-:Cecelia's PoV:-

"Shut it!" I protested, nestling closer to my comfortable pillow. A giant, comfortable pillow.

"I'm trying," he replied groggily, squirming under me. "Ce, can you please let go for like ten seconds?"

"No," I replied, half asleep. "And stop moving!" I held him tighter. I heard him sigh.

A few moments later, the alarm switched off and the squirming ceased. With a hand stroking my hair comfortingly, I went back to sleep again.

The next time I came around, the sun was up. I groaned, yawning, and brought a hand up to shield my eyes.

"Good morning," I registered Ashton's husky voice in my ear. I started before I remembered I asked him to stay the night. My body relaxed back into his embrace.

"Morning," I mumbled. I noticed that I was lying on his chest completely. My head was near the crook of his neck, my hands quite literally around his neck and body. One of his hands was hugging me at the waist. I fit him perfectly.

I could so get used to waking up like that every day.

"What time is it?" I asked.

"Umm . . . seven twenty-four."

"Fuck. Didn't my alarm sound this morning?"

"It did. You asked me to, and I quote, 'shut it'," he replied, humor clear in his voice.

"I did?" I asked, surprised. I placed my palms on his chest and rested my chin on them. I didn't bother climbing off of him. It was too cozy. He put his free arm under his head to alleviate it a little.

"Hmm," he hummed. I chuckled lightly.

"I missed my morning training session again," I mused. "It's becoming a habit."

"You train too much," he commented.

"I've come to love it," I shrugged.

"We're late for school, you know?" He asked.

"I know," I sighed.

"Then we need to get up if we want to make it to the first period."

"Yeah."

Neither of us moved. Well, to be fair he was helpless since I was on top of him.

"Ce," he chuckled. "We need to get up."

"But I like this," I whined.

"I do too. But, we need to go."

"I keep finding new reasons to hate school," I grumbled, finally getting off him. He sat up with a laugh.

"I thought you were a scholar?"

"Being a scholar doesn't have to mean you enjoy school, Ash. It can also mean that you understand its importance and prioritize it."

"Deep." He heaved a breath, stretching.

"Tell me about it," I said, watching his muscles flex mouthwateringly. I snapped my gaze away before I could get caught. I was sure I was blushing.

"You'll come straight from here? Or go home to change?" I asked to distract myself.

"Straight to school," he sighed. "I don't have time to make a pit stop."

"I'll see if Julian can lend you some of his clothes so you don't have to wear them again. You're both about the same size."

"That'll be great since we used my spares yesterday," he thought out loud.

******************

We were sprinting out of the Packhouse a little past eight o'clock with toasts in our mouths and keys in our hands. I was right, Julian did have clothes to lend Ashton. And they fit alright. While I went to get them, he got showered. While he dressed in the room I went in with my clothes to shower and get dressed. 

We worked well together.

We didn't have time to sit and eat, so we had grabbed some toasts Julian was kind enough to make us, knowing we were late, and ran out throwing a hurried goodbye over our shoulders.

"Be careful!" Was the last thing we heard him shout towards us as Ashton revved his truck out of the driveway. I gently tugged at the toast in his mouth, making him release it. He looked at me questioningly.

"I'll feed you. You focus on driving," I told him. He grinned at me. A smile threatened to break across my face but I didn't want him to see how giddy that simple action made me so I looked away. 

Throughout the drive, I kept holding the toast near his mouth periodically for him to bite into. His grin was etched into his face and didn't falter throughout the drive. I finished my own toast quickly so I didn't feed his toast to his nose or chin or neck for that matter. You get my point.

We were warned beforehand to stay in groups and make sure that there were no rogues around. We did just that. Even on our way, while Ashton was focused on the road and the traffic, I kept an eye and nose out for anything suspicious.

He drove fast but safe and got us just in time for the bell to ring. We quickly climbed out and dashed across the empty parking lot and through the hallways. We didn't really have the time to stop at our lockers but we stopped at Ashton's. He didn't have his bag or books with him since he had stayed over after our date so it was a necessity.

We stumbled into History, disturbing the class which was already in session. Mr. Cross looked up from the hefty volume of American History at us scrutinizing.

"Sorry we're late, Mr. Cross," Ashton lied. "We were stuck in traffic. I believe that Noel told you?"

Thank you, Noel!

"Yes," he grunted. "Take your seats quickly. And make sure this doesn't happen again."

"Yes, Mr. Cross." We chorused before scurrying to our seats. I dropped into my seat, smiling at Bree before I faced the front. I was expecting Ashton to do the same but he surprised me by glowering down at the person next to me. A human, who gulped as he read Ashton's expression before silently getting up and settling into Ashton's previous seat. Ashton dropped into the now available seat beside me with a satisfied smile. 

I suppressed a laugh that threatened to spill out of me and rolled my eyes before focusing on the lecture. It was hard with him sitting beside me and passing me silly notes throughout, keeping me distracted. 

If I fail History this semester, it would be entirely on Ash.

The entire day was similar. The highlight, however, was our Dance class. Ash had improved drastically, making us better than most of the class. Ms. Coleman was all praises for us. In the three weeks we'd been waltzing, we had nailed one routine down completely. It was amazing.

I met Bree at lunch that day. We got along fine. She was nice. She also turned out to be Noel's twin. It was nice to watch them bicker. It reminded me of Julian and I. Hayden was quiet for the most part but he did contribute to the conversation every now and then.

He revealed that day, much to our surprise, that he'd found his mate too. Ashton was shocked and looked a little hurt that he didn't know. Hayden had found her the same day Ash had found me. He said he didn't want to make Ashton feel left out or sad. They talked it out and bro hugged. Boys have the best kind of friendship. Her name was Riley Wiener. She was from my pack. From what he told us about her, she sounded nice. They'd been texting.

