Haven's Wood Ch. 06

James took her hand and led her away from the lake, along a path that was shrouded by trees. After a couple of minutes of walking the trees opened out and there was a lovely grass clearing. In the centre of the clearing bathed in sunlight was a little gazebo, underneath which there was a small table and two chairs. On the table there was a bottle of champagne in an ice bucket, two champagne flutes, and a vase filled with eleven red roses.

Natasha stopped when she saw what was prepared for them.

"Did you do all this?" She asked.

"I didn't have time to pick up the flowers so Dean did that, but all the rest was me, yes. I hope you like it." James replied.

"It's beautiful, thank you." Natasha said sincerely.

James beamed a response. He went over to the gazebo and picked up a pair of towels that were sitting on top of a cool box. He wrapped one around Natasha's shoulders before using the other one to quickly dry himself. He then took the bottle of champagne popped the cork and poured out two glasses. He offered one glass to Natasha then pulled out a chair for her to sit on.

Natasha smiled and shook her head at the display of chivalry.

"I've never had champagne before." She said with a grin.

"I hope you like it then." James replied.

Natasha took a tentative step, before smiling up at James as the bubbles tickled her tongue.

"It's lovely, thank you." She looked at the flowers before continuing. "Eleven here, plus the one you gave me, so that makes a dozen red roses you bought me, as well as a bottle of champagne. Are you trying to tell me something?" She asked coyly.

"I'm sorry for the way I acted this morning. It was wrong." James simply stated. He brought the second chair over towards hers, and sat down before continuing. "I want you to know that I care about you deeply. Your happiness is very important to me. I want you to be here because you want to be. I hope you'll stay for dinner, but, if after that you want to leave, I won't stop you."

The last statement was clearly very hard for James to say. His eyes briefly flashed amber as he said it. This fact was not missed by Natasha.

"Thank you James. It means a lot that you're giving me that choice." She told him, as she reached out and put her hand on his.

James couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that she hadn't instantly said that she was going to stay, but he knew that it had to be her choice. If he forced her to stay she wouldn't ever really be his. Instead of dwelling on his disappointment James decided that he would just have to convince her to stay by showing her just how cherished she was.

"Do you like strawberries?" James asked as he headed over to the cool box.

"Sure." Natasha replied.

James then produced a bowl of strawberries for each of them and another filled with whipped cream.

Natasha raised her eyebrows when she saw the whipped cream.

"I hope that's for the strawberries" She said teasingly.

"What else would it be for?" James asked, genuinely confused.

Natasha blushed bright red when she realised he had no idea what she was talking about. She just shook her head in response hoping he'd drop it. James smirked at her response before saying.

"I hope you'll show me what you were thinking of sometime. From the colour of your face, I'm guessing it'd be fun."

The pair settled in to eat their strawberries and sip their champagne, as they watched the sun start to dip towards the horizon. They talked about little things, just getting to know each other better.

James glanced at his watch and saw that it was getting close to the time for them to head back to the Manor.

"I hope you don't mind, but I arranged for the pack to meet us in the Great Hall for dinner. I was hoping that I would be able to introduce you to them."

"What does that involve exactly?" Natasha asked a little nervously.

She was remembering her introduction to the pups earlier that day, and was now having visions of hundreds of adult wolves trying to do the same thing.

"Well," James began, "the pack will all be waiting for us in the Hall. Most people sit with their families for dinner. We'll come in the double doors, and I'll introduce you as my mate. There will probably be a bit of noise and then we'll sit down for dinner with Katie and Dean."

"That's it?" Natasha asked, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"That's it." James confirmed.

"No one's going to try and sniff me?" she asked.

"Not so you'd notice." James replied smiling at her question.

Natasha thought a moment before saying:

"Ok. I can do that. Is there anything else I need to know?"

"Well, I guess that they will all probably be staring and you, a few of the braver ones might come over to say hello after dinner. The whole pack wants to get to know you. They've all been waiting for me to find my mate for a long time." James explained.

"No pressure then?" Natasha asked sarcastically.

