Chapter 23 - Parting Souvenir

Kai stopped walking to listen to her. It was the first time she had asked anything of him. The way she was asking sounded like she was trying to negotiate a business deal rather than a request. His dominant mate was surfacing subtlety. “Sure, go for it.”

“I'll need to tell my friend Leona. I'm gonna need a decent cover story if I don't want my family to find out. She's my best friend and I know I can trust her with my life to keep a secret.”

This was the first time that she had ever mentioned any of her friends. Considering everything that he’d put her through already, this seemed like an acceptable deal. “Well… if you deem her to be trustworthy, then I won’t object.”

Adalyn nodded. “Thanks”

"Anything else?" Kai asked with a raised eyebrow. Her request seemed simpler than he expected.

"I'll let you know if I think of any else." Adalyn added playfully.

“Yeah, you do that" Kai chuffed. "And before I forget...” Kai reached in to his pocket and pulled out a new phone. "This is for you. Your last one broke right? I've put mine and Arrow's number in there. Like I said, Arrow will stay close to you but hidden so you won't even notice here's there most of the time. If you need me for anything just call or text me okay. I might not be able to reply straight away but I will get back to you. I shouldn’t be gone more than a few days.”

Adalyn took the phone. It was a lot flashier and more expensive then her last one. She nodded and then put it in her pocket.

“You’ll be okay right? Fighting out there?” Adalyn asked with concern in her voice. She didn’t have much experience with war or fighting rogues. Her wild wolf made that next to impossible, but the fear of the unknown made her uneasy about what her mate might have to see or endure.

For Kai, it had been the first time in a while that somebody was actually concerned about his safety. It warmed him that she felt that way. She was a true mate in every sense of the word, even without them yet making it official.

“I’ll be fine. I’ve defended our borders numerous times before. Fighting is one thing I'm very good at, so you don't have to worry. It also give me a chance to deepen my connection with Pax.” Kai stroked her face to settle her. “I’ll be okay,” he reconfirmed. As he started walking again, he interlaced his fingers between hers and Adalyn opened up her hand to fully accept his.

“Speaking of which, have you felt any sign of your wolf returning?” he questioned.

Adalyn had nearly completely forgotten about her wolf. The burden of not having to worry about her trying to takeover had been a welcome break, but it did feel odd to be without her for so long. As Adalyn concentrated she could feel lingering traces of her that weren't there before a few days ago. “She’s definitely starting to return, but it’s still not what it was before,” she replied.

“I see…” Knowing that her wolf was strong, Kai was hoping that she might have fully returned by now. If she defended Adalyn the way that she had challenged him before then she could definitely offer Adalyn another layer of protection in his absence.

“I'm sure she'll resurface once the affects of the wolfsbane wears off. She's definitely not weak, so I can't imagine she'll remain subdued for long.” Kai continued.

“You almost talk about her as if you've met her.” Adalyn laughed.

His silence to her comment had her doing a double take. He hadn’t planned to tell her about the two episodes where he did meet her, but this seemed like a good opportunity to try and find out a bit more.

“I didn't want to say anything before, but she's taken over you a couple of times since we've been together. She took control over your human form back when you was captured and a second time when we stayed at the guesthouse.”

Adalyn gaped. “She did??”

“You don't remember anything at all? Did she completely take over your consciousness?”

Adalyn scanned her thoughts but drew a blank. “No. I don't remember anything. Did she do anything weird?”

Kai didn’t know how to explain how her wolf had tried to seduce him the second time around, but his face hinted that she had done something.

“Oh god, what did she do?” Adalyn worried. Knowing how desperate her wolf wanted to jump Kaiden back when they first met, she could guess how she might have been. Her face started to turn red just imagining the possibilities.

“Has that happened before? Her taking over like that?” Kai interjected, trying to break the uncomfortable feeling evident in her demeanour.

“She's been able to force me to shift before, but I usually am conscious in the background and am able to recall what's happened. I don't remember her fully taking over before, but I suppose I wouldn't be able to recall it if she had done it before.”

