Reaching his bedroom door, Aaron quietly lowered the handle and slipped inside, shutting it noiselessly behind him. Charity was still fast asleep on his bed, by the looks of it she hadn''t moved in the time he had been gone.
Silently he crept over to the bed andy down beside her, gently pulling her into his embrace. She stirred slightly, wriggling herself to mold to his frame before settling back into a deep slumber. Closing his eyes, he allowed her intoxicating scent to infuse him, breathing in deeply he held her close. His body had been unable to help but react to her movements against him but he reigned his wolf in, now was not the time to be teasing her, she needed her mate to protect her from the horrors she had seen and done, keep her calm through the confusion and let her know she was safe.
Falling into a light sleep beside her, his dreams were filled with a stunning white wolf with a silver tint howling at the moon before teasingly running from him staying just far enough ahead that he couldn''t catch her but not fast enough that she left his sight. He chased her, on and on through the woods, jumping rocks and fallen trees, following her sweet scent as she led him deeper and deeper, ncing back to entice him onwards. Finally, as she reached a clearing, she slowed enough that he could reach her. Gently pouncing forward he softly pushed her to the floor onto her side, sniffing her alluring aroma before licking her muzzle and growling intently. She purred back at him, her eyes heavy with l**t as she extended her neck in submission, driving his wolf into a frenzy. Howling, he straddled her body, trapping her beneath him as she gazed up at him, nuzzling into her neck, his wolf form yearning for her tightness around his shaft.
A loud scream woke him abruptly, next to him Charity was thrashing wildly under the nket, ''no no no!'' she cried, her tightly shut eyes leaking tears, making small rivers down her pale cheeks, ''leave her alone! Kimmy! Kimmy! no! let her go! Kimmy!!'' she screamed in terror. Aaron grabbed his iling mate and held her to him calling her name, ''Charity, wake up, it''s just a dream, wake up baby, wake up'' he pleaded. His heart felt like it was being ripped apart at her anguished cries. Slowly Charity''s body calmed and she gradually opened her eyes, staring at Aaron with fear etched into her pupils as she sobbed. ''He had Kimmy'' she whispered, ''I couldn''t get to her, he was pulling her away and something was holding me back, I couldn''t save her'' her voice cracked, her throat wracked with guilt. ''Shhh, it''s ok baby, Kimmy is fine, she''s with her family, you did save her, she''s ok'' he whispered into her hair as he rocked her gently in his arms.
Charity rxed at his words and her sobs relented into shuddering hups as she allowed herself to ept that it was just a dream. ''It was so real'' she said burying her head into his chest as if trying to hide herself from the vision still so prominent in her mind. ''I know baby'' he said huskily, ''but it wasn''t, you saved her, you saved her'' he repeated over and over.
Getting up from the bed, Aaron went to the bathroom and returned with a nnel, he sat on the edge of the bed and carefully wiped her face, cing the cold material against her eyes, cooling the redness that had appeared around them. A soft knock at the door drew their attention, dropping the nnel on the bedside table Aaron walked to the bedroom door and turned the handle. The dishevelled figure of Chloe barged past him and ran toward Charity, throwing her arms around her friend''s neck and nting a shaky kiss on her best friends still damp cheek. Holding her tightly she whispered, ''thank you! thank you, if you hadn''t been there if we hadn''t agreed to meet in the forest if you hadn''t heard her scream..'' she trailed off as the horrible thought ran through her head, unable to utter the terrible words.
