#7 The Twins of Satin Moon

Hunter

The date was going exactly how I envisioned it and better. After a make out session that nearly got out of hand, I required a swim to cool off. I was surprised when Maizey wanted to join me. She forced me to turn around as she sripped down to her bra and underwear. I heard her splash into the water and squeal. I quickly swam over towards her.

“It’s freezing!” Her teeth were chattering.

It was October in Georgia and the fall weather was settling in. It was nothing compared to the fall and winters she must’ve been used to from Chicago, but it was still chilly compared to the humid, hot summer.

“Let me warm you up, princess.” I wrapped my arms around her and we stood, cuddling, in the waist deep water. At least, it was waist deep for her. It was more like knee deep for me.

“How are you always so warm?” She asked as she nuzzled her face into my chest.

“It’s a werewolf thing.” I chuckled, pulling her tightly to me.

We stayed like that in the water for what seemed like forever. I truly never wanted that moment to end. I finally had my mate in my arms with no lies between us. Watcher and I were the happiest we ever felt. But, all good things eventually have to come to an end. I could tell it was getting later as the air grew colder, so I helped Maizey out of the water and wrapped a towel around her shoulders.

She was blushing, clinging to the towel to cover up her nakedness. I smirked at her, enjoying as the flush deepened. I handed over her clothes and turned around to give her some privacy. A few minutes later, she tapped on my shoulder and I greedily took her in my arms again.

“Did you have fun?” I asked as we slowly started walking away from the water. She was still using the towel to dry off her stringy wet curls.

“I did. It’s so peaceful here.” She smiled, looking around again.

“We can come here whenever you want. It’s my favorite place. You know,” I paused, pulling her even closer to me, “You’re the first person I’ve ever brought up here.” She beamed at me,

“Really?

“Really. I found it after my brother left. I needed a place to be alone and think. I don’t want to be alone here anymore.” I ran my hands up her back and leaned for a gentle kiss.

“Hunter?” She purred my name and I closed my eyes, breathing in the sound of it on her lips.

“Yes, princess?” My cheek was resting against hers, my nose rubbing softly against her smooth skin.

“I don’t want to be alone anymore, either.” She admits in a small voice. I pulled away to look at her.

“You’ll never be alone again, baby.” I promised.

“I want to tell you something, but I don’t want to upset you.” She was looking down at her feet, feeling guilty about something. I picked up her chin with my hand and forced her to meet my gaze.

“You can tell me anything. You never have to worry about my reaction.” I said. She nodded, biting her bottom lip and thinking about her next words.

“It’s about Gabe.” She forced out and I felt my expression harden. “See, you’re mad already.” She sighed.

“Not at you. I’m mad at myself. I shouldn’t have reacted that way at the bar.” I grumbled, stepping back from her until my rage was in check.

“I thought that you should know how I felt about Gabe.” She was fiddling with her hands nervously.

“Princess, I love you, but I don’t know if I really want to hear about you being with other men.” I chuckled darkly, “I am quite possessive.” I reminded her. A slight smirk played on her lips.

“Oh, I’ve noticed.” She teased me and I started to relax, “But, you should know that I never cared about Gabe. We were just using each other.” She confessed.

“He was using you to get good grades.” I said.

“Yes, he was, and I knew he was. I also knew that he slept with any girl who batted an eye at him. I didn’t care. My brothers think that he cheated on me and that’s why we broke up. They think he was using me without my knowledge and broke my heart. That couldn’t be further from the truth.” She explained, refusing to look at me. I felt Watcher begin to calm down in my head as he learned that Maizey felt nothing for that vial human.

“Why were you with him, then?” I asked carefully, closing the distance between us again. I held onto both of her hands to stop her from picking at her fingers, a nervous habit of hers that I’ve picked up on.

“For meaningless sex.” She answered plainly and Watcher and I both started to get angry again, “I thought that my life was better if I didn’t feel anything. Gabe helped me to feel completely numb. I literally felt nothing for him and that was the point.” She sighed, frowning. I dropped one of her hands to cup her face, rubbing my thumb over her cheek bone.

