THE GRAVEYARD

VALERIE "You know about her?" he asks me, his tone laced with sadness. "Yes." I whisper. "Okay." "I want to go now." "Hmm." he says and continues driving. We drive in complete silence until we reach the graveyard. I get out of the car and go searching for her headstone and find it next to his mother's. I decided to come here when I came to the Pack but I completely forgot about this. I kneel in front of it and trace my fingertips over the marble where her name 'Annette Austin' is written. I recall watching how she killed herself for me. It hurts always thinking about it. I have visited all of theirs graves. I visit Zelia's grave every once in a month. Amongst those six people I have been closest to Zelia. I saw her kill herself right in front of me. I saw the way her breathing slowed and stopped all of sudden. I recall how I growled for the first time when I watched her die. Tears drop from my eyes. They have all done this for me so that I can come and kill Mark. And now, it is my duty to honor their wishes, honor my mother's wishes. Shawn kneels down beside me. "Are you okay?" he asks me. I wipe the tears and nod. "She was very upset when she came to know you left the Pack." he says and I stare at him. "She asked me to get you back, she would be very happy to know you are my mate!" he continues. I smile because she knew who I was even before I shifted! Just like Zelia... "I liked her." I tell him. She wasn't around the time the bullying started but before that she had always been good to me. She used to buy me good novels and was always wonderful. "I know." he says. "How was it for you?" I ask him. "She was a mother more than a grandma." he replies. "It was a shock, her death. There wasn't any note left. I don't know why she took that step." I know, I think however I don't add anything else. "Let's go." he says and I look at the headstone and make a promise, not to let her sacrifice go to waste. Shawn stands up and lends his hand to me which I take immediately. I look at his mother's headstone that has dried flowers in it. "You miss her?" I ask him. He shrugs. His mother died the same time my parents did. The rogue attack at the time was a horrible one and it killed many from the Pack. I then go ahead and visit my parent's headstones. We get inside the car and just before starting the car, Shawn turns to look at their headstones. I know he misses them a lot. He just doesn't know how to express it. "She gifted me that land and sowed the seed there when I became the Alpha." Shawn says, talking about the lime tree. "I then decided to build my home there." he adds smiling. "That's sweet!" I exclaim. "It was her gift and I wanted to honor it. She did leave a lot of gifts for you." he says chuckling at the last part and I raise my eyebrows. "It's all in your name." he says. "What!?" "She left her entire business in your name, so the whole Franklin's business belongs to you!" "My name?!" "Yeah! My mate's name, which is your name." he says smiling and my jaws drop open. I don't need anything else, I am happy with the money I earn from my books; it is enough to feed me for the rest of my life. "I don't want it." I tell him. "Take it, it's a gift." he says smiling softly. "I don't need it, I earn enough. What am I supposed to do with buildings and luxury hotels? My job is writing and I love it, I cannot do all these!" I argue. "I want to kiss you right now." he says smiling and my lips part. "What for?" I ask startled. "For being so unspoiled." he says tugging a strand of my hair behind my ears. I look at him and can't take my eyes away from his pacific blue ones. His eyes are filled with warmth, the longer I look at him the more difficult it is becoming for me to catch my breath. A horn from the car behind us snaps us both out from our daze. I look out of the window and blush such that I feel my cheeks burning. Damn you Shawn! "It is not a surprise though." he continues and I turn to look at him. "What is not?" "You being unblemished. You were never given any luxuries." "No. I didn't want them either. I wanted something else which I never got!" I state, recalling the way I wanted my brother and sister to come to me and take me home. My eyes started pricking and I quickly turned to look out of the window again. "He hates himself for it." Shawn tells me and I know he's talking about Jasper. "I'm hungry." I tell him and he turns to look at me. I look him dead in the eye and repeat my words. He seems to understand that I don't want to talk about it so he nods and continues driving. "I am hungry!" I say for what seems like an umpteenth time. We are still in his car, he's about to take me to some new restaurant that opened a few months ago. "Where is this restaurant of yours?" I ask him. "Couple of minutes." he says and I look out of the window. We pass through the library and I recall that I have to return a book. Yeah but the lady over there will kill me if I step a foot in the library after the destruction I made last time I was in there. "What Franklin is the restaurant?" I ask teasing him. "Frank's City." he says rolling his eyes. "Wow! How do you get the names? Frank's Rock, Frank's Lake, Frank's Valley, Frank's Enclave, the recent one I saw Frank's City, Frank's Eon and am still missing some!" "Frank's Élan, Frank's Hill, Frank's Mere, Fra-" "Okay, okay I get it!" I say laughing after cutting him off. "I know you are rich, no need to boast about it Franklin! "Here we are." he says after parking the car. "Oh!" I say and get out of the car. "You ruined my chance of being a gentleman!" he mutters standing next to me. "Please, you are everything except that and besides Chivalry's dead." I say and look at the name 'Frank's city' written in Bold blue numbers. The restaurant looks luxurious. Regardless of my protest, Shawn takes hold of my hand and we head inside. The doorman opens the door and immediately bows his head. We are walking holding hands and I notice every single head turn to look at me and Shawn. The wolves from his Pack all bow their heads respectively at their Alpha. There is complete silence and the only sound is my heels clicking on the tiled floors. Shawn who is smiling in the car has a serious composure now. Attendants are already making way for us to walk. I don't know where Shawn is taking me to but I meekly walk with him. We head upstairs and another waiter opens the door for us. Shawn nods at him and signals for him to leave. The