The plan

Reagan was still angry as he stormed out of the room. He is already prepared to go for the mating ceremony which was taking place on the sacred mountain deep inside the forest where the moon goddess lived.

He walked into the bedroom and saw Marian sitting on the bed with her hands on her legs which were in a curved position, weak from crying and deciding her fate. Her eyes looked red and swollen, her cheeks looked burned from fear and her lips looked swollen a bit. He studied her and sighed, his anger cooling down.

He left the room and after what seemed like two minutes, he came back with a bowl of water and ice, wrapped in a cloth.

"Come here." He said to her as he sat on the bedside. He stretched her legs gently on the soft bed as she looked at him then looked away. She looked so pathetic for him to even get mad at.

"Women!" He exclaimed as he sighed. Marian wondered why he didn't yell at her or punish her yet. While still.deep.in her thoughts, Reagan used his left hand to raise her face up from her chin while he used the other to push back her flying hair behind her ears.

He picked up the ice in the cloth and took it closer to her face and began to press it gently on her face and lips. She shrieked in pain as he reduced his hand and stopped each time she made a move. Her eyes were closed as he looked at her, lost in her beauty.

When he was done, he looked at her lips. They were already cracked and bleeding from being dried. He got up and opened the drawer, picked up a lip balm and went back to her Ashe gently applied it with the tip of his finger. She opened her eyes as she numbed gently on them. They seemed to be hurting her as she kept saying "ouch" each time she did that.

Reagan held her face with his left hand which sent chills running down inside her. In a blink of seconds, he brought his face closer to hers and pressed his lips against hers, forcing them open with his tongue as he sucked on her upper and lower lip slowly and lightly. Marian closed her eyes as she wasn't expecting such a reaction, swallowing saliva as her throat moved at each time he sucked on her lips.

Slowly bringing her into his arms, he used his right hand to hold her waist, pulling her gently towards him as the kiss got intense but light. The door swung open as the butler came in with some clothes in his hand and immediately, he released her and turned to look at the door.

"I- I'm sorry my lord, I'll come back later." The butler apologized as he turned to leave but stopped in his tracks when Reagan called him back.

"Come in." Reagan called him back.

The butler nodded his head as he entered the room to drop the clothes he was carrying but Reagan collected them from him.

"You may leave now." Reagan dismissed him.

"Yes master. The carriage is also ready and everyone is waiting for you." He replied as Reagan just nodded and the butler left.

Reagan turned to look at Marian who had already turned her face in fear and embarrassment. Her heart was beating fast, her cheeks had turned red already as Regan just smiled but turned his face into a serious one when she looked at him.

"Change into these or do you need help to do so?" He asked her as he gulped down some liquid in his throat. She collected them and nodded her head.

"Very well then." He replied. Reagan stood in the room as he turned his back away from her. He understood that she was still shy of him at her reluctance to remove her dirty clothes. She kept on struggling with the zip of her dress as she couldn't take it off.

Reagan heard her struggling amidst her teeth as he turned to help her from the back as she wasn't facing him. He shifted her long golden hair to one side of her shoulders, revealing her neck. He can't seem to take his eyes off them as he slowly opens her zip and pulls down the hand of her dress, revealing her shoulders.

He keeps having imaginations of seeing paws on her left shoulder. He is lost in thought as his mind runs wild.

"I can take it from here." Her soft voice jolted him back to his senses.

"Okay." He replied as he let go of her.

"I need a favor from you tonight or rather, see it as an escape from being punished." Reagan started with an angry face as she turned to look at him.

"What is that Mr. Reagan?" She asked him, being all polite and formal with him for the very first time which surprised him.

"It's Mr. Novikov and don't be formal with me." He corrected her.

"What do you want me to do for you?" She asked him, ignoring his corrections.

"Tonight is a mating ceremony, have you heard of that before?" He asked her as she looked at him with those bulging obsidian eyes of hers which made him gasp for breath each time she looked at him like that.

"No, what is that?" Marian asked him as she removed the dress.

"Can you turn around please?" She requested of him as he sighed in annoyance.

"What else do you want to hide that I didn't see last night?" He chuckled in annoyance as he turned around.

"What is a mating ceremony?" She asked him again.

"It's a ceremony where werewolves are given their mate." He replied as he scratched his head.

"Oh." She replied.

"You know what a mate is?" He asked her again.

"Yes, like the life partner of someone, like a husband and a wife." She replied with confidence as she just put on her new dress.

"How did you know that? Was Alec your mate?" Reagan asked her.

"Alec is a human, not a werewolf."