He had invited her over for lunch with us when Ashton had encouraged him. He'd been hesitant but then asked her to come anyway. She fitted in just fine. A little shy at first, but she slowly opened up. She was quite the spitfire, as we found out by the end of the hour. Bree and I loved her. All three of us exchanged our numbers. I already had Noel and Hayden's contacts.

When school was over, Ashton dropped me off at the Packhouse. He promised to drop by in the evening.

I went in, freshened up, had something to eat since I was hungry. Then I took up some homework before I had to report for my official training. That Friday was our Halloween Dance and Ashton and I planned on attending together. We hadn't decided on our costumes yet, but we would soon.

I put on a sports bra and a pair of shorts before running down for training. Julian was there too. We partnered for the day, like old times. I had some promises and threats to follow through, after all. About kicking his butt, in case you forgot. I was ready for my revenge.

Aaron was training the twelve-year-old kids across the field while Warrior Wesley walked back and forth between the two training groups to supervise.

Julian and I got to work after we'd warmed up. We started slow, with soft blows and easy punches before it accelerated. Quickly, too. It was so exciting, fighting him. I'd forgotten how close our fights would get. We knew each other's every move.

To my surprise, it was so much easier to fight him than it had been before. I was practically floating around, I was so light on my feet. My blows were sharper and more powerful. I was faster. My footwork was spot on. My defense was bulletproof.

We had an audience as usual.

"What the hell?" I hissed at him lowly when we took a five-minute water break. Julian was panting but I was in a much better condition. He was wiping his sweaty body away and lying on the ground, catching his breath. He trained without a shirt and in just a pair of basketball shorts like most guys.

"The mark," he panted out. My eyes widened in realization. He didn't have to elaborate. I knew exactly what that was about.

"C'mon get up," I urged him after a few moments passed. "I'll cool down completely at this rate, Jules."

"Are you crazy?" He asked. "It's been an hour of constant hitting. I want a ten-minute break."

"But-"

"Ten minutes." He said firmly, spreading out on the ground. I scowled at him. He closed his eyes and relaxed.

I was about to kick him to get up when I felt an arm slip around my waist from behind me. I would've flipped the person upside down had I not felt the sparks dancing across my skin deliciously, tipping off the owner to me.

"Hey," I breathed, turning around slightly to face him. His head was resting on my shoulder.

"Hi," he said tightly, glancing around.

"What's wrong?" I asked him, covering his hand on my bare stomach with mine comfortingly.

"They're staring at you," he muttered. I looked around and sure enough, quite a lot of eyes were on us.

"That's normal," I told him. "We train more vigorously than them. It fascinates them. Every time."

"Then why are you wearing so little clothes?" He grumbled lowly. I laughed.

"I can't train in a hoodie and a pair of trousers, Ash," I said, amused.

"Try," he said in a surly tone, glaring at the male wolves looking our way.

"Hey, stop scaring them."

"Tell them to look away," he growled quietly.

"Ashton," I deadpanned, "I'm marked. They know it. They can see it."

He made a face but let it rest. I pecked his lips quickly to reassure him. But he grabbed my face, turning me around, and deepened the kiss. I sighed mentally, knowing this was his and Xavier's way of 'claiming me' again. Marking his territory. Also, I did not like the way the unmated she-wolves were eyeing him hungrily. We were a territorial and possessive species. I went along with it. Anyways, his kisses were moreish and hard to resist.

"Get a room!" Julian groaned, making us start apart.

"Shut up," I rolled my eyes, fighting the red climbing up my neck. "And get up, we still have about an hour to go."

"Fine," he huffed.

The next hour I pulverized my best friend with pleasure. Ashton stuck around to watch and lemme tell you he enjoyed it more than he should've. When the hour was over, both Julian and I were drenched in sweat. I put on my cover-up while I cooled down. Julian collapsed on the ground again. He was so going to have cramps the next morning.

Ash and I went to my room when I was done. I showered and freshened up. He waited on my balcony. When I was done, I joined him. My hair was still damp from the shower.

"What 'cha thinking?" I asked him. 

"I was wondering . . . would you like to move in with me?" He said without beating around the bush. My eyes widened in surprise at the abruptness of the question. I knew I had to do it eventually, but somehow between this Vincent hiatus, I hadn't given it much thought. 

But now that I was marked, I'd have to move soon. And I'd love to, anyways. Sharing a living space would be out of this world. If I was right, he lived separately. Most of his pack did. They did have a Packhouse but they didn't live there, especially once they found their mates. They liked to have their own houses. Unlike our Pack, where most of us liked to have rooms in the Packhouse. Even mates, though theirs's were obviously bigger.

"Yeah, I'd love that," I smiled. "But I'll have to talk to my dad to make it official."

He grinned at me excitedly before pulling me in for a kiss again. I laughed, feeling excited too. I would be moving in with him. We'd live by ourselves, without Julian to antagonize us at every chance he got, without other pack members to worry about watching us. 

Just us. Alone. In our home.

That sounded so inviting.

"Also," he said when we broke away for air, "My mom wants to meet you."

I panicked a little at that.

"You'll be fine. She already loves you."

"But what if-"

He cut me off with another kiss.

"You'll be fine," he whispered, touching our foreheads and caressing my face.

"Okay," I agreed, dazed. He knew just how to convince me.

I just hope it goes well.

************************

A/N:-

Another day, another update! I hope you like it.

Also, for those of you curious about Aaron's mate, I'll be revealing it soon, don't worry.

QOTD: What is/was your favorite subject in High School?

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