A Were Story Ch. 06

There was a deafening silence in the room at the end of her confession, Cassandra had her gaze to the floor even though she really wanted to look up, just so she could gauge the reaction of her cousins to the news. It took almost a full minute, but finally, the silence was broken by Kennedy- in laughter.

The entire hallway was filled with her laughter and everyone's attention was trained on Kennedy, waiting for her to reveal the purpose of her laughter. Boisterous laughter filtered down to light giggles, "Okay, that has to be the funniest thing I've heard since I got to this madhouse, really Cassie? A werewolf? Not even a fairy? Tinkerbelle? You're a wolf?"

"It's not a joke Kennedy." Kylie spoke up as it occurred to her that the wolf she had seen at the garden could very well have been Cassandra, after all, she was the one who should have been there, and she never saw her.

"Of course you would believe her, this would play right into your fantasies of werewolves and helpless damsels, wouldn't it?" Kennedy shot back at her.

"Kennedy, I'm not joking, neither am I crazy, and if you would only stop your fears and beliefs from clouding your judgment you'd realize that I'm telling the truth. I know you feel the difference in this house and I know it scares you that you're living a reality that a few weeks ago, didn't exist to you, but I need you to believe me this time." Cassandra implored.

They were crazy, both of them were crazy and she was not about to catch that bug with them. Kennedy shook her head defiantly, even if she was the last person standing in this house, she wouldn't let her sanity depart her because of such unfounded claims. Werewolves didn't exist and Cassandra was certainly not one

She slowly approached her cousin, "Cassandra, darling, you've been missing for six months, you woke up in this strange place with strange people who have obviously been filling your head with nonsense. We need to take you back home and give you proper care, so you can get back to your life, okay sweetie?"

Cassandra frowned, "You're not listening to me Kennedy"

"Sweetie..." Kennedy reached for her cheek, but Cassandra caught her wrist

"You're not listening to me, you never listen to me or Kylie, you need to listen. If you listened more, you would realize I was telling the truth, or you would at least give me the benefit of the doubt, or maybe think on it, but you won't because you don't listen...." Cassandra felt her anger rise as she spoke, all their lives, she and Kylie had listened to Kennedy, her word was law and she had only become worse after the death of their mothers. She had always thought that someday, Kennedy would come around and understand that both she and Kylie had their own opinions as well, but that day never came because Kennedy wouldn't let it. it was aggravating constantly trying to be heard, only or the door to repeatedly get shut in your face and as the memories came to her, it only intensified her anger

Kennedy's eyes moved to her wrist in Cassandra's grip and noticed that her grip was tightening, her eyes widened when she saw wisps of fur sprout from Cassandra's knuckles. She cringed at the pain that zipped through her arm at the strong grip, "Cassandra, stop, you're hurting me." She said as her eyes returned to Cassandra, but she was shocked to find her cousin was gone, the eyes with the amber glow, glaring at her was certainly not Cassandra.

"Cassandra." Caleb called as he reached out and pried Cassandra's hand off her cousin, he noticed Rinaldi was right next to his mate, but he had given his beta the sign to back down. He didn't need this escalating, the only thing stopping Rinaldi from coming at Cassandra was his respect for him, "Cassie." He called softly, he forced her gaze away from her obviously mortified cousin to him, "It's okay." He spoke to the wolf

Her gaze remained on him briefly, she blinked a couple of times and he watched the amber glow fade away, "Caleb..." she turned her gaze towards Kennedy who had her wrist in her hand...damn it, she had lost control again, "Oh my goodness, Kennedy, I'm sorry."

Kennedy shook her head as she held her wrist, she could feel it aching badly, but that was the least of her problems. What did she care about her wrist when her cousin had become a creature she never even believed existed some weeks ago? Then again, hadn't Kylie mentioned the possibility? Hadn't she felt the difference in this house? Hadn't she noticed how everything seemed so weird? Her gaze turned to Rinaldi as that thought came to her head...him, the strangeness had begun with him, did that mean...?

She stepped away from him, this was certainly not happening to her.

