The North Star Chronicles

Chapter 9

Andy

As we walked up the stairs my stomach churned into knots. Gale's thumb caressed my hand assuringly.

Polaris scoffed and attempted to roll her eyes. "Two-legged decency is silly. Wolves don't care about decency with truemate."

I blushed in response to her bluntness. "Some of our kind is totally fine with mating on the first date, but seeing as we've been stuck in a mental hospital for the last ten years I'm thinking we should take it slow. Truemate or not he's a stranger." I rebuttal.

"Does he feel like a stranger to you?" Polaris asked curiously.

"Well-no." I responded. I was telling the truth. I may not know the details of his life like his favorite color or the name of his kindergarten teacher, but I knew his soul, and it was pure and bright. "But either way, Kaito is gonna have to wait to get any tail from us, missy."

Polaris chuffed a laugh. "Hmph, if you say so two-legged."

The wall sconces led us to the end of the hallway. Gale pushed open a door on our right that led into the Alpha suite. He begrudgingly released my hand, giving me my space to explore the room without him.

The Alpha suite wasn't just a bedroom. Upon opening the door we walked into a sitting room with a large leather sofa and coffee table, and an oak desk placed in front of a massive picture window that overlooked the backyard. Off to the right were a pair of sliding doors that opened up to the bedroom. I gaped in awe.

"This entire room could fit ten bedrooms at Proctor's." I turned to open another door that attached to the master bedroom. A grand master bathroom splayed out before me. The floors were beautiful hardwood, with the black industrial steel continuing throughout the space. The shower was big enough to park a small car within it, and beside it was a large black granite tub with a gorgeous copper lining that looked to beautiful to use.

"Proctor's?" Gale asked curiously, his ears perking up from outside of the bathroom.

"Proctor's Psychiatric Facility." I measured my words carefully in attempt to gauge his response. "That's where I've been for the last ten years." He listened is silence as I recounted the last ten years in the shortest recap I could muster. I told him about the episodes that I now know were due to Polaris breaking down the bindings in our mind. I told him about Ronda and how much I missed her, and about Proctor and our daily therapy sessions. I told him what I could remember about my parents, and about the medication I took to attempt to avoid my episodes.

His brow furrowed with the newest information. "So Polaris told you that these episodes were her, so does that mean that this Proctor knew that these medications were keeping up the barrier? Why would he do such a thing?"

"Polaris and I discussed it, on the ferry. She thinks it was an act of protection. They needed to conceal me so that whatever brought about The Barren Times, couldn't take my power before I was strong enough to wield it."

"So why let you go now? Why not just keep you there forever?" he asked quizzically.

"Polaris told me that if the bond wasn't mended, that we'd lose each other forever. So maybe they knew that? I know so much more now but now I have so many more questions. Ronda and Proctor knew, and I need to find out how they knew my parents. And now that I know Proctor's isn't some legitimate facility, I'm doubting that I'll find any contact information. The one number I had was in my bag and the gods know that I'm never getting that back."

We both sat there deep in thought for a few moments before Gale spoke. "We'll address the council tomorrow and try to find some sort of connection that can lead us to Proctor's."

"Will they have information on my parents?" I asked softly.

"The names sound familiar, I'm sure some of our pack elders will know something about them." He said thoughtfully. He didn't assure me that we'd find them, there was no certainty they were even alive. But his words still brought me hope, or at the very least the chance of closure.

I reached out, letting my fingers brush against his. Gale clasped them and pulled me in to his embrace.

He spoke on our mind link, caressing the strand of our bond. "You feel like home." his breath warm against my hair.

I nuzzled in closely, my agreeance palpable on our bond thread. Heat blossomed in my stomach, and in moments, I knew that Gale could feel my body's reaction to him through our bond. I placed my hands on his chest and pulled away. "I missed a majority of the lessons on the bond. I didn't realize that it would be so strong." I blushed.

