✔️| The Gift of a Curse
~ 25 ~

I could not believe what she was asking of me; I tried to convince myself that the whole situation was a result of my imagination. However, when I touched her hand, I could feel her; I could feel the realness of her ringed fingers as they wrapped around mine.

Amoux immediately became excited; I could barely contain him. He kept jumping and growling in my head as if she told him that she loved him. Although I believe our mate asking us to mark her is more exciting than her telling us that she is in love with us.

I was delighted, but I think my nerves were a little more dominant. Shadow is my first kiss, so I have never been this intimate with any other female. Thus, I believe it is natural that I felt somewhat anxious.

I did not know what to do; to kiss her lips and then mark her, to kiss her neck and then mark her, or to just go for it and mark her. I wanted it to be perfect so that one day I will look back at that moment and be happy about how it went down.

I caught myself wishing she did not ask me to do it again before Amoux growled at me in anger. When she was dying, I did not regard any of these little details; the only thing that concerned me is Shadow staying alive.

The fact that she wanted a second chance at this intimate experience shows that she wanted the moment to be ideal. I did not want to ruin it for her.

If you do not mark her, then I will. My wolf threatened me. He was becoming restless; afraid that she would change her mind.

I do not know what to do. I admitted helplessly.

Just take a deep breath, and relax. There is nothing to be scared of. Remember, it is only you, our mate, and I. I could not help but smile at his advice. It is in these moments that I am reminded how much I love Amoux. Despite all his flaws and all his dark moments, he has always had my back, and he truly loves me.

I know that, but I am still a little scared. I looked at my mate who was waiting patiently for me to make a move. I noticed that she was staring at my eyes making me realize that they were gradually turning black.

Xander, this is not about you or me; this is about our mate. She just confessed that she is willing to give us a chance. Therefore, we must not make her regret that decision.

So, what do I do? I let out a shaky breath as I stared back at my mate’s black circular barbell and its dice attachment that is on the left side of her lip. She bit on it as she examined my face as I stared back at her.

Just go with your heart; whatever feels right, do it. Make sure to show our mate as much affection as you can master.

That is not an answer Amoux! I began to get a little frustrated.

I cannot give you a list of moves you have to make. It has to come from your heart; your instinct. As long as you are clear about your intentions and emotions, you will be fine. Now, do it or I will. My wolf threatened me.

“I do not think I have ever seen a male so nervous in my entire life.” Shadow chuckled when my cheeks turned red.

Damn it Xander, you are such an idiot! I scolded myself in my mind.

You are not an idiot. Actually I think you look rather cute. I was startled to hear Shadow’s voice in my mind. A second later I remembered that she just became a part of the pack; we could communicate through the pack’s mind-link.

I gave her a raised eyebrow as I wondered how she knew what I was thinking.

“Well I would not be able to hear your thoughts if you had you basically did not scream them at me through the link.” She chuckled once again.

Despite feeling humiliated by my actions, I still felt ecstatic hearing her chuckle and seeing the smile on her face.

“Who knew that the notorious alpha Alexander Cresswell is actually a shy little puppy?” She laughed even more when my cheeks became a darker shade of red.

Before I could react to her words, she held my chin with both of her hands, and she leaned in until I could feel her breath against my face.

“It is adorable, I love it. So do not be humiliated or embarrassed.” She whispered before her lips kissed mine. Even though it was not our first kiss, it still was a little tense. However, as she leaned into my body even more, I could feel my body start to relax. The kiss was soft and shallow; its aim was to get me to loosen up.

Slowly, my lips moved past her lips, to her chin, to her neck, and eventually to her mark. I could feel her shiver when my lips kissed my name that was printed on her flawless skin.

When I heard her moan, I began to lose control, and my fangs began to slowly emerge. I could feel Amoux wanting to feel what I was feeling. Thus, we came to a mutual agreement that we would both have control at the same time; which took a lot of energy to do, because I was not about to deprive him of that chance. After all, Shadow is his mate as much as she is mine. Regardless, I would be the one who controls every movement we made.

One of my arms wrapped around her delicate waist; it held her tight and helped her sit on my lap. Thus, her legs caged mine as her hands rested on my shoulders. My other hand pulled her hair away from the mark.

I ran my fangs on her skin for a few moments before I bit her skin for the second time in less than a day. She moaned as her hand moved to my black hair and ran her fingers through my locks.

Opposite to the first time, I allowed my fangs to remain buried in her neck for a few minutes. When I gave Amoux the permission to control our moves, he pulled our fangs out of our mate’s neck, and he kept licking the mark until it stopped bleeding.

My wolf growled happily as he rested our head on Shadow’s mark as it healed. We remained in each other’s arms for what felt like an eternity before I took back control and pulled away from her.

I took a look at her angelic face to see her starting to fall asleep; being marked twice in such a short amount of time can exhaust one’s body.

Amoux whimpered at that; he wanted her to mark us as well; I did too. However, there is no need for a rush. I am willing to wait for her for as long as it takes.

Still, neither me nor my wolf could recover from the pure bliss we felt when our fangs grazed her skin.