Ram's Mark

"This tastes like shit," Ram told his healer as he forced himself to sip her herbed concoction.

"Drink." Iris tipped the glass up, causing the liquid to rush into his mouth. He swallowed fast but coughed as soon as it went down. The old woman laughed and motioned for him to keep drinking her remedy.

"I don't know why I have to drink this shit. There's no point. I healed fine when she-devil over there decided to play Moon Goddess and force our bond." He pointed at Tymarie and shook his head.

"What choice did I have? Let you die?" Tymarie pointed right back at him. "I saved you."

"No, you trapped me is what you did. Now I'm stuck with a connection to you. This is going to ruin my life."

"Well, maybe I should've just let you die. The thought is sounding better and better the more I'm around you!" Tymarie said to him.

"Trust me, even a bond won't keep me near you," Ram told her.

"Enough!" Iris yelled to interrupt them. "Enough bickering already. What's done is done. Now both of you, drink!"

The old woman was very soft-spoken usually, but at this moment her voice became stern and loud. Both Ram and Tymarie shut up and began sipping on their healing tea again. Ram had known Iris his whole life. She had been his grandfather's healer before becoming his father's and now his. The woman wasn't a wolf, like him, but she was a healer which meant she processed her own magic abilities.

Healers had been around just as long as the wolf packs, and they mostly were allies to the wolves. Packs usually had their own healers and generally treated them very well. The healers had potions and remedies. Many were also midwives that helped the packs with births. Werewolves had hard labor and often needed medical assistance that they couldn't get from human doctors or hospitals. Iris had helped his mother deliver Ram and most of the other pack members.

Iris had not only been a healer to his pack his whole life, but she was also like a grandmother to him. So, if the kind old woman raised her voice, he immediately lowered his.

"Forcing a bond can leave a body weak and in pain, this tea will help. I also want you to light this candle tonight before bed, together, to show honor and thanks to the Moon. She has given you a gift, and you will appreciate it." Iris handed Ran a purple candle. "As I said, you must light it together under the Moon, to show your thanks."

"Together. Got it." He slammed his empty glass down onto the table and stood up. "Is that all?"

"That's all, for now." Iris's grin was off-putting like she knew he'd need her again soon and she was entertained by what was to come. He began to ask her what was so funny, but he knew better than to try to get answers from his healer. It was a grin he'd grown up to; it meant she wanted things to play out and for him to learn a lesson.

Iris left the room and Ram was now alone with Tymarie. She flipped her blond locks over her shoulder and put her hands on her hips. The girl was covered in blood; some his, some hers, and lots from the human she had killed just hours before in the street. It was oddly amusing because standing there with her prissy attitude and tight mini dress, she looked more like a club-hopping Barbie waiting at a bar for someone to buy her a drink than a vicious murdered who had bashed a guy's head in with a crowbar.

"So, are you going to lock me in a closet or something?" She asked. "Because I could really use a shower first."

A shower. Her naked body in his shower. He imagined her lathering her wet body with soap as the water poured down on her curves.

"Don't do that." Tymarie interrupted his thought. "I feel you're turned on. Gross."

"Fuck!" He picked up his glass cup from the table tossed it across the room, shattering as it hit the kitchen wall. "This damn bond."

He could feel Tymarie's heartbeat rush, like he may have scared her, but the girl had a great poker face and didn't show any fear. If it wasn't for the stupid connection, he would've never even known. Knowing he scared her bothered him and knowing her feelings bothered him pissed him off. Why did he have to care about this spoiled brat?

"I'm not going to lock you in a closet, there's no point. My packhouse is monitored by members of my pack. They will have you caught before you even got ten feet past the door." Ram told her. "You can try to run, but that didn't work for you earlier, and it won't work for you here."

"So, I'm your prisoner?"

"And I'm yours, thanks to your bond trick."

They both sighed, but Ram saw how messy she was and decided to take pity on her and lead her to the shower. Besides, he was exhausted and ready to sleep. Ram's packhouse was an old large farmhouse with lots of bedrooms, but they all were occupied by members that he allowed to stay there, including his Beta and some of the members that worked on the property for him.

Tymarie would have to sleep in his bed. Part of him, his dick, loved that idea, but the other part of him wanted to get away from the pain in the ass female. He could lock her in a closet, as she'd suggested, but that wasn't what he had planned on doing when he took her home with him from that Moon Pairing ceremony. No, he planned on taking her to his bed as soon as he saw her beautiful face and luscious body walking up those stairs into the ceremony.

"Light the damn candle," Ram told her as they entered his bedroom. "Let's get it over quickly."

"Sure." Tymarie took the lighter from his hand and lit the purple candle he had sat down in front of his window. "Are we supposed to chant or sing or something?"

The girl was clueless about how pack traditions worked. The privileged upper packs hardly kept up with the old ways, they prefer Botox and Bentleys over herbs and appreciation.

"Just thank the Moon, like Iris said." He sighed at her; she was so exhausting.

The two of them showed their appreciation to the Moon with a quick thanks, and then Ram led her to his attached bathroom.

"Okay, get out." Tymarie stood in front of his shower and motioned for him to leave the bathroom. "You're not going to watch me bathe, pervert."

"I…I'm not…I wasn't going to try to watch you. Ugh, you infuriate me." He backed away from her out of the bathroom and into his bedroom.

Tymarie slammed the door behind him and locked the door as if he was going to try to barge his way back in like a predator. There wasn't a window in there for the girl to escape, so he wasn't worried about her trying to run away. He also knew that the girl had saved his life, twice that day, so she probably wasn't going to try to run away again. Maybe she knew she had no home to go back to now that her father gave her to him with the deal, or maybe the bond was keeping her on a leash, but he could feel her emotions enough to know she was just exhausted as him and wanting to go to sleep.

Ram gathered a t-shirt of his for her. He was much bigger than her, there was no way she could even wear his pajama pants. He thought about going to other members in the house to find her something to wear, but he didn't feel like explaining all the details of the night to anyone right then. He was too tired. He'd send for some clothes for Tymarie tomorrow, for now, she could deal with his old t-shirt.

Tymarie came walking out of the bathroom, a towel around her naked body, a misty layer of moisture on her beautiful skin, her hair in wild wet waves around her face. He tried not to stare, but he couldn't take his eyes off of her.

"Mine." He said out loud, the words falling from his lips before he could stop himself.

Shit. Why did he say that? Why was he so aroused and territorial? All he wanted to do was throw her on his bed, mark her and claim her for every male to know she was his.

"What did you just say?" Tymarie asked.

"Here's a shirt to sleep in. You can have my bed. I'll sleep on the couch downstairs." Ram threw the shirt at her and hurried out of the bedroom. He was so overwhelmed with desire for her and desire to mark her, that he needed to get away from her and clear his head.

The couch was stiff, and his legs hung over the end of it, but he was so tired that he didn't care. As soon as his eyes closed, he fell into a deep sleep. When he heard Tymarie's voice, he thought he was having a sexy dream of her, but her hands shaking him awake proved she was very real in front of him.

"Ram, Ram." She whispered as she shook him.

"What?" He opened his eyes to see her beautiful face.

"I need you." She said. "I need you to come to bed with me."

For a moment, he questioned whether he had actually awakened, or he was having a good dream, but when she grabbed his hand and pulled him up to follow her back to his bedroom, he knew this was better than a dream, his mate was his reality, and he was going to mark her.