The Women Between

Chapter 13: Makeup Lunch

Bang!

The thick brown wooden door to his secretary’s office swung open and banged against the beige wall. It did not swing back to Gregory stomping through the room. Instead, the gold colored door knob was indented into the wood that framed her office. He stomped inside with his eyes orange and his wolf dangerously close to the surface. A snarl was on his face that showed a darkness inside of him that frightened even the toughest of wolves. His aura was exuding out to everyone to make them submit to his will, including his brunette haired secretary who had jumped to her feet. He did not grumble aloud. It was all in his head as he cursed the council for their prejudice against his mate.

The secretary's black swivel seat was swirling around in circles from the way she had moved so quickly from his anger. Her brown eyes were widened on Gregory's movements as he growled and snared about the Councilmen. She looked petrified as she turned her head in submission. Her slim body shook behind her desk, hoping to keep his anger from aiming at her. Her tanned, oval face remained impassive as she thought of anything to keep the fear from swallowing her whole.

He was not even bothering to look her way. He did not even look at those seated in the blue cushioned chairs that awaited his attention. They all know his wolf is dangerous when it is close to the surface. They could smell it and see it from him. His secretary shook when she bowed to him, too, like the others who did not want his anger directed at them. His eyes were only on the other brown wooden door leading to his office. He marched to it without a thought of anyone else, even as his secretary called out to him.

She had leaned over her brown wooden desk to reach him with her hands. She nearly knocked her files and laptop to the floor as she tried to get his attention. He just wanted solace from feeling like the Councilmen were trying to kill him on his first day back from caring for his mate.

Cassandra… Her name brought a piece of calm to him, but it was not enough. The thought of them usurping her drew in his rage. How could he let them corner him into such a position?! He did not want to think of how devastated she would be once she found out about it. He would rather bask in her beauty than to tell her the truth, but he knew that he must do so. These things have a way of getting out.

“Damned Councilmen!” Gregory snapped as he slammed the door to his office shut behind him.

A feminine gasp made him ready to snap at the person that walked into his office without his permission. He jerked his head to his left, readying to bite her head off, but then, he lost all of it. A long-legged beauty stood by his round, brown wooden table with white Styrofoam cartons in her hand shaking. The dress exposed her in all the right places, which made his manhood harden at the mere sight of her and made his eyes roam over her body. He could not help it. It is Cassandra, his mate, his one and only love that will ease the burden of being king.

This dress left very little for his imagination, which was already running wild. Her breasts are heaving almost out of that cut out hole in the top of her dress. It looked yummy and he even licked his lips wanting a taste of them. The mid-thigh cut on her dress had him nearly drooling that he could slip his hand up without moving her dress. His already irritated wolf switched to panting the instant that they saw her and then the smell hit them. The need to mate her hit him hard, but he pulled back at the fear lacing her eyes. He cannot do that when she is so fresh and new to a mating.

His face had slackened when he realized that he had missed her scent on the air. And his secretary’s warnings about her being here that now has her frozen in place. The container are shaking in her hands with her widened, frightened eyes looking at him. Her heart was thumping wildly in her chest, he could hear. And she looks like an angel and a demon all in one like that. It just breaks his heart that he scared her like this.

No, he thought, struggling to push down his anger and his wolf from his eyes. She does not run from him. He did not want her to be frightened of him. He took in a deep breath letting her scent calm him down, finding the chocolate-coffee smell delicious. Another smell permeated the air, but hers is the best regardless of its meaty goodness. A clumsy smile turned his lips upward from his frown as he struggled to coherently form words to speak to her.

He was too surprised by her appearance here in the Council Chambers, in his office, to even say anything. He could only look at her with his heart thumping madly for his mate.

“I’ll… I brought lunch,” Cassandra pointed out, keeping her head lowered from looking directly at him. He wanted to huff at her and draw her attention back to his eyes to see if she had calmed down. She sounded frightened, which made him frown, feeling a pang in his heart that he had taken her this way. “I’ll… I will go. You are still in a bad mood.”

He froze like a deer in headlights. He did not want her to leave when she was so gracious to think of his need to eat. She even set his container on the table and opened it for him with silverware on either side. He did not care which ones they were, only that she was there tending to him when he needed it most. He must stop her from leaving his office.

Why am I frozen in place with my tongue tied from speaking to her?

Cassandra walked to the door quickly, which jolted him out of his stupor to go after her. He grabbed her by the arms as she had a hand on the door, hearing his heart thunder in his chest. It blended with her heartbeat racing in her chest. He did not want her to leave remembering this. This is the first time that she has willingly given to him as a mate. It may be food, but it is more special than anything she has done so far.

