(Kida)

Gabby pulled up outside Layton’s house, I gave my farewell to Ruby in the front passenger seat and got out. Gabby stepped out too, coming round to the back with me.
“Hope you had fun, we definitely did.” Without waiting for a reply, she hugged me tight. “I’ll help you to the door.”
“Oh, you don’t have to,” I insisted grabbing two of my bags as she had already took hold of the others.
“Trust me...”
As we approached the door, it opened without me needing to knock or ring the bell. “Hello, ladies,” declared Layton. His eyes lit up seeing the bags we had between us. “Put them there, Gabs, I’ll bring them in,” he pointed at the top step.
Gabby placed my bags down then gave me another hug. “I’ll see you soon.” Then she turned to Lay. “Be good to her, you.”
With a deep chuckle, he replied. “Oh, believe me, I will,” he confidently declared then pulled my hips to his. “Thanks, Gabby.”
As she hopped down the steps back to her car, I called out too. “Thanks, Gabby, see you next week.”
Both Gabby and Ruby waved before the car pulled away. Layton picked the four bags up off the step and walked inside, I followed him in and nudged the door shut. “I guess my card came in handy huh?” We made our way to the living room and I flopped on the sofa. Layton placed the bags on the floor by my feet, sitting down next to me and slid his arm behind my shoulders just as I leaned back. “You look like you enjoyed yourself.”
My head flopped to the side. “I did, Gabby kept us busy. It was nice meeting Ruby too.”
Layton had spotted the phone shop bag and picked it up, pulling out the sealed box inside. “Oooo, nice choice. Let’s get you set up.” For the next twenty minutes, Layton started setting my phone up for me, asking for his card back part way through. “Set this up, pay for that...” Hearing him talking to himself made me giggle. Eventually, he passed me the phone and told me to charge it up later. “I’ve put some contacts in for now, the important ones... I can add the rest later if you want.”
I smiled, flicking through the contact list. There was Axel, Drew, Gabby, Jasper, Liana, Lucas, Orla, Roan, Ruby, and of course Layton had put his number in with a blue heart next to his name. “Blue?” I asked curiously, showing him.
“My eyes and favourite colour,” he stated. “I’ve put antivirus on as well.”
Placing the phone on the side table, I relaxed on the sofa again. “Thanks, Lay.”
The bags rustled as he nudged them with his foot. “Aren’t you going to show me the rest?” he hinted, with a heavy tone of suggestion.
“It’s mostly new clothes,” I told him.
“Even more reason to show me.” At that, he got more excited, jumping to his feet and grabbing all the bags with both hands. “Don’t forget your phone.”
As he headed towards the stairs, I twirled in my seat. “Where are you going?”
“We are heading to your room, and you can show off your new clothes.”
That sounded partly exciting and partly terrifying, I had to take a moment for a deep breath.

*****
(Layton)

It meant so much for Kida to have a day away from me; although it was difficult to not know how she was doing, I knew I had to let her make an identity for herself that didn’t depend on me. Climbing the stairs, I tried very hard not to get overly excited as I caught a glimpse of some of the new clothes she had bought. I made a mental note to make a copy of a few things for her now she was pretty much settled in. Kida opened her bedroom door, we entered and I placed her bags at the foot of her bed. Kida flopped on her bed as she had done on the sofa. She looked really cute with her hair in a mess around her head.
“You’re seeing Gabby again on the weekend, huh?” Curiosity getting the better of me.
With a nod of her head, she propped herself up. “Yup, another girls day out.”
“I’m glad you’re making friends.” Our eyes met for a moment. “Sooo... you gonna show me what you bought?”
Her eyes wandered a little as she thought. “Maybe some things, not everything.”
“Sure.” I shut my eyes, giving her some privacy. “Promise I won’t look until you tell me.” I heard the rustle of plastic and paper bags, and then the shuffle of clothes.
“OK.”
I opened one eye and then the other as soon as I saw her in the first outfit. She wore black skinny jeans and a cute dusky pink jumper which she looked really cosy in, she also held up 2 other colours of the jumper in each hand; one cream and one burnt orange.
“Really cute. Now what did you buy to go with that leather jacket?” I asked, peeking round her again. I had smelt the leather as we climbed up the stairs.
Lowering her hands, she turned her head and look down at the shopping. “Oh, Gabby insisted I buy it.”
“Gabby can be quite persuasive,” I chuckled.
Kida shuffled more in the bags, I didn’t bother to close my eyes as she pulled out a couple of long-sleeved tops. “She said these tops would look nice with the jacket, and either jeans.” I smiled as she showed me a few other tops, shorts and skirts. That explained the contents of four of the bags but not the other two, which had been the two she had carried up. Although I had noticed the brands on the bags, I didn’t press her to show me the contents as she pushed them further out of my sight behind the bed.
“That’s a good start.”
“Oh, Gabby is booking us a hair and nail appointment next weekend,” she informed.
“Ohhh, very nice. I have something for you.” I stood up in front of her. “Close your eyes and hold your hands out, like this.” I held my hands out, palms upwards. She copied, with closed eyes. Slipping my hand into my pocket, I pulled out two items and placed one in each of her palms.
“What are these?”
“You can look now.”
Her face seemed to glow when she saw the house key and bank card in her hands, which I was hoping for but what I hadn’t prepared for was her throwing her arms round me and pressed hard against my chest. “Thank you, thank you!”
I simply smiled back, resting my hands on her waist and kissed her shoulder. “May I stay with you tonight, Kida?” I blurted out; my mouth had spoken before I could stop it.
Kida was quiet, looking into my eyes, her thoughts quite plain in her expression. She was worried, as she had been the night before but what she said next counteracted this. “I think that would be ok.” Her reply came with a small, yet still cute, smile.
With my mouth slightly open, I looked at her and blinked. My Kida was opening up to me, finally. “Would you prefer me up against the wall?” Her room was large enough although the layout meant the bed had to be in a corner.
With a slight tilt of her head, which made her even cuter, her smile widened. “Please.”

