Awakening The Goddess

CHAPTER 2

Derion

“I f*****g hate these summits,” I growled as my Beta, Anthony, drove into the darkness.

“The food always tastes like s**t and those she-wolves are always so thirsty,” Ori, my Gamma replied in agreement.

“It’s not that bad, at least we get to stay in a pleasant hotel,” Anthony said.

“Yeah, the hotels are cool, I guess. Anyway, how far are we from Silverwood? I’m starving and Jordan won’t settle down. I’m getting a headache,” I said, frustration laced in my words as my stomach growled loudly.

“We literally just got on the road, man. So about an hour and a half, there’s a diner in about 15 miles. Do you want to stop?” Anthony asked.

“Yeah, that’s fine,” I said as I laid my head back on the backseat.

Dude, chill. You’re giving me a headache. I said to my wolf, Jordan. All I received was a howl in return as I felt him pacing around.

I’m going to block you out if you don’t calm down.

No!

What up, J? What’s going on?

Just don’t block me out!

Such a dramatic f**k. Whatever. Just calm the f**k down.

We pulled up to a little diner called Bre’s shortly after. As I stepped out of the truck, the most magnificent scent engulfed me. It smelled like freshly baked caramel cake. I stood and sniffed the air, and I knew I never wanted to smell anything else ever again.

Jordan howled in delight and tried to force himself to the forefront.

Chill! I’m going!

Mate! She smells delicious! Go get her!!

There are no wolves here. She’s human. Calm down.

“You good, D?” Ori asked as he noticed my internal struggle.

“My mate is here,” I said, trying to keep Jordan at bay.

I don’t care! Go get mate or I will!

“Let’s go,” I ordered.

Ori and Anthony walked in front of me to sniff out the place.

“There aren’t any wolves here, D.,” Ori said with a frown.

“I know,” I responded quietly.

We walked into the diner, and my mate's scent flooded my senses. I stood behind Ori and Anthony to make sure I didn’t scare off my beloved.

That’s when I heard it, the sweetest sound I have ever heard in my life.

“Hey, y’all! Welcome to Bre’s!”

She could say anything at all I would forever hang on to her every word.

“Good evening, beautiful,” Anthony responded to her. A deep growl erupted from my chest as I heard my Beta speaking to my mate, and she blushed.

Kill him!

Shut up, J.

He’s flirting with mate! He wants to take her from us!

No, he doesn’t. Shut up so I can talk to her.

Anthony looked at me over his shoulder with an amused expression. I had to calm down or else I would rip him to shreds.

“Aw, thank you,” she gushed.

"If you fine gentlemen will follow me, I’ll show you to your seats. Would you like a booth or a table? We’re pretty empty, so you have your pick of the place.” She gestured at the nearly empty restaurant.

“Wherever we can see your beautiful face the best is where we’ll sit,” Ori said, not missing a chance to f**k with me.

I punched him in the back and he tried to keep his composure, but I know he was in pain.

“Well, I guess the bar would be the best place for that!” She replied with a small chuckle.

I heard her laugh, and I knew at that moment I would do any and everything to hear her laugh and see her smile every day as long as I lived. We followed her to the bar and I couldn’t keep my eyes off of her. She was short and perfect. As I watched her ass move from side to side I couldn’t wait to bury myself between those cheeks. I attempted to reach out and touch her, but Ori grabbed my arm and stopped me as she turned the corner. I sighed in disappointment.

I sat down at the far end of the bar, closest to the kitchen so I could be the first one to see her when she went she came out. I watched her as she spoke to Ori and Anthony, taking their orders. I took in her smooth, beautiful dark skin and her perfect lips. Her lips were full and pink and I couldn't wait to spend a lifetime kissing them. Her hair was big and wild, and her tight curls had such definition. I could see all the tight coils bouncing as she made slight movements. I can't wait to run my hands through it. Her light brown eyes were bright with excitement and I was a little jealous that it wasn’t because of me.

She finally made it to me and I prayed silently that she would look at me. I hoped she would fall in love with me as I had already fallen in love with her. When she looked up from her pad and right into my eyes, I sent a silent thank you to the moon goddess. I watched her fully acknowledge me for the first time, and I couldn’t help but smile. I did everything I could to keep from jumping over the counter to kiss her.

Mate is so beautiful.

