Long hiatus! Back again to write. I haven't had a lot of motivation to write lately because I've been focused on other goals and the writing has just had a hard time creeping in. My school has just been cancelled for a month, I might not get to graduate and it really stresses me out. I'm gonna try to integrate writing into my daily routine alongside my daily yoga to chill the f*** out in these uncertain times.

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Nova's POV

"I'll be back in an hour to pick you up," Colt runs a finger down my jawline, down my arm and to my hand, which he brings to his lips. 

I pull away when Ana opens the door and raises an eyebrow at me. 

I nod to him and head inside, feeling his eyes on me yet again until the door closes.

"Is there anything you want to tell me?" She says more impatiently than I'm used to.

"I settled things with the agent this morning, I can officially get out of your hair once my stuff is moved out," I smile at her. I'm proud, rightfully proud. I'm getting my life back in order all on my little lonesome.

"I heard. Anything else?" She persists.

"You know already? Is there something you know that I don't?" 

"Nova, you smell like him. How could you mate with him and not tell me?!" She sounds hurt.

I pause and turn around. "You're accusing me of what? Mating with him? How could you even assume that?"

"Alpha Hendrix told me that your agent came to him complaining about Colt's behavior. Colt insisted that you were his mate. How could you not tell me first?" Her emotion leaks out in her tone.

I actually laugh. I can't believe it. I can't believe him. "Analissa, we aren't. There must have been a misunderstanding."

"Really? Because the agent said that he was a possessive dick the whole time and that he called you his mate." She crosses her arms. "That, and you reek of him! Do you not smell it?"

I pull my shirt to my nose and get its scent before it even touches me. Holy shit. "I slept at the house last night. He may or may not have been keeping me warm..."

Her face turns into excitedness. She squeals, "I'm still so pissed at you but you need to tell me everything!" 

"Drive me up to the house, let me give you a tour and I'll tell you everything," I raise an eyebrow.

She nods excitedly but then seems to remember, "oh, the Alpha wants to see you. I suggest you shower before that.. because I don't think you want the whole pack knowing what happened."

She's right. That would not bode well. I do as she suggests, but take my time to get his smell off me. I can tell it has gone away when I can no longer rejoice in what the shower steam makes of his scent. I find myself instantly missing it.

The cold that hits me upon stepping out of the shower forces me back to reality.

Your best friend is still dead.

You are in no place to make any move on anyone.

