Secrets of his Mate

Six

Alessandro

The clicking of the tall grandfather clock standing next to the door was echoing through the room. I sat in the office for about an hour gathering my thoughts. If what Roman told me was true, I still had a good chance of redeeming myself with Elana. I wanted to plan everything perfectly before coming face to face with her again. I couldn't risk ruining everything again and lose her completely.

After much thought I decided to pay Elana a visit. I needed to apologize and make sure she didn't go to bed angry or upset with me. If it were possible to salvage any hope to make her love me, I was going to grasp it tightly until my wish came true.

Taking a deep breath, I made my way up the stairs and down the hall. I dismissed the guard before knocking on the door. There was no response and instantly I felt almost pained. Maybe she was still mad and didn't want to speak to me. I was about to accept defeat and leave when I thought better of it. I wouldn't go down without a fight when I was so close to seeing her beautiful face.

Facing the door, I knocked with determination. After no response again, I began to panic thinking she may have been hurt or tried to run away. I tried to calm myself and stop jumping to conclusions, but my heart was already racing. I pulled out the keys and unlocked the door. When the door opened there was no body in sight. My heart almost jumped out of my chest. Then the bathroom door swung open.

I let out a big sigh of relief. "Is that..." I began to ask when Elana stepped out wearing a large gray t-shirt that extended to her mid thighs. She wore no bottoms and her hair was drenched as if she just got out of the shower.

She looked down at herself and her cheeks blushed lightly in embarrassment. "Roman said I could use anything in there," she said shyly pointing at the closet. "I was just going to get some pants."

I shook my head. "Of course. You can wear whatever you want." I probably looked like a peeping tom caught red handed. "Sorry. I didn't mean to barge in. I tried knocking, but you didn't answer so I got worried."

"I was in the shower," she shrugged. "Did you need something?"

The thought in my head wanted to say all I needed was her, but I didn't want to beat an old horse. "I just wanted to make sure you have everything you need and are comfortable."

"As comfortable as you can imagine," she said unamused.

I smiled. I knew she was being sarcastic, but it was better than a complaint. "I also wanted to apologize," I admitted. "It was wrong of me to yell at you the way I did. I know I can't control your mind, but it just hurts me so much knowing you're thinking of another man. From now on I swear I will do everything I can so that doesn't happen again as long as you promise to try not mentioning him ever again."

She pouted her lips and looked at the floor. "Fine," she agreed after a moment of thought. "I'll try, but I can't guarantee anything."

"Okay. That's good enough for me for now." I couldn't argue with that even if I tried. It was more than I expected from her after all I've put her through. "Do you need anything else? I can get one of the maids to bring you a drink or some snacks. Whatever you want, love."

Elana shook her head. "I think I just want to get some sleep." She ignored the closet and strode to the bed before taking ahold of her teddy bear tightly and sitting on the edge. Her thick thighs touched shamelessly. It was obvious she wasn't wearing a bra as her n*****s poked against her shirt.

My wolf cried begging me to touch her and kiss her and caress her and take her right there on the bed. He was losing control after waiting for so long. I couldn't blame him. I was going crazy too. I began imagining caressing her juicy thighs and feeling the warmth between them. I wanted my lip on hers badly. I wanted to please her until she moaned my name again and again then climaxed in my arms.

"Is that all? Her voice interrupted my thoughts.

"Yeah," I answered quickly. "If you need anything, just holler." I left without saying another word and locked the door behind me. I found the guard in the kitchen talking to two of the maids. Their whispers turned mute when I entered before sending him to keep watch in front of Elana's room then sent off the maids for the rest of the night. I assumed they were talking about me after finally having found my mate. I couldn't blame them. It was big news for the pack not to mention long overdue.

I began pacing back and forth in the kitchen. My mind was running a mile a minute trying to come up with what steps to take with Elana tomorrow. Once I had an idea, I walked into the living room where Roman, Eric, and Tony were sitting and talking.

"There he is!" Roman beamed waving a beer bottle in his hand. Taking another glance, I noticed they all had been drinking.

"What are we celebrating?" I asked curiously.