Hugging her even more tightly she said ''I can''t believe you were so brave, Kimmy said you just jumped at him, getting his attention while shouting at her to run'' pulling back she looked at Charity with an intense gaze ''she thinks you are her hero'' she said solemnly, making Charity blush red ''i''m no hero'' she muttered averting her gaze. ''Oi'' shouted Chloe sharply, causing Charity to jump, ''you ARE a hero, if you hadn''t done what you did, my little sister, our family''s baby, would be gone and we probably would never have seen her again. Don''t ever think that what you did wasn''t incredible'' she growled with passion. Pulling away from her she smiled, ''I also forgive you for standing me upst night'' she teased, causing a small giggle to leave Charity''s lips. Chloe stayed for another half an hour, sat on the bed together, theyughed and teased, Chloe telling her all about the very sexy warrior who had caught her eye, keeping her mind from the cloud that followed her. Finally, she stood, needing to return to her family and check on her sister. Charity smiled as she left, her body the most rxed it had been since the day before. Aaron stepped outside, following Chloe and grabbed her arm gently, ''thanks foring to see her'' he said gruffly, Chloe touched his arm, ''she is my very best friend, and she saved my sisters life'' she replied pointedly, ''I knew she would need me, she''s not like us, she doesn''t understand yet that what she did was necessary, that that arsehole''s death was not her fault, that he chose his fate the moment heid a hand on my sister'' her eyes shed with anger. ring up at him she continued, ''Take care of my friend Aaron, you may be the future Alpha, but if you fail to protect her I will rip parts out of your body!'' she growled before turning and walking down the corridor toward the stairs.
Staring after her, his mouth hanging open, Aaron blinked a few times before giving a small grin, he wouldn''t normally allow a pack member to speak to him like that but as it mirrored his own thoughts on someone hurting his mate he let it slide. Turning toward the door, he opened it and walked back into his room, shutting the door behind him. Charity was sat on the bed, tv remote in her hand, idly flicking through channels, the nket wrapped loosely around her shoulders, showing off her creamy smooth skin. Crossing the room, he sat behind her and pulled her back into his embrace, feeling the warmth of her back against his chest. She sighed deeply, rxing into his embrace as he kissed her neck softly, ''Just to warn you'' he muttered, worried about how she would react, ''my mother is home. He felt Charity stiffen in his arms before she slowly pulled away and turned to stare at him, unaware that the movement had dropped the nket from her torso leaving her firm breasts exposed.
''your mum?'' gasped Charity, shocked, ''she''s alive?'' she asked. Aaron looked confused, ''yeah, why wouldn''t she be alive?'' he replied as his eyes travelled down her torso to rest on her bosom, unconsciously licking his lips. Seeing where his eyes were, Charity hastily dragged the nket around her again, hiding the view, ''hey!'' she snapped, ''eyes up here when you are hitting me with news that your dead mother is actually alive!'' taking a deep breath she continued, ''You have never mentioned her, no-one in the pack house has, I have never seen her here, I assumed she had died! I didn''t want to ask as I assumed you hadn''t said anything because you were not ready to talk about it!'' she eximed.
Snapping his eyes to Charity''s, Aaron started to grin then chuckle while she sat across from him looking perplexed. ''My mother is very much alive, and currently down the hall being "weed home" by my father in their bedroom'' he said pulling a look of horror and making puking faces, ''you were lucky you didn''t get to see their reunion, I on the other hand got a front-row seat'' he gaggedically, causing Charity to startughing too.
''Well that doesn''t exin why no-one talks about her'' she chided shaking her head in confusion. Aaron waved his hand dismissively, ''oh that''s easy'' he replied, ''the bond between mates is the strongest thing you''ll find between werewolves, it kills us to be away from our other half, it''s like we''ve been ripped in two'' he said softly, holding her gaze and making her blush, ''it''s one hundred times worse for an Alpha and his Luna, and one thing you know is if your Luna is away, do NOT mention her name because it''s a sure fire way to obtain the wrath of the Alpha, we arepletely lost without our mates, and no-one wanted the wrath of Alistair Cross aimed at them. The longer they are away the worse we get, so when mum had to leave everyone knew not to mention her name especially as we have been having issues with a rival pack, we needed dad on his game! he concluded.
''So where has your mother been?'' Charity asked gently. ''She''s been with my Uncle George''s pack, his mate, my Aunt re, was gravely ill and George was struggling. He and mum are twins so she could feel he needed her so she had to go. My dad was travelling weekly to see her but our rivals have recently started to get bolder and are tantly trying to encroach on our territory, meaning he could no longer leave'' he said sadly. ''I think this is why he was so desperate for me to find you, maybe he thought once I found my Luna, he could hand over to me and go be with my mother, but I was too much of a selfish a*s hole to listen to him'' he finished bitterly, anger and shame shing across his face.