He pulled her into his chest, noticing that he was taller than her by a few inches. He smelled her hair. Strawberries, he thought, as he inhaled her scent more that made his wolf purr loudly. He did not care that her body was stiffened in his grasp. He just breathed her in before going to her neck and taking a deep breath in, then out there. Then, he nuzzled it to try to get her to relax.her. Chocolate and coffee… A calm flowed through him, letting his tense shoulders relax. His grip eased on her, too. He hopes that she feels calmer from the sparks and tingles rushing through her. He knows that it is helping him to want her more and more by his side to tame his anger.

“I’m sorry I scared you, Beautiful,” Gregory whispered in her ear. She shivered at the way his lips grazed the edge of her ear lobes. It made him smile as she relaxed into his body a little. “I do not want you to ever fear me. I am having a bad day with the Council is all.”

“I was… scared of your temper,” Cassandra confessed softly as she closed the door. He can understand that.

“I can never hurt my mate,” he whispered, continuing to graze her ear.

“I was prepared to take on Derek and Jamie in that pack,” she continued to confess, “but you’re a different alpha.”

“Please remember that later when you’re angry,” he chuckled, relishing the way her cheeks had turned red.

“I brought you lunch,” she changed the subject as she turned her head to look at him. There was caution in her eyes, and her hands still trembled a little, which made him take one in his hands. He sent a soothing calm through her with this little connection, hoping to ease her trepidation. “I thought you might want a peace offering.”

He looked at her confused for a moment before remembering how angry he had become at her during breakfast.

“This morning’s tiff,” he nodded understandingly. “I have already forgotten about it. I know I can be an ass.”

“Then, let’s talk,” Cassandra said with a small smile as she pulled his hand to lead the way.

It was like electricity flowing through him, making his nerves tingle with this much contact. The best part is she is initiating this touch. It pulls on his heart to want her more and more in so many ways. He breathed in deep feeling so many emotions that drew a smile to his face. He did not know what to say about her taking charge. It was minor, but still, it would have made him angry or disturbed. Instead, he loved it enough to follow her regardless of his dominant nature. This woman was hooking him to her, and it had only been a day, except her faint arousal told him Thomas and her had fun. It disappointed him a little that his brother beat him to it.

“So, tell me how was shopping with Thomas?” Gregory asked, wishing that he would have asked something else.

“Interesting,” she answered with a squeak in her voice.

He noticed that there was a red tint to her cheeks as she started busying her hands with the Styrofoam container. It is like she could not place it right for him or put the drink in the right place. A sigh fled her when she finally stopped and he sat down in the chair readying to feed himself, but she grabbed the spoon, first. Then, she scooped some rice into it with a piece of chicken. She had brought him Chinese, which perked his interest more about how she knew that he liked it. She relaxed against the table, almost planting her rear on it next to the container which perked his brow more.

His eyes drifted down, noticing that she had a hose that strapped to her panties. He presumes that she is wearing them, since she was not when they had marked her. It was a shocker when he found out after they had gotten her home. His imagination went in all directions, making it difficult for him to control his beast. He had to walk away with Thomas following him and call for a maid. Neither one could change her outfit without wanting to mate her.

“So, I see that you changed your outfit,” Gregory pointed out with a smirk.

He leaned forward as she gave him another bite and placed his hand by her thigh. His thumb started to caress her hip. He did it unconsciously, watching how she froze for a moment before continuing to feed him. Her arousal reignited with just that much contact, and it pleased his wolf and him. They wanted to out beat what Thomas had done to her with this simple touch.

“What I mean is…” he said, beginning to stumble over his words. He realized that he had almost accused her of something while, at the same time, sounding like an ass. “You look sexy as all hell in it, and I am a fumbling i***t, because it is making my wolf a horny dog.”

Cassandra laughed hard at the way he said it. He did not mean to speak the truth, but he did. Her laughter, though, was magical to his ears. It made his wolf purr in his head and rumble in his chest. He could not help the smile stretching across his face at the way she enjoyed his analogy to how he felt. Hell, he did not even know that saying something like that would make her laugh. If that is the case, then he will be honest from this point forward to gain her attention.

“I never thought a wolf would agree about that,” she said when she calmed down. She scooped another bite into his mouth, giving him a broad smile and leaning down a little. He has never had to eat while feeling this hard, but it is worth it when he sees her breasts tantalizing him. “You can thank Thomas for that. He dressed me for you. That’s why shopping was interesting. Plus, the mate bond did not help when it tried to get me to pick outfits to please you or your brother. In the end, I had to have Thomas pick out a ceremony dress for me.”

Brother, Thomas, did you dress our mate so I would mate her?

You need relief. You haven’t been with a woman in a few years.

He wanted to shake his head at his brother while thanking him at the same time for giving him the green light. He was holding back for him. Thomas is worried that he will be upset if she does not swoon for him like other women have done. It sent great relief to know that there would be no hard feelings about this touchy subject.

They knew that sharing a mate meant that they both would have to take turns with her in many things. However, mating the same woman does not sound fathomable to him. Right now, though, Gregory is focusing on enjoying this moment where she is feeding him.

