The Mate He Couldn’t Control (complete)

Chapter 7

I spent the morning swimming with my nephews to make up for the chaos distracting me the last couple of days. Jaylon eventually texted me last night, but didn’t say much and still hasn’t responded since. I’m not too upset about it though, at least not now. He’s busy and I have no reason to be weird about it. That’s just too much.

Currently I’m on the way to see all of the people that are expecting me. It was a nice day out so I decided that I would walk. Apparently everyone stays in a pack house. Nick said none of them had to live there, but a lot of the teenagers did to get breaks from their parents. I have never once seen it, so I have no idea where I’m going. I had an idea of how I would get there though. If my dreams were accurate about the transition and the people, maybe it was accurate on the house I saw in it. That would mean that the trail Jaylon and I took would lead me there.

The sun peeking through the trees felt so good on my skin. I looked a little way over from my right to see it reflecting through the water. Before I could see the house, I unfastened my necklace and tucked it into my bra. I have tried taking it off before and every time, it ended up right back on my neck. I’m guessing it also protects me in a way since my grandmother is so demanding that the necklace is with me at all times. I was hoping that if I still technically had it on that it wouldn’t make its way back around my neck for now. So far, it was working as I walked into an underwhelming packhouse. I was expecting to see people with as many that lived here but it looked empty. Apparently, everyone was recovering from last night. Nick walked down the stairs in front of me, I guess hearing me come in. Before I said anything, he held a finger to his lips and motioned for me to follow him back upstairs.

I followed him to the eighth floor wondering why we needed to be so quiet. Is that a rule or something? I walked into what I was guessing was his room before he said anything. “The rooms are soundproof,” he replied after I gave him a confused look. “I don’t want anyone to know you're here yet because I have something for you, but we're going to have to leave them there until you leave.”

I shot another confused look as he went into his bathroom and came back out with two books. “What are these?”

“Look, I know your family, okay? Everyone does, but no one knows about you. I saw your necklace the other day. I mention all of this to say, I found one of your grandmother’s forbidden Grimoires and diaries. There are many more, but I only found these two by accident.”

“Where did you find them?” I asked, opening the pages. Ask for a path and you shall receive.

“Well right after I met you, I was walking back to the packhouse when I heard whispering. Coming from the ground. . .? I know I sound crazy but I swear it’s true. Once I got near it, the ground was radiating and I dug it up. I think meeting you triggered it because I have walked there a million times and have never heard it. But I kept it hidden here because if any random person messes with a witch’s items it is said to drive them crazy. I have no magic, so I can’t think of any other reason she would want me to find it other than giving it to you,” he explained as I scrolled through the neatly written pages.

“Thank you so much,” I praised, hugging him. The second I accidentally tapped into his thoughts I backed away. He can’t think that way about me, but I didn’t say anything.

“Anything I can to help you. Let me show you around the house.”

We walked through the halls and he showed me the five kitchens, multiple living rooms, the grand dining room, and the library. Apparently, this house was just built while we were gone and the other one just sits there rotting. They said it was for more space but that just sounds ridiculous. They could do like a half here, half there situation.

Towards the end of my tour, Loren, Angelina, and Bridget found us. That was nothing special though. We just went to the diner for lunch and I boredly listened to them talk about their s*x lives. Let’s just say they were very active, with multiple partners. To be completely honest, I was happy that they liked me but I really only came to spend time with Bridget and get to know my cousin's mate. Loren has a Regina George vibe to her and it grows more by the second. That doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing, it’s just not what I’d choose to surround myself with. When they took me back to the pack house, they tried to get me to go upstairs with them, but I knew that there was another group of people waiting on me. I found them in a living room and I could tell by their faces that they knew what I was thinking about the lunch situation, but they knew better than to say anything. I’m sure they knew or had a guess of why I did it.

The conversation with this group was less about gossip and s*x and more about normal friend group conversations which were refreshing. Julia at one point pulled me to this side to soberly explain the Dalton situation. Apparently, she and Dalton thought they would be mates and dated for a year or two but then they found out the other day about Angelina being his mate. I could definitely see the pain in everyone's side of the story and so far I’ve only heard one.

I heard the conversation continue in the background as I felt the room around me slow down and my heartbeat quicken. I breathed in an amazing smell that drew me in. I heard something fall to the floor a few rooms over. Confused, I got up and sped walked over to where it came from and was met in the middle by a heavy-breathing Jaylon. When did he get back? The crazy look in his eyes scared the hell out of me so I backed away from him. The farther away I got, the harder his breathing was, before eventually breaking the distance between us and grabbing me roughly. He bit my neck and just as I started to shriek in pain, I was standing in my bedroom in shock. What the hell?

Out of frustration, I fell to the ground crying. I wrapped my arms around myself shaking when my bedroom door shot open. Both of my parents stood in the doorway looking at me with worried expressions. My mom rushed to my side to hug me, while my dad squatted down in front of me. I was never like this. I was never this vulnerable.