"I didn't miss any of the lessons and I'm still trying to get a hold on it." he admitted. "But this bond, our wolves, it all feels kismet."

I nodded in agreeance. "I'm trying to hold onto the very small parts of logic in my mind that are telling me to go slow, but those pieces keep growing smaller." I rolled my lip between my teeth, my nails trailing down his chest.

Gale's breath hitched and his hands quickly grabbed my wrists, backing me up against the wall, my arms pinned beside my head. Every nerve ending in me screamed pleasure in response. Gale was inches away from me, a distance that he very carefully managed, his body frozen in fierce rigidity. . He took a measured breath and nodded. "I understand and I'm with you." he spoke breathlessly. "Kaito not so much." he said, his eyes squeezed shut as he held his breath in hopes that Kaito would subside.

Polaris growled deeply, her satisfaction and sensualness for her truemate matching my own. "I'm trying, I just don't feel like I'm succeeding." His face was mere inches from mine. I craned my neck for just a moment, closing the gap between us just long enough to trace my tongue against the outline of his jaw.

"F*ck" he groaned. His body pinned me to the wall as he hiked me up into his arms, my legs crossing behind his waste, my arms wrapped around his neck. He pressed his nose and mouth against my throat, his teeth grazing my skin ever so slightly. The electricity that sparked between us was tangible. I whimpered, every nerve ending, every instinct in me begging to be taken by him in every way and claimed as his own. He ran his tongue roughly against my throat, the tantalizing motion leaving me breathless.

He spoke on our mind link. "Do you remember your lesson about marks?" his voice was sensual in my mind.

I nodded, my body shivered against him.

"Someday, you'll be mine. Mind, body, and soul." he spoke aloud, his words ragged as he breathed against me. "In the meantime I think I'll need to keep you on a shorter leash than I do Kaito." he laughed against me as he slowly unwound my limbs from him and pressed a kiss to the center of my forehead.

The sensual tension diffused and Polaris growled her contempt in my mind.

"Make yourself comfortable, try to get some rest. I'll be back soon." he said aloud. "Kaito needs to run this off or we'll never get to sleep." he added on our mind link. He sent his intense feelings of satisfaction whirling around our mate bond as he shut the door behind himself. I let out a slow breath, my blush for my brazen behavior creeping to fill my cheeks before resolving to take a shower and ready myself for bed.

Gale

"Kaito, you need to get a grip on it man." Gale scolded on the mind link.

Kaito didn't bother answering in any sort of intelligible words. Instead he fumed and seethed as he paced within the confines of their mind. He snarled, the thick mottled gray fur running along his spine standing straight up.

Nearly an hour had passed and still Gale was overwhelmed with unshakeable desire. He'd shifted a handful of times, alternating back and forth in hopes the shift would exhaust him to no avail. Every time he was nearly out of it the scene would replay once more within his mind. How sensual, how primal, her desire in those moments had been was enough to drive him mad.

He shook his head in attempt to clear his mind. Kaito snarled and lunged forward in savage attempt to take control. Gale welcomed the shift, allowing Kaito to take over once more.

When his legs were burning even upon resting, Gale finally made his way home. It had been over an hour and the time away from her, however necessary, had been an obstacle in and of itself. Building their bond while trying to maintain any level of restraint was going to be difficult, but he was determined to make it work.

When he opened the bedroom door, Gale admired Andy nestled down amongst the pillows and blankets that covered the expanse of the bed. She had on one of his tees, her hair a fiery halo surrounding her angelic face. Her expression was sereen, her lips parted ever so slightly as she released a gentle sigh. Gale watched her for a few moments more before pulling himself away to shower.

When he came back to the bed, Andy was sprawled out, one leg kicked out from beneath the blankets exposing her naked thigh. He rolled his eyes and smiled to himself, discovering that she'd found a pair of his boxer briefs to wear to bed. As gently as he could in attempt to not disturb her, he climbed silently into bed and did his best to allow sleep to take him while his mate slept soundly beside him.