#54

Aurora
We had gotten home in time to freshen up before dinner. Evander would let the pack know about Friday's festivities tonight. When I came out of the bathroom brushing out my hair, Evander motioned for me to sit between his legs on the bed and he took the brush from me. As he worked the brush through my thick mane. “So, where is your brother bunking?” I asked. I wasn’t aware of any extra buildings where he could stay. “Usually, he would stay here with me on a cot downstairs so I could keep an eye on him However,” he whispered leaning into me, his breath feathering over my ear. The deep baritone of his voice jumbled my senses. “I don’t want him hearing the sweet sounds of my mate as I make her toes curl when I make her cum.” he growled out causing my body to shiver in anticipation. I leaned back into his muscular chest as his large hands firmly gripped my hips, pulling me flush against him.

His hands ran down the sides of my hips and over my thighs, his thumbs caressing the soft flesh of my inner thighs through my leggings. I sucked in a breath as he hooked my legs over his, drawing my legs mercilessly wide open. One hand held me still at the hip while the other traveled north toward the waistband of my pants. “Tonight,” he murmured, as his hand ventured south again, sliding beneath my waistband and under the fabric of my mint-colored panties. His fingertips skimmed over the sensitive skin. His middle finger rimmed my opening, and a whimper escaped my lips. “Love, tonight, I will worship every inch of your skin,” he whispered, his sensual promise. Letting his tongue travel from my collarbone up my neck to the back of my ear. The sensitive skin there caused me to melt into him eliciting a moan from my lips. “I want to discover every little button that will potentially overload your senses.” His finger still circled my opening, and I found myself panting as he ran his nose up and down my neck, the soft yet still coarse hair of his beard and mustache peppering my nerve endings as he lazily teased me.

My newfound sexuality was something I was still trying to figure out. A part of me that was conditioned to avoid even explicit thoughts brought forth the timid and shy side of me. But I found the new freedom and empowerment in my instincts, along with my goddess's guidance and blessing, had me laying my faith and my trust at Evander's willing feet. I refused by any means to forsake this bond with my mate. I had chosen so far to embrace it, and so far it had been the most rewarding aspect of my life. He knew the real me. I couldn’t hide from him, and yet he trusted me to come out with all of my truths and reasonings in my own time.

As the primordial aspects of my slumbering wolf merged into my already complicated existence, the wolf’s instinct to fully fuse the bond with her mate drove me forward with a confidence I had never before explored. It amplified in the security of the sanctuary that our solitude provided. Alone with the person to who I entrusted not only my entire being, but I opened my shielded heart and soul to without fear. The animal within me surging forward today to basically threaten the over-enthusiastic waitress was eye-opening. I was turning into someone new. I could no longer strike someone as the timid and quiet Aurora. That girl no longer existed. I was now a woman, a partner, and possibly a future leader and the salvation of those lost souls beyond the pack’s boundaries. My purpose in life was now found, and my potential rewards were inestimable. My heart and soul finally convincing my mind that this could all happen and we could achieve happiness. Dare I speak the words out loud? Defy my own nature and speak the words my heart yearned me to release? To taunt the fate that brought me here with the stripping of the walls, my mind was once so keen on remaining built. Till now, the world had changed and here I was. My instinct now overrode my logic, and I found it sane. Not to mention with Evander there was never fear, just the overwhelming ability to trust.

Evander's delicate touch ran over my sides under my sweater before he pulled me into him, hugging me tightly. “You ok love? For a second, I lost you there.” I turned in his arms. As I cupped the hard line of his jaw, my fingers running through his beard. “I will never be lost with you as my home.” I breathed out the words. My eyes searched his. “I can no longer run away from my home, as it is a fundamental piece of my soul. I cannot be lost because I have faith you will always choose to find me when the oceans of my dreams weigh me down to the bottoms of their depths. When the darkness swallows me, your undying love shall be my guiding light out of the misery of the visions and shadows of my dreams. Evander, you are my beginning and my end. Both my white and my dark night. We will weather the storms to come as one mo ghràidh
(my beloved).”

Evander lips parted, as he took in a breath. From within our bond, I felt the swell of emotion surge. Something in his stare softened. “My love, you are my compass and my true north. I will always find you in whatever depth you are pulled under or whatever height fate ascends you to. I will fight through magic, vision, and claw to have you safely returned to me. No element of this earth, the world of prophecy in your visions, or the ethereal plane of our goddesses could stop me. I will drown with you before I could ever lose you. His vow reverberated through our connection. I found myself willingly bare before him. Not my body, but my heart and soul united blissfully with his, exposing me to my hidden hopes and fears. My mind whirled with simple visions of a quiet life and a simple home. Children running about in our likeness and family and friends smiling faces. We wanted the same things, the same life, and if we chose the correct paths, we would have all that and more.

Anxiety surged through me as I realized the next days were numbered. I would have to win the pack over and spill my secrets hoping the stars aligned. Evander lifted my chin with his forefinger, his crystal blue eyes meeting mine. “Love, have faith in the pack. They will stand by you as they do me. They came out here not only for the safety and serenity of this place, they are following whatever foretold destiny they believe should take place and you are an enormous piece of that puzzle coming together.”

It made sense they would want to accept me, but it was a hard concept for the girl I once was to fathom. Though I was evolving, my mind was very much conditioned by her caution and social avoidance. It would be now or never, and my time to come out of my cocoon was now. I nodded to Evander and rested my cheek upon his chest as I wrapped my arms around him in taking his scent of pine and forest. In moments, I calmed my panicked thoughts and pulled away. I smiled.
“Now let's get this dinner over with Millie and Whinnie will be bombarding me the moment they see me.” He chuckled, the deep rumble escaping his barreled chest. “That they will.” He said, releasing me. It was time to put my big girl panties on.