"I promise that they'll love you no matter what." James told her, echoing her reassurance from earlier in the day.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Stood outside the doors to the Grand Hall, Natasha could hear the voices of all the people inside. She was starting to have second thoughts about this. She realised that she'd basically agreed to having dinner with his family, and it was a big family.

James sensed her nervousness. He moved closer to her to give her a quick hug, hoping to reassure her.

"It'll be fine. I promise." He said as he wrapped his arms around her.

Natasha found herself grateful for his touch and lent into his hug loosely wrapping her arms around him. They both sighed in contentment, for the first time they were both holding each other. Natasha rested her head on James chest and was surprised to feel an odd vibration.

"What is that you're doing?" She asked, lifting her head from his chest

"Hmm?" James asked not really wanting her to move and not knowing what she was referring to.

"Your chest is 'rumbling', a bit like when you growl, but not quite." Natasha explained feeling a little silly as she did so.

"It's called murring."James said, rushing over the name quickly. "It's something wolves do when they're with their mates and they're happy"

"So it's a bit like a purr then?" Natahsa asked.

"No. Cat's purr and they'll do it for anyone." James said a little more forcefully than he meant to. He then continued more gently. "Wolves murr, and only for their mates."

Natasha smiled at how easily James had gotten riled up about being compared to a cat. She was about to continue teasing him when the door to the hall cracked open, and Katie's head appeared.

Katie quickly took in the pair holding each other and grinned broadly at them.

"I'm glad you two are getting along, but might I remind you that there's a room full of hungry wolves waiting for you."

James swatted a hand at his sister, as she ducked back round the door, then turned back to Natasha.

"You ready?"

"As I'll ever be." She replied.

James pushed the doors open and led Natasha into the suddenly silent room. The eyes of every person in the very large, very full room were fixed, expectantly on the pair.

"Haven's wood Pack." James declared, his voice resounding around the room. "I present to you Natasha, my mate."

As soon as James finished, the room filled with cheering and shouting. After a couple of moments, from the back of the room, a howl began. It filtered through the room until every member of the pack had joined in.

Natasha looked over to James; he hadn't said anything about howling. James looked as surprised as Natasha was, he also looked overwhelmed as if this was something special.

When the sound died down, James spoke to the room again.

"Thank you. I'm blessed to have such a kind and generous pack. I know that you will all make Natasha feel welcome as she learns our ways and gets used to being part of our family."

The cheering started again as James led Natasha over to a table where Dean and Katie were waiting. Once they were seated the noise died down into chattering.

"Did you organise that?" James asked Dean and Katie, once the room was quiet enough for them to talk.

"Not me" Dean said and looked over at Katie.

"I don't think anyone organised it James, we're just all so happy for you." Katie said.

"Erm" Natasha interjected. "I take it something important just happened?" She asked, hoping that one of them would explain it.

As James was still a little overwhelmed Dean stepped in.

"Wolves only howl as a whole pack like that on special occasions. It mostly only happens when new wolves are being welcomed to the pack. It's a way to bond everyone together and to let the new wolf know that they're part of the pack. When Katie and I were bonded, I joined this pack and was welcomed like that. Well they weren't nearly as loud for me."

Katie smiled at her mate's grumbled comment at the end of his explanation. As Natasha still looked a little confused Katie took over the explanation.

"The pack has decided to accept you as part of the family before you're bonded to James. It's almost unheard of for humans to be accepted so easily. It just shows how much they love James. They don't want anything to stand between you two. It's kind of like they're giving their blessing."

"Welcome to the family." Dean added.

Natasha's mouth fell open a little as the magnitude of what she'd been told sank in.

"But," she finally sputtered. "They don't even know me. What if they don't like me when they get to know me? They've been waiting for someone special to be James's mate and they're going to be so disappointed when they find out that I'm not anything special!"

Tears began to sting at Natasha's eyes as she began to panic about letting the pack down. Katie looked over to Dean with concern in her eyes not understanding why Natasha was so upset. Dean having heard about Natasha's past from James thought that it'd be best to give them a moment alone.

