Jaheim
I walk out the airport and turn right towards the car park. I can feel how close she is now and walk faster on autopilot. I need to chill, but it's hard to, especially when I begin to smell that heady scent of hers. My dick even starts to stiffen and I gotta mentally talk that shit down.
I round the corner as she jumps out of her red Escalade, wearing a grey coat with an oversized hood, black tights and high as fuck knee high boots. She’s tied her hair up into a ponytail and done her makeup, and I can see in her eyes that she’s feeling better than she was this morning.
She looks over my clothes and then smiles. “Welcome back to Montréal.”
“Thanks.” Shit, it's good to be back.
She presses her key fob to open the trunk so I can put my bags inside, and then as soon as my hands are free, I put them on her to pull her against me. I take a deep breath, releasing it slowly to take a second. I need to be careful with her, cuz I’m pretty sure she ain’t like me yet.
She inhales, too, and I feel her body relax, even through her big ass coat. Has she worn it for padding against me? Or is she cold?
She pulls out of my arms to look up at me, but I rid us of the distance between us to kiss her. She moans straight away, and I pull her closer, never being able to get enough of me inside her.
She pushes her hands up the back of my jacket, but I have to force myself away from her. If she touches me…
She’s disappointed, and breathless. “Too soon?”
“Not here.”
She nods. “Alright.” We get in the car and she turns to face me. “Your apartment?”
“No.” Hell, no. “I think somewhere public first.” If I get her alone now, I don't think it would end well. “Let's eat.”
She gives me a knowing look. “Nouveau Palais is open till three? They do good steak and pie.”
“That's good with me.”
She drives and I watch her, desperate to know what she's thinking. I can hear her heart racing inside her, her unsteady intakes of breath as she breathes. I’m more aware of everything about her now and repeatedly have to tear my eyes away from her to settle my urge to touch her.
“So, where do you wanna start? I know you must have a million and one questions. I'll answer all of them.”
“I've kinda Googled some stuff over the years...”
She smiles at the road. “Google’s a bit hit and miss. What do you think you know?”
“I'm definitely a werewolf?”
She smirks. “By the sound of that growl I heard, I'd bet my family's fortune on it. But we call ourselves wares for short.”
“Wares?”
“Yeah. There are thousands of us. My Aunt and Uncle are the alphas. Ariella’s parents, Abriya and Clarence. Uncle Clarence is my Dad's brother and my Mom was Aunt Abriya’s best friend before she changed. Abriya’s a descendent from the first of our kind, Ariya, and she has special abilities because of it. My family, the James’, keep everyone under control and have other family and friends that help to control the wares over the rest of the world, but ultimately, my Aunt and Uncle are in charge.”
Information overload... So her family's important. “Okay... And you're gonna tell me that Davonyé’s Ariella’s mate?”
She takes a quick glance at me. “Yeah, and as you know now, there’s no escaping it. Mates are spiritually joined before birth. You can try to fight it as much as you want, but you can't run from it. You'll suffer emotionally.”
“Yeah...” I’ve learned that the hard way. Fucking Von, though...
She gives me another look. “Davonyé’s changed now. Ariella changed him last month.”
“So you can sire others?”
She nods. “Yeah. Once they're over twenty.”
“How?”
“You bite them.”
“Like vampires?”
That makes her smile. “I suppose so, but we don't have those in our world.”
The fuck? “They exist?”
She nods. “Ariella’s met them. She visits the kratius a lot. Not to confuse the hell out of you, but there’s another place like earth, but vampires rule there. They have magic and all sorts of crazy shit. But like I said, don't worry about them. They can't get here.”
“So why does Ariella go there?”
“Because she's what we call an Elder. Her and Aura are who guide us. Aura created Ariya thousands of years ago.” She stops at a light and looks at me. “You met her when you changed, apparently.”
I frown. “I was on my own when I changed, apart from... Dark hair, dark skin, and wears white?”
She nods. “That's her. She protects us.”
I nod, trying to take all this shit in. Vampires and magic and other fucking worlds? To say my mind is being blown would be an understatement. And she talks about it as if it were normal…
She drives again. “It would be a lot to take for anyone... I still can't stop thinking about you being a ware for eight years and not knowing.”
“I thought I was the only one. I've travelled and never met anyone like me.”
“Wares are everywhere, but a lot stay hidden in what we call holds. There are three in Canada that my Aunt and Uncle take care of. They make sure everyone has what they need. You'll like them—when you're ready to meet them. My Uncle Clarence is amazing; all my family are.”
She parks the car, and after switching off the ignition, turns to face me.
“Family is really important to us, Jaheim. We look after all wares, but we look after our family even harder. I know this might be overwhelming to you, but you're a part of our family now, too. We'll take care of you. I'll take care of you.” She sighs. “I haven't changed yet; born wares don't have their first change until their twentieth birthday, at the exact time they were born, but I still won't let anything happen to you...” She reaches for my hand. “And you're definitely not alone anymore.”
I look at her, not even knowing what to say. I’m anxious because I have confirmation of what I expected; that I need to be careful with her, but I’m more speechless because I can't believe how much my life has changed in the space of eighteen hours.
She’s right, that all this information is overwhelming, but it’s more the thought of her still being human that I can’t stop thinking about. She makes me feel all these things that, frankly, scare me. How am I meant to control myself around her when I can’t stop thinking about all the shit I wanna do to her?
I raise her hand to my lips to kiss it. “I'm scared of hurting you.”
“I get that, but I'm not as fragile as a human. I'm stronger than most human men, but I'm not gonna lie and say I'm nearly as strong as you are, because I'm not.” She links her fingers in mine. “If it makes you feel any better, I'm scared, too. I didn’t think I’d meet my mate for a long time yet, and as you know, relationships weren’t my thing… but now I’ve found you, everything’s changed for me.”
“It has for me, too.”
“I know. We’ll take things as slow as you need, alright? We ain’t gotta rush anything. Just as long as we’re together, that’s enough.”
I run my fingers through her ponytail, desperate to kiss her but not knowing if I'll be able to stop if I do. “When's your birthday?”
“In ten months.”
I exhale. “You could've just said forever and it would’ve felt the same.”
She smiles. “We'll just have to be creative. Besides, I have some tricks to prevent any accidents.”
I narrow my eyes at her. “Like what?”
“We’ll get into that later. Come on, let's get some food. I swear I can’t stop eating.”