Aaron stormed around his room, he couldn't get her out of his mind! her smell, my god she smelt like heaven! Sandalwood and lilies. He groaned as the image of her face flashed in front of his eyes, 'WHY!' he bellowed at the walls before throwing himself on his 4 poster bed, which immediately made things worse as his mind wandered to the sleek curves beneath the flowing dress she had been wearing and what he could do to her between these sheets. His wolf growled intensely, urging him to go find their mate, claim her for their own.
Shaking his head angrily he pushed his wolf back down, 'no!' he growled, 'we will not force ourselves upon her!', his wolf growled before replying 'you are right, we must win her! she is delightful, we must prove our worth to her!'. Aaron sighed, that wasn't what he meant but as his wolf had receded into his mind he didn't feel the need to further clarify his thoughts.
Standing up again he became aware of the tight bulge within his blue skinny jeans, sighing again, he stripped off his clothes and headed toward his bathroom for a cold shower. Damn that woman! she was already causing his body to react in a way he didn't want it too!
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Chloe chattered away happily as she led Charity down the maze of staircases toward the foyer before taking a sharp right and pushing open 2 heavy double doors to reveal a large room with rows of long polished wood tables that each sat at least 20 people. To the left, there was a dresser that held piles of plates and cutlery. Chloe walked over to the dresser and grabbed 2 plates, shoving one into Charity's hands before grabbing 2 knives and forks and walking over to a buffet-style serving station that had heating lamps to keep the mound of food available warm.
Charity's eyes went wide, she had never seen such an array or abundance of food in her life! Though her stepmother had not exactly starved her she was never fed well and had often gone to bed hungry. To see so much food on offer was overwhelming and she had to fight with herself not to grab some of everything she saw.
Slowly she picked up the tongs and placed a single small steak on her plate and a few roast potatoes and green beans before starting to turn away. From behind her, Chloe chuckled, 'nuh-uh!' Chloe scolded, 'Alpha said to make sure you eat, that is nowhere near enough food!' Charity turned to Chloe to find her peering at her over the mountain of food on her plate. 'Hold this' said Chloe forcefully, before snatching Charity's plate and piling it with everything within reach. 'no-no!' whispered Charity, 'that's too much food, this needs to feed everyone doesn't it?' Chloe snorted, 'trust me, this is hardly any amount of food when you see the boys come in, and besides, there is more food back in that kitchen than you could possibly imagine!', she shoved Charity's now overflowing plate into her free hand before grabbing her own, dolloping a last big portion of mash potato on the top and leading her to one of the large tables that were already filling with other pack members.
Once seated, Charity tried to remember her etiquette drilled into her by her stepmother and daintily cut the smallest sliver of meat from the bone, turning her head slightly, she was greeted by the laughing eyes of Chloe, 'you are not on ceremony here' she giggled waving her hands to encompass the room. Letting her eyes wander, Charity saw everyone just shovelling food into their mouths, laughing and joking with each other. Some were already scraping back their chairs to head back to the buffet for a second helping. Looking down at her plate, she let her hunger win and delved into the food with gusto while Chloe cheered next to her before joining in.
20 minutes into their meal with Charity just nodding as Chloe talked, pointing out members and telling her who they were, as she was too busy fitting as much food in her mouth as possible, the sudden musky smell of rosewood filled her nostrils drawing her eyes upwards. Stood in front of her was none other than Aaron, who was staring at her intently as she ate. Blushing profusely, she quickly swallowed her mouthful and stared at her plate in embarrassment, wishing a hole would open up and swallow her whole.
'Well, at least you know how to eat a proper meal' Aaron suddenly said, 'can't stand those girls who eat like a single piece of bacon will kill them'. Someone from the queue called him and he turned on his heel to join them before returning a few minutes later with a plate piled double the size of Chloe's and plonking himself down across from her. Charity stared, Chloe hadn't been kidding when she said the boys knew how to eat! she had never seen so much food!
A second male joined them and sat down next to Aaron, he smiled warmly at Charity, 'I'm Justin' he said offering his hand, as she reached forward to shake it a low growl emanated from Aaron, Justin looked to his right and rolled his eyes, 'dude! I'm just saying hello!' he scoffed before returning his gaze to Charity, giving her hand a short shake and letting go. 'I'm Aaron's Beta' he carried on, then seeing her confused look, 'every Alpha has a Beta, a second in command and a Gamma, who is third. We support the Alpha, have his back and kick his ass when he needs it.' he concluded with a sly smile toward Aaron who growled again and muttered 'like to see you try'. The meal carried on with mostly Chloe and Justin carrying the conversation whilst Charity tried to continue eating despite the constant feeling of Aaron's eyes boring into her skin.
Suddenly a tall skinny redhead with honey-coloured skin appeared at the table, 'Hey Aaron' she purred whilst draping her arms around his neck, Charity felt her stomach clench involuntarily and had to suppress the rage that had rapidly built within her, urging her to jump over the table and rip the claws off this woman. Aaron visibly stiffened at her touch, 'Hey Gemma' he replied, his eyes narrowing as he studied Charity, who wondered if she had not been as smooth covering the unexplained emotions she was feeling.
Gemma looked between Aaron and Charity and a frown creased her forehead, 'oh! I heard we had a new recruit' she smiled, though her eyes revealed she was less than thrilled at Charity's arrival. 'This is Charity' replied Aaron, he then abruptly stood, almost knocking Gemma over, and growled 'c'mon Justin, we need to train' before grabbing his plate and marching off. Justin waved at Chloe and Charity, 'see you around new girl' he teased, causing Charity to blush again. The resulting growl that came from the doorway had him out of his seat and sprinting after Aaron.
Chloe stood too, 'c'mon Charity' she said, picking up both their trays, 'let's go back to our room, have a bit more girly chat time' before steering Charity away from the table and out the door whilst depositing their plates on a small table that was towering with dirty dishes.
Once outside the doors, Chloe gave Charity a sideways glance, raising her eyebrow, 'soooooo, looks like you are stepping on the queen bee's toes already' she whispered her face alight with mischief. 'What? I haven't . . I'm not trying . . 'Charity gasped. 'It's OK, no-one likes Gemma anyway, but watch your back with her, she's been after the Luna spot for years, everyone knows that she has warned more than one she-wolf away from Aaron, she is not happy with how much interest he's paying to you' confided Chloe. Charity gulped, 'but I'm betrothed to Aaron!' she whispered, fear gripping her heart, why would the Alpha bring her here to marry his son if Aaron already had a mate? Chloe stopped dead and turned toward her, 'You . . WHAT!' she almost screamed, causing Charity to jump with fright, before lowering her voice to a conspiratorial whisper, 'You never said that you were here as his intended! when were you going to spill that? why didn't Aaron introduce you as such?' she mused. Charity looked at the floor, 'I don't think he's very happy about the arrangement, his father brought me here' she confided sadly, 'please don't tell anyone, I'm not sure if anyone else is supposed to know!' she asked as she turned pleading eyes to her new friend. Chloe made a cross across her heart and the scout sign, 'I swear' she replied solemnly before bursting into excited giggles and grabbed Charity's hand to drag her toward their room.