Best Friends to Mates

Chapter Eleven

It wasn't as if it were the first time that my parents had left Thatcher and I alone here before, but it was completely different now.

Before, our parents knew that we would never risk our friendship by sleeping with one another; but now that we discovered that we were mates, it felt different to be alone.

Of course, our parents expect us to eventually mate, as it is normal for us wolves. I'm starting to think that is why everyone left all of a sudden, to give us privacy if we decided to mate and mark.

Thatcher and I headed up to my bedroom. He shut the door after following me into my room before plopping down onto my bed, laying his head in my lap.

It's definitely crazy to think back on all the times that Thatcher and I shared. All the memories we made together. When we do the same things now, it feels much more intimate; of course, because we are destined mates.

"What'cha thinkin' about?" Thatcher spoke up. My eyes snapped down to meet his own.

"Oh, nothing." I replied. I could feel my cheeks turning pink. I definitely wasn't about to tell Thatcher that I was thinking about when we will mate. That would be too embarrassing for me.

Thatcher grinned up at me boyishly. "You weren't thinking about just nothing. You were seriously zoned out, Tess. So, what were you thinking about?" He asked again.

I looked away from him briefly, trying to wrack my brain for anything else to tell him. The shocks from our mate bond definitely didn't make thinking any easier. It was more distracting, in a not so bad way.

I cleared my throat. I was taking too long to come up with an answer. "I was, um.. I was just thinking about all the memories we have together, growing up. How, back then, you laying your head in my lap was normal; but now.." I trailed off.

My stomach clenched with a feeling that I was definitely not used to. The look in Thatchers eyes had my body shivering in a delightful way. I have never felt this way before, with anyone.

Thatcher grinned wider. "Now it's intimate, since we're mates?" He pulled the thoughts straight from my head. My cheeks grew hot from a blush.

I felt Thatcher sit up to face me and cup my cheek, shooting tingles from my head to my toes. The warmth from his hand felt scorching, but in a pleasurable way. His skin on mine felt amazing, and I never wanted him to move his hand away.

I immediately looked at Thatcher. His eyes bore into my own, but his face still held the boyish grin. He looked even more handsome now. My heart was pounding in my chest, and I was fairly certain that he could hear it.

"I know this is all a little crazy, Tessy. Finding out that we're mates was such a shock to me, too. And I know that things like this are going to take time to get used to, but like I told you earlier; I want to try." Thatcher spoke softly.

The sound of his husky voice melted me on the spot. I never realized just how much I loved the sound of it.

"And we can take things as slow as you need us to. I won't ever push you into something you're not ready for. And although Chaos has been pushing for me to mark you since the second my eyes landed on you, I would never do anything to hurt you or do anything that you didn't want."

My heart literally melted on the spot. I felt tears brim my eyes from his sweet words. Adira howled in happiness at hearing that Chaos wanted to mark us, meaning that Thatcher's wolf also accepted us.

I let out a shaky laugh. "Yeah, Adira has been whining for us to mark you, too."

Thatcher chuckled with the shake of his head. "These wolves are persistent, aren't they?" He questioned teasingly. I nodded in agreement, giving him a wide smile of happiness.

"Definitely." I laughed.

A comfortable silence fell between us for a brief moment. For a second, I felt young again. Sitting on the bed with Thatcher, laughing and joking around with one another; it was nostalgic.

"I really missed you when I was gone, Thatch." I admitted. I knew that Thatcher and I needed to have the conversation over what happened, eventually. Now seemed the perfect time since we were alone.

Thatcher sighed heavily. He could tell where this was going.

"I missed you more than you know, Tessy." He replied. I could see the sincerity in his eyes. I couldn't help but smile.

My smile soon faltered, and I looked down towards my lap. "It hurt me a lot.. ya know?.." I said in a low voice. Thatcher sighed heavily.

I looked back up at Thatcher. He was staring at me intently, giving me his full attention.

"When you stopped calling and stopped answering my calls. It hurt. I know it may sound silly, but I was so scared that.." I trailed off.

Just the thought of her with my mate made my wolf growl. I swallowed nervously.

"I was so scared that Amy had really taken you away from me, fully." I let out. I needed to get my feelings out to him.

Thatcher's face scrunched into a scowl. "No one would ever take me away from you. Even if we weren't mates, you're still my best friend, Pryntess. You mean more to me than anyone. Especially now that I know you're my mate." Thatcher stated. I could easily tell that he was sincere.

"It all makes so much sense now. How our bond was so strong from the moment we met. I just felt this pull to you, like I couldn't live without you in my life. It was our mate bond already showing through before our coming of age." Thatcher added.

"When you left, I felt like a piece of me was missing. I thought that it was just because you're my best friend and I was so used to having you near me every day; but that wasn't it. It was our bond." Thatcher said, sounding as if he had just figured out the meaning of life.

He looked so cute with his face set to a serious look. His brows were creased from deep thought. I couldn't help the small grin that spread across my face.