“What’s wrong, Ali?” my dad asked gently.

“Nothing makes sense! Nothing ever makes sense here! You two tell me nothing and expect me to connect the dots, but what the hell am I connecting?”

“Well tell us exactly what happened,” my mother encouraged.

“I went to see my friends, and then Jaylon showed up and bit me, and then I just popped up in here! Nothing makes any sense! I don’t know anything! How do you expect me to control my powers if I don’t even know how to use them?!” I yelled, sobbing on my mother's shoulder.

“I’m sorry honey, we can answer any questions you have,” my mom said gently. She convinced me to get up and sit on my bed so we moved and I sat under the protection of the covers facing her while holding a damp washcloth to my bleeding neck. My nephews were downstairs playing on the willU and from what I could hear just broke something, so my mom sent my dad downstairs with them.

Feeling something poke me, I remembered my necklace and grabbed it out of my bra. “Oh and here's an example of something I don’t understand!” I said irritatedly before throwing the necklace through my balcony door into the lake.

“Alison! You can't just throw sacred objects around!” she replied sternly to make me calm down.

“Oh, just watch,” was all I said and as if on cue, it was on my neck again glowing. She looked at it mesmerized and then looked back at me with comforting eyes.

“What do you want to know?”

“Why are we staying here now? Why did Jaylon just bite me? How did I end up here?” I replied with a blank expression as she sighed and prepared herself for what she was about to say.

“Your grandparents were the Alpha and Luna of the pack. When they passed, your father took their place. This was a rough time because after your grandmother died, no one had any real fear of the pack. Of course, we have the numbers, but your grandmother protected it. Your father wanted to have alliances but he didn’t and still doesn’t trust any of his men, even though they are family to him, such as your uncle and Jaylon’s dad who is his closest friend. Your dad didn’t trust that any of them wouldn’t betray the pack or mess up a deal. To make these alliances, we would need to leave the pack, but it would be left unprotected, so your father gave his power to Jaylon’s family. Your brother and sister knew because they grew up here while your grandparents and we were in power, but when we left, I had no idea that I would want more kids and two years later we decided to have you. We couldn’t risk you telling anyone because kids will say anything so we never told you. We are staying here now because your father and I are finally done, we have finished our alliances and now that you have turned, you aren’t going to want to leave. Wolves don’t just leave their packs, but your siblings, their mates were human, they had no choice,” she stopped for a minute to see if I had any questions, but when I didn’t, she continued, smiling to herself.

“When I was pregnant with you, you would send me little dreams and that was when I first knew you were gifted. Some of them were you in the future, such as right now. They were the most precious things to me. As a child, you would do small things like making things float and break without realizing it because we hid it from you. From what I understood from your grandmother, your powers were fully developed at 16, which is why I’m surprised she waited until now to crazily make you go get her necklace. I’m not exactly sure if it was you or it, but one of you blinked your way here. Now as for Jaylon, the Goddess of the full moon has a plan and a path and her path was not to take the King family off of the throne, which your father did, so she mated you with Jaylon to realign things. We never know who our mates are going to be until we meet them after we have turned. Of course, your abilities left quite a few hints though. But your father was betting on it though. Jaylon bit you as a way to mark you, which they never exactly mean to at first. He wasn’t trying to harm you. Since he hasn’t fully mated with you it will go away,” she said the last part so calmly and I was even more freaked out. I sat for a minute taking in everything she said before I talked to her some more and left myself in my room to think. Well at least I finally got the answers that I wanted. Except one. If my grandmother protected the pack, why can’t I do the same?

I needed to run like a wild animal, I needed to get out of this skin, but I didn’t want him to find me outside. I’m not mad at him, just slightly unsure. Needing to do something, I decided I would swim laps until I was calm. I quickly put on a bathing suit and ran down the side steps as fast as I could to the basement. I made my way down the hall and stopped when I smelt the water.

Before even looking around the room, I jumped into the pool immediately. I pushed through the water as fast as I could, going back and forth. I wanted to think of nothing, I wanted my mind to be blank, but it wasn’t. My mind was racing with thoughts. I missed Jaylon while he was gone and I want nothing more than to see him, but I’m scared. I don’t know what to do or how to act.

I finally stopped and got in the hot tub beside me to relax my muscles while I took in the beautiful room I occupied. The floor and lining of the pool and hot tub were all stone and there were big windows allowing the sunset to shine through. My parents knew I would love it down here. I put my head back in the water enjoying its warmth when a thought popped into my head. I left my books!

Getting out of the hot tub, I found a towel in the closet and then rushed up the stairs only to be stopped on the main level smelling food. I walked into view in the kitchen to see my mom and Martha talking and stopped in my tracks. If they’re here, then. . .

