Into the Spirit

Purpose

---POV: Ayden---



Her petite body walked in front of me while my wolf kept shouting at me. That white pantsuit was doing nothing to calm him down. It was flawless, just like her. Especially with that motherly instinct, both my wolf and I noticed immediately. “Mine!”

I sighed and she tilted her head, noticing my irritation. I hope she doesn’t think it was geared towards her. “Yes, I heard. Thank you.” I responded calmly. I can't have him worked up any more than he already is.

He growled in my mind and snapped at me. “Take her then!”

I snapped back quick, fast, and in a hurry. “PATIENCE!” My stern voice cut through and I heard him whimper. Jumping all over her won’t solve our problem. This will be a very interesting pairing and I’m not too sure in which way. I wanted her…yes…but I cannot just take her, and my wolf will not get the upper hand on this.

Humans are in control, not the other way around. It wasn’t like when Mya and Mason found each other. They had no…previous baggage stopping them from pouncing on each other in the middle of the barbeque my family threw not too long ago. Terra and I, however, are a completely different saga of novels.

She is already ten feet out the door and I have to coax her back to comfort. Back to me. The question is why? I sat down in my dark brown leather chair and ushered her to do the same in one of the black cushioned office chairs facing my desk. She shifted Lily a bit before sitting down and my daughter decided it would be fun to jump up and spin around so she could look at me and dangle her little feet over Terra’s knees.

My office was a bit more modest than one would think for the Western Region Head. I didn’t like a lot of stuff. I had a simple deep red textile carpet and windows on three out of the four walls. On the one wall that didn’t let in light, I had floor to ceiling bookshelves installed to house research from all my projects and mergers along with reference materials I think will be useful to me while I do research on different companies and possible ventures for RI. I like darker colors because the room has so much light, and it contrasted nicely. “Hey, Little Cub.” Terra smiled at Lily and pinched her cheek. That instigated a giggle out of my Lil’.

Seeing Lily happy made me want to put a ring on her immediately, but I couldn’t until she talked to me. Mating is consensual. Until I get something out of her, I’ll just enjoy the warmth she shows for my daughter now and not worry about what is to come later. “Lily, can you please wait with Bryce? He can go get you some ice cream.”

Ugh, this sounded like I was about to conduct a business deal. Not talk to my mate. Lily turned into Terra’s bosom and started pouting. She never says no to ice cream. I guess the lure wasn’t going to work this time. Not with Terra in the room. She made that very clear last night. Terra is more important than anything.

“Not leaving.” She whimpered.

I sighed, realizing I was wasting more time. “Lil’, you–”

“Here, I’ll tell you what. After your dad’s five minutes are up, I’ll take you to my favorite creamery. You will love it. But we just need five minutes of…adult time.” Terra smiled after she helped me defuse this situation. Lily’s mouth trembles, but she nods and reluctantly hops off of Terra’s lap. When did Terra become more trustworthy than me? I guess because Lily likes her and I’m the one scaring Terra away. Great. Now I’m my daughter’s enemy too.

“Pomise?” She asked, looking toward her again with her bottom lip protruding into a pout. She was working on her ‘r’ pronunciations, but sometimes she would forget to add them into a word all together. I’m not going to say it’s proper, but it is cute. She’s three. She's allowed.

“Always, Little Cub.” There was that nickname again. Ugh, she could be a mom.

“She could be Lily’s mom. She isn’t a beta either. She’s a strong alpha. Our mate can protect Lily.” I hear my wolf howl as he analyzes her.

I shook my head and grinned at the scene. “Talk first.” I compromised with my wolf. Lily scurries out of the room, closing the door behind her, and Terra smiles after her. I wonder who she was if she was a strong alpha. There are only so many alpha family bloodlines, and she is an orphan according to Mya, so it’s not from Mya’s lineage. “So, now that my daughter is preoccupied elsewhere, I can just talk with you. Of course, with what’s left of my remaining time.”

She situated herself back to face me. “You have five minutes.”

I lifted my brow and crossed my arms, looking over at her reaction, screaming an ‘I do not want to cave’ mentality. Cute. “I thought my timing started already.” I noted curiously.

“I will give you your time back…only to be fair, of course. You also have to be consistent with kids, so you don’t break your promises. I told you and her that I would give you five minutes. What do you want from me?” She nodded her head as if she was trying to convince herself more than me, but I know she’s being genuine.

I sighed heavily again and realized I’m doing that a lot lately. Where has she been? She is exactly what I was looking for. After my wife was taken from me…I always hoped I’d find my mate. However, now that I know she will run from me…I have to think logically.

She has been analyzing everything since she walked out of the elevator, probably even before. I have to keep this realistically driven. Emotions can come later. “Terra, you are my mate. You cannot run from this. What would make you run from me? Your mate is your safe house until death and you want to run.”

I saw her face shift from multiple emotions. Then she sighed heavily, and I believe she started yelling at her wolf at some point. “I’m sorry you’re not used to women walking away from you.”

Good to know that’s what she came up with. She thinks I’m proactively looking for women or a playboy. Lucky for me and her, I’m not. “That’s not the point, nor the truth. I want to protect–”

“Don’t say it.” She interjected suddenly. Then, her voice continued almost audibly broken. “Please, just don’t. I’m fine on my own. I’ll do my best to stay away.”

