I scampered off the stairs as quietly and efficiently as I could. Somehow-maybe life decided that it liked me for once?-let me get away without warning anyone of my snooping.

Running down the hall to the vicinity of my room, I sat on my bed and dropped my head into my hands. 

Just when I thought life couldn’t get any worse! I sighed, falling back onto my bed, still holding my head in my hands.

“Knock, knock,” Mel floated into the room, a bubbly smile on her face.

“So...how’s life?” she giggled again. I gave her a confused look, which probably made me look like a puppy tilting her head to the side, but I’m a werewolf, so don’t judge!

“Okay, spill. Even though you giggle like, A LOT, I know when you’ve got your ‘I’m totally and completely in love’ look. Better start explaining missy!” I scolded her, but a small smile tugged at my lips. It was like watching a toddler open the birthday gift they wanted: all twinkly eyed and grinning madly.

“Well-“ she drawled out. I gave her an over-exaggerated eye roll, but ushered her to continue.

“Jake and I-have officially mated!” she blushed, tilting her face away. My face broke out into a massive grin, as I hugged her tightly. 

“Really? I’m so happy for you guys!” I grinned at her, “So, how was it, losing the v-card!?” I wiggled my eyebrows at her, which made her turn more red-if that was possible.

“Shut up, Ari!” she pushed me playfully, which made us both burst out into laughter. After wiping our tears away, we finally faced each other before laughing our asses off again.

“Okay, okay, we need to stop!” I said while wiping my eyes. “Mel, stop avoiding the subject. Really, how was it?”

“Jake was amazing! We stripped each other while making out-“ 

“Woah, woah, woah! I meant, how does it feel being fully mated with Jake?”

“Oh,” she replied, “well, it’s amazing. The bite mark itself felt surreal, but once we committed ourselves to one another, it was amazing. Now I can hear all his thoughts, and we share the same emotions. If I feel pain, so does he. If I feel happiness, so does he. It’s really...amazing” she stared off dreamily.

“Wow, me and drew can only read each other’s minds, that’s about it. But I do feel pretty connected with him,” I smiled.

“Just you wait,” she smirked at me “when you lose your virginity to him, then you’ll know what the true meaning of mates is!” I blushed, thinking of being that intimate with Drew.

“Hey baby, if you keep thinking those thoughts, I might not wait for your permission,” Drew said in my mind, causing me to jump 2 feet in the air. 

Mel giggled, “Yeah, you better wanna block your dirty little thoughts or Drew won’t be able to contain himself,” 

We ended up talking more about life, our mates, and just stuff in general. I was relieved that Mel never brought up anything about the abuse or the treatment of the pack. She always knew that sometimes not talking about it was the best therapy for me.

However, once she left, all the residing thoughts about what I heard came back with a force. How was I ever going to tell Drew this? 

“Tell me what?” Drew stood at the doorway, arms crossed, with one eyebrow raised. Even standing like that, he looked sexy as hell.

“Well thanks babe, you’re looking beautiful yourself,” he smiled at me and came over to the bed. Sitting down next to me, he lifted me into his lap and began stroking my hair softly.

I sucked in a deep breath. Well, here goes.

“Drew, I-I have something important to tell you,” I said softly, “about the rogue,”

Just knowing he was a few floors down sent a shiver up my spine.

“He-“ what could I say? That he was the reason my mom died? That because of him, my family fell apart? That his very presence haunted my dreams every night? My heart was hammering in my chest like an offbeat drum. My fingers twitched slightly, shaking with anxiousness. No matter how hard I tried to form a coherent sentence about him, my mind just came up blank. Like my brain being on autopilot, it was controlling what I was trying to say. Drew deserved to know. And by judging his face, it looked like he was pretty curious about this as well. I kind of wonder why he didn’t mention to me that the rogue talked about me?

“Drew, did the rogue say anything about me?” 

Drew’s face visibly paled. His eyes went downward, not meeting mine. I tilted his face up carefully, and kissed his cheek. 

“It’s okay. I heard. I know you were just trying to protect me, but this fight is too dangerous for you to get into. I-I can’t explain it all just yet, but I want you to listen to me. Please don’t take what he said into heart. You’re too-“ I gulped, “important to lose, and I don’t want that happening. Please, just trust me and leave this alone. At least, until I get my facts straight,” I sighed.

Drew’s eyes were dark, his wolf seemed to be arguing with him, but he finally calmed down by my touch. I kissed his neck softly, and worked up towards his jaw. I placed a feathered kiss on his chin, then his cheeks, and finally a light brush on his lips.

He growled lowly, before kissing me back, with fiery passion. We tumbled down onto the bed, me laying on top. His kisses became more intimate, as he started kissing down my collar bone, up my neck, then down it again. I held back a moan, but it still ended up sounding like a whimper. Pulling his head back up to my lips, I kissed him passionately, his warm lips dancing with my own. For a moment, I forgot everything around us. I forgot the problems with my dad, or the evil rogue downstairs. All I thought about was Drew. The Drew I loved. The Drew that was kissing me so beautifully, so romantically, that my heart melted into a puddle of pure love for him. 

I wove my hands around his neck, intensifying the kiss ten-fold. His hands grazed the bottom of my shirt, almost like asking for entrance, which I did by kissing his lips and smiling at him. His hand went up my shirt slowly, sliding across my stomach and moving upwards, towards my bra. My hands followed their own accord, slowly unbuttoning his shirt, and throwing it aside. I took a moment to admire his amazing body, tracing against the smooth planes of his abs and chest. 

Soon, my shirt joined his on the floor. 

“You’re absolutely beautiful,” his breath husky. My body filled with warmth, for him and for his love.

“I love you,” I whispered. 

“I love you too,” he whispered back.

We swiftly undressed, and lay there, naked. Drew kissed up my stomach, massaging my breasts, before kissing my lips. I moaned in satisfaction, his hands doing wonders on my body.

“Drew,” I breathed, huskily.

“Hmm?” he mumbled, still kissing my neck. 

“Mate me, fully,” I stated. He looked at me with a smile. I kissed him swiftly, and he kissed me back.

“Of course, beautiful,”

It was then, that I forgot my worries and left my normal self behind. My mate was with me, and I wanted to be fully his, and him fully mine, hoping it was enough to help me forget about my problems temporarily. But I knew, I would have to face them soon, including, the murderer of my mom.