Chapter 10.2

Nate

My nights were restless, I pretended that they weren’t; but I knew that Neo knew. How couldn’t he? We were bonded, our souls intertwined forever. What I felt, he felt, what I thought, he heard. When the nightmares started, I wanted to hide. I didn’t want to be seen as weak. But Neo only held me tighter, rocked me against him until my tears dried and I fell back to sleep. After those nightmares I would feel so dirty; so I would spend hours in the shower, scrubbing my already clean skin until I was almost bleeding and Neo had to rip the washcloth away; and that would bring on more tears, and Neo rocking me fully clothed in the shower, the cold water making us both shiver violently. 

I rubbed my eyes, trying to get rid of the burning sensation in them. I knew it was from lack of sleep…but I couldn’t sleep and I had to work so uselessly rubbing at them was what I was stuck with. There was a knock on my already opened office door, and I looked up to see Nolan and Nora. A wave of guilt crashed over me when I saw Nolan,

“Nolan, I am so sorry! I didn’t want anyone to get hurt…I tried to outrun you and--”

“Luna, it’s okay. Shit happens. We’re here because there’s a group of she-wolves in the lobby. They said they wanted to talk to you.”

“Send them up, it's more private up here.”

“I’ll go get them.” Nora said softly,

Nolan sat down in one of the plush chairs across from my desk. He was quiet for a few moments before he whispered,

“I wish I was faster that day. I wish I would’ve killed him. I’m so sorry about your friend, and I’m so sorry that that monster was able to do what he did.”

“Nolan-”

“No, I was appointed as your guard. It was my responsibility to keep you safe, even from yourself and I failed. The beating I got was well deserved; but I promise you…I will get stronger and I assure you, nothing like that will happen again.”

“I believe you, but you didn’t deserve the beating. No one deserves unjust violence used against them.”

Before Nolan could respond, Nora returned with a group of five she-wolves. They all had pups with them, Nolan stood nodding to me and left with his mate. She put her arm around his waist. I stood and indicated for the wolves to sit on the couch and chairs I had available. I sat in my favorite chair and waited for them to speak first,

“Luna Nathan, it’s an honor that you agreed to see us.”

“The honor is mine, I assure you. What are your names?”

“I’m Jenora, and this is Aspen…and these are my sisters and their children; Ama and Tilly, Marie and Calliope, Marigold and Vanir, and Penelope and Jaxon.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you all, what brings you here?”

“We heard what happened to you…and we wanted to offer our support. Our children were all born due to a forced copulation with a rutting Alpha.”

“You were all raped? Here?”

“No…in our old pack. We moved here recently, after Alpha Neo came into power. We just wanted you to know that if you ever need to talk, and you think you can’t open up to your close friends or even Alpha Neo, you can lean on us. We understand.”

Tears brimmed my eyes, but didn’t fall. These ladies went through hell, brought their children into the world and are raising them with love despite how they came to be; and now they were offering me help.

“Thank you.”

“Have the nightmares started? Paranoia? Flinching when someone other than a trusted member of your family or mate tries to touch you? Feelings of unworthiness and being dirty and unclean?”

“Yeah, that’s all started. Neo has been a great help, but outside of him, the only person I’ve allowed to touch me is my mom.”

“We understand. The only person we’ve allowed to comfort us or hold us is ourselves. We haven’t met our mates, actually we’re afraid.”

“They’d be pretty shitty mates to reject you for something out of your control. If you meet them and they give you trouble, send them to me.”

“We will.”

We chatted for awhile, I even got to hold little Vanir, who until recently wouldn’t let anyone outside his immediate family hold him. His mother was shocked and I was smiling like a fool who had just won a gold medal. When my new friends left, I felt lighter than I had since I was rescued, like a weight had been lifted. I sat down at the computer and started researching date ideas. Neo deserved the world, and I was going to give it to him. I don’t think I’d be this okay so soon afterward if it weren’t for him. I was lucky compared to my new support system, they didn’t have anyone outside each other to understand what happened, and I could only relate to so much.

