Secrets of his Mate

Four

Elana

Alessandro wanted to give me the world. How cute was he to think he would give me something he wasn't capable of? He didn't need to worry though. I had already planned on taking everything off his hands. Nothing or no one was going to stop me. And I was going to enjoy every moment until then.

I sat at the desk and began doodling on a notepad that lied there. I wasn't sure how long I was willing to put up being this poor, helpless human. I needed to get as much information as possible to come up with the perfect plan before executing it now that the course of my search has changed since being brought here.

The creek of the door opening alerted me of Alessandro's entrance. I lifted my head to see him holding my purse. He took a few steps then stopped in front of the bed and dropped it. I quickly made my way to my purse and began digging through it. I set the teddy bear on the bed before focusing my attention back to checking on my belongings.

"My phone's not in here," I said looking up at his eyes slowly. "Nor my keys."

He gave me a sympathetic smile. "Sorry, love. You live with me now. You don't need your keys anymore. And I can't trust you with a cell phone right now. You have to understand my position. I don't want you trying to call for help, not that it would do any good, but just taking precautions."

I frowned. "You're kidding, right?" He didn't respond. "You kidnapped me, but you can't trust me? You can't be serious!"

He sighed. "I'll get you a new one soon, I promise."

"I don't want a new phone! I want my phone. I want my keys. I want to go home. I don't want to be here with you!"

"We had a deal," he seethed through his teeth trying to control his anger at my sudden outburst.

"You stole my things!" I retorted.

"Technically you only asked for your purse."

I huffed and plopped myself on the bed crossing my arms. "Fine," I agreed after a moment of thought.

"I swear, I will give you everything you need and more. You just need to believe me. Okay, love?"

I shook my head. "Whatever. And stop calling me love. I don't know you or whatever you are."

"I'm a werewolf," he chuckled quietly. "You can say it out loud. And I can't help calling you that. It rolls off my tongue so easily when I look at you."

I rolled my eyes and remained silent while staring at the floor. I tried calming myself. I got the little rise out of him that I wanted. I didn't even care about the cell phone, or my keys, or the fact that he was calling me love. It was all meaningless banter for a bit of entertainment. I knew I had gotten what I really wanted as soon as I took hold of my purse. He just didn't need to know that.

Alessandro sat next to me on the bed. I hadn't noticed the laptop in his hands before since I was focused on my purse. "I brought you this so you can do some online shopping for some clothes you'd like. Add whatever you want to the cart and don't worry about the costs. One of my unlimited credit cards is already saved on there." He gently lifted my chin to look me in the eyes. "I want you to be comfortable and be yourself around me."

This poor soul had no clue what he was asking for. Being myself was the last thing he truly wanted. "Um, okay." I wiggled away from his hold and set the laptop on the bed.

He seemed sad after I pulled away but didn't say anything of it. Instead, he cleared his throat and said, "You must be hungry. Dinner will be ready in an hour. I'll leave you to start shopping and come back for you then." He looked almost painful to be leaving my side. He caressed my cheek and left the room without saying a word.

A smirk appeared as soon as he was gone. I grabbed my teddy bear and smiled. Unzipping the bottom of it, I reached inside to pull out the only picture I had of Brian and myself with me. Butterflies fluttered in my stomach just looking at him again. I missed him so much. I tried mesmerizing his face for as long as I could. I didn't want anyone walking in and finding the picture. It was the only thing I had of him.

I pressed my lips against the picture before hiding it back in the teddy bear. I placed the bear against the pillow before making my way to the laptop. Alessandro was right after all. I was going to be here for a while, and I should be comfortable. I was sure there had to be some sort of spyware installed, but nevertheless I ordered an abundance of clothes, probably more than I needed, but I didn't have a problem spending someone else's money for my own satisfaction.

The hour seemed to pass by rather quickly. Alessandro strode through the door wearing a long sleeve button down shirt and dress pants. He held a bouquet of roses in one hand and shyly slid his other hand into his pocket. It was a good look on him. His six-foot four inch height and large muscles were styled nicely.

"What is this?" I asked in confusion of his change.

He smiled nervously. "I told you I'm going to make you fall in love with me and I meant it. I know you humans like going on dates to get to know each other so I figured we can give it a try tonight over dinner."

"You think we're going on a date?" I rolled my eyes.

Taking a deep sigh he said, "I'm trying my best here. Can you just do the same for me?"

I scoffed. "I'm not making any promises."

His face changed to disappointment. "Well, I'm not giving up on you, love. These are for you." He extended his arm handing me the bouquet.

I hesitated for a moment before taking them from him. "Thank you," I mumbled. Without taking a moment to adore or smell the roses, I placed them on the bedside table.

After a moment of silence, Alessandro cleared his throat. "Well dinner is all set if you're ready. Are you hungry?"

I stared at the floor and slowly nodded my head. I hadn't eaten a thing since early that morning. As if on cue, my stomach rumbled loudly.

Alessandro gave me an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have kept you waiting." He took ahold of my hand and turned to lead the way.

I quickly pulled away. He looked shocked and hurt at my action. "I can walk on my own."

"I know that," he stated. "We're going on a date and I intend to do everything properly for you. Besides, you promised you would try."

"No," I quickly corrected him. "I promised I would try to be happy just living here, not that I would try dating you. Don't pretend you don't remember."

He smirked at me and grabbed my hand harshly in such a controlling way that any normal person would be too scared to attempt fighting away. "Then you try to be happy, love. In the meantime, I'm still trying to win you over. Now we're going on a date I spent all hour setting up myself. So please don't ruin it."