Yeah, she is.

Take her now! Mark her!

I wish we could man; we have to be patient.

I watched as she studied my face, as she noticed the scar on my cheek. Anger flashed across her face and I suddenly felt self-conscious and afraid she wouldn’t want me because of it. When her eyes softened and reached for my scar, I knew I had nothing to worry about.

I grabbed her hand before she could touch my face, and I felt the fated sparks that were the physical manifestation of our mate bond. I knew if she touched me I would lose control and I would scare her off forever.

"Oh! I am so sorry," she apologized profusely.

“It’s perfectly fine, gorgeous, but we’re kind of starving so if you wouldn’t mind?” I said, stalling, but still holding on to her hand.

“Of course, I’m sorry!” She apologized again as I let her go. “What can I get you tonight?”

I could smell her arousal, and it was magnificent. Could she feel the sparks too? I had to look down at the menu to gain some control of myself before I caused a scene.

“I’ll have two burgers, an order of fries, and tots with a large strawberry milkshake,” I responded without looking up from my menu.

“No problem, I’ll get that going for you right now.”

“After that, I’ll have a taste of you,” I said as I looked up from my menu at her.

She drew a sharp breath and stepped back. II enjoyed knowing her body responded to me in such a manner.

“Oh, I-I have a-a um, boyfriend,” she stuttered in reply.

Waves of anger rolled off me as images of someone other than me touching her infiltrated my thoughts. I wanted to rip his head from his body. Who was this man who thought that he could lay claim to my mate?

KILL HIM. NO ONE TOUCHES MATE BUT US!

I’m with you when you’re right, J. He’s a f*****g dead man.

Wait! No! I just scared her! f**k!

“I’m sorry, beautiful. I didn’t mean to scare you,” I apologized, trying to diffuse the situation and hoping I didn’t f**k this up already.

“Oh, it’s okay,” she said as she dashed away from me, leaving me feeling like an i***t.

“f**k!” I said as I dropped my head to the counter.

“I f*****g scared her off with my f*****g stupid f*****g anger issues,” I groaned.

Ori patted my back, trying to comfort me.

“Bro, she’s your mate. It’s fine. You’ll be fine. Just gotta get rid of this boyfriend,” Anthony said.

“There’s another scent on her, D. I think she has a kid,” Ori said carefully.

“I don’t care. I just want her, she could have a million kids and I would still want her and I’d give her a million more,” I picked my head up and dragged my hands down my face.

“Yikes, you’ve got it bad,” Ori said laughing, and earning a laugh from Anthony.

I couldn’t believe it. My two best friends in the whole world, laughing at my misery. The betrayal. I hope Anthony’s mate is human too and he has to go through the same thing.

“She smells amazing, man. She smells like my mom’s caramel cakes,” I said sadly. I miss my parents every day. My mom used to bake a different dessert every day, but her caramel cake was my favorite. She used to make them for me on Sunday afternoons and we would all eat together in the pack house theater.

“You’ll get her, man. Just turn on the charm. It’s very clear that she wants you regardless of her 'boyfriend' situation,” Ori said.

I glared at Ori and growled, warning him to never speak about my mates' arousal ever again.

“Sorry,” he said, putting his hands up and laughing.

A short while later, she came back out with a serving tray full of food. She moved quickly and refused to look at me, which broke my heart. She was terrified of me, and I hated it. As she placed everyone’s food down and walked away, I grabbed her hand. The sparks felt amazing and even though she tried to pull away at first; she let me hold her hand and my heart rejoiced. I looked up at her name tag, then at her beautiful, perfect face. I stared at her until she finally looked at me again.

Eriana.

A beautiful name for a beautiful mate.

Indeed.

When she realized I was going to let her go, she looked up at me.

“Eriana, love, you forgot my milkshake,” I said with a small smile as I lightly caressed the back of her hand.

Eriana yanked her hand from my grasp and I couldn’t help but be surprised and a little amused.

“I did not forget. I haven’t forgotten an order in 7 years and I didn’t do it tonight. I just didn’t have room, but you're too impatient to let me grab it,” she replied with a bit of an attitude.

She stormed off to retrieve my milkshake as Ori, and Anthony laughed.

“Ooh, feisty,” Anthony said as he laughed.

“She’ll make an excellent Luna,” I said with pride.