A Coven's Kiss

Chapter 2: Meeting the Alpha

Mari's POV

Mari sat criss-cross-applesauce on her bed in front of her floor length mirror, the end of a pen between her lips and her green eyes scanning the pages of a book sat in front of her legs. A soft knock at her door had her head twitching to the side before she called out a 'come in' to whoever was on the other side. With a soft whine her door swung open and Leena stepped in with a bigger than normal smile. Dear Gods, what had Leena done to be wearing that smile? A sigh exited Mari and she bookmarked her page before shutting the book and planting her elbow on her knee, chin resting in her upturned hand.

"What ever have I done to earn a visit and that 'please don't kill me' look on your face, Leena?"

The queston was clean cut with a dry tone to Mari's normally bell-like voice. Instead of responding right away, Leena looked around the room with a 'woooooow' of feigned appreciation. Looking to Mari the other woman motioned to a haphazardly stacked tower of books in the corner of the room.

"I really like what you've done with the place!"

Mari couldn't help the snort that followed her Leader's words. "Really, that's what you lead with?" She asked, an amused smile splitting her plush lips. Tucking a stray copper red coil of hair behind one of her ears, Mari pushed out another sigh before asking her original question again. "What do you want, Leena?" The question came out a bit sharper this time, the red-headed Witch no longer wanting to play this game with her Leader.

With as much drama as one could produce from a single body, Leena gave Mari hurt eyes, her bottom lip pouting out before she sat on the edge of Mari's bed with a flourish. "I can't just come check in on my newest Coven member?" She asked innocently, her own hand moving to tuck a pale blonde curl behind her ear much like Mari had done but a moment ago. A moment of silence went by as Mari's facial expression answered her Leader's question apparently, Leena hopped up with a scoff, folding her arms against her chest before pacing about the room.

"You remember how I said the Alpha of the Red Oak Clan would be stopping by in a few days?"

Mari nodded her head to her question, she very much did recall that conversation, Leena had specifically asked the Coven to be scarce the day he was supposed to show up. Now that Mari thought about it more, wasn't that supposed to be today? Leena answered her unasked question before she could even think to form the words, "Well, that day was today, and um... He has asked of me a special request." Leena was now pointedly not looking at Mari as she spoke. Why did it feel like she was skating around some important information?

"Leena, please, spit it out before I sprout gray hairs-"

"Fine, fine, fine! He's well..." Leena paused either for dramatic effect or to find the correct words, "He's asked you do the re-upping on the wards." She sucked her teeth as she finally spit it out.

Another moment of silence spilled between the two of them as Mari tried to fathom a reason the Alpha would ask fo her specifically, and came to the conclusion that there shouldn't be a reason. Pursing her lips, she tapped a finger to her chin. "Why though?" Was all she asked, simple and sweet, more curious than concerned.

Leena blinked a few times, looking a bit dumbfounded before collecting herself and instead grinning ear to ear, "So you aren't upset?"

"No, why would I be? I just want to know why."

"The why's don't really matter, just know it will help strengthen the bond between the Coven and the Pack.... and it will help solidify your place in this Coven!" She gave a gleeful clap of her hands before heading for the door.

"Leena, I wasn't done talking to y-" Mari was cut off as Leena spoke over her, "I will let him know you will be there in a few hours, 'k bye!" And with that, Leena shut Mari's door and left her with her own now confused expression. What the f**k just happened, and why did it feel like she was being thrown off the deep end for her first task as a Coven member? Giving her head a soft shake and sending her copper curls bouncing around her face, she sighed, again.

"Well... guess I need to get dressed..." It was said to no one in particular, except herself. With a huff, she pushed herself off of her bed. She was currently clad in a ratty white tanktop, and equally ratty white panties. Though ratty, the material of both clung to her pale freckled skin, helping wash her out even more. She had perfectly sculpted, handful sized t**s, and a toned tummy that tapered into rounded hips and a round but firm booty, from there she had not very long legs, but they were nice and shapely, she only stood at 5'5".

