Lucifer's Mate

Chapter Seven- Their Agreement

      "You'll be seeing a lot of me from now on, darling" Xavier chuckled, winking at her.

       His laughter did something funny to her stomach, and she couldn't help thinking that that wink was the sexiest thing in the universe. She caught herself staring at his cheeky grin, and immediately looked away. It was a little too late though, because he chuckled a little more before adding "it's OK to stare at what's yours, love." 

    She stiffened at the word 'love'. It scared her how much she liked hearing it come out from his mouth, so she turned to untie Howl, who was still baring his teeth at the wolfman. "It's alright buddy." She whispered in his ear, and the dog calmed, just a little. She smiled at how protective he was of her and patted him on the head a couple of times.

       When she turned to face the wolfman again, he was way closer than she remembered. His nearness made her nervous, but she couldn't find it in her to look away from his eyes. His addictingly green eyes were so bright, so full of love; they were all she had been fantasizing about all day, and now they were right in front of her for real. 

    He took a step forward, but when his hand reached out to touch her, Howl growled at him once again. They were both startled, but she found it amusing, and didn't even try to stop the smirk that reached her lips. That dog definitely deserved a treat as soon as they got home. 

       "Can we talk?" He asked quietly, not taking his eyes off of the dog. 

She was looking at him, admiring his beauty. His serious face was extremely attractive, and she just wanted to run her hands through his messy hair that looked like he had done a lot of that himself already. 

       It was Xavier's last and only hope that talking calmly with her would make her stay. She knew what they were, but if he had to make her fall for him like a normal human, then he would. He would do anything he could, accept anything, except a rejection, that was something he wasn't sure he'd survive. 

    A barely audible "OK" came from her direction and he turned his head so fast he thought he might get whiplash. A small smile played on her lips, and, to him, that only made her seem like the most beautiful being on Earth. He felt hope ignite within him and he swore he felt a buzzing in his heart just watching her smile.

       Something just sparked within Lucy when she heard the tone of his voice. He sounded defeated, like he was about to give up, and although that is all she had wanted until now, she couldn't stand the heartache his fallen eyes made her feel. 

    They started walking in the pathways along the small park. She had Howl on one side of her and her mate on the other. They walked side by side without touching, but they both felt the hair in the back of their neck stand every time their shoulders graced each other. They walked slowly too, almost like they didn't want to reach their destination, although they didn't yet have one.

     "Well," he cleared his throat, "Lucia," he made a pause. It was almost like he couldn't find the words he wanted to say although he knew exactly what he wanted to tell her. "it's clear you know what I am, what we are," he pointed to her then to himself, identifying the 'we' he was talking about. "Yet you're running away from me, and I don't know why." He suddenly stopped and turned to look at her. "It breaks my heart to think that you don't want me, that you'll-"

       "Stop" she whispered, holding one hand up, the other grabbing Howl's leash tightly. "I-its not that. Hell, don't you ever think that." She looked into his big saddened eyes and sighed before she looked away from him for a second to look for the right words, then looked back into his gorgeous eyes. "It's just... you don't deserve a mate like me." She finished and looked at the ground, not being able to hold his gaze any longer.

       "I'll do anything to deserve you then, to be worthy of you." He rushed to answer, not thinking at all about his answer.

       "What?" She exclaimed. He had gotten it all wrong. "No. What I meant is that you don't deserve to be stuck with someone like me. It's me who is not worthy of you. You are the one that won't want me, you just don't know it yet. Once you realize it you'll want me nowhere near you, and I'm just trying to avoid both of us the time and the heartache." She finished looking into his eyes after all, and she could see the confusion there. Her heart was beating erratically against her chest, as she watched one of his hands reach out to her. She closed her eyes slowly, as his hand made contact with her cheek, in a soft, soothing, caress. His thumb brushed against her bottom lip, as his fore and middle fingers reached beneath her chin, and made her look up at him again. 

       "Hey, only I can say if I want you or not, and I'm pretty darn sure I want you more than anything else in the world, you hear me?" 

       "No!" She exclaimed, not whispering anymore. "You don't know anything." She finished, walking a few steps in front of him.

       "Why don't you tell me then." He said softly behind her. He promised himself to be patient only with and for her.

       "You'll just regret it later on." She turned to look at him, straight in the eyes, her cold demeanor back.

        Xavier sighed, he looked around a little, until he spotted a bench a few steps away from them. He went and sat, putting his elbows on his knees and his face in the palm of his hands. 

