Rayvin was walking in a daze, she registered that Mikael was mind linking someone, probably Ben, and took the moment to get her thought straight.
When she had walked up to Mikael’s office, she had been more than nervous. She had been scared of what was waiting for her. Once she had reached the top floor, she had been distracted by a faint scent of freshly brewed coffee and honey. It had distracted her enough to get her to the alpha’s office and knock on the door.
As she heard Mikael ask her to come in, she almost turned around. But she opened the door, and the scent had hit her full-on. Both her animals had let her know she had found her mate, the two of them were in total agreement. Rayvin had just stared at Mikael sitting behind his desk. He was her mate.
As he had run up to her, she had thought he was about to kiss her, but they had just looked at each other. He had gotten older, but not in a bad way. The awkward teenager had been replaced by a man. He was muscular and moved with determination and purpose. His blond hair and beard made him look rugged, but his deep blue eyes were the same as they always had been.
Rayvin could drown in the ocean of his eyes. She had been helpless when he put his hand on her cheek and she had felt the sparks that set her skin on fire. When he had pulled her into an embrace, she had panicked for a moment. But his scent and the feeling of his arms around her had her returning the hug and burying herself in him.
He felt like home. She felt safe and calm in his arms. The world seemed a little better when he was close to her. She had missed him more than she had let herself admit.
When he had taken out her necklace, she had almost cried. Not only because of what the necklace meant to her, but the fact that he had kept it on his desk as a reminder of her.
Rayvin felt guilt as she walked with Mikael’s arm around her. She was going to have to tell him everything, at least most of it. Not only would he understand why this mating was doomed, but he would never look at her the same way again. She was terrified that he would tell her that Milly had been right all along.
“You are far away,” he smiled at her.
“Sorry, things are moving fast,” she told him.
“I know, it’s okay. Do you like it?” he asked her and she followed his gaze.
Tucked into the treeline there was a house. The facade was clad in shingles and the woodwork was in dark wood. It wasn’t a small house; it was three storeys, and the large veranda on the second floor spanned the entire house. The view over the village must be stunning, Rayvin thought.
“It looks amazing, but three storeys? Did your ego finally grow so big that it needed an entire floor for itself?” she joked. Mikael laughed and nuzzled into her neck again.
“Goddess, I really have missed you, Ray,” he chuckled.
The sincerity in his voice made Rayvin smile. She tilted her head, so it rested against his.
“Right back at you,” she smiled.
“I got a little carried away,” he admitted as he looked up again.
“To be honest, I mostly use the bedroom and the living room. Sometimes the office, if I need to work in peace,” he confessed.
“How many rooms are there?” she asked as they walked up to the front door.
“Well, let me show you,” he smiled and opened the door.
The interior was a mix of modern and homely. They entered into a mudroom with plenty of space to hang their coats.
“Down here there is a gym, a workshop and storage areas. The fun things are on the second and third storeys,” Mikael told her.
They took a stair and entered the enormous kitchen. To Rayvin’s surprise, it was a round room. In the middle of the room, a huge cooker hood in copper hung down over the stove that was placed on the round kitchen island. The walls were covered in counters and wall cabinets.
“Do you cook often?” Rayvin asked as she looked around.
“Not as often as I would like. I usually eat in the pack house. But I would like to use this kitchen more,” he told her.
“In here is the dining room,” he said, showing her into a large room with a stone fireplace and a huge dining table made of chunky wood. It seated twelve people and stood on a soft cream-coloured rug.
“I love the table,” Rayvin said honestly and ran her hand over the smooth surface.
“I’m happy to hear that, I made it,” Mikael smiled.
“You made it?” she asked, surprised.
“Yeah, apparently I’m good at working with my hands,” he told her as he ushered her into the next room.
They entered the living room, and the ceiling was two stories high with wood beams crisscrossing above them. There was a freakishly huge couch and a TV that was the largest one Rayvin had ever seen. There was another fireplace and a bar area. What took her breath away was the enormous two-storey window that looked out onto the terrace and the village.
“Wow,” she said. It was all she could say.
“You like?” Mikael asked, sounding a little nervous.
“Yeah, it’s amazing,” she smiled at him. “And I love how you stole a jumbotron from a stadium,” she said, eyeing the TV. Mikael just chuckled.
“Back there is my office, a bathroom and another room,” Mikael waved in the direction of a corridor.
Instead of going to look at that part of the house, he led her upstairs. They came to a landing that spanned the entire house. They looked down into the living room.
“These are all guest rooms, for now. They all have en suites,” Mikael said as they walked past three doors.
“This is the master bedroom,” he smiled as they came to the final door.
Rayvin tensed a little. She didn’t know what his expectations were of her, and she hadn’t figured out what she wanted.
“Relax, Ray. I’m not going to demand that you move in with me in this room this second,” he said, as he must have felt her tense up.
“I’m sorry, Max. I’m probably the worst mate ever,” she sighed.
“Don’t say that,” he told her and pulled her into him. She let herself be engulfed in his strong arms.
“I have waited ten years for you. I can wait a little longer if it means you are comfortable,” he said.