Moving to her closet, she slung the double wooden doors open to take a gander at her collection of clothes. Most things were in shades of dark greens and purples, but there were a few not as nice things in a multitude of colors. If she was working today--and she would be--she decided comfort over presentaion was probably best. Besides, who would care if she showed up in a sleeveless tie-dyed t-shirt and frayed to hell denim shorts? No one, she answered herself. Pulling her tanktop off and letting it fall to the floor beside her, she pulled out a black sports bra, quickly pulling it over her head before grabbing the t-shirt and shorts she planned on wearing. Once dressed and ready, she stopped by Leena's office.

Knocking on the door twice, she didn't wait for a response before cracking it open and poking her head in. "Yo, I'm heading out, let whoever you need to update know." She began to close the door before stopping herself with a soft 'oh'.

"Also, where are the warding parchments?"

Leena barely looked up at her, phone pressed to her ear and a listening look over her face, at Mari's question she gave a tiny nod towards the corner of the room. Looking towards the direction her Leader motioned, she spied the box full of parchment slips. Without another word, Mari pushed her way into the room and gabbed the box before nodding to Leena and quietly shutting the door behind her.

Box of parchments in tow, she made her way to the common area, there was no way she was carrying this damned box all the way to the Packhouse. Setting down the offending package, she stuck two fingers in her mouth and blew a short whistle, the girls sitting in the room with her threw glares her way, making Mari softly apologize. Within moments an orange tabby cat whizzed into the room. Looking down at the cat, Mari bent down to give it a scratch behind the ears, she was rewarded with a house shaking purr that vibrated up her whole body. f*****g House Brownies. Removing her hand from the cat, she stood back up.

"Alright Tink, you get to do the heavy lifting this time." The little cat gave a noise of agreement before stepping up to the box and rubbing against it. Instantly the box vanished and the cat looked a might bit chunkier. A chuckle peeled out of Mari, she wasn't used to House Brownies just yet, but seeing them carry things would always make her smile. Nothing else was said as she made her way towards the front door and the cat followed right behind. Just before stepping out of the threshold of the house, she stopped by a side closet, grabbing one of the riding brooms. Was it terribly old fashioned to ride a broom? Yes. Did she give a rat's ass? The answer was obviously no as he brought it outside with her and stepped over it. Looking back at the cat again, she grinned.

"Bet I can beat you there, Tink!"

The only response from the cat was another bone shaking purr before it disappeared in the blink of an eye, its trail a mound of dirt where its body hid taking off at ungodly speeds. Seemed it really wanted to prove Mari wrong. Grin still on her face, she followed suit, kicking off the ground and launching herself up into the air and forward like a rocket. Trees on either side of her whipped by, never quite able to reach her. Minutes that felt like moments passed by before she came to a screeching halt, she had reached one of the Pack's main entrances and had to stop. Gods forbid she blew past the security here, Leena would have her head if she wasn't careful around here.

Lowering herself to the ground, she parked herself right in front of a pretty blonde woman. Tink was already circling the woman, her signature purr making the woman shake the tiniest bit, a frown creasing her face. With a laugh, Mari bent down to pick up the Brownie, tucking her into a bag at her side.

"Sorry about that, Tink is a little friendly."

The only response she got was a snotty sniff as the woman turned away and spoke to someone over the radio. A moment or so ticked by before she came back to speak to Mari again, or really for the first time. "Go on through. He's waiting at the Packhouse, don't keep him waiting."

A copper brow popped upward, the Alpha was meeting her? Huh, this would be interesting. Maybe he just wanted to keep an eye on her since she was new, yeah, that had to be it. Giving a half wave to the blonde, she got back on her broom and kicked off again. She wasn't super sure where she was going... but the giant silhouette of an equally giant cabin seemed like the right direction.