Charity lent forward and put her arms around his neck, the nket falling to her waist, ''I don''t think you were selfish'' she whispered brushing her lips against his. Encircling her body with his arms, Aaron fell backwards pulling her on top of him and deepened the kiss, his tongue running across her bottom lip begging for entry. Allowing him his desire, she parted her lips so he could slip between them, moaning softly as he ran his hands down her body and over her naked backside. His tongue probed deeper, exploring her mouth as he drowned in her intoxicating scent. He could smell her arousal as his fingers traced along her thigh and between their bodies to her wet entrance, growling deeply and she arching her back with a small gasp as his fingers found her core and pushed their way slowly inside. Moving his mouth from hers he nted fluttering kisses down her neck, sucking on her delicate skin whilst rubbing his fingers against her tight walls as she moaned softly in his ear. He groaned with [**t as she started to slowly move her hips, increasing the friction between her walls and his fingers that were lubricated with her juices, desperate to take her but also scared that he would be taking advantage in her vulnerable state.
Before his body had time to decide what to do, they were interrupted by a sharp knock on the door. Sitting up quickly her eyes wide, Charity jumped off him, grabbed some of his clothes out of the drawer, and ran to the bathroom, mming it behind her. Huffing with pent up anger at being disturbed, he prepared himself to destroy whoever was at the door, striding across the room he wrenched it open. ''What!'' he shouted, before his mother''s face came into focus, ''oh um, hi mum, what''s up'' he said, trying to pretend he hadn''t just screamed in her face. His mother eyed him knowingly as she pushed past him into the room carrying a teden with food and a ss of orange juice. ''Did Ie at a bad time chub a cub?'' she asked, though her face clearly told him that she knew that she had. ''No mum, of course not'' he sighed, ''what do you need?''
Looking around the room and taking in the crumpled towel that Charity had slept in the night before, the mussed bedspread and various clothes strewn across the floor from Charity''s desperate rummage for something to wear, his mother tutted at him, ''chub, please do not tell me you allow Charity to visit you in this room with it looking like this?'' she admonished as his face coloured, before setting the tray down on the bedside table and straightening the bed covers so she could sit down.
''I brought Charity some food'' she said smiling up at her son, ''after her ordeal yesterday and the fact she changed for the first time she must be famished and I doubt you thought to feed her did you'' she added giving him a stern stare as he looked guiltily at the floor. ''Hmmf'' she huffed, ''I thought not, now where is my future daughter inw?'' she demanded
''Hi'' came Charity''s soft voice from the bathroom door, turning to look at her, Aaron saw her peeking shyly around the door frame wearing one of his long T-shirt over a pair of his work out shorts, the string pulled as tight as it would go. Staring at her, he didn''t think he had ever seen her look so beautiful, his mother clearing her throat brought him back to her presence, walking over to Charity, he took her hand and led her to his mother.
''Mum, this is Charity'' he said, ''Charity, this is my mother Mary! Charity extended her hand shyly saying, ''It is a pleasure to finally meet you Mrs.Cross'', Aaron''s mother stood up and pulled her into a bear hug, the kind of hug only a mother can give. Charity stiffened for a split second before rxing into the warmth of the first motherly hug she had received in 14 years. ''Well, I can see my husband was correct about you being a beauty'' Mary said smiling as she released Charity and stood back to study her. ''Now you call me Mary, none of this Mrs.Cross business, we are family here, so there''s no room for formalities'' she said sternly before adding, ''plus as my future daughter inw we are already family'' as Charity blushed and Aaron spluttered.
''We are still getting to know each other'' said Charity demurely, ncing at Aaron before returning her gaze to Mary. ''Uh-huh'' replied Mary with a knowing smile, ''i''m sure you are, now I need to go help my husband, you, youngdy make sure you eat every scrap on that te, shifting burns a lot of energy!'' Giving Charity another swift hug she walked toward the door, with her hand on the door handle she turned to Aaron ''oh and chub? if you want to try and convince people you aren''t besotted with this youngdy, you might want to ce those hickeys a bit lower on her neck so she can cover them with her shirt'' then walked out the doorughing softly leaving Aaron and Charity open-mouthed and beetroot red.