“Nine,” she corrected him.
“Sorry?” he said.
“It’s been nine years since I left. You said ten,” she told him.
“Yeah, I may have had a crush on you before you left. I was really looking forward to your eighteenth birthday to find out if I was your mate,” he chuckled.
Rayvin looked at him with surprise.
“You did?” she asked.
“Yes,” he nodded. “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to feel pressured,” he told her.
“I had a crush on you too,” she smiled.
“What?” he said. Looking devastated. That wasn’t the response she had expected.
“If I had known, I would never have let you go. I should have done something,” he said.
“No, Max, don’t think like that. I don’t blame you, and I know you did what you could. We both lost something that day, but it also led to good things,” she told him.
“Good things? I had you right here and lost you for nine years because of my father’s decision,” Mikael huffed.
“Yes. But without that decision, you would never have become alpha a year later. The pack would have suffered under your father for several years more,” she reminded him.
He looked at her with surprise.
“What? You didn’t think I kept tabs on you? Of course I did,” she smiled.
He burst out smiling and gave her waist a squeeze.
“Okay, let’s find a place for you to sleep. I recommend this room,” he said and pointed to the room next to the master bedroom.
“I’ll take it,” she nodded, and he opened the door and showed her the room.
It was a spacious room with a large bed, a wardrobe, a desk and a fireplace. There was a door that Rayvin presumed led to the bathroom. The window showed the small garden at the back of the house and the woods.
“It looks really cosy. I love that you have fireplaces everywhere,” Rayvin told him.
“I’m happy you like it,” he said, placing her bag on the bed. “The fireplace in the master bedroom is even bigger,” he added.
“Strange thing to flex about,” she laughed, and he smiled at her.
“Ready to head downstairs and have a talk?” he asked, holding out his hand.
Rayvin was definitely not ready, not even almost. This would be the end of the peace and happiness she was feeling. She wanted to tell him they could talk later, to ask him to just hang out for a while. But that wouldn’t be fair to him. She needed to let him go before they got too attached.
“Sure,” she therefore said and took his hand.
Mikael looked at her for a while, then he nodded and they walked downstairs.
“Sit,” he told her and gently nudged her towards the enormous couch. He walked away, towards the kitchen as Rayvin sighed and resigned to her fate and sat down.
Rayvin wasn’t a small person. She was taller than the average she-wolf. But the couch didn’t agree with her. It made her feel like a pygmy as she scooted further and further back to find the back of it. When she finally made it and leaned into it, it embraced her. There were no better words for it, Rayvin thought as she sank into the soft, plush couch.
As she relaxed and stopped fighting it, she found herself truly loving it. She could spend the rest of her life right in this spot and she would be happy, she thought.
Mikael came back with two beers and stopped by the fireplace to light it. Rayvin smiled as she felt the dry heat from the fire. She could almost forget her sorrows, she thought as Mikael handed her a beer and then joined her on the couch.
“You look much more relaxed,” he smiled.
“This monstrosity of a couch will do that to you,” she sighed and wiggled further into it.
“You will make me jealous,” he laughed and took a swipe out of his bottle.
Rayvin took a sip of her own beer and decided it was time to get serious. She put in the effort to sit up. She drew her legs into sitting cross-legged on the couch, facing Mikael.
“Time for a serious talk, Max,” she said.
Mikael looked at Rayvin as she looked down on the beer bottle she was twisting in her hands. He knew she was nervous about what she was about to tell him. Whatever it was, it had her thinking that she could not be his mate. He had understood that much. Mikael didn’t want to belittle her problems, whatever they were. But he knew they would fix them together. He had no plans of letting go of her again. “Ray, I don’t care what you are about to say. Well, that didn’t sound right,” he sighed and rubbed his neck.“I do care because it seems important to you. What I’m trying to say is that it won’t change how I feel about you. You are my mate, and before you were my mate, you were my best friend. Nothing will change that,” he told her and placed his hand on her knee.She looked up at him with a serious face. She nodded, but he had a feeling that she didn’t believe him.“So, why can’t you be my mate?” he asked her. She looked surprised, and he had to chuckle.“I can read you like a book Ray
Rayvin was sitting in Mikael’s lap with his arms around her and listening to his heartbeat. It was soothing and relaxing. She still couldn’t wrap her head around the fact that Mikael had asked her to stay. After everything she had told him, he still wanted her to stay. She wondered if he would feel the same way after he had time to think. But at least she had given herself a couple of days to enjoy this. “Are you getting hungry?” Mikael asked her. “A little, but I think I have decided to take up permanent resident here,” she smiled.“I wouldn’t complain,” he chuckled and kissed her on top of her head. Rayvin’s phone started ringing. It was the melody to “Who’s afraid of the big bad wolf”. Mikael chuckled even more.“Sorry, I need to get this,” she told him and fished the phone out of her pocket. “Sure, you can use my office if you need privacy,” he said, still not letting go of her. “This will do,” she shrugged and shifted in his lap so she could lean back against his chest. “A