"Kennedy." He moved to approach her, but she stopped him with a raised palm

"No, please don't approach me, just leave me alone..." her gaze drifted to everyone present, "...all of you, leave me alone." She said before turning around and hurriedly walking away.

She would need time to process this new information...lots of time.

****

Damn it these human women and their weak minds. Rinaldi had never really had a preference on his choice mate, hell, he had never given it a thought if he would want a werewolf or a human mate, who really cared about such things anyway, right?

Well, here he was, at his wit's end because Luna had blessed him with a human female and they were one of the most complicated creatures to walk the earth going by what he had encountered for the last twenty-four hours. Bloody hell! How much time did one need to process the existence of creatures that had existed almost as long as humans had? Why the fuck did she need so much time? He was sick of being away from Kennedy for so long, he had spent most of yesterday with Kylie, getting assurances from her that her sister would come around, that was of course, until Roy had damn near growled at him to get away from his mate before he retired to his own room where he had to force himself to not take advantage of the door that led to hers.

He had knocked at her door at least sixteen times between yesterday and today, at first, he had been met with silence, but at his eighth try, she would tell him to get away every time he knocked. Well, he was tired of getting away. Patience was no virtue of his and he was starting to think if he gave her more time to herself, she was going to jump out her window and run back to Michigan and while he enjoyed chasing his meals, the same did not apply to his mate.

It was 3 PM already and she still wouldn't talk to him, if his memory served him right, she hadn't eaten a thing either. She was either trying to aggravate him or trying to starve herself to death and he wasn't having either of those, human women and their complications be damned.

He glanced at the door repeatedly, contemplating on his next moves. The last time he had knocked at her door was twenty minutes ago and he had gotten the same response- leave me alone. Well, he was done. He was aggravated and his wolf wasn't doing much better, hell, he could feel virtually every emotion that moved through her because he had gone and marked her in his lust-filled haze. She had gotten enough time to really understand what was going on according to his estimation, at this point, she should have come to terms with the truth that they were all wolves in this compound and they all existed, now, heh ad to make her accept the fact that she belonged to him. she would be spending the rest of her life with a werewolf and while he wanted to think there was nothing she could do about it, Rinaldi wasn't foolish enough to assume that Kennedy would just roll over because he said so. She would fight him, it was a fight he was just about ready for, but he would win. She was a lot of things, but she wasn't as strong as she thought she was and being separated from her family- which would be inevitable if she chose to leave, was something she wouldn't be able to endure.

So, he was counting on that....and of course, his irresistible charm.

He wanted to give her an hour before he barged into her room, that was the most he was willing to give at this point and it was very much generous on his part, in an hour's time he would just go in and tell her some hard truths. However, he was forced to change his mind when he heard some movement coming from her room. If she could move, that meant she hadn't lost as much strength he had thought she was sure to lose having not eaten since yesterday, it also meant she had all the strength to engage him in a discussion.

He went to the door and opened it, her room was covered in her scent and for a brief moment, it made him heady. He hadn't been close to her since yesterday, so it felt somewhat like getting a dose of one's favorite drug after a drought. He held the door handle in a strong grip to reign in his wolf just before he walked fully into the room only to find her putting some clothes in the bag she had brought along. He swung the door shut, causing it to make a loud sound that startled her. she hadn't noticed his entrance earlier on which was quite fine by him.

She turned in his direction and frowned, "What the hell are you doing in here?"

"I was about to ask you the same question." He replied as he folded his arms across his chest and let his eyes rove over the items on her bed, "Running?"

"No, leaving." She replied

"Without telling anyone? Sounds like running to me."

"I don't care what it sounds like to you, I shouldn't even be here in the first place."

"You do know, you can't just leave like that, right?"

"Why? You plan to stop me?" she fired back

He certainly wasn't averse to the challenge, she needed someone to stop her, and who better than him?, "And if I do?"