I stared at the floor and swallowed hard without saying a word. He said it as a request, but I knew it was a command. I had to play my part and act like a terrified woman.

"Don't be scared." He gave me a warm smile. "You know I'm not going to hurt you. I just need your cooperation, ok? Take a deep breath and smile for me. Please?"

I did as he said. Taking a slow, deep breath I managed to form a small smile on my face. His eyes glimmered with hope and happiness. He began dragging me through the mansion. There were a few women I noticed as we walked wearing maid uniforms who would clear the path and look down at the floor until we passed by. We made it across the large living room next to the grand staircase on the first floor where three large men sat babbling. They fell silent when they noticed us walking and nodded to Alessandro. I tried getting a good look at all of them without raising my head too much.

After leaving the room, we began walking through an equally large dining room and approached glass double doors leading outside. There was an elegant gazebo some distance ahead of us decorated in white and lots of hanging lights with red rose petals covering a white runway When we reached it, he led me to a round, white table with candles in the center.

Alessandro pulled a chair out for me with a big smile on his face. I sat as he pushed it in and took the seat across from me. "What do you think?"

"It's nice," I whispered taking it all in. I could see several eyes peeping on us through some of the mansion windows.

A flash of disappointment came and went in an instant. "I thought you'd like it a little more, but that's ok. I know you're still scared. Despite everything I've just put you through, you still have this little attitude that drives me up the wall, but I love it. You're strong and that's what will make you such a great Luna."

It took so much for me not to burst out laughing. I was so much stronger than he thought. That was not the time to gloat to myself though. I had a job to do. "I still don't understand," I said innocently. "How is it possible that werewolves exist?"

"Well," he began to explain when my stomach rumbled again. His eyes widened. "I'm so sorry, love." He looked towards the mansion and while raising his arm, snapped his fingers. In no time a small man who appeared as a waiter stood in front of us setting down plates of salad. "There's different dressings here if you'd like. I wasn't sure which you would prefer."

"Okay," was all I managed to say before taking a bite and settling my stomach. Alessandro watched me with amusement. "What?"

"Sorry, you're just so cute even when you eat."

I rolled my eyes. This guy was in love all right. There was nothing attractive about the way people eat unless they clouded by love.

"To answer your question," he spoke up, "there just are werewolves. We've existed for a very long time. There are also vampires, witches, and mermaids. There are even a few dragons left."

My eyes widened in shock. "How?"

He shrugged. "I can't tell you that. That's like asking why humans exist."

"Why is it a secret? How do people not know you guys are real?"

"They did a long time ago but wanted to be the superior species and began quietly killing all of our kind. By the time we put things together and figured out it was the humans hunting us, too many of us had died and we had to hide to protect ourselves. That, and there was a war brewing between mythical creatures that all of our elders created a treaty for all of us to live peacefully as long as it was in secrete. So much time had passed since we exposed ourselves that humans began thinking all of the stories were folklore."

"It's just really hard to believe."

"I know." He gave me a sympathetic look. "Are you ready for your entrée?"

"Sure," I answered. The same small man brought our dishes of steak and roasted potatoes. I didn't hesitate to dig in. "So, are you like a hundred years old?" I asked in between bites.

He laughed. "You're thinking of vampires. Werewolves age the same way as humans, just more gracefully. I'm actually twenty-seven."

"Oh," I stated. "I see."

"Now I know this is going to sound a little odd, but I've been trying to find out as much about you as possible and you are really hard to find. No records, no social media. Why is that?"

"Shocking," I scoffed. "Probably because I don't like people prying," I said nonchalantly. "I liked my simple life. Too many people put their entire lives on social media. That's just not me."

"Well, I want to know more about you, and I guess this would be the right way for you," he said looking at my eyes.

I took a sip from my glass of water. "What do you want to know?"

"Everything. I want to know every single detail about you."

I sighed. "My name is Elana Ivy Venturi and I'm twenty-three years old."

"Deep down you know I already know that. Your rental lease was all I could dig up on you... And don't be surprised that I did that. I just wanted-"

"I'm not," I interrupted. I'd be more surprised at this point if you didn't."

He thought for a moment. "That's fair enough. Now tell me about your family, friends, things you like to do, things you hate. I want to know everything, Elana.”

I scoffed at his request but gave in. "I'm an only child and my parents are long gone. I have no friends which makes you getting away with kidnapping me that much easier, huh?"

The pain was written all over him. "Stop saying it that way! If you were in my shoes, you'd understand."

I laughed. "Yeah, right."

He took ahold of my hand and caressed it with his thumb. "You don't have to worry about being all alone anymore. You have me now and this pack. We're all your new friends and family now, okay?" He looked at me like he meant every word. "Why don't we have dessert now? I hope you like lava cake. It's my favorite."

I quickly shook my head. "That was the last thing I ate with the love of my life."

Alessandro immediately turned red in anger. I could almost see fumes coming out of him. "I am the love of your life! Get that through your head right now," he seethed through his teeth gripping the edge of the table as he rose to his feet. "You will never mention him again! Do you understand me?" He roared.

The same man that ran into the room earlier appeared in front of us with a worried look. His tan skin glimmered under the lights and his dark, curly hair flowed in the wind. "What's wrong, Alpha?"

Alessandro's chest rose up and down with force. "Lock her in her room," he said to the man then focused his attention back on me. "I'll deal with you later."