I turned around and bolted up the stairs, hearing a chair in the dining room slide back. I ran into my room and went to shut the door, only to be stopped right before it closed. It flew open and then shut again. Every part of my body wanted me to jump on him, but my mind was absolutely terrified. I’ve spent years avoiding relationships and now that I’m in one I find out it's because of a magical woman that wanted us together.

Jaylon’s expression was dark and his white hair was a mess. He walked to me slowly, looking my features up and down until he was inches from me. “What was that?”

“What was what?” I was confused. There were a lot of things, which was he talking about?

“You just disappeared, I almost didn’t think it was real,” he reminded me. I didn’t even know the answer myself. He took the towel out of my hands and threw it on the floor beside us. I shivered as he wrapped his arms around my waist and laid his head on my shoulder.

“I-I really don’t know, I’m still trying to figure it out. My mother said either me or my necklace,” I replied, not knowing if I should move or enjoy the tiny sparks in between us. I’ve missed him. His touch, his kiss, his scent. It was all driving me insane as I tried to fight myself for control.

“Your healing already. . .” he complained. “That’s not good.”

“Why not?”

“Because if you walk around unmarked, the boys will have a field day with you. We might just have to mate now so that the mark will stay,” he explained, making my eyes widen and I pushed him off.

“NO!” I protested, shocking myself at my sudden gain of control.

He looked at me shocked and then came back, this time with a tighter grip. I felt more vulnerable since I wasn’t wearing actual clothes. “Why? Do you want them to?” he asked and I could hear his frustration behind his fake calm voice.

“No, Jaylon I’m overwhelmed!”

“It’s okay, you’ll feel much better after,” he replied, trying to move me toward the bed.

“Please,” I looked into his eyes pleading and his whole expression changed. He looked a little bummed, but also as if he’d just regained control.

“I’m sorry, but it’s true. However, I will wait,” he said, sighing and backing up. He grabbed my hand and dragged me down the stairs, into the dining room.

I didn’t exactly know what to do or how to act so I just made food and sat at the table. Jaylon stayed beside me everywhere I went, even when I sat down, which left my nephews in an argument of who got to sit beside me. I felt weird and on top of that, everyone had on clothes and I was wearing a bikini. Dalton and Bridget were too busy at the pack house to participate in dinner tonight. I’m not sure if that's a good or bad thing. My dad and uncle were bragging over how they knew the whole time as I sat there quietly, trying to remain calm. Jaylon was tormenting me. His fingers were gently tracing from my knees to my hips under the table until I slapped it away enough times for him to quietly laugh and stop.

It came time for everyone to leave and I walked upstairs with my nephews as my dad talked to Jaylon. I instructed them to take a shower and head to bed. Before turning around I also added in for them to brush their teeth because they would say I didn’t tell them to. I walked to my room and did the same.

When I got out of the shower, I could hear the wind from outside. Confused, I walked into my bedroom to find that my back balcony door was open and two books lay on my bed. Nick. I quickly hid them as I heard footsteps and turned in the direction of the noise.

My door opened and Jaylon walked in with a bag and shut the door gently. “So you changed your mind?” he smirked, taking off his hoodie.

I squinted at him confused and then remembered I was in a towel.

“Oh, NO! What are you doing? I thought you left!?”

“No, why would I do that?”

“Because nothing is going to happen!”

“Fine, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t missed you. Now go put on clothes before I change my mind.”

I rushed out of the room and put on a tank top and sweatpants. I came back and cuddled up to Jaylon. He rolled us over onto my back and separated our faces enough for him to look into my eyes. “I missed you so much.”

“You barely texted me. . .” I complained.

“I’m sorry, you know how business is. I convinced my dad to come back early so I could surprise you, but I guess you surprised me. I was supposed to give you the tour.”

“You can give me another one,” I smiled against his lips before giving him soft kisses.

“I knew you were mine,” Jaylon mumbled before placing one last kiss on me and nuzzling his face in my neck. I laid peacefully until I felt Jaylon move slightly. I felt small kisses going up my shoulder and my eyes shot open. The farther up he got the more relaxed I was. He moved my head with his hand and started down my Jaw until he went up to my lips. It was soft and slow at first, but once it deepened I forced myself to stop. Not now. Not yet.

“At least let me spend some time with the girls!” Jaylon whined, messing with my tank top.

“Jaylon, behave.”

“Look, they want me,” he continued, completely ignoring me. I sighed, closed my eyes tiredly and let him entertain himself. It felt nice and calmed me. “See, you like it.”

“J-Jaylon, just give me a few days. Let me get used to this. To you. To me. To us.”

He huffed like a child and dropped on his back disappointedly. I fixed my top and laid my head on his chest as he said “One day, you're going to wish I was doing that.” I ignored him and his protests. He leaned down and kissed my forehead and I dozed off, listening to his heartbeat.