She scoffed at him and returned to packing up her things, she had only done that for a few more minutes as he watched before she suddenly stopped, he wondered if common sense had finally prevailed on her and she was going to abandon her silly plans, "When were you going to tell me?" she asked

He didn't need to think hard to understand what she meant. He hadn't been prepared for the question, but having it thrown at him, he would have to answer it hopefully, to her satisfaction, "In time. Such subjects aren't just introduced brashly, a lot of thought goes into it, especially as you weren't particularly receptive to the idea of our existence to begin with." he responded evenly, he itched to go to her and wrap her in his arms. In his mind, he had imagined that when he told her of what they meant to each other, he would have her wrapped in his arms, perhaps sitting under the moonlight. This whole scenario was nowhere near his imaginations

If she was unnerved by his admittance, it didn't show on her features and he remained on edge and eager to clear whatever misconceptions she had just so they could move on to a new phase...if he got lucky, "So, that day in the plane, when you bit me...." She paused in her speech as if gauging the weight of her words. He held his breath, damn it, he did not come here for this line of interrogation, he was almost regretting even coming at all. This was going all wrong and it was bound to spiral out of his control, control was something he hated to lose, "..did we...?"

"Mate?" he finished the words she seemed a bit apprehensive to mention and he could understand why

She just stared at him, not bothering to clarify if that was what she meant, but he could tell he had hit the nail on the head even as she wasn't trying to make anything easy for him. his biggest issue though, was that even he wasn't sure what exactly had happened between them, all he knew was that they were linked, not as much as actual mated couples, but something close enough to that...he hadn't quite gotten to talking to Roy and Caleb about it to get a strong enough perspective with which he could explain anything to her. he would basically have to come up with something out of nothing to explain a phenomenon he had never come across.

He looked at the bed and her eyes followed the direction his were, she said nothing if she understood him, but he spoke anyway, "Can we sit down for this?" he asked

Her eyes cut at him, "If we have to sit down for it, it's probably not good."

"Depends on your definition of 'good'" he replied with a smirk.

She rolled her eyes dramatically, "I already booked a flight back to Michigan and it leaves in three hours, I don't have all day."

"No need, you won't be getting on that flight."

She scoffed, "Yeah right."

There was something about the way she dismissed him that riled him up, the fact that she rarely ever took him seriously made Rinaldi just a little angry. He couldn't seem to get a handle on her, and while he would admit, he was very playful, he also liked to be in control and Kennedy simply wouldn't give him that.

He closed the distance between them and grabbed her hand as she reached for the last item that was to go into her bag. Her gaze shot at him immediately, "I said, you won't be getting on that flight." He reiterated.

"And I asked, are you the man who's going to stop me?" she asked pointedly.

Even her defiance was sexy, Rinaldi knew that every mate had the unique ability to stir the most canal feelings in each other, but he swore, his mate just took that ability to some other level, even if she wasn't his mate, he knew he would have found Kennedy sexy as hell, but with the mating pull attached, she was simply irresistible. His eyes drifted down away from her eyes to rest against her full lips in their nude form and that was all he needed to see to throw out his well-laid plans.

He pulled her to his body and placed the hand he was holding on to,o behind her back. a sharp gasp escaped her lips and he could see her eyes light up with fire, but whatever fierce words she wanted to speak to him, she kept locked within as those lovely eyes looked at him with a defiance that did nothing but excite him even further. His free hand reached for her cheek and he felt her shudder at his touch, try as she might, the feisty Kennedy was as attracted to him as he was to her, his wolf grinned in excitement as he spoke, "Darling, I am no man."

Without missing a breath, Rinaldi swooped in and claimed those willing lips, a jolt of current shot through him as soon as he felt her pillow-soft lips against his, while her response wasn't immediate, he didn't have to wait too long for her to join him. his tongue slithered into the opening of her mouth and wreaked havoc, his first taste resulted in a soft moan from her and that was as good as it could get for Rinaldi in that moment.

He let go of the hand he had forced to her back in order to wrap his hands around her waist, it was a hasty decision on his part and the normal Kennedy would have taken advantage of it to push him away, but he was pleasantly surprised to feel her hands moving up his chest, only to lock behind his head.

His wolf had gotten all the signals it needed.