Rayvin was more nervous than she wanted to admit as they walked back to the pack house. Mikael had a firm grip on her hand and she tried to focus on the feeling of the sparks dancing over her skin where he touched her. This was a big step for her. She hadn’t even told her own pack what she was. Alpha Brutus knew, of course, as did his son and their gamma that had trained her. But that was it. Now she had told Mikael that he should tell everyone. It was scary, but she felt it was necessary. If she was going to do this, if she wanted to give this a real chance. She knew she couldn’t keep any secrets. Mikael seemed to notice her mood. He stopped before they got to the door and looked at her. “Are you okay with this?” he asked her. “I’m nervous, but okay,” she smiled at him. “You would tell me if you weren’t, right?” “Of course I would. When have I ever told you what you wanted to hear?” she said, tilting her head as she looked at him.“Good point,” he nodded, and started walking a
“Relax, Max, I didn’t expect you to be a monk. You’re an alpha, a good-looking one for that. I don’t care,” she chuckled and took a swipe of beer. He looked up at her. He still looked hesitant, as if it was a trap. Rayvin felt sorry for him and put her beer down and turned so that she faced him. “Listen to me, Max. I don’t care who you have seen or how many. As long as they are in the past, that’s where they will stay. Okay?” she said. He relaxed and smiled.“Okay,” he nodded, and took another sip of beer. “Besides, it’s not like I’m a virgin,” she said, making Mikael splutter out his beer and start coughing.“Are you okay?” she asked, worried.She let go of his hand and got up to gently pat him on the back.“You can’t say things like that,” he wheezed.“What? That I’m not a virgin? Do you have a problem with that?” she asked. Looking at him as he drew in a breath a little too quickly, which triggered another round of coughing. “No,” he finally got out. “But when you talk about it
“You have good reasons why you hold back Ray. I don’t have a problem with it. I’m happy,” Mikael smiled. Rayvin looked into his eyes and couldn’t help but to smile back. She was happy too, she never thought she would have this, and now she had Mikael. The thought was dizzying. “I really want to kiss you, Ray,” Mikael confessed.Rayvin acted before she had time to think it through too carefully. She put a hand on his shoulder and closed the distance between them. The moment their lips met sparks erupted throughout her body.Mikael seemed taken by surprise, but soon recovered and took a hold of her nape and deepened the kiss. His soft lips were demanding against hers, egging her on. His hand around her drew her in closer to him. As she let out a sigh in contentment, he let his tongue find its way into her mouth. Rayvin lost all concept of time as they kissed. Both her arms were wrapped around Mikael’s neck. His hand around her nape holding her tightly and with his other arm, he made
Rayvin happily continued eating. The food tasted amazing and she was hungry after the morning’s run. Mikael watched her eat.“What?” she asked when he continued.“Nothing, I just thought you had outgrown your sweet tooth and had gone all health nut,” he smiled, looking at her plate. It largely was covered in pancakes, fruit and syrup. There was a small pile of scrambled eggs and a good amount of bacon. She shrugged. “Why would I do that?” she asked.“Yeah, it sounded wrong the moment I heard myself say it,” he laughed and swiped a strip of bacon off her plate and started eating it.“Hey! Next time there will be a fork in your hand, alpha boy,” she warned him. He just laughed and kissed her. After they were finished eating, they headed up to Mikael’s office with Ben and Diana. Mikael led Rayvin over to the couch and sat next to her with his arm around her shoulders. “So, what did you find?” he asked Ben and Diana. “Everything looked okay. I have sent pictures to your email,” Dian
“You can shift your body temperature, you can drink scolding coffee, you have scales that act as armour,” Mikael started counting on his fingers. “I’m guessing you withstanding my father’s alpha command should be included,” he then added.Rayvin, that had been nodding up until then, frowned. “Not really, but kind of,” she said. “Could you be any vaguer?” he laughed.“Sorry,” she smiled. “I’m not used to talking about this, not even my alpha and I talk openly about it,” she admitted.“Am I making you uncomfortable?” he asked her.“No, I just realised that I don’t really know how to explain everything. It hasn’t exactly been explained to me. I just have learned along the way,” she smiled. “But let’s start with the alpha command. If you have a human in your pack, can you use the command on them?” she asked Mikael.“You know I can’t,” he huffed.“Why not?” she asked.“You know this Ray,” he said.“Yes, but tell me anyway,” she insisted.“The alpha command only works on shifters, as it
“Of course,” Mikael said with a small smile, and took Rayvin’s hand. They walked to her car in silence. Rayvin knew that this was hard for Mikael, it was hard for her as well. Her body and her animals objected to the idea of going off pack land without her mate. They hadn’t marked and mated, and Milly was here. Rayvin had a feeling she should remain to stake her claim.But she also knew she had to go. The sooner this investigation was over, the sooner she could start focusing on her new life. Somewhere between yesterday afternoon and today, she had stopped seeing this as something that would end and started seeing it as permanent.If she was lucky, she would find this Frank by the end of the day and she could write up her report. Mikael and she could go over to Graham and his luna and give them the report in person. Rayvin was curious about luna Bella. She would like to meet this omega luna. They arrived at her car. Mikael tugged on her hand so she ended up in his arms. “Be careful