The Blood Pack (book two)

Chapter six

~Niomi~

I wake up on top of a cloud. I am not cramped up in my single bed but spread Eagle on a massive marshmallow. My mind is at peace. But then reality hits me like a ton of bricks and I shoot up like a jack knife in bed. No. Have they found me? Have they taken me back? I frantically look around until my senses zero in on the sleeping form in the chair beside the bed. Anger fuels my wolf as I grab the pillow next to me and start repeatedly hitting him over the head. "This... Is not... Okay!" I grit out as his eyes snap open and he grabs the assaulting pillow. "Why am I here? Where am I?" I asked, still seething.

"My pack." Mr. Grunts a lot said so matter of factly.

"Why am I here?" I ask more panicked.

He sighs and gets up from his resting spot and paces the room before he turns to me. "You healed that boy last night and then passed out. I couldn't leave you there!"

The memory of last nights events flood back to me with his words, but that still did not answer my question. "So you brought me here?" I shriek.

"Yes! I needed you to be safe!" I can see his wolf flash momentarily in his eyes as he says the words and I shrink back slightly. He quickly recovers and his face softens. "I couldn't leave you there Niomi. I had to know you were okay."

"Why were you in the chair?" I ask, my voice taking on a more curious than annoyed tone at his admission.

He smiles a slanted smile at me. "I thought you would be madder if you woke up with me in the bed with you." I feel my cheeks heat at his words and his gaze that has not yet left mine. I quickly looked away, shaking my head to return my senses. He moves back a step. "Food?" and as if on queue my stomach let's out an embarrassingly loud groan of protest. My cheeks darken as he laughs and holds out his hand. I take it warily as he pulls me out of bed and leads me out of the room. This pack house is large but not filled with noise as I expected. My attention is snapped to our still clasped hands as we descend the stairs, enjoying his contact too much to protest or pull away. As we walk into the dining room though I snap my hand back, not sure who or what to expect. I slowly take the nearest available seat as all eyes are on me.

I smile at smiley as I look up at him sat opposite me. "You must be Niomi?" he asks making me confused.

"Yes... You pointed that out yesterday." I point out, sounding unsure of myself as if he could have been a figment of my imagination. 

He smiles wildly. "Nah. That was Peter. I am Paul." I quirk my brow but as an identical man took the seat next to him, obviously the one I had actually met yesterday, I laugh at myself slightly.

"Hi, I'm Cassy." the small female who came to the store two days ago moves to stand next to me. "That is my mate alpha Ash, who you have already met." She points to the head of the table where the alpha nods at me, I return it, still weary. "This is Sanna and the amazing cook Jen." the two females who came into the shop with her smile. "This is Jonny, our Beta Ste and our head enforcer Theo." the tree males nod there heads in turn. "And you have already Trev and Luke." my eyes narrow as they land on Trev, his eyes looking apologetic in return.

I feel Luke's hand on my thigh, squeezing it reassuringly. My eyes snap to him and I can see he is worried about my reaction to Trev. I sigh and smile slightly to myself." Luke. Really? I pictured something more like Conan." he looks at me blankly. "The barbarian." I explain.

"I am not a barbarian." he grits out.

"You grunt like one."

"Not everyone needs to talk all the time."

"All the time? What about some of the time?"

"What do you want me to say?"

"Anything longer than a one word sentence would be appreciated." I mock as I nudge his shoulder and I notice his face light up slightly as he nudges me back.

I look back up to see Cassy's face in shock. "I think that is the most I have ever heard Luke speak."

Luke let's out a grunt as if to say, it is not a big deal. "If your alpha female is noting it, then maybe it is something to work on." I mock gaining me a serious look from Luke, before he shrugs and grabs my plate, filling it with food lining the table. "I can feed myself." I huff, crossing my arms to which he just grunts, indicating that he does not care for my protests. "You fed me yesterday." I point out.

"People do eat daily. Especially werewolves."

"I can still feed myself."

He placed the plate in front of me. "Then eat up, princess." I sigh as I hear Cassy giggle heading back to sit on her mate's lap.

"So Josh and I are heading to town later if you want a ride?" Jen offers.

"Josh?" I racked my brain but had not heard the name in the introduction of people around the table.

"My mate. He is on gate duty at the moment." Jen explains.

"Is your mate here?" I asked Sanna.

"No I don't have one." Sanna says, looking down at her plate making me mentally kick myself.

"Yet." Cassy added, leaning forward. "She is getting pretty close to a little Harrison hunky from the coffee house." she winks.

"It has only been a few months." Sanna blushes.

"He would be crazy not to claim you. You are so cute together." Cassy makes a smushy face clasping her hands like she is squeezing a baby's cheeks. Sanna and Jen laugh and then the table falls in to what seems to be their normal conversation. I sit eating my mound of food that Luke piled on my pate, noting that his hand still lingered on my thigh, his thumb moving in a small circular motion sending shocks through my body.