“You told me that when we were together at the bonfire you started to feel again and that scared you.” I remembered.

“It’s terrifying.” She nods, “Because I can’t feel something without feeling everything else. The bad comes with the good in suffocating waves.” She was taking shaky breaths like she was struggling to breathe.

“I’m here to take away the bad, little red, I promise.” I crushed her to my chest, trying to chase away all of her fears and anxieties.

“Why do you love me?” She mumbled against my chest, her voice so quiet I nearly didn’t hear her. I pulled her away again, keeping one of my hands in her hair to stroke her curls.

“I told you….” She cut me off,

“I know about the matebond. I mean, other than that. I don’t want you to just be with me because you think it’s the right thing to do.” She said and I sighed, frustrated that she didn’t understand the depth of the matebond. I knew it wasn’t her fault, but it was just making us struggle in ways that we shouldn’t have to. I hated her lack of confidence in my feelings for her.

“There are so many reasons why I love you, little red. The matebond drew me to you and it consumes me, but I love you for you.” I refused to let her gaze leave my eyes. I had to make her believe me, “You are the smartest woman I know. Not just college smart, but world smart. You speak so cleverly and you can handle yourself in a way that isn’t arrogant but it’s just as powerful. You’re strong, even though you have zero confidence in yourself, you do the things that scare you anyway. You have a heart that’s more pure than it has a right to be. You’ve survived so much ugly, but you’ve remained this amazingly good hearted person. Just being around you makes me feel better and you have that effect on everyone you meet,

“I’m not with you because I feel forced or obligated to, Maizey. I’m with you because I would be a damn fool to walk away. I was a fool for even thinking about walking away. There is no one else like you and no one else for me. I am yours, Maizey Grace.” I wiped the tear that fell from her eye away with my thumb and kissed her parted lips. She was blinking at me in astonishment.

“I’m not typically rendered speechless.” She giggled and I couldn’t help but kiss her again.

“I’ll take that as a win, then.” I grinned and she matched my expression, “Ready to head back to the car?” I asked and she nodded eagerly.

I pulled off my shirt and raised an eyebrow when I noticed Maizey hadn’t turned around. She was still staring at me with a fiery red blush on her face. I grinned as I pulled down my sweatpants and then my boxers. To her credit, her eyes never left my face. I bent over to pick up my clothes and noticed her eyes had begun to wander in my absence. She knew she had been caught staring and started blushing even harder, spinning around to give me access to the bag on her back.

“Like what you see, little red?” I whispered with my mouth pressed against her ear. I stuffed my clothes in the bag and ran my hands up her sides, kissing the soft spot below her earlobe.

“Hmm?” She hummed thoughtlessly and I chuckled. I kissed her cheek before stepping away.

I shifted into Watcher and she jumped on his back much more confidently than the last time. She held onto Watcher’s neck tightly but I could tell that she was more relaxed. She wasn’t cowering in fear, instead she was sitting up and watching the world go by around her. Watcher was running at a slower pace to allow her to enjoy herself. It took longer to reach the car than it did on the way up to the falls, but we didn’t care. We were happy to prolong our time with our mate.

It was dinner time when we reached the truck and I knew that I wasn’t ready for our date to end just yet.

“Do you want to get some dinner?” I asked Maizey as she buckled herself in. Her eyes glanced at the clock on the dash as she realized it was past 5 o’clock. She shrugged,

“Okay.”

“Would you be okay with eating at the restaurant in my pack territory?” I started the truck and took her hand as I backed out of the parking area.

“There’s a restaurant here?” She asked curiously.

“Sure. The pack grounds are meant to be self-contained for a time when werewolves didn’t interact with the human towns.” I explained.

“Yeah, I guess that would be okay.” She shrugged again, seeming unsure of her answer.

“They won’t bite, baby.” I chuckled and she rolled her eyes at my joke.