I knocked on Neo’s door a short time later and then let myself in without waiting for a response. He looked up from whatever document he was perusing on his laptop and a smile lit up his face when he saw me,making my heart flutter. Neo had the most gorgeous smile. 

“Hi love, can I do something for you?”

“Yes, Amore mio, you can let me take you out on a date.”

Neo seemed surprised, his whole face flushing a deep red before he powered down his laptop and stood,

“Where are you taking me?”

“It’s a surprise.”

“Do I have to change my clothes?”

“No, you’re perfect.” I kissed him slowly, savoring the taste of him on my tongue, 

“Mm, I think you’re the perfect one.” Neo whispered when I pulled away.

We’d have to agree to disagree on that. I took his hand and led him downstairs to my car. He climbed in and waited patiently for me to pull off pack lands entirely before he began his barrage of questions, trying to figure out where I was taking him. I refused to answer him, I continued driving, enjoying this new dynamic between us. I took his hand, relishing in the feel of the sparks against my skin. That feeling grounded me, let me know that I was in fact safe. 

I pulled into the botanical gardens and Neo’s eyes widened. I knew deep down he really enjoyed gardening but he had to do so in secret; but now he was free to express himself however he wanted. I figured if we came here, he could get some inspiration for how he wanted our garden to look. We had plenty of space for him to go wild with it.

“The botanical gardens? How did you know?”

“Babe, I’ve seen the Home & Garden magazines, the HGTV channel is on a marathon at home, and you follow a shit ton of gardeners and landscapers on TikTok. It’s okay to express yourself however you want now, if anyone has something to say they can go through me.”

“This is incredibly thoughtful and very romantic, thank you.” 

We walked hand in hand into the building and Neo could hardly contain his excitement. He went from exhibit to exhibit like an overgrown hummingbird. He was almost vibrating with his love for plants. 

“Love! Look at this one, do you think it could grow outside a greenhouse?”

“I can always build you a greenhouse.” We were currently in the tropical flora area, and it was humid and hot; but I couldn’t bring myself to push Neo to move on, he looked so happy.

I snapped a few photos of him on my phone. One happened to be my favorite, Neo was surrounded by exotic lilies and orchids with butterflies fluttering around him. It was a beautiful, ethereal sight. I saved it quickly as my lockscreen and then pocketed my phone.

“Babe, I hate to do this, but I made reservations at the restaurant in the building. It is rainforest themed and I hear they have turtles in the waterfall pond.”

“Turtles?”

“Yes.”

“Take me to the turtles.”

I took his hand, chuckling at his seriousness. We were seated quickly, the hostess was a wolf from our pack; they couldn’t have been more than sixteen. They sat us, they were attractive in their androgyny and their bright artificial hair and wide rimmed glasses suited them well.

“Good evening, Alpha, Luna. My name is Arlo. If you need anything at all, don't hesitate to ask for me.”

“Arlo sounds familiar, did one of your sisters mention Arlo?”

“Luce might’ve. I’ve been kind of busy though.”

We enjoyed each-other’s company and I listened with rapt attention to the way Neo explained how each turtle species operated, and how the ones in the pond were the most friendly towards humans. He told me about his favorite flowers and plants that we’d seen and what he wanted to do with the space I had found for his garden. The normalcy of this date was just what we needed and exactly what Neo deserved.

When we got home that evening, Neo pulled me in for a deep, through kiss that left me breathless and wanting more. Neo bent over to untie his shoes and when he stood back up, I picked him up--much to his chagrin and began kissing him hungrily as I made my way to the bedroom. I dropped him on the bed and he stared up at me panting, lips glistening and swollen from our kiss,

“Mr. Alpha, did you really think I’d let you tease me and leave it at that? I’m going to need more from you. I need all of you.”

Neo gulped but didn’t say anything as I began taking off my clothes, I wanted him to lose control, to finish what I started; claim me as his the way only he could. He continued to look but didn’t make a move to touch and I was starting to get frustrated.