I have to suppress a moan at his touch. I had never been touched so intimately, so sensually. A sadness washes over me at the pitifulness of that. After seeing my mate cheat on me, I had never the heart to trust another. Luckily touch hunger did not set in unless you had had s****l contact before. But I felt my body start to heat up at Luke's touch and my belly begin to flutter. My sadness was being replace with want that I had not felt before. I needed this to stop before it went too far and my wolf instincts kicked in. I quickly stood, Luke's hand falling to his own lap as he and the rest of the table looked at me with confusion. "I-I have to get to work." I stammered out moving towards the door.

"Me too." Sanna said jumping up. "Any lifts being offered?" Luke leapt to his feet almost knocking the table over. He looked sheepish for a second before heading for the door, Sanna and me tailing behind him. Sanna linked her arm with mine, giving me a knowing wink making me blush. As far as I could tell, Sanna was a submissive wolf, as was Jen, but they both seemed so at ease amongst all this dominance and masculinity that it did put me at ease as well slightly.

As we approached the jeep, I went to climb into the back when Luke's hands grabbed my hips and led me to the passenger side. Again I suppressed the moan that was trying to escape my lips, his grip staying on my body a few seconds longer than needed. I looked over my shoulder to see his dark eyes looking back at me, filled with lust. I swallowed hard and quickly got into the front, needing to break the connection forming between us. Luke jumped in the front and we were off.

We travelled in silence, the tension between me and Luke building in the front as Sanna sat, unaware in the back. We stopped at the gardening centre where Sanna jumped out, waving goodbye as she headed inside. "I-I need to go home and change." I mutter. Luke turns on the Sat Nav and indicates with a grunt for me to enter my address. I hesitate again, before entering my address and we set off again. The air became thicker and thicker as he drove. My body feeling like it was trembling with fear and anticipation of his next touch. I pushed the feeling down, not wanting it to take over. We arrive at my apartment building and I all but jumped from the car and ran to the front door, Luke closely following behind me. "You don't have to come in." I state, to which he grunts a 'but I want to.' as I sigh and enter. I run up the stairs to my apartment and quickly unlock the door before running inside, Luke closely following behind with his large strides.

I notice Luke's eyes travel over the small space I call home, my whole apartment taking up as much room as the bedroom I woke up in. "I'm just going to take a quick shower." I mutter as I grab a change of clothes and run into the bathroom. I gingerly find a spot where my clothes will not get soaked in the small space, and turn on the water. I follow my routine quickly before dressing, my clothes clinging to my still damp skin.

I burst back out of the bathroom to a look of horror on Luke's face as he appraisers my bathroom. "You live here?" he growls. I nod and arch my brow curiously at him. "How?"

"Well usually someone lives somewhere by paying rent and having all their belongings in that space. Usually people eat and sleep in that space as well." I state with sarcasm.

He looks at me, unamused by my remarks. "This place is small and unsecure." he growls, his voice laced with that of his wolf.

I bristle. "This is my home. I live here, not you. How dare you judge what is Mine!" I growl, my possessiveness of my small accommodation apparent. He growls again and steps towards me, his hand coming up to cup my face. His eyes search my face, for what, I don't know as my eyes fall on his lips. They inch closer to mine and I do not pull away as I should. Then I feel them on mine, softly at first, the moan I have been suppressing finally escaping. Luke growls his approval as he leans in further, my hands automatically going up to slide across his stubble head. The rough feeling electrifying my skin as my mouth opens and his tongue slips in, exploring as mine does the same. I feel the heat rising fast again, consuming my very being. I quickly push back on his muscular chest, panting the same as him as I break the kiss. "I need to get to work." I mumble as I head to the door.

I wait for him to exit before locking it behind me and running down the stairs to his jeep. I do not wait for him as I jump in as soon as the lights flash to show it is unlocked. He climbs in, the tension palpable between us. He drives to the bookstore and again I jump out, slamming the door behind me as I fumble with the keys and let myself in, not daring to look back.

Once inside I sigh and rest my head back against the door. I open my eyes to see an amused Margaret coming out of the backroom with two cups of coffee. "Did I just see a certain young man drop you off?" I groan and push off the door, flipping the sign to open. She smiles as she hands me the hot beverage and I am happy that things seem to be back to normal between us after yesterday's revaluation. "Tell me all about it."

I laugh as I sip my hot beverage, telling Margaret about last night. It felt good to be able to talk to her and her face was so expressive as she took it all in. We continue to talk as I start my duties of checking the shelves, Margaret trying to sense if anything happened between Luke and me last night. I feel my skin flush as thoughts of Luke's touch come to mind, his tenderness, his kiss. Then my gut twists and my whole body sets on fire. I fall to the floor, clasping my stomach as I curse and roll around in agony. I hear Margaret's mumbled voice but cannot make out the words, and then I hear her step around me and out of the store.