It was a short drive to the restaurant and we took it mostly in silence. Maizey was fidgeting in her seat, nervous about running into more pack members, I’m sure. I pulled into a parking space in front of the small diner owned by Francine and her husband. I hopped out and hurried around to the passenger side to offer Maizey my hand. She smiled at me and squeezed my hand tightly, like she was using me as moral support. I beamed proudly at that.

I led her inside the restaurant. The little bell above the door dinged as we entered and the entire diner turned their eyes on us. I groaned and pulled Maizey behind me, shielding her from their prying eyes.

“Mind your business and quit scaring my mate.” I mindlinked them threateningly.

Just like that, everyone avoided looking in our direction. I smiled and pulled Maizey along to the bar where Frannie was grinning at us.

“Lovely to see you Alpha.” Frannie said.

“Thanks for lunch, Frannie, we loved it.” I tugged on Maizey’s hand and she looked up, “This is Maizey.” I introduced them. Maizey smiled weakly,

“The food was delicious.” She said softly.

“I’m glad that you liked it dear. Let’s get you two a booth. Alpha, your sister and her friends are in the back.” Frannie said, walking out from behind the bar.

“Oh, can we sit with them?” Maizey looked up at me with her big hazel eyes. I heard Frannie laugh as she sensed my weakening resolve to deny my mate anything that she wanted.

“Of course, princess.” I kissed her forehead and followed after Frannie.

“Maizey!” Mel jumped up and flung herself at my mate. I grumbled, refusing to let go of Maizey’s hand, “I’m so glad he told you.” She said, pulling away and glaring at me.

“Thanks, Mel.” Maizey relaxed around Mel, a familiar face, and I knew that my sister’s annoying behavior was worth the price.

“You remember Gemma?” Mel pointed towards her blonde friend in the corner of the booth, “And this is Maggie and Zoe.” She introduced the other two girls in the booth. They all bowed their heads and greeted their Alpha and Luna.

“It’s just Maizey.” My mate mumbled as we slid into the booth beside Mel. She was clearly uncomfortable at being formally addressed.

“It’s alright, just address us informally. It’ll make her more comfortable.” I mindlinked the three girls.

The girls smiled widely at me, honored to be given permission to call their Alpha and Luna by their first names. I knew I was going to pay for this later, but it would be worth it to make Maizey feel more at home here.

We sat for about two hours chatting with Mel’s friends and I was glad we decided to stop here. By the end of it, Maizey was like a completely different person. She was joking and laughing with the girls, completely relaxed in the diner. It made me happy knowing that she was happy on my pack grounds, even if it was just the local restaurant and with my sister’s annoying friends.

“I really should be getting home. My brothers are worried about me.” Maizey said after checking her phone. I nodded at her and started scooting out from the booth.

“I’m so glad that you two came.” Mel hugged Maizey from the side again, “Well see you around, right?” She asked and Maizey nodded.

“I’m sure.” She agreed and I resisted the urge to make out with her right there and then. I was so excited to hear her say she wanted to come back to the pack grounds, “Bye.” She waved to the group and took my hand.

“I love you so much.” I couldn’t help but gawk at her as we drove home, I was hardly able to keep my eyes on the road. She blushed, tucking her hair bashfully behind her ears.

“It’s so soon to be saying that all the time.” She mumbled.

“I’ve known it since the first day I met you outside your home when you were going to get coffee.” I said and she giggled at the memory.

“You were such a bad liar then.” She teased me and I laughed.

“You made me flustered.” I admitted. “It’s okay that you can’t say it back, yet, little red. I know you will when you’re ready.” I assured her, squeezing her hand. She nodded and stayed silent.

When we made it back to her house, I kissed her on her front porch. The front door opened to reveal two angry looking brothers but I knew it was all in good faith. I wished my beautiful mate goodnight and promised to see her again tomorrow. But, the truth was, I would be seeing her tonight from her bedroom window. She knew it too, because before she went to bed she blew me a kiss then shut off her lights.