch style house, one that all the pack warriors had once they started their families and moved from the pack house. Her house was tucked in at the end of the street, the lawn was over grown, and it looked like it had been forever since the flowerbeds were weeded. You can see that it's been a long time since someone cared about the upkeep on the home. Ally was an amazing person, always had been, she deserved a home that reflected who she was, not some place with paint peeling off the porch.

Shaking my head to clear my mind, I walked up the steps, which creaked as I put my weight on them, to the front door and knocked. A few seconds later Ally opened the door, "Hi." She said, turning to grab a sweater, "Ready to go?"

"Yeah" I smiled, grabbing her hand. As the warming tingles shot up from my fingers, I squeezed her hand a little tighter. This was a sensation that I loved, it was becoming addicting. I never wanted to stop it, I never wanted to let her go.

As we got to my truck, I reluctantly let her hand go and opened the door, just before she went to climb in, I grabbed her around the waist and pulled her into me. Without a second thought my lips were on hers, at first Ally was surprised but then her lips molded to mine. Shockwaves pulsed through our bodies, I knew she was feeling them too, as she put her arms around my neck and pulled me in ever so much closer.

Allison pulled away, smirking "What was that for?" she said breathlessly.

"Because your beautiful. Because I wanted to. Because your mine." I couldn't make up my mind as to which reason was the correct reason, so I just gave her all of them. Letting her go, she climbed into the truck and I closed the door and walked around to climb into the driver's side.

"So where are you taking me tonight?"

"To the lake."

"Well, if you haven't noticed I am not dressed for swimming."

I gave her my best devilish smile, "No one said you needed a swim suit," and then I winked. The most beautiful blush appeared on Allison's face and she giggled, the same giggle I remembered from the school playground all those years ago. She still sounded like an angel to me, putting a smile on my face. I reached over and grabbed her hand, by the way her breathing hitched I knew she was feeling the warmth and tingles of the mate bond just like me.

About 10 minutes later we pulled up to the Lake. I jumped out of the truck making my way around to Allison to open the door for her. "You know you don't have to open the door for me?" Allison said with a blush on her face.

"I know, but I want two. You deserve to have someone take care of you." I grinned. "Besides, my mother would have me hide if I was anything but a gentleman."

And then Ally completely shocked me by saying, "You know, girls don't always want a perfect gentleman." She then reached up and planted a soft kiss on the side of my lips, almost on my cheek. I knew I was shocked because Ally spoke up again, "Well Casanova are we going to just stand here all night?"

I could feel myself falling for her more and more, I knew this was more than the Mate Bond. Of course, the Mate bond was there to draw you together, to let you know that this person was the other half, the one that would complete you and compliment you the best, but it was up to us to build the relationship, to keep it strong. The Mate Bond was only part of it, that was for our wolves. It influenced everything we did from wanting to be with and protecting our mates, but there was so much more to it, there was a part that we had to figure out on the human side of things. Being a werewolf with a mate was so much more complicated then being a human with a girlfriend.

I walked to the tailgate of the truck, leaving Ally standing at the front of the truck. I lowered the tailgate with a thud. Reaching under the tonneau cover I pulled out a picnic basket and a couple of blankets. Walking back towards Ally I grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the old dock that sat on the lake.

I put the basket down and unfolded the blanket. Ally grabbed 2 of the corners and pulled away from me, helping to lay the blanket out on the edge of the dock, sliding our shoes off as we walked toward the edge of the dock, and I placed the picnic basket just behind where we sat .

"So ... A picnic at the lake, huh?" Ally said, filling the silence.

"Well, I wanted to do something where I wanted you all to myself. No one else around to disturb us. This was the most secluded place I could think of. Besides the Arbor Old Home Days fireworks are tonight and this will give us the perfect view of them. "

For the next couple of hours, we just sat on the edge of the dock talking about everything and nothing at the same time. We were just together and that was enough, it was like our souls were at peace and our hearts were simply happy.

Ally was laughing at some stupid joke I had made, I was smiling back at her, "Okay ..." she started, still laughing, "How many kids do you want?"

"Kids? Wow, are we already there? Thought we'd get through the first few dates first." I chuckled at her and leaned over bumping my shoulder to hers. "Actually, I would love a house full of them. I love kids. I wish I had siblings." My smile faded a bit, "I watched so many of my friends have a close relationship with their siblings and I was always jealous of it. When I have kids, I want a lot of them. "

Ally just smiled at me, "I feel the same way. I always wanted at least 2, so they would always have someone, Eli and Emma."

"Oh, so you already named them?"

"Doesn't every girl?" She looked at me while scrunching her nose, like I should know this stuff.

"I couldn't even begin to tell you. I thought all the girls were planning out their weddings from the age of 5." I joked.

"Now that's one thing I never put much thought into. A wedding was never something I wanted, I never really cared to be the center of attention, so the thought of everyone showing up to watch me was the center of attention. Yeah, not really my cup of tea. "She explained.

"Why do you keep surprising me, Ally?"

"What do you mean? There's nothing all that special about me." She sounded almost a little confused.

"You are more than special, you are magnificent." I said turning towards her, placing the palm of my hand against her cheek. Ally leaned into my palm and I drew her closer to me kissing her. It was a soft and sweet kiss, just confirming what we were both feeling that this was perfect that we truly meant to be together.

"You know you're a corn ball, right? Magnificent?" There was a twinkle of amusement in Ally's eyes as she said that. "So, are you going to go to college or are you just going to be taking over as Alpha at the end of the summer?"

"Well I'm going to be going to the local state school in town, majoring in business management. That way I can be close to home and continue to train to take over, but also get an education in something that's going to help me better the pack. "

"That's a good choice, which is the same reason I want to go to Medical School. My father was a Pack Warrior, which was his way of giving back to his pack. To do his part to keep people safe. what I want to do. I want to do this for my pack, be a good doctor for them. "

I smiled at Ally, just listening to what she was saying I knew she would be a good Luna, a great mate, and even one day a perfect mother. Her kind and caring heart were something no one could ever match. "You know I really enjoyed being here with you tonight." Ally said just as the warning firework went off letting us know the show was about to begin.

"Ditto, being here with you just feels right." I reached over and pulled Ally into me. I wanted her as close as I could get her. Laying down I pulled Ally with me, so she was on her back and I had one hand on either side of her. Her hair splayed all around her, she was irresistible, so I kissed her again, this time we didn't stop, we let the sensation and feeling fill us, overwhelm us. Finally, the full firework shows started, you could hear the whistling and popping all around, but that didn't draw our attention away from each other. Ally and I were so focused on each other that nothing could have pulled us apart. Not only were the fireworks going off over our heads, we could feel them everywhere that our bodies were touching.