Chapter 5

~~Stephanies POV

Marissa was an orphan just like me. We had run into each other 4 or 5 times over the past few years. She was always so sweet, but I hadn't seen her in about 2 years. I had feared the worst, but was so excited to find out she was mated with the Alpha of our new pack.

But could I even call myself an orphan anymore? I had a family. Just not in the same sense of a good mom and dad. I had Dom, his mom, Marissa, and maybe even the Alpha on good days.

Marissa and I talked excitedly as our mates either ate or just stared at us.

Dominic's hand was glued to my hip as I sat on his lap. Every once in a while he would squeeze me and I would lay a kiss on his forehead or rub his back.

Dinner was amazing that night.

My night though was on another level. Barely any sleep was happening for us. He kept taking me over and over. When we finally passed out from exhaustion it was in the wee hours of the morning.

The next day Dom had to leave for a meeting or something. I'm not entirely sure but I was definitely still sleeping when he told me. He wore me out, and I was not moving.

A harsh knock at out bedroom broke me from my dream state. The sun was shining through the white curtains. That will definitely need to be changed soon. It's so bright outside too. It's got to be late.

Another harsh knock made me groan.

"I'm up!" I yelled groggily.

"Lunch woman, come on!" Marissa yelled.

Oh shit it is late.

"Ok. I will be out in about 30." I yell back getting out of bed and stretching. I slowly walked to the bathroom. I was sore all over.

I looked at my reflection and I look like death. Not how I thought thoroughly fucked would look like. Big dark circles under my eyes and I looked sick. I felt sick. No amount of sleep would help this mess.

I showered slowly and dragged my feet as I got ready for the day. The warm water hit my body like a nice warm rain shower. I stood under the water for as long as I could, until it got icy cold and I shivered my way out of the frigid shower.

I got dressed in the first couple of things I found in my closet which ended up being a tshirt and a pair of cutoff shorts. I shrugged at my reflection in the mirror. This was as good as it was getting today. I looked worse now then I did before I even got in the shower.

My stomach growled loudly as I walked out of our room shutting the door behind me.

I sighed as I walking down the hallway to the stairwell thinking about Dom and the mate bond. I wanted to do more research on it. A mate bond is a funny thing. I knew I felt like this because of how dependent I was on Dom. I needed his touch and his warmth.

Human relationships don't depend on you touching the other person so you don't pass out. But with a mate bond you are so dependent on your mate your body craves them like it craves nutrients and vitamins. Without the good stuff (aka Dom) you become weak.

That's the last thing I remember before I fell. Or flew...not sure which but my head hit something super hard a couple of times.

Marissa caught me at the end of the stairwell....I think. Everything was hazy and people looked like fuzzy blobs.

Her reflexes were quick and she said I only hit my head twice.

Darkness enveloped me quickly.

Which only felt like a few seconds I woke up to Marissa and quite a few faces I didn't know. My headache was worse and my body felt cold.

Death, is that you? I asked myself. Maybe death could hear my thoughts.

No, I could still smell chocolate cake. Something tells me Death wouldn't have chocolate cake.

Maybe pizza. Kinda like Death from Supernatural. He was always eating junk food.

"Mindlink Beta Dominic and get him here quick. Her lips are turning blue." some dude said.

All of a sudden I felt fluffy nice warm blankets being wrapped around me. They felt dryer warm not Dom warm. He needed to be the one to warm me up not these damn blankets.

I finally blinked and kind of looked around the room. "Her head is bleeding." the same dude said.

Because he said that, I groaned in pain and lifted my hand to my head. Seeing blood on my hand just made me groan even more.

In one swoop I was up in the air and everything went dizzy again. I felt like I was going to be sick from the quick movement.

Growling started to erupt through the group that was once surrounding me. Then I could smell him.

His woodsy scent made my toes curl as I leaned in to his warmth as his chest rumbled with how close we were.

Maybe he could warm me up.....wait that was fur. Its Yano, thank God. As soon as I smiled from feeling Yano he had transformed back in to human form. Probably so I could understand a damn thing he was saying, it was all growls to me. They did sound angry though.

"What happened?" I asked groggily.

"Sassy - babe - you fainted on the stairs and I didn't catch you until you had already hit your head a couple of times. It was the bond, you were away from Dominic too early." Mar explained.

"Dom?" I asked.

"I am here little one. I'm not going anywhere." he whispered in my ear.