Great. So, she also thinks she’s not worth protecting or worthy enough to be with me. I shifted in my seat and leaned forward on the desk as the psychoanalysis continued. “I don’t want you to. Lily doesn’t want you to, so, why do you want to? Can’t you feel that we can’t be apart? I–” I wanted to plead my case more, but then I felt it.

A rush came over me and I saw it. The m******e of her whole pack. Her parents were soldiers and they fought bravely. Her small white – wait she’s the White Wolf everyone wants?!? I looked up at her eyes, straining to withhold her past from my mind, but her wolf was not having it. “Ayden, we need to keep her safe now more than ever. Your parents couldn’t make it there in time. We, as the leader of the Head Pack, cannot let that happen again. Especially, not to her.” My wolf growled menacingly.

I nodded, agreeing with my wolf. How could this have happened under their watch?!“Agreed. You aren’t wrong.” I rubbed the bridge of my nose and tried my best to figure out how to say this, but nothing came to mind except for being blatant. “You’re the Spirit Wolf. You’re the aura of the originals and everyone is out looking for you. That’s why you run. From Mya, Lily, Bryce…me.”

Her face went pale, and I figured she thought she was doing a great job blocking her and her wolf’s thoughts from me. I could see the fear. She is going to run again. “How did you–” She started to hyperventilate.

I pointed my hand towards her before having it rest under my chin. “Your wolf kindly shared with mine.”

She growled angrily. “Traitor.” She mumbled under her breath. I see her teeth clench and her body tense. I’m sure that word was meant for her wolf, but I feel like she intentionally made that acid-laced word fall from her lips instead of hiding it in her mind.

I stood up and she didn’t flinch this time. I walked around my mahogany wood desk accentuated with platinum hardware for handles and décor. I leaned on the front of the desk now personally in her space. “I won’t hurt you, nor will I expose you. I will protect you with my life. I cannot leave you and I have no intention of doing so. To give you a truce, I will let you play at the club still and I will not lay a finger on you without consent. We may be mates, but I respect you. We both have...pasts that will make this difficult, but don’t give up before we try.”

I became alert once more when she slowly brought those beautiful brown orbs to mine, and I started hearing their conversation again. “Terra, he is the first person to actually care aside from our parents. Mya and her family were there for you, but you never told her what your deal is. He knows and he still won’t hurt you. He wants to keep you a secret, not exploit you.”

I stayed silent listening to the conversation her wolf allowed me to hear. I leaned back a bit but continued to hold my gaze at hers. If she won’t back down, neither will I. “Why, to use me as a weapon later like they ALL do?!” She shouted. Well, that shocked me. “We have been captured and we have escaped so many times. Why would I trust the most powerful pack to not abuse this priceless option for offense and defense? Regardless of how I feel, me mating with him doesn’t mean I have to trust him. I can fight it. He doesn’t know everything.” She concluded.

She stared directly into my eyes and another wave of flashbacks came in and I could see the torture. I could see the pain. I could see her pleading eyes. Those who massacred her pack, some are still out there, and they are cruel. They wanted her to help them…help them take down the Rogue Family. I growled and let my hands fall and grip hold of my desk. I could feel my claws press into its finish.

My face turned from shock to rage and back again. I can’t let her get hurt like that again. Never again. They want her, they will go through me. She started getting agitated by the second. Nothing I said was making it better and her wolf kept pushing her memories toward me. She knew I saw what was in her head, but she also knew that I know who she is. That is a threat to her. “Let me make this as clear as I can. I will not let them find you. I won’t let any of them near you. And, if I find them, I will end them.”

Terra’s body was ready to phase, but she looked me dead in the eye. She knew she was the safest…strongest with her mate. She didn’t want to be wrong, but the truth is, we are stronger together than apart and she must know that. If we want to take them down, it would be better together.

“You disappear and I will be too worried to think. I will always go back to what your wolf showed me. I will never be able to stop until I find you again, just to make sure you are alright. Then, when you run again, the cycle will start all over again not even a day later.” She finally broke our eye contact and looked down at her fiddling fingers. Nerves. I took the time to notice her eyes were decorated with a soft gold eye shadow and a thin layer of mascara. She didn’t wear much make-up and I found that even more refreshing. Natural beauty. My natural beauty.

She inhaled, trying to start another rebuttal, then stopped herself. Her plump glossed lips repeated this process more than once and I shifted my weight, realizing the clock resting on my desk was all of a sudden, a rather loud ticking noise shrinking the room around me and reminding me my time was valuable.

She groaned irritably and shifted a glare my way when she finally decided on what to say. “I know.” My wolf howled triumphantly, and I did my best to reel in the excitement we both felt towards her words, to a normal grin. She was caving. The walls were finally caving. “Don’t get me wrong. I want to run. I’m really good at it. I've had to be. I didn’t have a choice then.”

As she validated some of her reasoning, the words floated off toward the end. She is built to protect and engrained to survive. That’s all she knows. She doesn’t know how to be protected. “Terra, I’m sorry you haven’t had the luxury of choices in your past, but I’m trying to give you one now.”