He reached both sides of her waist and swiftly lifted her with ease, her legs wrapped around his waist more out of instinct he supposed as his hand reached around to cup her soft derriere. Another moan reverberated from her throat, a hand grabbed his hair aggressively and pulled at it. Rinaldi growled, he could feel his hardening length and his wolf eager to reveal its self. He reached for her bag which was on the bed and flung the offensive item to the ground, he took a few steps back until they both fell onto the bed.

Only then did his lips briefly leave hers to stare into her eyes, he watched them flutter open, bathing him with the most lustful look he had ever gotten from any female, his stomach tightened and his nostrils flared as he picked up the light scent of her arousal, damn! She was going to be the end of him.

****

It was that bite.

That was the only logical explanation for why she was acting this way. The minute he put his hands on her, all Kennedy could feel was heat....scorching heat that seemed to burn through every cell in her body and intensified the longer his hand stayed on her...and then he had kissed her and her sense flew out the window.

She wanted him.

She had wanted him since the day she found him standing at her porch in all his irresistible masculinity, she didn't know if it was because of this mating pull or some other thing, but she had never felt his level of need for anyone else. It was something she didn't seem to have control over.

She watched his nostrils flare and his eyes flash an amber color and immediately became aware of the wetness between her thighs, her breaths came harder just knowing what that meant. Did she want this? Agreed, her mind still hadn't made sense of the concept of werewolves, but there was one hovering above her right now and it was becoming glaring that they did exist and she was mated to one of them....whether he said it or not

"What happens when we mate?" she suddenly asked out of the blues. She wanted to know, it interested her greatly, what would become of her if she mated with this guy? Would she get any powers? Would she have some memory loss? Would she become like him?

He looked a bit surprised by her words, she couldn't say if it was because of the entire question or if he was just surprised she had used the term 'when' and not 'if'

"You become immortal." He replied simply

"Is that all?"

"No, you will bear my pups, our bond will be stronger because I will be able to feel everything you feel and you will also feel what I do, we will be able to communicate telepathically, and if you wish....I can turn you."

Her eyes widened, "Into a werewolf?"

"Only if you wish." He responded.

"And the pull?"

His hand reached for her cheek, slowly, he dragged the back of his hand from her cheek down to her neck, over her chest until it reached a beaded nipple, he tweaked it casually and al light moan escaped her throat as she clenched her thighs to ease the throbbing, "It will always be there." He pulled at her nub harder and Kennedy bit down on her bottom lips to hold back an even louder moan.

"I like to get to know the men I sleep with first." She had to let him know that this was not normal behavior for her, she didn't just jump into bed with any man because he had a slick tongue and the looks of a Greek god. She was more disciplined than that

A scowl came upon his features at those words, like she had offended him, he wiped it off in a beat, but she noticed, "And how many of these men have you gotten to know?" he inquired.

It was almost comical that he was offended by something so flimsy, she wasn't even sure he had a right to know something of that nature, and normal her would have told him as much in no unclear terms, but Kennedy knew that there was nothing normal about her where Rinaldi was concerned, "Two."

Her love life was nothing to be envious of, even those two men had not lasted as long as she would have liked. She was never really good at keeping long-term relationships because she was much too consumed with being the de-facto mother of Cassandra and Kylie to give any man the necessary attention to keep him. Both of her relationships had ended for the same reason- she put the needs of her relatives over that of her men and as much as she really wanted those relationships to work, she couldn't imagine prioritizing any man over her family.

"If you stay, you will learn so much more of me." He replied sincerely, "And you will never have to leave me"

She had a feeling there was more to those words than they appeared. Staying would mean she did believe that they were werewolves, not just that, but also that she had accepted them- accepted him and as much as that thought scared her, she knew she was even more terrified of being alone- of being without her sisters. What would her life be like if she didn't have to worry about Cassandra and Kylie? If she never ever saw them again because she had allowed her false beliefs get the best of her? Even if she had somehow, succeeded in leaving the compound today, she would have found herself back after a few months of being without them, it was a given.