Listening to her, Kai recalled how nobles and royal blooded wolves typically have the same issue when they're younger after their wolves first emerge. Their wolves are normally more powerful than their human counterparts and can turn feral without the proper training. Once they've matured and strengthened their human bodies, they can then apply the training to subdue and tame their wolf. This common trait in Adalyn helped to signify to Kai that she had noble blood, but his research in to her found no evidence of it. If it were the case though, and she had noble blood, it was impressive that she had been able to stop herself from turning feral this whole time without any formal training.

Adalyn could see the questions all ticking in Kai’s head. “What is it?” She asked.

“I was just thinking that she has to be very powerful to be able to do a full body takeover like that. If you want, I can show you some techniques that might help reign her in when I'm back. It won't be pleasant but it might be worth a shot.”

Adalyn wasn’t convinced anything like that was even possible but if it meant that she’d be able to spend some more time with her new mate, then she’d agree to it.

Kai stopped walking abruptly and stared down at her. She had been inadvertently licking her bottom lip again whilst absentmindedly thinking about their last kiss at the Manor House.

Kai’s breath hitched. “Didn’t I warn you about that?”

“About what?” Adalyn realised what she had done but feigned ignorance.

Kai leashed a hand behind her back and tugged her to him.“You know exactly what I’m talking about Adalyn.” Kai whispered heatedly in to her ear.

Kai leaned down and enveloped her mouth with his. Being conscious of Arrow's presence nearby, he only intended a small kiss but Adalyn quickly took advantage and locked her hands up behind his neck to keep him in place. She started caressing the small section of hair that she found there. Her little possessive gesture made Kai growl in to her mouth. Her wolf was definitely on her way back.

For someone who only had their first kiss recently, she was definitely proving to be a fast learner. Kai's hand started to slip from her waist then travelled leisurely to her hip before finally settling on the side of her ass. His little tour of her body with his hands already had him hard. Then he caught a whiff of her. She was getting wet already. The smell of her arousal was like a leash around his neck. He felt like putty in her hands. He pushed her up against one of the trees to readjust his hold on her.

Kai released her lips. They were already full and swollen from their heated kiss. He pulled her top down a little at the neckline to reveal the bite he had made earlier in the day. Her healing was accelerating and it was already starting to close up. This would not do.

Without saying a word, Kai slipped his canines back in to the same puncture marks then slowly bit down. Adalyn gasped as she tried to stop a moan from escaping her lips. It was both pleasurable and painful at the same time. A new interesting mix that she had recently become introduced to. With his canines still embedded, Kai pressed his lips flat to her skin and began to suck hard on the mark to really engrave it in to her skin. Once the metallic taste of her blood made his way in to his mouth, he released his jaw and pulled away. His eyes flashed black just as he did so. Pax was much happier now with the freshly reapplied mark. He swiped his tongue across it twice to seal the mark. Adalyn gasped again as her stomach tightened in to a heated knot.

A wolf whistle suddenly echoed out in the distance snapping them both out of their haze.

"You know I can still see you two from here right? But don't stop the show on my account." Arrow shouted from behind the trees.

Kai exhaled and scowled towards Arrow’s direction. "If I didn't have him assigned to watch you he'd be dead already!" When he looked back down at Adalyn she had turned bright red in embarrassment at being caught in her tryst with Kai. Realising how awkward she felt, he pulled her head in to his chest and hugged her. After a moment or two she started to giggle. Confused, Kai pulled her back to see her face. She had managed to see the funny side and beamed a huge smile back at him. There it was again, that beautiful and innocent sound tugged at his chest when she laughed.

Kai smoothed his hand against her face then pecked her lips quickly. "I better go." He slowly released her hands as he started to walk away from her. He gave a silent nod to Arrow in the distance. He was trusting him with something very precious.

Kai's eyes turned black as he started walking back to his car. He had to refocus his mind on the upcoming task at hand, destroying the rogues that threatened his territory. A dark smile slowly crept up his face. Slaughtering his enemies was a great way for him and Pax to blow off steam, and he planned to do exactly that.