Caelid's POV

Caelid had known the moment she had breached Pack territory, his skin felt like it was on fire and his wolf was losing it, doing circles in his head and whining like a dog left at home alone. Though Caelid was no better, he was going to wear a circular path into the freshly cut grass if he didn't quit his pacing. Finally stilling himself, he scrubbed a hand over his face, stubble tickling his palm. From in the packhouse he heard the beeping of a radio, Bridget's voice, then Cooper's voice in response. Before Cooper even stepped outside to let Caelid know she was at the gate, he was looking down the dirt driveway like a lost puppy waiting for it's Master to come home.

Cooper stepped up beside Caelid and opened his mouth to speak, Caelid only shook his head, silencing his Gamma. "I know... I can feel her."

Cooper laughed under his breathe before giving his head a shake. "Really? The bond is that powerful?" He paused to cross his arms over his chest. "Reika providing, I hope she doesn't give me a mate. I couldn't stand the thought of being that intuned to someone." Before Caelid could respond, Cooper clapped him on the shoulder. "I will leave you to it boss. Give us a holler if s**t goes sour." And with that, the other man wet back inside as Mari entered Caelid's vision.

Fireworks... Fireworks were going off inside of him, and his wolf was bouncing up and down. Caelid was certain his eyes were bleeding yellow. She was beautiful, copper curls whipping around her face dangerously as she rode closer, freckles sprinkled her whole face, big green eyes, pouty pink lips... Even the silly ass tie-dye shirt she wore that billowed out around her body looked amazing. Much too quickly she was parked in front of him, and her smell coiled around him like a sultry snake. Biting his lip he hand to stifle a growl, his nails biting into his palms as he fought the urge to touch her. Blinking, he realised she had spoke and he had missed it, too focused on drinking in the view of her. Clearing his throat, he grinned.

"My apologies, I didn't quite catch that..."

The little Witch put her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes, he couldn't keep the smile from spreading over his face at her sass. "Seems like everyone is doing a lot of that today." She mumbled more to herself than to him. Louder, she said, "Are you ready to get started? We have a lot of ground to cover and not a whole lot of daylight left."

Caelid nodded, clearing his throat before sticking his hand out to her. "I'm Caelid, by the way. Leena told me your name was Mari, yes?" Just saying her name had his heart racing.

She nodded her own head, taking his hand in hers the best she could, giving it a shake. "Yeah, Mari is right." She looked pointedly looked to their hands when Caelid didn't relent on his grip. As sheepish a grin a wolf could manage broke over his face as he pulled his hand back with a choked laugh. He caught the eyebrow she quirked his way before he stepped in front of her, beginning to lead them to the perimeter wordlessly.

A few minutes into their walk had him looking back, where there once wasn't a cat, there now was. Stopping in his tracks, he audible grumbled, "Where did that come from?" He frowned at the chunky orange thing now wrapping circles around his mate's legs. His eyes narrowed as she bent down to give it a scratch.

"Oh, this is Tink. She is my House Brownie, she kind of ended up being my familiar,and she is currently carrying all the wards." A smile coverd her lips as she explained. The frown stayed on his face as he dropped it, the cat could stay for now.

A few more minutes passed before he stopped again, every inch of his body tingled, and his c**k ached, the knowledge that she was just behind him was driving him mad. He had to touch her again... Maybe even get her to stay the night in the packhouse. She had made a good point earlier, there wasn't ging to be much daylight left, and each ward took a handful of minutes to set up. As he mused to himself, she had already started setting up the first of many, her hands drawing symbols in the dirt around the parchment.

"So," Her voice broke the silence and Caelid's stare, he noted her ass look particularly plump before breaking eye contact with it. "Leena said you asked for me specifically, but she wouldn't tell me why." She stated flatly, still hard at work.

An audible growl leaked from him, that damned Witch! She couldn't just have pretended it was her idea? Promising to give her an earful later, he instead leaned against a nearby tree, running a hand through his loosely tied up hair.