After some time getting ready, I had shuffled into Kida’s bed; lying on my side with my back against the wall and my arm under the pillows, with only some shorts on. A few minutes later, Kida walked in and closed the door. Even in the lamp light, I saw she had on a cute set of pyjamas; they comprised of a light grey tank top and shorts. That, mixed with her delicate floral scent, made it so difficult not to just grab her and pull her to me. Yet, I managed to hold my instincts in check.
“Are you ok, Lay?”
“Hmm?” With a small shake of my head, I realised I had been staring at her body. This girl... she had no idea what power she held over me. “Haha, yeh, just daydreaming.”
Kida shuffled into bed. I wasn’t sure how she’d lie next to me, on which side or anything, so to my amazed surprise, she chose to lie on her side facing me. She kept her arms between us, one hand on her pillow and one under and against my arm. My spine tingled at her slightest touch. Flinging the sheets over her, it felt really warm. I'd had my times of sleeping around and a few girlfriends but, with this hindsight, none of that was even close to how at peace I felt beside Kida right now. All of me wanted to give her everything she wanted, no matter what she asked of me; similarly, I wanted every part of her too. No one ever spoke about the different sides of finding your mate. As we looked at each other, one sense of nervousness seemed to dissolve into a new element of tension. It was a subtle tension, as I watched her eyes flick between mine and my lips then over my neck to my shoulder. That was when I saw her eyes lock onto my scars. Had it been a few years ago, I would have hidden it from her, as I had to most people I cared about.
“Here...” I gently took her hand and placed her fingertips over the three pale gashes in my skin. Letting her feel the ridges and bumps against the undamaged skin.
“How did that happen?”
“Believe it or not, me and Roan used to fight a lot.” Her eyes filled with confusion. “It’s silly now, looking back. Roan and Gabby haven’t long been together themselves. So, for all of our teenage years, we tended to go for the same girls and he was hitting on a girl I was messing around with.” This must have been hard for her to hear, but I’d rather tell her as early as possible in our relationship. “We fought for at least two hours, it could be more or less, I don’t know but even Drew found it hard to pull us apart.”
“Is Roan’s scare from you then?” she asked nervously.
I nodded. “Yeh. I feel so horrible when I notice it. It could have been worse for one of us had the lads not split us up. He got me good in return, but it’s easier for me to hide mine.”
“Was it Gabby? The girl you were fighting over.”
“Oh, no. This was years after we broke up. We are really good mates now, he’s my second best man.”
“After Drew,” she chimed in. Her hand had not left my shoulder.
“Of course. Anything you want to know, just ask me. Whatever, whenever. You’re my mate, and I want us to share everything.”
Kida moved her fingers away from my shoulder and placed it on my hand. “This is something so new for me. Being accepted by someone so easily, like this. After years of not belonging, not trusting anyone, I...” Her voice trembled and failed her.
Pulling her hand back around my neck, I wrapped my arms around her. “Oh, Kida. How are you still so amazing and sweet after what you’ve been through? You’re so strong.”
“But I’m not.” I could hear the tears in her words, as well as feel them on my skin.
Her sadness made me upset too, I wanted to reassure her yet still getting to know her made it difficult to know what would help the most. Either I keep quiet and simply hold her to me, or I verbally try to calm her down. I decided on the former. Carefully bringing my hand round, I placed my fingers onto her chin and guided her head up so we could look at each other again. Brushing my thumb across her cheek, wiping some tears away as her eyes locked onto mine which made me smile. My mind was verberating with excitement; if I had been my wolf then my tail would be wagging all over the place like a puppy. Shuffling my head on the pillow, I brought my nose and lips closer to hers. Her breathing quickened; I could feel it over my cheek just like her heartbeat in her neck under my fingers. The last inch between us felt like a mile, as we both eventually touched lips. My hand under the pillows gripped at the sheet. At first it was just lips pressed together, it was obvious how nervous she was. My tongue slid out and touched against hers, lapping a little at her top lip. As I still had my hand across her cheek and neck, both her hands shot up and took hold of my wrist, gripping it securely. At the same time, her lips parted minutely and her tongue met mine. A few seconds later, we were making out for the first time.