       She watched him start to walk away and her heart broke a little thinking he was already giving up. To her surprise, he sat on a beach she hadn't even realized was there, and he looked so vulnerable she couldn't resist the urge to walk to him. 

    "Listen," she started as she stood in front of him, he didn't raise his head to look at her and just stared at their shoes. "I'm trying to fix this, I WILL fix this for you. You just have to be patient, and wait for me to settle things. I promise you, you will get a beautiful mate that deserves you and will be able to make you happy" she tried to soothe him. She reached out to caress his hair, but when she felt the first few tickles on the palm of her hand she thought better of it and pulled her hand back and crossed her arms in front of her. 

He turned his face up to look at her then, sighed deeply, and passed a hand through his hair, leaving her in a trance, itching to do the same. 

       "I already got one," he paused for a moment, waiting for her to look back at his eyes. "And I don't want another." He stood up, having to crane his neck down a little  to look into her eyes. "Why can't you just accept me, accept us?" He whispered the last part, before continuing a little more frantic. "Don't you see you're driving me crazy? I'm neglecting my pack, because all I can think about is you and why you don't want me. I don't know what I did, for you not to want me. I-I just, I can't go on not knowing where you are and wondering if you're safe every minute of my day" he sighed AGAIN, sat back down on the bench and put his face in his hands while his elbows rested on his knees; he felt embarrassed after his little episode was over. He hadn't meant to leash out on her, but he was so stressed, it all just came pouring out before he could stop himself. 

    His whole life he thought that the moment he met his mate everything would be better and brighter, but she didn't even want to be together with him. Talking nonsense about getting him another mate; he just couldn't handle it.

       Her heart scrunched at his state. She felt like someone was purposely squeezing it, trying to get every single drop of blood out. She sat beside him without really thinking, and gave into her need to comb her fingers through his hair. "I know it's hard, and this will probably take a while, but I'll try and help however I can. You just have to tell me what you need." She looked at him sympathetically. 

      He lifted his head and turned to meet her gaze, eyes wide and full of emotion, "You. That's all I need. That's all I'll ever need." He looked the other way. "But if that's too much to ask for, can you just come live with me at the pack house?" 

       She was taken aback at his question. 'Live with him?' "I don't-" she started, but he cut her off.

       "It's not what you're thinking. I just need to know you're safe, and healthy, so I can maybe get some sleep at night."

       She looked at his face, only then noticing the fatigue, the bags under his eyes, and his dilated pupils. The sight before her broke her already withering heart. If she looked really close, she could make out a slight stubble. 'I wonder how that feels against my fingers' she thought while staring at his jawline. Her hand began to move on it's own, but she caught herself just in time to stop it, and she crossed her hands over her lap.

     "I'll come with you meanwhile, but I need my own room, and I don't want anyone to call me Luna or anything weird like that." She stated, then stood up, and looked away from him. "I just need to pack some stuff from my house and get my car" she then started walking with the dog without looking back. She could have ran away then, but she was a woman of honor; she was an angel, and angels never ever broke their promises.

       It took Xavier a few seconds to register what she had said. 'She agreed' his wolf stated happily. He shot up from his seat, and frantically turned to see her retreating figure. "Wait, I'll help you pack" he quickly ran to catch up with her and walked back to her apartment with her the same way they had walked before, him on one side of her, the dog on the other.

       Lucy turned to look at him as they walked away from the bench and from the park along that small dirt path, and, as he smiled brightly at her, she thought to herself this was going to be a long ride. 

"Hey Lucia" he said suddenly without stopping "do you think your dog will ever stop glaring at me?" He snuck a glance at Howl, and the dog snarled at him, making Lucy burst out laughing. 

    Xavier stared at her with awe as she laughed. That was the most beautiful sight in the universe, he was sure of it. He couldn't help the bubble of hope from growing inside him. He was determined to take this opportunity to show her just how wonderful having a mate could be if she'd just accept him. He would make her give up that stupid idea of hers.

    They walked all the way back to her apartment talking about anything and everything that crossed his mind. He didn't talk about the mate bond or try to touch her at all. He only stared at her and told her multiple times how beautiful she was, how beautiful her eyes were, how beautiful she looked when she smiled and laughed, and even teased her about how successful she would be as a model. 

     It would be hard for sure, but she couldn't find it in herself to regret accepting their agreement.