"You!" Eric said gleefully. "Our Alpha finally has a mate." The three cheered and took a sip. Drunk or not, they were truly happy for me.

I couldn't help but laugh. I was more than lucky to have these great men not only as a team, but as my friends as well. No matter how rude or bossy I was, they were always willing to give me a helping hand.

"Thanks, but I still need to convince her that I'm her mate, remember?" They laughed and shrugged it off.

"She'll realize it soon. We're not worried," Roman said. "We're not going to stop celebrating just because you're doubting yourself. You're the Alpha! How could she not love you?" They took another sip.

"I'm not doubting myself. I'm just walking on eggshells right now," I admitted. "What information have you guys found? There's got to be something out there about her."

Tony swallowed hard. The poor kid took the responsibility trying to gain brownie points but didn't expect such a challenge. He was very tech savvy, so it struck me as odd that neither he nor my private investigators weren't able to come up with any dirt on Elana.

"We've been trying," Tony spoke up. "She has no friends, no family, no coworkers we could find. Even the previous addresses on her rental applications were fake. She's got to be hiding something serious."

"What if she's in witness protection and Elana isn't even her real name?" Eric's eyes were glazed over, but what he said actually made sense.

I shook my head. "If she were in witness protection, we'd still be able to find out. That's why I have the best men in my pack." I looked at the floor. "Besides, I wouldn't know what to think if she were. What kind of past could she be running from to leave everything she ever knew behind."

"We're not giving up, Alpha. I'm just being honest with you," Tony said trying to instill hope in me.

I sighed. "What about the cemetery? Who has she been visiting there?"

"We don't know that either. We've tried searching possible relatives or anyone she could have known that passed away in the last year, but nothing."

My mind started considering the witness protection conclusion. I didn't like it, but it would explain so much. I was heart set on finding out the truth from her sooner or later.

I tried clearing my head from awful thoughts of the possible past my mate may have had. I was going to focus on our future. "I'm going to need your help setting up for tomorrow."

"What do you have planned?" Roman asked curiously.

"Nothing too big. I want to keep things small and simple, enough where she is amazed, yet able to open herself up to me.”

"Just tell us what you need. We got you," Eric said before finishing off his beer.

We worked on setting everything up for a few hours. I looked around satisfied at our work and let them off to get some rest. I was exhausted, but that was usual being a pack leader. I wanted to take a moment to mentally prepare for tomorrow. No matter how many times Elana mentioned her little love of her life, I would not react. There was nothing in the world that could set me off tomorrow. I was determined to win her over at any cost. I went into one of the spare bedrooms next to Elana ready to sleep.

In the morning I woke up early, too excited to get any rest. I wanted the day to go smoothly. I quickly washed up and brushed my teeth after throwing on a pair of jeans and a red t-shirt. I stared at my reflection in the mirror as I combed my hair. My face was clean and clear. Not one strand of hair was out of place. I was ready to face my mate.

Taking a slow, deep breath I stepped out of the room and knocked on Elana's door. My hands became clammy with anticipation. I wiped them on my pants and tried to control my sweats. After a moment of no answer, I decided to enter the room.

Elana appeared fast asleep bundled up in the blankets holding her teddy bear closely, but upon closer look I noticed she was lying still just staring at the floor. She almost looked depressed. It saddened me to the core. I wouldn't let her see me weak though. I would be happy for the both of us if need be.

"Are you ok?" I asked with worrisome sneaking onto the words.

"Sure," was all she said.

"How did you sleep, love?" I tried coating the words with happiness as I opened the window curtains letting in rays of the rising sun.

She flinched and turned away hiding her head under the blanket. "Fine."

I sighed. Everything must have been hitting her hard all over again. I knew it was my fault, but I was willing to fix it all. I sat next to her on the edge of the bed. She didn't even twitch at my action. "I have a surprise for you."

She didn't bother saying anything. I wanted to know everything she was thinking of so I could reassure her and make her trust me. I gently rubbed her leg trying to show some sort of affection.

I felt her pull her legs away and crunched up to a ball. "Please don't touch me," she sniffled.

