Kaden

ten

Kaden let me lay in his arms for a while without talking. The silence was peaceful but my mind wouldn't stop thinking long enough for me to enjoy it.

"Can I ask you something?" Kaden nodded and I could tell he was tired from his drive home. "Are you happy were mates?"

Kaden sat up a little straighter and pushed my hair away from my face.

"I've known you were my mate since my birthday. Since you were still 17 the symptoms weren't there but your scent was stronger and even more intoxicating than before. That was enough for me to stop looking. That day I realized I had already fallen in love with you without the bond. So, I started paying a little bit more attention to the little things you do. I noticed how when you laugh sometimes you just shake your shoulders but when something really gets to you you'll tilt your head back. I noticed the way your eyebrows scrunch together when you concentrate. I tried to hide my feelings until your birthday and it was the hardest thing I've ever had to do and it was only 11 days. I need you in my life, Sawyer. Not just because you're my mate but because you're my best friend and I love you."

I felt as if my heart stopped at that moment. Those three words I've been wanting to hear him say for weeks. "I love you too, Kaden." He smiled wide and I couldn't help but smile too.

"How did you know I needed you?" Kaden was running his fingers through my hair and it was ridiculously hard to concentrate.

"I was awake just talking to my dad and I felt sad all of the sudden. I looked at the time and it was a few minutes past midnight making it officially your birthday. Without even thinking about it I told my dad I needed to come home."

The rest of the day was spent hanging out and pretending that it wasn't my birthday. Every now and then I would think of it and get upset but Kaden would quickly make me laugh. I didn't realize how much I really missed him while he was gone.

Kaden would text me every night and ask me about my day and tell me about his and then tell me goodnight. On day four he called me mad saying he got in an argument with his dad for not looking for his mate hard enough. It was really nice to hear his voice even if it wasn't for very long.

"So, now that were mates what do we do?" Kaden looked confused. "I mean we just graduated and now there are so many things that are expected of us. Where do we start?"

Kaden shifted on my bed so that we were sitting crisscross across from each other. He held my hands in his and looked nervous

"I was hoping you could announce giving away the Beta position sometime this week and we would announce that we are mates. Then you could move in with me a week from today if you're comfortable with that. Then we can go from there." I nodded knowing that he had thought all of this through. It was sweet how much he had thought about it.

"That works for me but I'll have to work the Beta ceremony out with Graham." Kaden nodded. "I can talk to him now if you want."

"I understand if you don't want to today." I got up from my bed and found Graham in the living room.

"Hey Sawyer. How are you doing?" I leaned into him.

"Good actually. But I need to talk to you about passing my title along to Jason." Graham nodded.

"We can do that this Saturday and cancel training. But I have to warn you, it is a lot more than just telling people. Jason will gain the strength of a Beta over a period of a few weeks and become increasingly stronger."

"Will I lose my Beta strength?"

"Some of it. You were always a little bit stronger growing up because you had the blood of an acting Beta. When you turned sixteen it increased greatly because you became the acting Beta. So you will lose the strength of acting Beta but since you still have Beta blood you will still have an advantage." I nodded along what he was saying made sense and if Jason was going to become Beta he was going to need that edge.

"Once you become acting Luna of Kaden's pack and you complete the mating ritual you will regain that power if not more. If the two of you have kids they will be stronger than most of the kids that they're around." I nodded again. I was still tired even though I had taken a nap.

"When will you be moving in with him?" I shrugged my shoulders.

"He wants me to in a week. But he made sure to let me know that it was up to me. He's really sweet."

"You should move in with him soon. Now that you've found each other the longer you apart the more irritable you will both become." He was right and I would move in with him tomorrow but it would look bad considering I haven't passed along my Beta title.

"Do you think it would be okay if I spent that night with him tonight? Just to get away from here."

"Go." I hugged him one last time before hopping up the stairs.

When I walked into my room I saw that Kaden had drifted off while I was gone. I was careful to be quiet as I grabbed what I need to stay with him for the night. I knew he wouldn't mind so I waited until I was ready to leave before waking him up.

"Kaden wake up." His eyes fluttered open "Come on we're leaving." Kaden stood up and stretched before rubbing his eyes.

"Where are we going?" I held up my bag.

"Your place. I need to get away from here for a bit." Kaden nodded and put his shoes on. We both walked out to his car hand in hand.

The ride there was pretty quiet because we were both tired. As we pulled into the driveway Kaden looked over at me and said

"I know it's been a hard day but please tell me you're gonna sleep in my bed with me. I just don't want to be apart from you right now." I nodded and he gave me a sleepy smile.

I said hi to his parents and sister before we went up to Kaden's room but I was getting really tired.

"You can shower in my bathroom and I'll go to Kayla's room to shower. Just uh change in there in case I come in and yeah you know what I'm getting at." I laughed at Kaden's nervousness and watched as he left.

I took my time in the shower and used what I assume is Kayla's soap and shampoo. When I was out and dressed I looked in the mirror and noticed my eyes were no longer red and my freckles were beginning to show.

I put on some running shorts and a big tee shirt and walked out of the bathroom while brushing my still wet hair. I saw Kaden laying in the bed with grey sweatpants and no shirt. His hair was damp and sticking up and can I just say Oh My Damn he is hot.

"Sawyer baby you're gonna get sick if you don't dry your hair." I frowned a little. I hated drying my hair because my arms got tired. "Come on I'll do it."

I followed Kaden into the bathroom and he dried my hair with a blow dryer until it was all dry and warming up my back.

Afterward, we both laid in the bed and I put my head on Kaden's chest. He ran his fingers through my hair and I felt my eyes getting heavy but I didn't want to fall asleep yet. Every touch between us felt like sparks running through me in the best way. For the last couple of weeks, I pushed away any feelings I had towards Kaden because I never thought I would get him as my mate.

I'm scared I'll wake up and it all has been a dream.

A/N

I hope y'all like where this is going!

This chapter is dedicated to @Shelby_Painter who wrote the Fatal trilogy. I have finished the first book that I absolutely loved and am currently on the second book. Not only is the storyline amazing but the way it is written was amazingly thought out and I love it. I'm not one for a series that follow the same people (Which is why my other books will be in other people's perspectives lol spoiler alert) but I fell in love with the story and couldn't resist.

My reader goal for the last 5 days was 18 and I got 16 which is enough to make me happy. Don't forget to vote and comment you never know you may get a mention😉. Let's try to get 18 more reads in the next five days!!

Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading XOXO