𝖆𝖚𝖌𝖚𝖘𝖙

"So," Heaven spoke, her angelic voice floating up from behind me, "What's there to do in this enormous house on a stormy day?"

I turned from the seat where I had been sitting at my desk to face the small girl standing in the doorway. Her ebony hair was windswept, her skin shining dimly in the light from the raindrops.

She was breathtaking.

And she was mine.

I break out of my admiration, smiling up at the extraordinary girl.

"Are you certain you don't want to go home yet?" I asked, the thought of her saying she wanted to leave left a hollow feeling resounding in my chest while a small frown painted itself on my face.

A sad smile fleeted across her face as she thought about my question.

"No," she answered, "I'm afraid I don't have very much to go back to."

I was happy with her answer, although the melancholy note of her words left a pang in my heart.

"Are you sure that it's okay for me to hang around here?" she questioned, glancing curiously at me, "It's a little odd for a complete stranger to be so welcoming. You're not a serial killer, are you?"

A laugh bubbled up in my throat at her words.

"No, I'm not a serial killer," I laughed, "I can just tell when someone needs a little help."

"Well, I'm thankful regardless." she answered back, sitting down on the loveseat across from me.

It took all of my willpower not to drag her closer to me.

Her addicting smell was wafting throughout the entire house, the intoxicating scent of fresh summer rain making me slightly dizzy.

"Where's the man from earlier? Antonio, I think his name was." Heaven's voice broke me from my trance.

"Yeah, Antonio's a good friend of mine who lives in a cabin nearby," I answer.

Along with the rest of my pack. I think to myself.

The fleeting thought brought me back to the reality of my situation.

Heaven was merely human. How would she react to find out the monsters from the fairytales she read when she was younger were real? She was only human after all, and they know nothing of our world.

I shook off my worry, deciding to resolve it later.

"Well, I have to get back to work eventually," i said reluctantly, suddenly remembering the large stack of alpha work that is no doubt growing larger by the minute.

Heaven nodded her head slightly in understanding, and I could've sworn I had seen a flash of disappointment fleet through her eyes.

The thought of leaving her alone even for a short while was nearly physically paining, but I couldn't let her see how difficult it was for me to be away from her.

Heaven was human, so the mate pull was not nearly as present for her as it was for me. She would not understand the instant attraction I held towards her, and I had to keep reminding myself to keep my distance.

Nearly all humans were unfamiliar with the concept of predestined mates, so I would need to be precarious and develop a relationship with her slowly, no matter how painful it would be for me.

"There's a few things around the house to do," I started, "You can watch movies, there's a game room, a library-"

She cut me off quickly.

"Did you say a library?" she asked excitedly, bouncing a little bit in her seat.

"Yes," I laughed, loving the beautiful smile painted on my mate's face.

"Can you show me?" She asked, nearly stumbling as she hurriedly jumped from her seat.

"Well someone's excited." I chuckled as I stood up, and began walking through a corridor that veered to the left.

I stopped in front of a large oak door, listening quietly to the quick patter of feet chasing after me.

"Slow down there, you giant," she huffed as she scampered up behind me, "Not everyone has legs that take up eighty percent of their body."

I smiled to myself, turning back to my mate.

Standing directly next to her, the height difference between us became even more obvious. Heaven's height barely reached to my bicep.

I grinned as I watched her strain herself to look up at me. The small glare on her face had scrunched up her button nose, and her eyebrows drew together.

She was adorable.

"Sorry," I smiled sheepishly as I noticed that her cute glare had not yet disappeared.

After a few more moments she gave up, rolling her eyes.

"I suppose I forgive you," she sighed, a warm glow of humor flitted through her eyes, "You can't help that you were born an actual tree."

I let out a light chuckle, wanting nothing more but to reach down and wrap her small frame in my arms. But I restrained myself yet again, reminding myself that she was still human.

Humans and their annoying affinity to have to get to know someone before showing affection, I huffed silently, ridiculous.

"Anyway," I said, turning back to the large door as I twisted the brass knob, "Here's the library."

I heard a small gasp, and I smiled, glad that my mate was impressed.

"This is amazing," Heaven whispered in awe, walking in front of me slowly to run her hand along the vast book-lined wall.

"So you like reading I take it?" I asked humorously at her eyes, which flickered excitedly to the walls covered from floor to ceiling with books.

"Yes," she whispered, too entranced by the room to give a longer response.

"So what else do you like to do?" I asked, suddenly curious to know more about my mate.

She shrugged, turning towards me.

"I guess I like writing," she answered shyly, looking down at the hardwood floors. "Although, I'm not all that good."

"Please," I snorted, "I can almost guarantee that you're downplaying yourself. I bet you're amazing."

She gave a smile at the compliment, giving a small playful eye roll.

"Please," she said jokingly, "we're basically strangers. How would you know if I was any good at writing?"

"Call it a guy feeling." I whispered as I bent down towards her ear. "Now, I'll leave you to your reading."

She nodded quickly, and I could've sworn she looked slightly flustered at my close proximity to her. Perhaps she was feeling the mate bond too?

"Goodbye Heaven," I said, turning to walk out the door, and shutting it quietly behind me

✧ ✧ ✧

𝖍𝖊𝖆𝖛𝖊𝖓

"Heaven," I heard a distant-sounding voice murmur.

"Heaven, wake up," It repeated again.

"Go away," I mumbled, my voice muffled by my arms that my head was currently resting on.

An attractive laugh sounded from the voice, bringing me slightly from my sleepy state.

I picked my head off of the wooden surface of the desk, blinking my eyes up at the silhouette of the tall man in front of me.

"August," I addressed, immediately recognizing his unique shade of amber eyes.

He smiled at me, then let his eyes flutter around.

His honey eyes stopped at the desk, focusing on a certain spot.

"What's this?" he questioned, gesturing to where my head was laying just a moment ago.

I looked down slowly to glance at what he was referring to, my mind still foggy with sleep.

Below me was a journal.

I had found it in one of the desk drawers while I had been exploring the vast library, the pages blank and begging me to fill them.

So I complied.

For the last few hours, I had been stuffing each page full of poems, stories, and other random ideas or thoughts. The words poured from me, each thought leaving my head and entering the paper, making me feel just a little lighter.

I must have lost track of time, and had tired myself out enough to have fallen asleep hunched over the uncomfortable wooden desk.

I rubbed my eyes groggily, refocusing my attention back to August.

"Nothing," I shrugged, not wanting to reveal my writing to him quite yet, no matter how kind he had been to me. My words were just too personal, too painful.

His face still appeared curious as he eyed the journal lying protectively encased beneath my arms. For a moment, I had thought that he may rip it away from me to see its contents.

But instead, he simply nodded.

"Don't worry," he smiled, "I'll respect your privacy. But I do hope that one day you'll be able to share it with me."

I felt my mouth open in shock at his words. No one had ever respected me like that before. Not my friends who often only used me to beat up anyone that they didn't like, not my mother who would rampage my room, destroying the contents in search for money to spend on more drugs and alcohol, and certainly not any of my mother's past men who took any chance they could get to eye me or catcall me as if I was an object.

It was odd to receive respect and understand from a complete stranger, when I had never seen it from anyone else in my life.

"Thank you," I nearly whispered, still pondering his words. They would likely not have seemed like a big deal to anyone else, but to me, those words meant everything.

He simply nodded and smiled, shrugging it off.

"Now, Heaven," August said, lowering himself into one of the scattered wooden chairs nearest to me, "Why don't you tell me more about yourself."

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