Chapter 10

Tonight is the night. I’m going to ask Myles to sleep in my bed with me. We’ve been mated for around a month and a half, and since he’s been so busy recently we haven’t had that many chances to see each other. So to get the most out of our time together, Myles has been staying overnight at mine quite a lot, and today I want to take that next step. I’ve been contemplating joining his pack even more recently, so I’ve sort of given myself a criteria to meet before mentioning this to Myles: I have to be comfortable with sleeping in a bed with Myles. Because when I join his pack, I’ll be sharing a room with him. I don’t have to share with him I’m sure, but…I want to. I want to do this.

After watching a film together and cuddling on the sofa, I go to have a shower and contemplate how to ask Myles to sleep in my bed, only to find that he’s already dozed off on the sofa by the time I’m done in the shower. Smiling softly, I bend to press a light kiss to his cheek, whispering “I love you” in his ear. Standing up, I head to my room and get comfy for the night - I’ll just have to ask Myles to share my bed some other time. It doesn’t take me long to fall asleep, but the crash of thunder wakes me up with a start a few hours later. Rubbing my eyes groggily, I get out of bed to fetch a glass of water from the kitchen, my throat feeling scratchy and dry. Standing up and stretching, I suddenly freeze as I focus on my bond with Myles.

He’s upset. He’s…scared?

Rushing into the living room, I look around frantically until I find Myles curled up next to the sofa, his knees drawn to his chest and his hands over his ears, his eyes squeezed shut tightly. Another clap of thunder booms and I quickly sit down next to my mate, gently resting my hand on his knee.

“Myles? Love it’s me…are you afraid of the storm?” I say gently, watching as Myles nods, his bottom lip quivering slightly. My heart hurts at the sight of him like this. Why does he feel so…so miserable?

Carefully wrapping my arms around him, I bring Myles’ head to my chest and smooth my hand up and down his back. “I’ve got you, I’m right here,” I say softly, kissing the top of his head. When the storm shows no sign of letting up, I slowly encourage Myles to stand up, leading him into my room and shutting the door. Pulling my curtains shut tightly, I grab my earphones from my desk and plug them into my phone, finding my playlist of relaxing music I used to listen to to fall asleep. 

“Put these in, alright?” I ask soothingly, encouraging Myles to lie down as I grab an extra blanket from my wardrobe. Myles tentatively climbs beneath the duvet covers and shuts his eyes again after turning up the music. Laying the blanket over him for extra coziness, I get into bed next to my mate and instantly hug him back when he snuggles into my side. We stay like that for a long time, until the storm finally passes, and Myles falls asleep, looking much calmer. Carefully taking the earphones away so that no one gets strangled in our sleep, I gently get back into bed and go back to cuddling my mate. 

It takes me hours to fall asleep, even though I feel comfortable next to Myles, and in the end I give up and shift instead. At least this way, my wolf will feel extra calmed by Myles’ presence. The next time I wake up, Myles is in wolf form too. His is bigger than mine, with his tail curling around me protectively. Snuffling happily, I lick his snout and Myles instantly opens his eyes. Giving himself a shake, he nuzzles my face for a while before shifting back. I opt to do the same, trying not to feel embarrassed by seeing Myles’ naked form and him seeing mine. 

“You’re so beautiful, Caro,” he breathes out, before blushing and snapping his eyes shut. “Sorry! I didn’t mean to look! I just- got mesmerised,” he says embarrassedly. Laughing brightly, I pull on my clothes and then give him a hug from behind.

“And you’re very handsome. I may not experience sexual attraction but I can still appreciate having a mate like you,” I say softly, pressing a light kiss to his shoulder. Stepping back to let Myles get dressed, I tidy my bed up a bit, pleased with myself for managing to fall asleep with Myles in my bed, even if I was technically in wolf form. Plumping up the cushions on my bed, I flop into them and pat the space next to me. Myles grins, sitting down and resting his head on my shoulder. 

“This is nice,” he whispers, gently taking my hand in his. Humming in agreement, I contemplate letting this nice moment stay exactly how it is, but…I need to ask him.

“You didn’t mention being afraid of storms?” I know most of Myles’ fears by now - like spiders, for instance. He can’t stand the creatures, but I don’t really mind them. And I feel like storms are a normal fear to have, so I can’t figure out why he wouldn’t have told me this.

“I didn’t used to be scared of storms, but…” he fades off, squeezing my hand lightly. “It was thundering, the night I found my father’s body. I haven’t liked storms since then.” My heart twists and I squeeze his hand back, before bringing it up to my lips to kiss softly. 

“I’m so sorry, love.”

Myles shakes his head fondly, smiling softly at me. “Why are you apologising? You’ve never done a single thing wrong, Caro. In fact, what you did last night really helped me. Normally I just end up crying myself to sleep, but instead…you calmed me down until it passed. Thank you, love.”

Meeting his gaze for a moment, I reach up and stroke his cheek gently. “I’ll be there with you every time there’s a storm, I promise. Just call me and I’ll be there right away.”

“Really? You’d come all the way to my pack house, full of wolves you don’t know, just to play me some calming music and hold my hand until I relax?” He asks sceptically - not like he doesn’t believe me, but…like he doesn’t know why I’d bother.

“Of course. I would’ve been doing that already, if I’d known about this. No matter where you are when the storm hits…I’ll be right there. Wherever you are.” I’m being completely serious, and I intend to follow through with this promise, right down to every syllable. I’m never letting Myles suffer through a storm on his own again.

“I love you so much, Caro- I swear it feels like my heart is going to burst sometimes!” Myles exclaims, dropping his head onto my shoulder and lightly leaving a kiss on my mating mark. Smiling warmly, I wrap my arms around him, stroking his back. 

“Well I’m glad it’s not just me that feels this way then, my sweet mate.” I never thought I could love someone as much as this, but then again…I never thought someone could love me this much either.

But with Myles, anything is possible.