Colt is still a total ass.

~~~

We get in the car and drive over to the pack house where the Alpha's office is. Ana lets me go in by myself while she stays in the car.

The door is already open, and I'm greeted by both Hendrix and the Beta. I seize up and pull my hand away from him when he tries to take it after I shake the Alpha's hand. 

I take a seat, keeping my eyes on the Alpha, but I can feel Samael trying to steal the direction my eyes are in.

"Before I get into what this meeting is about, I have to ask: the real estate agent said that Mr. Myers was.. very direct with him about something I did not know about." Hendrix says with clear skepticism.

I chuckle, still fuming about the problem, "yeah.. Colt gets a little protective for some reason, but we are not mated, sir. I plan to confront him about it, actually."

"I mean, if you did want to-" he starts.

"No! I'm not quite there yet, sir. Sorry," I mumble, immediately feeling ashamed for cutting him off. 

He chuckles and nods, suggesting that it is okay. "Nova, you have been with us now for several months, and it is my belief that you will be even more safe as a part of our pack. There has been significant movement from the pack that killed Blake, and if they find out who you are, they will be even more inclined to come after you."

I nod.

"In your time here, I hope you have come to understand that most people knew and loved your parents, and love you the same. According to pack laws, I cannot technically protect you from them if the Rivals were to find you here, and you were not a member of this pack." 

I nod again and start to speak before Samael cuts me off.. he is good at that.

"We would be delighted to have you, but that means you need to start thinking about finding a mate-" 

"That is not true!" Hendrix booms. "Nova can take her time, and it is not your place to suggest that." He scolds, I laugh in my head. 

Is that... hatred I see on Samael's face?

"If you decide to, we can have your initiation in as little as a week," Hendrix smiles.

I smile back at him and take a leap of faith and say yes. I tell him that I want to be a part of the pack, and that I want to make a life here. 

Hendrix looks overjoyed and claps his hands together, standing up. "The pack will be so happy to hear of your decision."

I smile and explain to him my situation, that I have to move in to my new place, etc. He nods and urges me out, insisting that it is important. 

I walk out feeling accomplished and walk back to the car where I tell Ana what just happened. More happy squeals ensue as she almost crashes us into a tree by grabbing me, screaming about how we're gonna be sisters. 

I tell her everything else on the way there, all the tea about Colt and the new creepy happenings with Samael. I gladly would have given her a tour of the whole house, but who else would be in the kitchen sawing and drilling away besides Colt?

I clench my jaw, Ana stops talking and takes the note to walk around as I approach Colt and give him the smack down of a lifetime.

I step into the kitchen waiting for him to notice me. 

Without looking up, he says, "where the hell did you go? I went back to the house looking for you, an hour ago." He does not seem very happy. This would be fun, since I was not exactly feeling peachy either.

I laugh, tossing my head back to express just how much I was enjoying this already. "The Alpha asked to see me on behalf of your behavior last night with the agent. You called me your mate? And what the hell are you doing? I like my kitchen the way it is!" My blood boils when he looks at me with a smirk, my tone reflects my the numbers of my blood pressure.

He stops what he's doing and leans on the counter, facing me with those perfect arms crossed, showcasing his chest in the tight shirt he was wearing as well as his defined arms, which shone more now because of all the work he was doing with them. 

"Hey, he was looking at you in a way that only I should be looking at you. I merely stopped it before it got out of hand." He shrugs.

"You, stopped it? You set up a whole rumor that I had to fix with the Alpha! That does not sound like stopping anything to me. You sure as hell started something though." I scoff and process the first part of his statement, looking back at him. "Why should only you get to look at me like that? I'm an available female, am I not? Clearly attractive.." I say mostly to tease him, trying to get more honesty out of him. His jaw and fists are now clenched.

"And what are you doing? Are you building an island? What- did you stain the cabinets? Did you get a slab of marble!?-" I look around wondering how he nailed the changes I wanted to make so well.

I am abruptly pulled back to face him when he pulls me into him to crash his lips on mine, which travel to my neck. I gasp and am forced to arch my neck to make room for his face,one of his hands in my hair with the other on my hip. He breathes in hungrily now smelling my neck, growling and laughing under his breath about how I still smell like him. I swear I nearly moan when his teeth graze my neck. 

I snap out of it and shove him off, noticing his eyes that now fill with lust that I feel build between us both. It is a slow, agonizingly painful build that makes me desperate for him.

I flash him a look of unamusement and storm out of the room to find Ana. She is nowhere to be found, neither is her car. My things, however are all in my room with a note on one of the boxes, "you seem to have things handled! TTYL, slut ;P". 

I start unpacking the few possessions I have as Colt continues to work. I turn around to find him in the door frame and push past him to put one of my knick knacks in the living room.

"You're so fucking sexy when you're mad," he says when I come back into the bedroom.

No comment.

Because he insists on watching me, I ask how he knew what renovations I wanted.

"I heard your thoughts. You were so blatantly ignoring me, so I tuned into what you were thinking."

Of course he did. That's such a Colt thing to do too.. Is nothing off limits to him?

"Not when it comes to you, no." He responds to my most previous thought. 

"What the-? Stop it! Those are my thoughts!"

He just laughs.

I couldn't be mad at him, because it would take me months do do this work by myself. 

His behavior with the agent was uncalled for, and while the kiss was nice, it too was uncalled for.

He finally leaves, and I hear a slam shortly after. I rush out of my room to see him cleaning off his hands after having gotten the marble slab off the floor and mounted it on the island. By himself.

"Did you just.. lift that?" 

He nods and shrugs. I see the veins in his arms bulge and can't help biting my lip.

I walk past him to see the work he had done. I trace my fingers along the marble he just put down. This was my dream kitchen. I sit up on the counter and sigh, dangling my feet, gasping in delight when I notice the farmer sink he put in. 

"I didn't even think of this! How did you know?"

He smiles and comes to stand beside me, "the lady at the store told me that they're popular. I'm glad you like it."

Then it hits me that he bought all this stuff himself, I grab my purse and find my wallet. I empty it of the cash it has and hand it to him, he refuses to accept it.

"Colt, take it. You just did top notch contractor work and I'm not gonna take no for an answer," I try to put it in his hands. 

"Your lips were the only payment I needed," he says in a perfect, sultry tone. 

I tear my eyes away and put the money back in my wallet, "fine. You're impossible, you know that?" I put my wallet back in my purse and go to one of the many windows that the house was adorned with. The living room was basically a huge window what extended from the floor to the ceiling with blackout curtains at all the corners on a black rod to match the modern theme of the house. 

He comes up behind me, boring holes in my backside with his eyes.

"It is rude to stare, you know. Didn't your mother ever tell you that?" I ask without turning around, looking at the mountains that lie beyond.

"It's rude to stare at a stranger. But you're no stranger, Nova. You're mine." His voice gets closer until I can feel his breath on my neck.

I turn around, "I really wish you would stop saying that because we both know-," he pulls me into him by the belt loops on my jeans and silences me with another kiss. This one is softer, more gentle with an exponential amount of passion.

I am still so not amused, but I kiss him back anyway. I could maybe get used to this.

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