"Come on, lets go and grab some food." Dean said as he pulled Katie out of her chair.

James took Natasha's hands and turned her towards him.

"Stop the right now!" He said sharply catching her attention and stopping her before she continued to work herself up.

"You're part of this family now, whether you like it or not. That means that all the people in this room will support and love you unconditionally. I know you're not used to being part of a real family, but there's no one better at 'family' than wolves. No matter what you choose to do, even if you choose to leave, everyone here will still care for you and there will always be a home here for you. Do you understand?"

Natasha stared at James as he said this to her. She tried to stifle the tears she felt, feeling that she'd cried enough in the last few days to last a lifetime.

James seeing understanding begin to sink into Natasha's eyes continued, on a slightly different tack this time.

"Now while they might support you unconditionally. I'm a slightly different matter."

Natasha looked at James uncertain as to what he was trying to say to her.

"I love you so much, that I can't let you continue to think so little of yourself. I believe I told you that the next time you put yourself down, I'd put you over my knee."

Natasha began to protest.

"You can't be serious. That was just a joke. You wouldn't..."

James just smiled at her until she trialled off, an evil twinkle in his eye.

"I might be persuaded to hold back under two conditions.

First, you tell me if you're planning to stay for a while. You haven't told me yet and not knowing is killing me.

Second, you tell me about the whipped cream.

And if you say anything else bad about yourself then the deal's off."

Natasha flushed at the reminder of her earlier blunder.

"I'll agree to the first condition, but you'll have to earn the second." Natasha replied, deciding that two could play at this game.

James smiled

"Deal."

He waited expectantly. He was fairly sure that she was going to stay but he wouldn't be able to relax until Natasha said the words herself.

"I'll stay. I'm still a little confused about all of this, but I can't deny that I feel something for you, so I want see where it goes."

James could barely contain himself from shouting his happiness from the rooftops, he settled instead for pulling Natasha into his arms and holding her tight. When he felt her rest her head against his chest, he thought he'd explode with joy and when she tilted her head up to look at him he couldn't resist her soft full lips any longer.

He leant down and gently pressed his mouth against hers. He moved slowly afraid that she might pull away at any moment. Instead he felt her lift her head further towards his and her lips part slightly.

At her silent invitation he traced her lips with his tongue. As the kiss deepened he began to slowly explore her mouth, luxuriating in the sensation of her kissing him back. His hands began to move slowly over her body, the friction of her dress against her skin was adding to the heat that the kiss was causing.

Natasha could feel the now familiar wave of lust begin to sweep through her body. This time she didn't fight it she simply let it wash through her. She began to run her hand over James chest, wanting to feel his skin but only finding his shirt.

In the meantime James' hands had slipped under the hem of Natasha's dress and were sliding up the back of her thighs until he grasped her ass, pulling her firmly against him.

Suddenly, both James and Natasha felt ice cold water pouring over their heads. James whirled on the source of their attack, his eyes almost completely amber. It took Natasha a moment to come to her senses and when she did she didn't like what she saw.

James was stood before her, growling menacingly and appeared to be advancing on Dean, who stood between James and Katie. Katie was stood still, her head bowed and to one side showing her neck to James.

Natasha reached out and put a hand on James's shoulder, stopping him in his tracks. The growling however continued.

"What's going on?" She asked as calmly as she could.

James was struggling to control his wolf enough to talk, so Dean did instead.

"Katie poured the pitcher of water over you both, because you didn't answer when we tried to get your attention. She said that you wouldn't want things to keep going, not with an audience."

Natasha turned beet red when she realised what had nearly happened, or more importantly, where it had nearly happened.

"James wasn't pleased." Dean continued. "I won't let him hurt my mate, even if he is my Alpha." He finished, his voice betraying the fact that he knew he wouldn't win if it came down to a fight.

"Don't worry Dean." Natasha said. "James isn't going to hurt anyone."

She kept her hand on James the whole time, but moved herself so that she stood before James and the target of his ire.