"Well, she had mentioned that a new Witch had moved in, and I figured you would need the practice. Seeing as the Coven and we work together frequently." The lie fell smoothly off his tongue, there was no need to out the real reason yet, he very much didn't want to send her running this early into meeting him.

Still stanced up over the parchment, Mari nodded mostly to herself before setting the first ward on fire, locking the first one down. The air already felt more charged around them just from one, making the Alpha grimace. He had never much cared for the feeling the wards created, especially this close to them, like a million ants biting at your skin. As Mari stood to move to the next spot, he reached down instinctively to help her. She glanced at his outstretched hand and laughed, "You plan on giving it back this time?" She teased.

He gave a devious grin, unable to help himself, "Only if you really want it back." A bit of a growl leaked into his words, his wolf howling at the subtle flirting.

A blush spread over Mari's face and the smile that had been cracking her lips faded as she took her hand back, pushing herself up. Watching her walk to the next spot had him cursing at himself silently. Was he a f*****g i***t? They had just met! She was here to work, not get hit on, now he had just made a huge ass of himself. There went trying to play it cool. Scrubbing his hand over his face again, he sighed. It was going to be a long few hours, he surmised as he followed behind her a few steps back.

Hours passed as they exchanged a few words, and ward after ward was put up, the sun was sinking lower and lower and the end of re-upping the wards didn't seem like it was coming to a close any time soon. He watched as Mari finished what felt like the billionth ward, she wiped a bead of sweat from her brow, her cat thing lay curled up at her feet, sound asleep. Mari looked down at the cat just as he did, "Yeah... I'm pretty tuckered too Tink." She spoke so softly, he knew the words weren't meant for him, but he heard them all the same.

Her hands came to rest at the bottom of her back as she arched her chest out and up, stretching her tired muscles, her green eyes moved to look at him for the first time in a long bit. Just that little bt of attention would have sent his tail wagging if he had one in this form. "You think I could bunk here? It's too dark to ride back now, and I'm beat."

Not even a moment passed before Caelid agreed wholeheartedly. "Yes, of course you can. I'm certain the kitchen has some leftovers if you'd like to eat before bed, I'm sure you're hungry." At his mention of food, her stomach growled, and he could see the tinge of a blush spread over her cheeks in the failing light.

"Uh, yeah. Food sounds super."

Her feet scuffed in the dirt for a moment before she cleared her throat and nodded sheepishly towards the house. "You uhhh, wanna lead the way?" She asked.

He startled a bit, laughing awkwardly at himself. He had been so caught up in looking at her in the last bits of sunlight that he had forgotten she probably didn't know how to get to the Packhouse from here. Straightening himself, he started off towards the house, letting her trail behind. He knew this trek would be much faster if he shifted, but he absolutely didn't trust his wolf to behave, as if in agreement, his wolf play bowed in his head, looking hopeful. Pushing the image away, he instead looked back at her, he knew her feet and back had to be killing her...

"Climb on."

Mari startled, stopping in her tracks at his low spoken words, she stared at him as he put his hands out behind him and he stooped down. "What-" She started to question him, but was cut off as he repeated himself.

"Climb on, I know you've got to be hurting." In the low light she couldn't see the way his honey colored eyes lightened to a brilliant yellow at the thought of carrying her. Even if she could, she was so sore she may have ignored it, giving her shoulders a bit of a shrug, she simply stooped down to scoop up Tink and placed her back in her bag before walking closer to him. He could feel her dainty hands come down on his shoulder, making his skin break out with warmth from where she touched and pressed against him. Gripping under her tighs, he couldn't quite stop himself from giving those thighs an appreciative squeeze before hoisting her up.

"Hold on tight, ths isn't like riding a broom." His voice was gravelly, her smell was overpowering when she was this close to him, and it was maddening. His c**k throbbed in his pants as he sprinted towards the house with her. Gods how he wanted to bypass the kitchen and just bring her into his room... But his own grumbling stomach spoke reason to him, making him stop in the cavernous kitchen, sitting her down on the island in front of the fridge. Without so much as a word to her, he began rummaging through the fridge, any and all leftovers were pulled out for her to pick from.

