Chapter 8: Answered

*Jo's POV*

I closed my bedroom door and leaned my back against it, breathing hard. It had been the hardest thing I had ever done to say 'no' to Nikko at that moment, and even harder to walk into my house and shut the door on him. My body felt cold and numb from the absence of warmth and tingles that I had been feeling all night.

'So, my soulmate is a member of the wolf shifters,' I thought to myself as I began getting ready for bed.

'Mate,' I heard my internal voice whisper in confirmation.

Halfway through getting my pajamas on, I changed my mind and decided to take a hot bath instead, since I was so wired up. I walked over to my bathroom and got the water filling the tub as I restripped. Once it was full, I had to slowly step in to let my body adjust to the temperature.

I sunk into the water all the way up to my chin. Another thing I loved about my house was the giant soaking tubs. After a few minutes, I already felt more relaxed, and my mind drifted back to Nikko and our conversation tonight.

I was so enthralled with the closeness of him that I forgot a few of the questions I should have asked, but at least I found out the basics. And I had been honest with him; for some reason, it really didn't bother me. It was as if I had found out he was adopted. It wouldn't change how I felt about him, it would just be a part of who he was. That's how I felt about the wolf thing.

I still didn't know a lot about him and the culture, but I couldn't see him ever treating me poorly. When we learned about them in school, they had told us that they were known to have extreme emotions, which meant that the good was extreme, but also that the bad was extreme. Aggression seemed to be a requirement for a wolf shifter.

I reached over and grabbed my phone from the side of the tub. After typing and deleting multiple texts, I finally sent a simple one to 'hot mall guy'.

'So, can I text you with any questions I might have?'

I looked at the time on my clock and realized that they were probably still in the car, and the service probably wasn't that great that close to the mountain. I put my hand to my head as I realized I didn't even ask where his pack was. But based on how familiar he was with the house we had eaten dinner in, I figured it must be close to that.

I sank back down into the water and floated until the water became too cold. Then, I stepped out and dried myself off, wrapping myself in the towel and walking across the hall to my room. When I opened the door, I got a breath of evergreen and lavender and took a deep breath in. Then the door shut behind me and I felt tingles all over my body as I was pushed up against the wall.

Nikko stood in front of me, smiling as he pinned my arms back. He stared down at me, taking in the towel and his eyes darkened slightly. I felt a rumble inside of my mind and ached to have his body on mine.

"I thought you left," I whispered, trying to catch my breath.

"I realized I forgot something, so I had to turn around and come back," he said softly as he lifted my arms above my head and used one of his large hands to pin the wrists.

"What did you forget?" I managed to choke out as he trailed his free hand down my arm, sending sparks and tingles in its wake.

"This." And he grabbed my face and pushed his lips onto mine.

I gasped and thought I was going to die of ecstacy. I had been kissed before, and it never felt anything like this. I expected the kiss to be rough, but it actually started off very soft and sweet; almost hesitant. But as I responded and pushed my lips back into his, he responded as well. He let go of my wrists and grabbed my hip to pull my body tighter against his, and I couldn't help but let out a light moan as I wrapped my free arms on top of his shoulders.

Nikko suddenly pulled his lips from mine and I opened my eyes to see his almost completely black. They flickered to green for a second and then back to black. Then, with a low growl, he gritted his teeth and his eyes went back to green…darker than his normal green, but still green.

"Maybe kissing you while you are in a towel wasn't the brightest idea," he said with a reassuring smile to me.

"Why?" I asked, still breathless and happy that our bodies were still pressed together, even if our lips weren't. "I thought it was great."

"Oh, it was definitely great. The problem is, my wolf thinks so too, and he is hard to control when he gets this excited," he said, brushing his thumb softly across my cheek.

"Your wolf is a different person?" I asked in shock. "Is that why your eyes change color?"

"Our wolves are spirits inside of us, given to us by the Moon Goddess. Some of the stronger wolves, like Alpha wolves, are strong enough to be their own entity. They have a voice, opinions, thoughts, and even names. Then, some of the weaker wolves provide more guidance through emotions, like a sense of foreboding or deja vu, and don't actually speak with their hosts," he explained. "My eyes change color when my wolf is trying to be heard, especially when he is fighting against me. The darker they get, the closer he is to the surface."

"That is amazing." And I indeed was wowed by this. I just assumed being a wolf shifter meant they had magical power to shift, I had no idea they were actually taking on a wolf spirit. "So, wait, that means your wolf has a name, right? That's what you said."

"Yes," he nodded. "My wolf's name is Ash."

"I like that name," I said with a smile. "Ash."

Nikko's eyes suddenly flashed pitch black again, before he shut his eyes and he staggered a couple steps back. I craved his touch back, but wasn't sure what I should do in this situation.

"What's he fighting you about now?" I asked. "He doesn't want you touching me?"

"Quite the opposite, actually," Nikko said with a chuckle, and then looked up at me with heat in his eyes. In a low voice, he said, "If it were up to him, I would take you right here, right now."

I felt heat swell up in my core at his words, and I knew I was blushing. Nikko's eyes flashed black again.

"Like, right now, we can smell that you're aroused, and it is driving us crazy."

If I thought my cheeks were red before, that was nothing. Now, I felt like my whole face was on fire. I didn't know what to say, so we sat there in silence for a few moments as Nikko took some slow, deep breaths, presumably gaining control. Finally, he broke the silence.

"I apologize," he said. "Like I said earlier, I am not used to having feelings like these, so that makes it slightly harder to control. I will get better at controlling it though, don't worry."

"What if I don't want you to control it?" I whispered, and saw him grin. I loved his smile.

"Then we'll cross that road when we get there," he said. "But for tonight, I just wanted to have a first date kiss…well and honestly, to show you what you could have if you choose a life with me."

"Well, you definitely accomplished that," I said, rubbing my arm. "Does that mean you have to leave now?"

"I'm afraid so," Nikko sighed. "I really shouldn't be gone from my pack any longer than necessary."

"Would you like me to walk you out?"

"No, that's alright," he looked at me nervously. "I actually came in through your window, because I didn't want to scare your mom, so I can just jump down from here."

He started to walk towards the window, but I stopped him.

"Wait!" I said, and he stopped. "Could I at least have another kiss goodbye?"

Nikko smiled and instantly walked back over to me, but before he could do anything ,I jumped up at him, wrapping my arms around his neck and pressing my lips to his. This time, I heard him give out a slight gasp, before giving into the kiss. I felt my towel start to loosen as it rubbed against his chest, and instantly let go of him so I could catch it and hold it tight against me. Nikko let out a laugh.

"What am I going to do with you?" he asked, kissing the top of my head, before turning to jump out the window. Then he stopped right as he got to the edge. "Oh, and to answer your text- please ask me any and all questions you have and I will be happy to answer them. I won't hide anything from you."

"Thank you," I whispered as he stood there with the open window. "And thank you for tonight."

"Don't thank me," he stared at me. "Just being with you is thanks enough."

And with that, he was gone.