Hi Everyone! Originally, this chapter was longer but I decided to make two chapters out of it as I thought this conversation between Serena and Darien was important enough to be a separated chapter. Please enjoy it!
Chapter 6
The morning came way too soon. Serena felt as if she had been asleep only for a few minutes but obviously it has been hours. Everything was too bright and loud as Serena's eyelids fluttered open. She blinked several times and it took her some moments to realize where she was. She had a strange deja vu experience. The last time she had woken up, she couldn't recognize where she had been either. In the next moment memories from the night before came rushing back with full force. Her eyes widened and her body stilled. It was exactly in this room, in this very bed, she had woken up and had had no idea where she was the last time too. She remembered she had been in pain, then she had been safe and loved and then… She had been in more pain. Slowly she tried to flex her muscles and sighed in relief when no pain like burning fire fogged her senses. Some movements were uncomfortable but the pain was dull comparing what it had felt like last night.
Slowly she pushed herself into a sitting position and looked around the room. Parts of it she recognized from last night, but the room itself was very… empty. Just as she started to wonder where her… mate was - it was still odd to say it –, a strange panic started to raise in the pit of her stomach. How very stupid and not logical at all! She had known him for about 8 hours out of which she had spent with sleeping and in pain about 7 hours. And still she was feeling uneasy, nervous and afraid, now that he was not around… Maybe he had left? The door leading to a bathroom opened to reveal a half-dressed Darien and her panic decreased immediately.
He had obviously had a shower. He smelled like soap and shampoo, his hair was wet. He was wearing a dark blue jean but his chest was bare to her eyes. He was... magnificent. Really. He had just the right amount of muscles in the right places. He radiated strength and self-confident which called out to her with such a force she had to gulp back a shiver.
He stopped for a moment when he saw her sitting on the bed. He held a towel in his hand with which he had been drying his wet hair. He stared at her for a long moment before slowly he continued to dry his hair. "Are you feeling better?" He asked. His voice was smooth and conversational, his body totally at easy.
Serena nodded without a word even though she had the feeling he knew she was much better or he wouldn't be standing so relaxed in the door. "There are some dull pain lingering but I feel much better." She said to break the silence between them. She turned her eyes away from him as she muttered a quiet. "Thanks."
She put an extra effort into not looking at him but that didn't mean she was not aware of him. She was very much aware of his presence. She listened carefully as he went still for a second before strong, confident footsteps came closer to the bed. She felt as the mattress sunk in with his weight as he sat down right next to her.
"You don't need to thank me anything." He whispered as he placed his finger under her chin and lifted her head to look into her eyes.
Serena fought down a blush she was sure, was about to spread over her face and nodded. Darien tilted his head in a somewhat wolf-like gesture. His face was inches away from hers. "You are nervous." He stated.
Serena fought an urge to roll her eyes this time. "You are a way too dominant Alpha. Of course I am nervous." She murmured avoiding his eyes. His grip got stronger on her chin, not so much that it would hurt her but strong enough to make her glance back up at him again. His thumb ran over her button lip as his eyes turned into a stormy blue color. He was focusing on her and her alone which made her both nervous and…. happy?!
"I am your mate." He said suddenly, matter of factly. Like it was the ultimate answer to everything. Looking at him, Serena realized he honestly believed it was.
"That doesn't change the fact you are so dominant my wolf wants to tuck her tail between her legs and whimper in submission." Serena argued.
"No she doesn't." Darien said completely calm even allowing a small smile to creep to his lips. "She recognizes me as her mate." He added easily.
Serena hated the fact he was right so she scowled at him. "Yes but under any other circumstances she would do that. I would do that. Which makes this whole thing even more confusing."
"You are submissive but you are not afraid of me. Even though I am a very dominant male. Because deep down you know I could never ever hurt you."
He was right.
Darien watched her for a while. This petite woman who pulled him to her like none else in the world would be able to. He and his wolf were completely at easy. It was somewhat a new feeling. He never really was at easy. As an Alpha, he had too many responsibilities to be ever relaxed. Well, having a mate changed things. His thumb stroked her bottom lip almost absentmindedly. "Your lips are so soft." He murmured.