Those words alone and hearing her silent cry, sent a dagger to my heart. I reminded myself of what she's been through and that I wasn't going to act negatively today no matter what happened. "I'm sorry," I said sincerely. I hung my head low and stood to walk to the door.

Suddenly my feet stopped, and I thought better of it. "No," I said almost to myself. "We had a deal, remember?"

"I'm not ready yet," she whispered.

"You're not ready for what?"

"To pretend."

If I hadn't had a pep talk with myself, I probably wouldn't have taken that so well. With a deep breath, I let it roll off me. "Fine. I'm going to get us some breakfast. You'll have a few minutes to get yourself ready before I come back. Today is going to be a great day, love." With that being said, I left the room making my way to the kitchen.

Half an hour past before I returned to Elana. I wanted to give her enough time to get herself together, but I was also becoming impatient being away from her. Seeing her was the highlight of my day and my wolf was not happy that I gave up so easily. Little does he know that took a lot more strength than I thought I had, but she needed her space, and I wasn't going to ruin things so early in the morning.

I entered her room with two glasses of orange juice in hand. I smiled when I saw her sitting on the bed twirling her long hair. She had on the gray shirt from last night with her bra noticeable underneath and the same leggings she wore yesterday. "Did you not find any pants?"

She shook her head. "Is that supposed to be our breakfast?"

"No," I smirked. "Breakfast is being brought up here to us. I thought we could eat on the patio today," I said handing her the glass.

"Oh," was all she said. I took ahold of her free hand and led her out to the patio. "Wow," she whispered taking in the view beneath us. Next to the pond was the artwork we spent hours working on. There were hundreds of roses formed into a portrait of Elana. "What... I..." she was speechless, and I felt proud.

"You don't have to say anything. I just wanted to do something special for you." I watched her admire the gesture. Looking at her was better than words could ever explain.

"You didn't have to do this," she said firmly.

"I know, but I wanted to."

"Did you do this yourself?"

"Mostly, but I did have some help," I answered honestly.

"It's really good," she said quietly. "No one's ever done anything like this for me."

I felt accomplished. She was happy whether she said so or not. I could tell from the beam in her eyes. I wanted to kiss her but couldn't risk scaring her away after just getting on her good side. This was a big milestone for me. "I told you I would give you anything in the world and I meant it."

I pulled out the iron bistro chair and pushed it in for her as she sat down. The way I was feeling was unexplainable. I was truly happy at that moment. The only way it could get any better was if Elana told me she loved me. I knew it would be asking too much, but at the time I didn't mind.

The waiter appeared setting the dishes in front of us. There were pancakes, waffles, eggs, potatoes, bacon, sausage, toast, and fruit. "Help yourself to whatever you want, as much as you want." We began eating almost simultaneously. I tried to stop myself from staring at her too much, but it was hard. I could look at her all day.

"You know it makes me uncomfortable when you stare at me like that?" She spoke up suddenly.

I chuckled. It was almost as if she read my mind. "Sorry. I'll try to tone it down a bit. How's the food?"

"It's good," she said without making eye contact. "Do you ever wonder why it was me who was chosen to be your mate? It could have been another werewolf. Why me?"

"I don't question the Moon Goddess. Besides, I think she chose my mate perfectly. I don't need a werewolf at my side. I just need you."

She shook her head. "You're just struck by some puppy love spell. If you weren't you would agree with me. You wouldn't even have noticed me otherwise."

"Please don't say that. You're amazing and absolutely beautiful. I already know you're a sweet, caring, thoughtless person. You're the perfect choice to be our Luna and my mate. Don't ever question that."

She scoffed. "You don't know me."

"I know enough. Everything else I'm willing to wait until you feel comfortable to tell me." I gave her a small smile. She didn't look up at me, only continued to eat silently. I wanted to know what was going through head. "What are you thinking of?"

"You don't want to know," she replied gazing at her plate.

"I really do, love."

She rolled her eyes. "You told me not to mention him again."

I felt my body temperature rising, but quickly swallowed hard trying to suppress the anger. I refused to get out of control. Then Elana's laugh brought me back. "What's funny?" I asked confused.

"It’s funny how you get jealous so easily over a dead guy."

My eyes popped wide open. "He's dead?"