"James?" Natasha asked softy. "Are you listening to me?"

James flicked his amber eyes towards Natasha and briefly nodded before looking back over towards Katie and Dean.

"James, Katie was just protecting me. This is my fault. She warned me what would happen if I kissed you, but I did it anyway. If you don't calm down you'll do something that you regret, and I won't be happy with you."

James's was more focussed on Natasha now; the intensity in his eyes however hadn't abated.

"What do you mean? Protecting you?" James asked angrily. "I would never hurt you. You both know that."

"Can I explain this to you in private?" Natasha asked.

"Do you not want this? Do you not want me?" James growled losing what little control he had left, at the thought that Natasha might not want him.

"James, please that's not it at all." Natasha cried.

She took a deep breath and tried to imagine that there wasn't a large audience for what she was about to say.

"James, the reason Katie did what she did is because she knows that I wouldn't want our ... my first time to be so public."

A ripple of shocked gasps and whispers filtered around the room, and all the nearby male wolves wisely moved further away from the commotion.

James whipped his glance around the room, satisfied to see that the only male left in sight was Dean, and even he had backed as close to Katie as he could while still shielding her.

James returned his eyes to Natasha. He placed both hands on her shoulders and spoke softly.

"Are you telling me that you're a virgin?"

Natasha nodded mutely.

"That means I probably owe my sister an apology and some thanks don't I?" He asked even quieter.

Natasha nodded again.

"You're welcome." Katie said in a stage whisper, a grin on her face, even though she was still stood baring her neck.

If looks could kill James's stare might have wounded Katie, but Dean's would have laid her to rest for sure.

James shut his eyes and took a few deep breaths. When he opened them again the curls of amber had given way to more of his normal blue. He took Natasha's hand and led her from the room. He closed the doors behind them, then let go of Natasha's hand.

"I wanted to try and take things slowly, Natasha, I really did. I knew it would be hard, but right now it feels impossible. All I can think about is taking you up to my bed, throwing you onto it, and making you writhe in pleasure all night long as I make you mine."

Natasha could feel the heat from James's eyes wash over her as he said this and it sent a thrill through her body. She couldn't help but grow excited at his passionate words.

"But." He continued with difficulty. "If you don't want that, I need to know now. I will control myself, somehow."

Natasha looked into James's eyes, and saw the passion he felt for her, but more than that she saw the love and she knew that he would keep her safe and that he wouldn't hurt her.

"James, I want to come upstairs with you, I just hope that I won't disappoint you." She said feeling horribly shy.

A look of relief flashed over James's face, but it was quickly replaced by one of pure carnal hunger.

He held his hand out to Natasha, and when she took it he tugged on her arm, so she fell forward, allowing him to place her over his shoulders.

Natasha let out a little shriek of surprise as he swept her off her feet and headed towards his room. Over his back she saw the doors to the Hall open. Katie and Dean looked worried until they spotted her waving at them.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

James swept into his room Natasha still over his shoulder, he shut and locked the door behind them before throwing her onto the bed, as he'd promised he would.

Natasha landed on her back, her hair in disarray around her head, her cheeks flushed. Her dress had ridden up around her legs and now barely covered her panties.

James looked down at her. He looked like a starving man presented with a banquet, he didn't know where to begin.

Natasha propped herself up on her elbows as James looked down at her. She wanted to say something to ease the tension that was building in the room, but the look in James's eyes made her mouth go dry. So when James smiled at her she felt herself relax. That is until she registered what he'd just said to her.

"You broke our deal." He said, far too calmly.

"What?" Natasha asked, trying to figure out what he meant.

"You agreed that if you said anything else negative about yourself that I could put you over my knee and spank you."

Natasha felt her heart rate begin to spike as he said this. She could see from the look in his eye that he was deadly serious, and very excited by the idea. To be quite honest she was rather excited by the idea too.

Natasha slid herself to the edge of the bed, stood up and stepped closer to James. She had no idea what to do next though. James however had no such problem. He tipped her chin up with his finger and leant down to lay a soft, chaste kiss to her lips.