“Why won’t you touch me? Take me as yours…I want you to claim me. Please Alpha, make me yours completely.” 

Dixon’s sultry plea is what finally did it, Neo jumped from the bed and threw me onto it. He was in complete control; which surprised me. I thought Dixon’s call would’ve pulled Deaton forward.

“You want me to claim you? You want me to touch you?”

“Yes!”

Neo chuckled but brought his lips to my mark, he sucked in the sensitive flesh there and I could feel his teeth; he didn’t stay there for long his lips ventured lower, over my Adam’s Apple, to the dip in my collar bone, down my solar plexus and his teased over my already erect nipples. His hands ripped open my jeans and he left me for just a moment to rid us of our clothes and gather the supplies from our nightstand.

“I love you.” he whispered as he rid me of my boxers; when I was free he took a moment to just stare at me, he licked his lips and again I was beginning to feel restless, “So beautiful.” he said,

He poured a generous amount of lube into his hand and worked onto himself and my hole; and then he had one finger eased into me while his other hand stroked me slowly, I was a moaning mess, which only seemed to spur him on.

Finally, finally he was touching me the way I needed him to, to cleanse me of the trauma that Beckham had caused. I could feel him stretching me, teasing that special spot inside me until I could feel that familiar tautness in my gut,

“Ngh, baby I’m so close.”

“Come for me love.” 

His voice was so deep, so close to my ear; I hadn’t even realized he had lowered himself on top of me…I came instantly. I was panting, satiated but I still wanted him inside me. I wanted to mold my insides to the shape of him, feel him so close that we were almost one. I felt him align himself and then he was pushing into me gently, almost like he was afraid I was going to break,

“Is this okay?”

“Yes, keep going.”

Neo grunted in answer and continued his quest…when he was up to the hilt, he stopped and let me adjust to the foreign feeling. He was panting hard from the effort; I stroked his hair out of his face, I kissed his lips; his cheeks, the tip of his nose, his forehead, his eyelids, his throat;

“You can move…please move.”

Neo began to rock his hips, slowly at first…a teasing pace to get us accustomed to one another this way and then he picked up the pace; each thrust brought us closer together; I was clawing at his back trying to get him closer; deeper. Neo didn’t seem to mind the pain; too far gone in his own lust filled haze to register anything other than me. I wrapped my legs around his back and locked him in and then used that momentum to flip us so I was on top. Neo was dazed at first, but then he smirked, apparently he liked the view and so did I. I placed my hands on his chest to use as leverage and began to move; this might be my new favorite position; he was so deep and I was so full. I could feel our bond growing stronger with each movement; when we had marked one another before it was only partially, this time it would be the full bond.

I kept moving, faster and faster allowing Neo’s grunts of pleasure spur me on until I felt him begin to swell, I squeezed him with my inner muscles; he was panting now, his chest heaving his skin flushed, he was so close, I bent down and he grabbed my hips and began to thrust ferociously into me, he hit my spot each time and I saw stars, instead of crying out, I bit into his mark making him roar, he flipped me back onto the bed and onto my stomach and hitched my hips up, Dixon was pleased by this and presented himself well, me like the slut he was, and Neo slammed back into me making me cry out in pleasure. I asked him to claim me, and he was making good on that. He took hold of my hair and pulled my head back until my back was flush with his chest,

“How’s this for claiming?” 

“So good…don’t stop.”

Neo growled, pleased with my answer and continued thrusting into me, his hand covering my throat, the other stroking me at the same pace as his thrusts. 

“I’m going to mark you again, you’re mine. No one will ever touch you again like this besides me.” 

“Yes, my Alpha, yes. Mark me. Claim me!”

With two more hard thrusts, Neo bit into my mark, fireworks exploded behind my closed eyelids, the sparks that were pleasantly present all the time went into overdrive, and Neo released his seed into me, and I milked him until he was dry. 

We collapsed into a tangled mess of limbs on the sheets, breathing heavily, both heavily satiated and satisfied…and exhausted.

We fell asleep, holding onto each-other and I don’t think the satisfied smile ever left my face.