“I feel fine, Theo. I just want you.” Our faces were millimeters away. Foreheads touching, lips open in anticipation.
“Trust me, I want to. I wish we could, but I want to do this when you’re ready and willing and not just because your hormones are making you horny. You’ll regret doing this later.”
I didn’t listen to him and nipped his upper lip.
“Margo, no. We need to stop.” I pulled away at his serious tone and looked at him. He had a hard look on his face, and his hands had captured both of my roaming wrists.
“Okay,” I gulped, trying to hide the fact that I felt rejected. I clambered off the bed and started walking towards the bathroom. Theo groaned and said my name like he was cursing. He followed me and stood in front of the doorway, blocking me.
“It’s not that I don’t want to. I just want to wait until you know you’re ready.”
“I do know I’m ready,” I said earnestly, putting my hands on his waist, my thumbs brushing the thick muscles underneath.
“Margo, there is nothing I want more than to throw you on my bed and ravish you, but I know you aren’t ready for that, and I’m trying really hard to control myself. You affect every part of me just by touching me, just by looking at me. But I want to be together when we’re both in the right mindset. This is the first time you’ve touched me in weeks. and I know some small part of you knows this isn’t the right time.”
I blushed, a warm heat filling my face and neck at his words. His arm wrapped around my shoulder as I hid my face in his chest.
“Now, why don’t we go downstairs and get something to eat?” he suggested. I nodded, and we walked downstairs, me before him.
Reese and Cam were sitting downstairs on the couches while Gemma was bustling around, trying to clean up after my destructive state.
“Why are you all in my house?” Theo asked amusingly. Gemma stopped moving, un unfolded blanket and pillow hung in her grasp. Reese snorted loudly, and his head shot back in laughter.
“We wanted to see how your little wolf was holding up." Reese smirked. I glared but blushed nonetheless.
“I’m fine,” I grumbled, holding onto Theo’s forearm.
Reese shook his head and pushed himself off the couch. “That’s not what I heard. I heard you were a little cranky these past few days,” he cooed to me as he passed, ruffling my hair with one hand while the other stayed tucked in his pocket.
I pushed his hand off me and growled. I understood what Theo mean when he said my emotions would be heightened; one moment, I’m trying to seduce my mate, the next, I’m almost in tears, and then I’m ready to rip his brother’s hand clear off his body for touching me.
“Oh.” Reese’s eyebrows shot up, and he gave me a sarcastic look of fear. “Pup’s got claws.”
“Reese, quit it. You remember what it was like to be newly shifted.” Theo gave his brother a stern look and pushed me forward gently.
“I was just teasing, sis, no need to bite my hand off.” I ignored him and went into the kitchen. Theo was close behind me, his hand never leaving the small of my back.
“Just ignore him,” he murmured.
“I usually do,” I joked.
✽✽✽
After a week of doting on me, Theo was immediately launched back into his work. Claims of misconduct and unfair treatment surfaced, and he spent most of the day in his office. I made him snacks and brought him a cup of coffee every so often. He would cover his phone on his chest and kiss me before returning to his call.
Theo put Reese and Eli in charge of training me in self-defense, both in my human and wolf forms. Eli took his job more seriously than his brother, going as far as to create a point system with rewards and punishments for how well I performed.
Reese mostly sat on the grass next to us, eating the snacks meant for Eli and me and giving me snarky comments about my feeble attacks.
I collapsed on the ground, exhausted after our tenth training session. Eli made me run two miles before practicing my retaliations from being grabbed or attacked from behind. Every time, he got his arms around me and held me still while I kicked and bit and cursed, claiming that once I got free, he was going to be in a world of trouble.
Reese patted my shoulder as I laid next to him.
“Come on, get up, you think your enemy is going to wait until you’re well-rested?” Eli called provocatively. I groaned and told him to leave me alone. “Margo, Theo’s going to be mad if he comes out here and finds you on the ground instead of learning how to fight.”
“Theo will be mad at you, he’ll tell me I’m doing wonderful,” I teased, sticking my tongue out.
“I’m going to tell him that you and Reese were sitting over there flirting the entire time,” he said flatly. I sat up immediately, flipping myself over to look at him in outrage.
“You wouldn’t,” I denied, still concerned that he would.
He shrugged his shoulders. “You never know,” he smirked, kicking his heel.
I snarled but stood up nonetheless and pushed Reese over. He slumped to the ground and opened his mouth in surprise.
“How dare you,” he said, brushing the grass from his shoulders.
“What are you even doing here?”
“I’m here for moral support,” he claimed, peeling another orange open and throwing the scraps behind him.
“You’re just taking up space,” I said, walking back over to Eli.
He growled and pushed himself off the ground. “I’ll show you a waste of space, sis.” He grabbed my arm and pinned it behind my back. I turned and jerked my arm out of his grasp. He