Five bowls of different meals now sat before her, and pride swelled in his chest. He couldn't believe he was about to share his first meal with his mate. She picked up each bowl, popping the lids open and examining their contents before she chose one and pushed it towards him. The bowl was big enough that he knew there was enough for them both... and he didn't quite care what the contents were. Divvying out what happened to be stew into two seperate bowls, he began heating them up as she yawned behind him. Turning to look at her, he caught the tail end of the yawn, her hand coming up to rub at her eye like a sleepy child.

"How long you think that will take?" She asked, another yawn slipping free.

He couldn't help the grin that spread over his face, his butt leaning against the nearest counter. "That eager to crawl into bed?" He asked.

She gave a sleepy little nod before pausing, "Well, maybe after a bath. There any clothes I can borrow?"

A shiver rolled down his spine at the thought of her being naked in his home. He nodded, his movements a little jerky as he did his best to contain himself. Clearing his throat he finally spoke.

"Ah, yes. I can give you a shirt to sleep in, we can get someone to wash your clothes for you tonight so you can wear them in the morning."

Unphased by his suggestion, she just gave a sleepy thumbs up, her body only strightening with excitement as the microwave beeped. "Food?" Her eyes lit up as she tried to see through him and into the microwave.

This time he laughed out loud as he turned to grab their food, handing her a bowl and a spoon. She was already tucking in by the time he could think to grab her a napkin.

"Whoa, slow down, you'll choke if you don't chew." He chided teasingly.

A blush washed over her face as she swallowed a bite and apologized under her breathe. He chuckled again, grabbing that napkin finally, moving closer he dabbed at the side of her mouth without thinking. He jerked back, clearing his throat before setting the napkin down next to her and starting on his own bowl.

"Sorry, you just had something on your face..." He trailed of as she pretended it didn't happen, finishing her bowl and waiting for him to do the same.

It didn't take long before he too was finished, taking both their bowls and silverware, he rinsed them in the big bellied sink before leaving them there for someone else to deal with in the morning. Though it took only a few moments to rinse the bowls, as he turned back to look at her, she was falling asleep sitting up. Grinning to himself, he easily picked her and her bag up, craddling her against his chest as he started towards the stairs that lead to the bedrooms on the next floor. Taking the stairs two at a time, and as gently as he could. He couldn't help but marvel at how tiny she was against him, she was so dainty compared to him.

A sleep noise leaked from between her parted lips as she curled closer to his chest. His heart tightened, and his skin warmed dangerously under her. God's, she was stunning... His wolf was crying again, begging him silently to just smell her, kiss her forehead, anything. Though Caelid also wanted to give in to those urges... He wouldn't, not yet anyhow. They were up the stairs now, the first empty room he came upon was the room she would sleep in. Slipping into one of the empty guest rooms he flicked a light on and kicked the door shut gently. Moving to the bed in the middle of the room, he placed her on it, her bag next to her. As soon as the bag was sat down, Tink crawled out, curling up against Mari's chest, blinking souless black eyes up at him before settling down and going to sleep. The thing was rattling the bed with the force of it's purrs, it was a wonder Mari could sleep through it. Shaking his head, he left them there to fetch a shirt for her to change into if she woke up.

He returned with the shirt, laying it on a corner chair so she would see it. Turning for the door again, he stopped. His palms itched with the need to touch her one last time, letting himself look over his shoulder, he watched for a moment as her chest rose and fell. Blowing out a breath himself finally, he moved back towards the bed, kneeling next to it. It would be just a moment, he swore to himself. Leaning forward, he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and sat there for a moment, just looking at her sleeping face before leaning forward and placing his lips against her cheek. Warmth speared through him, and his hands prickled, but he forced himself away, standing and walking towards his own room before he made poor choices.

God's help him... He was movng into that room once she left, wasn't he?