Sleep

Roman POV

The sleep was not coming, no matter how hard I tried. I was tossing and turning, Caleb whining in my head about the mate. I was still upset about Dragana leaving though as well. I needed to find new Beta too. Art was my childhood friend, we grew up together and I knew I was not supposed to take this so personally, but his leaving felt like he gutted me alive. “We need to focus on our mate, we need to find her!!!!”, Caleb roared again. He was right. Perhaps I could go again to the same place we saw her, I thought to myself. “Perhaps, you should fumigate your bedroom,  your office – the whole place to get the stench of your whores off”, Caleb was snarling now. “I said I blame you – you are the reason our mate ran – you and your whoring around!!!”. It is true that mates will know if one is unfaithful. It is true they can smell it as well. ”How would you feel if it was the other way round??” The thought of anyone touching my mate sent me into another frenzy.. “We need to keep a cool head and you need to rest – you have meetings with general and Alpha Alan’s daughter is coming in the morning”, Caleb was talking to me as if I were a child. “I am trying”, I snapped back but sleep was not coming. Next thing I knew I heard a blood curling scream – it was coming from floor below and somehow I knew it was Dragana. My heart went cold thinking something may have happened to her, yet again. Was there another intruder on my property???? Without thinking I rushed down and burst into her room. She was awake, dirty as if she was running in mud, her hair soaked and she was crying.  She looked so fragile, so innocent, so vulnerable. I could not stand seeing her like that – I rushed over and brought her into a hug. “Shhhhshhhh… easy there”.. She was holding onto me for dear life, sobbing.. “It was just a bad dream, just a bad dream”, I kept mumbling not knowing what to say.. Her scent was hitting me and holding her in my arms, I felt as if I could never let her go.

“Stay with me tonight”, she said, her eyes sparkling from tears. “I do not know what is happening to me”, she said looking scared and confused. Even though I knew my mate would not approve of this, I could not deny her request. After all, this is likely last time I will see her, last time I will ever be this close to her. Thinking of that, I simply moved into a position behind her and pulled her onto my chest.. “Sleep.. Nothing bad can happen to you. Sleep -  I am here” I said, not knowing what came over me, where this need to protect her was coming from. “You have always wanted to protect her” Caleb said “remember the lake”.. I thought of that fateful night and had to admit that he was right. Was I rude and horrible to her because I was scared of losing her? Why did she matter so much to me? Holding her, there was palpable electricity and sparks I could not explain. I was trying desperately not to think of her silk nightgown she was in, I could see her erect nipples, even though her breathing was slowing. Her body seemed to react to me as much as mine reacted to her. I thought of earlier today, her kissing me back, her wetness and obvious arousal when I touched her, and I started getting hard again.

“Can you please wear something else?”, I said jumping out of bed, opening her closet, tossing her a baggy shirt and pair of sweatpants. She blushed and nodded in understanding. I did not know what to do, should I stay or should I go. Almost magnetic force was pulling me to her, and I did not know how to battle it. Before I could control myself, my hands were on her again, and I pulled her closer to me. “What about Beta?” Caleb was asking. “He is in love with her – and you – what do you want? I thought you were going to behave, to atone!!!”
“Can you not feel it Caleb – what is this?? I thought only mate pull produced sparks, the pull like this?” I was asking him as I was genuinely confused. This did not add up. He said nothing – he was confused as I was. She looked up from my chest and her eyes met mine. “I am sorry I failed you Roman, I really am but I hear you have found your mate? Is it true?” she said giving me a small smile. I nodded and tried to change the conversation, as it was making me uncomfortable. “Yes,  I saw her in her wolf form – I have not actually met her yet”.. She looked confused. “But the pack – the celebration???”
“They have been waiting for so long for their Luna Queen, I wanted to encourage them, give them something. I wanted to encourage myself. Besides, we are at war and the prospect of them having a Queen is great for morale”, I rationalized. She nodded. Smell of roses was hitting me and I was doing my best to control myself, but holding her there in my arms, everything finally felt right.. Before long, I saw her breathing stabilize – she was sleeping on my chest. My own eyelids were getting heavy and before I knew it, I buried my head in her hair and fell asleep.