My body immediately started warming up as he stripped me of the blankets and held me to his chest, my legs were wrapped around his waist and my head on his shoulder.

"No I'm bleeding on you." I exclaimed slurring my words. My head pounded violently every time a word came from my mouth.

"Its already healing my love. Our mate bond helps you in cases like this." he explained while touching my forehead.

"Ok. I am going to sleep now." I said shoving my head in the crook of his neck.

"No, little one. Stay awake. You may have a concussion." he said moving my head.

"But you are so comfy and warm Mr. Teddy." I whispered hoping no one else heard me. He rushed me upstairs and brought me to our room and sat me down on the bathroom counter.

As soon as he let go of me I could feel the cold coming back. What the hell - I didn't know it would be this bad. I shivered and he smirked as he used a warm towel to wipe the remnants of blood on my face.

~~Dominics POV

I didn't want to leave my mate behind this morning but training had to be started with the new groups, we still had pack members to add to our pack roster to keep track of who we had, housing to inspect before we could open it up for pack members to move in to, and even more paperwork on top of that for pack expansion land.

It was an all hands on deck type of day. I was just hoping I could get back before she woke up. I didn't want the mate bond to hurt her.

It wasn't strong enough to keep us apart for long yet. I could feel the tug, the small thread that tethered my body to hers. I felt the insane tug ever second I was gone that begged me to be by her side and not here. I have already growled at quite a few people, scaring them and making them run off because they were just too close to me.

I needed to get all of my work done but I wanted no part of being social today. Its not like I was very social anyway. I hated being around others. The only reason I joined pack meals were because of my mate. The ever open social hippy that needed the constant social stimulation of other people.

When I walked into training, I noticed most of the shifters were warriors I fought along side during the war and some new ones that were just recruited. Even if the war was technically over there was still a rebellion and still smaller outbreaks to be concerned about. This wasn't going to go away over night. This would be going on for quite some time.

Beta Dominic. You need to come back to the pack house. Your mate has fallen. A voice entered the mind link.

I growled and turned quickly. I quickly shifted into Yano. I needed to get to her quickly.

I should have brought her, but she looked so peaceful and beautiful sleeping. I barged in to the front door, cracking it into 3 or 4 pieces, knowing full and well that I would have to replace it.

I growled as everyone parted. Luna Marissa sat on the floor with my mate's head in her lap. She was surrounded by blankets, but her lips were blue.

She shivered and Yano pawed her into our lap. Right as she got comfy I shifted into my human form quickly so I could speak to her. I know she can't understand me and the mate bond isn't strong enough for us to have mind link.

I brought her into the bathroom, her lips were turning pink again and she was slowly getting color in to her cheeks.

"I was so cold." she whispered as I laid in her in our bed after cleaning her off. My little mate is just a human I need to remind myself that.

Our mate bond will affect her completely different then a bear shifter. Her body shifted into mine and I wrapped my arms around her to keep her warm. Her body slowly rose in temperatue and she started to pepper me with kisses the moment she felt better.

"Little one. You need to be by me the rest of the day." I explained, "I can't leave you again. Lets eat lunch and you can come with me to the training grounds and the new pack houses."

"Ok - but only because there's food involved." she smiled up at me. She was ok to walk and I held her sides as she walked in front of me. She was fragile, more fragile then I thought. It was my fault she had gotten hurt and that would never happen again. We walked to the dining room, and everyone got very quiet.

Her hand rested on my chest and the tingles shot through my body. No longer was it just me. I had her to look after too, and it terrified me.

I felt her tug on my hand as we sat down to eat. I saw her nod her head in prayer and she looked up smiling. She sat on my lap for the rest of the meal.

She kept feeding me and herself as I just nestled in to her neck. My fingers tracing where her marks were.

"Love....if  you can't stop touching my mark I will have to force you in to bed and have my way with you." she whispered in my ear.

I growled lowly in her hand as she ran her other hand down my cheek. She laughed and turned to our Luna, and they spoke of a time when they hung out when they were a bit younger.

I wish I would have met my mate sooner. I could have had more time with her, more years, and more of just her.

The rest of the day she spent walking with me, being held by me, or on my shoulders. I was never not touching her. The one time I did let go she shivered and I ran back to her side. I was only 5 feet away. Why is it affecting her like shes cold?

Because I'm so warm and we need mate. Yano growled.

I would never leave her side again. An ever present shadow on my little ones life.