Serena stared at him with wide eyes. "How come you are not concerned at all?" She asked pulling her chin from his hold. When he lifted his eyebrow in question Serena rolled her eyes. "You are the Alpha of the Denvis Pack. I am submissive-" She started.
"You are my mate." Darien frowned back at her.
"Yes, we all heard that before." Serena sighed in exasperation. "I can't be an Alpha female. I am a submissive!" She almost shouted.
"You don't seem that submissive to me at the moment." Darien grinned at her not offended at all about her snap.
Serena stopped for a second. That was true. She had never in her life acted like this. Even the thought of arguing like this with a dominant wolf… with an ALPHA, made her shiver. Not talking about the surprising fact that Darien was taking her arguing with him so easily. Dominant wolf did not like to be argued with, seeing only challenge in it. But he seemed to enjoy himself.
"See, no need to worry darling. Submissive doesn't mean weak." He said, interrupting her thoughts as he leaned forward and placed a gently kiss on her lips before he stood up.
"The dominant females in the pack will throw some dominant waves at me and my submissive wolf will submit! That is not what an Alpha female does." Serena frowned at him as he took a few steps toward the door. Why couldn't he see it?
"They won't dare to do that." Darien said with a smug smile.
"I… That is not how this is supposed to work Darien." Serena folded her arms across her chest. "The pack needs to accept the Alpha female as a more dominant one. Someone they can trust and follow and don't want to challenge. Because of her Alpha status and not because she happens to be the mate of their Alpha."
Darien threw a glance at her as if she was a child arguing about having another candy or not. "They won't challenge you." He said. His voice was smooth and easy but Serena saw how his muscles tensed the slightest bit.
"No, they won't… not when you are around to throw a fuss about it." Serena said suddenly feeling very tired. He did not see the point. Or didn't want to.
"I am not throwing a fuss. I never do." Darien raised both his eyebrows in surprise. Never ever dared anyone to tell him anything that would hint at the fact he would be childish. This was something new again.
"Yes you are. You are angry at the thought of someone challenging your mate. I just raised the topic and you already tensed up ready to protect me. Which is fine. But an Alpha female should be able to fight her own fights. To prove she is worth of the position of the Alpha female." He kept staring at her like she was a child when he was the one acting like one. Stubborn, not wanting to see the truth only because it would be inconvenient.
"It is my responsibility to protect you." He said folding his arms in front of his chest as well.
"Argh. You just don't want to see the truth Darien! They won't dare to challenge me because… because of exactly what you do now. But the moment you are not there… the more dominant females will do that. And I will end up on my ass before the fight even would begin, because of their dominant waves!"
"You can just protect yourself fine." He grinned at her. It was a sight which made her heart skip a beat but it also pissed her off. He was deliberately not taking this seriously.
"You are not listening. I can't help but be open with you and I argue with you only because my wolf knows you won't hurt me. Because I know it. But it won't be the case with the others." She took a deep breath closing her eyes. "Anyway, these are just urges between us, Darien. This is not how this should work." She said. "We are supposed to get to know each other."
"We will." Darien said with a smile. He stepped back to the bed, leaned down to place a kiss on her lips. It was supposed to be a small, sweet kiss but the arguing and stress took hold of them both. The moment their lips met, flames leapt between them. He growled into the kiss, the animalistic, primal sound sending shivers racing down her back and she purred in response. All too soon he pulled away. His eyes were blue fire alive with desire and happiness.
"We will get to know each other on the way home." He said as he stood up and walked to the door.
"Home? Who said I will go with you?" Serena asked gaping at his back. She was confused, her feelings a mix of desire, disbelieve, anger, happiness… He was someone who called out to her in a level none else ever did but Gods was he arrogant. She had never had anything to do with such a dominant alpha before. She had no experience how to handle someone who was not even part of her pack. She really needed some getting used to if she wanted to survive him.
"Serena, you are coming with me. We both know that. Now stop worrying, it makes me uneasy and I don't like to be uneasy. I tend to be hard to handle when I am. Now I will go grab some breakfast for us. Doctor Mizuno is coming over to check on you before we are leaving. She is allowed to enter the room, none else is, so do not worry." Darien said.
