Chapter 8

I woke up with a start, my unfocused eyes hovering about the ceiling as I stared at the intricate lines of the board above.

The warmth beside me was comforting, his presence a reassuring sight for me, and I pulled closer into the warmth, content in staying here forever.

But the sharp alarm disrupted whatever peace I was having. Toby shifted on the bed to turn it off, and I lazily allowed my eyes to move to the wall.

“What?!” I jumped out of bed as I saw the time. How was I still in bed by this time?

“What is wrong?” Toby asked, and if I wasn’t so annoyed, I would have appreciated the bed voice and bed hair and bed... everything because he looked too good.

Dare I say he was glowing.

“The time, I am late.” The suspicious amount of air I was feeling on my body was enough to know that I was still naked, and with the way his eyes were devouring me, I grabbed the sheet and wrapped them around my body.

Only I dug a bigger hole for myself, because he was as naked as the day he was born, and he made no attempt to cover himself, so I was blessed with his body.

“Oh, yea.” He recalled, a bit too reluctant for my liking. I have been looking for an outlet to let out my anger, and this was the perfect opportunity.

“Oh yea? Is that all you can say?” I fumed, gathering the unending sheet around my breast.

“You looked like you needed the rest, and I decided to let you sleep. Your pack isn’t very far; you can still make it even if you leave in an hour.”

I reached up, fisting my hair and dragging it backwards, while resisting the urge to strangle him because how can someone just constantly ruin something with his mouth?

‘That is because his mouth is not occupied.’ Lia, my wolf provided after she had gone awol for several days, and she filled my head with different scenarios on how to keep his mouth busy that I flushed red.

‘Lia, now is not the time.’ I scolded her, and I shut her off, dragging my eyes to look at my mate, who had just managed to cover his manhood with his hand.

A very poor job though, because I could still see the mushroom head sticking out, but that wasn’t why I was angry.

“You know this was important for me, Toby; I have explained all this to you. The only way you could help me was at least waking me up on time so I would be able to meet up.”

He shrugged his shoulders; he had the audacity to remain nonchalant when I was holding myself not to tip his head off. “You said I was selfish, and I will be selfish. I understand that you want to go, and it is fine. But I will not be helping you leave me.”

This man definitely knew how to pull all the buttons that triggered me because I had nothing to say. He did have a point though.

“Fine. Have it your way.” I fumed, and I stormed to the bathroom, dropping the sheets on the floor.

I was grateful for the bath that we had, and I turned on the tap, watching the tub get filled slowly. I dipped my hands into the water and nodded. The cold water was the perfect temperature to cool my anger.

I stepped inside the bath, immersing myself completely in the water, and I closed my eyes, practicing my breathing exercise.

I don’t know how long I was inside, because I was sure at some point I slept off, but I woke up and stepped out of the water, shivering as the cold licked at my body.

I looked down at my wrinkled skin and released a sigh. Yea, definitely too long.

I grabbed one of the fluffy towels on the rack and wrapped it around my body, padding to the room, while leaving a wake of small puddles on the floor, and Toby was still in the bed, typing away at the phone.

“I was only texting Kane.” He barely took his eyes off the screen. It was as if he could read my mind, and I frowned. Was it obvious that I was glaring at his phone, wondering who was taking his precious time?

“Hnn.” I made a small noise at the back of my throat and continued my business, putting on a brown short and a shirt.

I glanced at the clock again, wondering how I had managed to sleep till past 11.

Maybe because Toby and I had woken up in the middle of the night, or more like I was woken up to a raging hardon behind me and I was too turned on to ignore it.

And somehow we ended up having steamy, angry sex. A 10/10 for me, and I recommend it for any arguing couple.

But that was beside the point because now that I was late and too angry to go anywhere, I had no choice but to postpone the trip.

“Aren’t you going to go do pack stuff?" I asked Toby as the bed sank from my weight.

“No, I have already informed Kane. I want to stay here with you.”

“How do you know I am not going again?” I looked at him with squinted eyes, and he shrugged in that nonchalant way that always irks me, but I allowed him this time.

I was going to say something, but the knock on the door beat me to it, and I stood up to answer it; however, Toby was faster than me, and he opened the door even as the scent of fried eggs hit me.

“What is all this?” I asked amused as he held a tray in his hand, but that didn’t stop me from salivating.

Hello, breakfast in bed.

“I just wanted to treat you to something nice and apologize for some things I may have said that come off as rude.”

I wasn’t going to lie; I swoon. This was my first relationship and one of the first gestures Toby had done to show interest, but it was enough to make me smile.

“You know all this will not make me stay?”

Of course I will always manage to ruin it with my big mouth, but it only made him chuckle, and he shook his head.

“Just come and eat; else I will be forced to finish everything.

“That leaves me no choice; I will just have to suck it out of you.”

We realized together what I just said, and it was comical the way our jaws dropped in sync. I glanced at him, and we couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

“Uhh.. Can you just unhear that?”

“Oh no, never. It is going to be a special Maddie’s moment, and I will be locking it for safekeeping.” He directed his wide smile to me, and I couldn’t help it. I mirror his smile, walking towards him, and we sat down together.

Breakfast with Toby was the best; I wondered why we had never thought of that. It was filled with laughter, good food, and hearty banter, and I was too full to lift myself up.

The rest of the day went on like that, and we stayed inside our room, just talking and trying to spend as much time as we could, ignoring that tomorrow everything would change.

And I allow it.

Today, we were just two mates in love with each other and not an aspiring alpha or head warrior.

But like all good things, it was quick to come to an end, and we spent the night in each other’s embrace, making love until we slept off.

As early as 4 am, I had forced myself up from the bed, took a quick shower, and with my bag in hand I walked out, refusing to look back for the fear that I would be tempted to rejoin him in the bed.

I had slipped a few of his shirts into my bag, sealing them in a ziplock bag to preserve their scent, and I made for downstairs.

The pack was deadly quiet, and there were no souls around save for the men that were keeping watch, and they managed to spare me a nod as I passed them.

I dragged my legs towards the garage, one step at a time, but each step became heavy the further I got away from my mate.

I stilled as I heard footsteps approaching, and the undeniable scent of pine trees and bergamot filled my nose, and I perked up.

“Toby?”