waiter bows at us and goes away. This is a private cabin. He pulls a chair for me to sit, and takes a sit right opposite me. "Do you come here often?" I ask him. "Rarely, everything in here is managed by Jasper." he says and I decide to keep my mouth shut. Just then, another waiter arrives. He is a wolf; he hands me the menu and walks out. It's four in the afternoon and I don't know what I want to eat. Clearly it is too late to have lunch, so I decide to settle for Marinated Chicken. After some time, the same waiter comes back and takes our orders. Shawn settles for a simple fresh lime soda. After taking the orders he again turns to look at me. "Do you need anything else Luna?" he asks politely but my blood starts boiling at the term 'Luna' and I growl, astounding him. "Out!" Shawn says to the waiter, he nods and leaves the room immediately. "Relax." Shawn says placing his hands on mine. "I will not!" I shout. "I told you, I am not ready for this. I didn't come back to this Pack to become a Luna or anything else, I came here for the rogue and I will not leave until he is dead!" "You are not leaving even after that!" Shawn snaps. Ignoring him I continue, "You always cannot control me Shawn. You cannot control my every step. Being my mate doesn't mean I'll let you do that. The pack means everything to me; they are my family, Shawn. I had no one when I was here. Who was there to comfort me when I cried or when I was pushed around? No one, not even you. You were with them. I left the Pack with a sole intention of never returning back. I never wanted to come back here, I detested this place. Why wouldn't I?" I ask annoyed. "But I know how they have suffered; I have seen them in the dungeon. I don't want the same thing to happen here, I doon't want more deaths!" I say and continue, "That's why I came back, I didn't except you to be my mate and I'm sure neither did you. It was a shock to me. Ever since I shifted it was all about killing the rogues, and....and this mate thing was never in my agenda, but my wolf called to you. She wanted you ever since the moment she saw you. It takes everything in me to fight against her!" I say and look at him; he's just staring at me. "I have to do this and I will. I owe this to them. I owe this to my mother. The only way I can finish those rogues is if I don't involve you and your Pack. No matter what I do or say I cannot ignore the fact that this was my family once, I have already involved my one family in danger and I can't do the same thing with my other." I say and get up from the chair. I'm about to walk out when I feel him grabbing my wrist. I turn to look at him and he pulls me closer to himself. "Shawn, please!" I say through my teeth when he wraps his arms around my waist. It's impossible to ignore the tingles spreading in my body so I try prying him off me but his hold tightens and he pulls me closer to himself. He kisses my neck and I hit his arms. He pulls away and looks at me. "What is the rogue's name?" "Mark!" I spit. "He's the one behind the recent attacks?" "The master mind of everything!" I say and he nods. "You have hurt my pride too by thinking I cannot protect you!" he says and I gasp. "I didn't mean it like that; I said I don't want you or your Pack in this. It's-" "It's a male wolf's duty to protect his female." He says cutting me off and I frown. "Cavemen." I spit at him. "I can protect myself and please let me go." I scoff harshly and try loosening myself from his hold. "I don't know about that, but I sure as hell won't let you go alone and fight with a rogue!" he says tightening his hold on me. "Damn it Shawn, will you listen to me?" "Damn it Valerie, will you shut up?" "You are not making sense." I say. "I am to me. If you are involved in this, then I am involved too. You want to know why?" he asks me and my eyes meet his. Once again I feel myself lost in those pacific blue eyes. "Why?" I whisper. "Because we are mates. You are mine Valerie, my mate!" he says. "You just want to get involved because I am you mate?" I ask him. "You wouldn't in other case?" "You are right. I didn't want to before and I cannot say anything more than sorry for that and everything else I did in the past. But I mean it Valerie, I am not going to let you fall alone in this pit." he says and crashes his lips against mine. He's very much demanding in the kiss; his mouth is hot and devouring, his tongue is roughly rubbing against mine. It's his way of showing how a male wolf should be the one in charge! I wrap my arms around his neck and feel his claws digging into my waist but I don't mind it because it isn't hurting much. When he pulls away, I'm breathless. I lower my head and rest it on his shoulders. "Okay." I say just for his satisfaction but I know I will never let him get close to Mark Ambrose! "Good." he says. "You don't know what you are getting yourself into." I whisper and a tear rolls down my cheek. "I swear to goddess Valerie, if you insult my pride once again you are going to suffer!" he says growling playfully and I can't help but smile. "Good! You insulted my pride too." I mutter, he chuckles and kisses the top of my head. I look up at him and he wipes my tears. He kisses the tip of my nose and I sniff. Pulling away, he makes a face and I can't help but laugh a little. He looks at me with a serious expression and slowly my laughter fades. My heartbeat increases rapidly when I feel his thumb tracing the beauty spot just below my lips. He looks at me and whispered, "I love you!" In those three words, he gives me his commitment; he gives me his trust and asks me to do the same. My wolf howls in joy at that and she wants to be let out. She's pacing and wriggling her tail. I have never ever felt her be this happy. I stare at him and blink a few times during which his hold on me loosens. He's still staring and so I take a step back biting my lower lip. I lower my head so that he can't see the blush that is already creeping its way in my face. I look up and my cheeks sparkle when I meet the pacific blue eyes that are filled with love which is only for me. His words are genuine, his feelings are heartfelt. I can't do anything to stop the blush and standing there with him staring at me so passionately isn't helping. So, like a stupid she wolf in love that I am, I nod at him once and then turn around and run out of the restaurant all the way beaming happily, replaying the moment he said I love you, again and again!