Serena stared at him gaping. Was he ordering her around? Really? She was not part of his pack! Well, not yet anyway. And even if she would be in the future… IF and not when… well she was his mate as well. Not someone he could order around. He definitely had to get used to some new rules as well.
She never wanted a relationship where she would be submissive. She had no idea how that could work in a relationship with a dominant Alpha and a submissive female. That wasn't exactly what she had imagined for herself either. She had always thought, if she was lucky enough to find her mate, he would be another submissive one. Darien was simply too dominant to ever have anything else but acceptance in his life, she was sure of that. Probably even as a pup he was used to order around others and getting accepted as a leader. She wondered if ever anyone tried to argue with him. Well, she would not let things go so easily. It was surprising to her as well, how easily she managed to disregard his orders. There hadn't been too many occasions in her life when she didn't feel the need to submit. She would think about this new and sudden dominant behavior of hers later. First she would tell him he could stop ordering her around.
She looked up at him and her eyes zeroed on his bare chest.
"Aren't you going to put a shirt on?" She asked annoyed. Annoyed at him for being so smug and at herself for caring.
Darien threw a mischievous smile at her. "I would if I had one. Someone happened to tear through my shirt with her claws." Seeing her blush he winked at her. "Don't worry, you can tear as many shirts from me as you wish. For now I will just let someone buy an extra one for me." He finally opened the door but before he left as an afterthought he said. "Don't get jealous, there are no unattached females around." With that he closed the door.
Serena gaped after him. He was intense, stubborn and arrogant. She seriously had to build up her strength if she wanted her character to survive the force of nature he was.
After a few minutes, a soft knock came on the door. It was too fast for Darien to be back yet, so Serena's best guess was it was the doctor. After a soft come in, the door opened to reveal a young woman with bluish hair and blue eyes. Her eyes were soft and kind.
First Serena thought she was a human but after a few seconds she picked up the faint scent of werewolf. But it was really faint.
"Good Morning. My name is Ami. My mother attended you yesterday. I came here to check on you."
Soooo. Let me know what you think! I hope you enjoyed it!
sabina21: Oh what will happen with the pack, we will see that a bit later!
tryntee13: This submissive vs. Alpha status is a key issue at the moment in their relationship which is still very new. We will hear about it more for sure.
ceres vilandra: Thanks, I hope you liked this one too.
gabicg1: Oh the next chapter will introduce Ami.
Latebuttruefan: Updated! (:
chaoticwisdom: Here you go!
Guest: We will get to know more about Serena's family later and about he gang.. Here you go with Ami!
Maz: It was a guess from Darien's side. But yes, werewolves an have children with their mates – even if they are not their true mates – and with humans as well in case they choose them as mate.
allsecretsaresweet: True mate's thing is very basic. They don't necessary need to know each other just know they are mates. Now they need to build up a relationship based on this basic connection between them.
Guest: Here you go!
misshaa: Thank you for your review!
alitre: I hope you liked the story this far!
jupiter2005: It will be interesting to see how the pack will react!
Guest: Updated!
OrientalDanceGirl: She is submissive but well it is different with her mate. Of course he would never hurt her.
seranoa: Thank you so much for your review! Yes they are opposite in many things, still they are so perfect together! Well they have a lot to discuss and they need to get to know each other. Serena seems to realize it, Darien well not that much yet ;)
Ilanos: Thank you! I still need to improve but I am trying my best! They key problematic at the moment is indeed the submissive vs dominant status as well as them not really knowing each other. Other than that they are mates.
Sunny: The others will be in the story but the focus will be on Darien and Serena! Soon we will get a bit of insight in what the others are doing. How Darien found out her name etc.
Godschildtweety: Thank you!
Guest: Here comes the update!
Magic713: That is a very nice idea. I took a note and I think, a bit modified, but I will get it into the story!
Guest: I am happy you like it! No it won't be too short ;)
Guest: That story needs some thinking through but I did not forget it!
phillynz: Here comes the update!
TropicalRemix: Well we raised the question in the chapter. Of course Darien believes it will be with him
Guest: Here comes the chapter!