“I, also, wanted to say that I am sorry,” Cassandra said after silence had elapsed between them for a moment. “I bit your head off when you were trying to make sure I ate well. I should not have done it. The correction of my speech was too far. You heard the introduction I gave my brother. That should have been your first clue that I can speak in public without causing embarrassment.”

“I know that I am an ass,” Gregory agreed, making her snort. It only drew his arched browed look that should have her wilting in her place, but she ignored it. Then, she put another bite into his mouth that deterred his attention. It transformed his face and diverted his attention to her breasts, again. “I have a bad habit of correcting speech regardless of who it is. So, that and the breakfast thing is forgiven, Beautiful.”

“Why do you not use my name?” she asked suddenly as she held a bite between them.

“I want you to know that you are beautiful,” he answered simply. “I don’t know what all was done to you that is not in the file. And yes, all of us have a file, especially a medical one. It is for the benefit of helping each other out in a pack. So, if they told you that you are ugly… f**k them! You’re the most beautifulest Goddamned thing I have seen in ages.”

The look in her eyes screamed to his heart that she had not been told what she looked like. They are soft with tears starting to make a film over them. He wanted to smile at her knowing that he touched her heart, but instead, he raised his hand to touch her face. She leaned into it, letting him feel the softness of her skin and the love starting to build between them. He wants her to know that she is no ugly duckling that men walk away from. He would walk to her and desire only her.

“Thank you,” she whispered with an achy voice.

He stood up and gave her forehead a kiss, then said, “I am not going to rush you into anything. You take your time adjusting to us- my brother and me. If he thinks that this outfit is going to make me r****h you, then he has another thing coming. I will do it only when you give me permission. And believe me, my wolf is cussing me something fiercely.”

She laughed and that made him smile, seeing that he could make her happy. His heart pounded in his chest, again, at the way she was easing into caring for him. In fact, it is swelling with the need to give her a proper kiss like when they marked her.

It was like a fireball had burned inside of him, devouring his insides with her name branded on his heart. He could even feel it all the way to his soul, which almost made him lose all reason then and there. His body had hardened to where he felt too stiff to move away from her lips, wanting to taste them more and more. He did not ever want them to part, even as she was even panting with the need that flooded them both. His wolf had howled in delight, too, over the way it felt like she had accepted him without question.

He is still convinced that she does accept them, except her mind is rebelling against it. Like now, this is his office, and she is nervously feeding him while flirting with him. Just this moment made him feel good, and could bring them closer to being mates without worry.

“Well, tell him that I have to adjust to two men and not one,” Cassandra stated while still laughing. Then, she sobered up, looking sadly at the food she put in his mouth. “I never thought I would ever have a mate. In fact, I thought I would marry a man, which brings me to the fact I am not a virgin.”

His wolf surfaced in his eyes and a frown was on his face, but he calmed the wolf down. He reminded him that they were not either, even though it did not sit well with him, either. His mate should have been pure and waiting for them, except she is a human. Most women these days do not keep their pants up. He did not want to think about another man’s hands on her as he was sure that she did not want to think about another woman’s hands on him.

“I would listen to my reasoning before getting angry,” Cassandra said sadly. The look in her eyes showed that it hurt no matter how she hardened her eyes to guard her emotions. “I was expecting to be r***d next when I found out I would have to head back to the pack. I refused to let them have something precious, so I gave it away to someone else. I wanted to rub it in their noses about it, too. It would be better than the pain they would inflict on me. ”

“I see the reasoning behind it,” Gregory said sadly, wishing that he could go crush that pack. Then, a thought occurred to him to ask her, except he did not want her to be hurt. “I would like to ask you something, but I hedge to put you in a predicament where your mother and stepfather would be harmed…”

“Then, please don’t,” Cassandra said softly as she scooped the last bite and fed him it. “I would rather not have more problems than I already do. I am dealing with coming to terms with two men, the Luna's position, the Queen's position, and many more things. Then, there are always the infamous unknown things that like to pop up and throw me for a loop. Aka, you guys.”

“Yeah,” Gregory chuckled, at her joke. “We were just as surprised as you. I had to get back into the SUV before my wolf forced me to shift. You have no idea how long we have been waiting for you.”

“I can imagine,” she nodded, “but I cannot say that I am or am not glad to have become your mate. I’m still leery of alphas.”

That is something he is determined to change. He knows that there are bad packs out there that have given a bad name to people in his position. That is why he is trying to do something about it before it destroys women’s views of mates. Men need them like they need air. It seems like the ones that pay the bigger price are the females, while the males go free of any damage. It is not to say that there has been no man damaged by the bad packs, but it is less than the other gender. He must figure out how to make Cassandra see Thomas and him in a different light.

But the bigger question is how is she able to surpass her hatred now while alone in his presence or while with Thomas?