Jacob

-One year ago

Ican't believe it's finally here. It's finally

Gisele's eighteenth birthday and I feel like

Im about to lose my mind with excitement.

I gave Derek the picnic basket, packed the sandwiches, the drinks, and her favorite flowers.

Shit, I haven't packed the blanket!

I dash into the hallway and wrench open the door to the spare room. Rummaging around for the blanket I bought a couple of weeks ago. I know it was in there somewhere.

Okay, wait, I need to slow down. At this rate, I'm going to end up forgetting something really important, and tonight needs to be perfect. No screw-ups, nothing may go wrong.

The weather is perfect - just as the human weather reporter predicted. I thought I was going to end up losing my mind, listening to the same grizzled old guy drone on and on about how humid it is. Do they really think the rest of us can't figure it out for ourselves?

I check my phone to make sure the party rd planned would go off without a hitch. I only had one shot at this tonight; my fated mate only turns eighteen once, and it has got to be perfect. "Knock, knock, knock.' "Come in," I call. Pocketing my phone, I walk into the hallway and see Gisele step into the entrance hall. "You're beautiful!"

It's a reflex. My wolf can't help but admire how truly stunning she is. I watch with a sense of satisfaction as color rises to her cheeks and tints them pink in response. "Hello to you, too," she giggles, tucking a strand of her long, ice-blonde hair behind her ear. "You look flustered. Are you excited about something?" she asks.

I roll my eyes and pull her in close. Her honey-sweet scent causes the hairs on the back of my neck to rise. I instinctively know her heat is close. She must be just days away. I lean in and press my lips against hers. Her body goes soft and pliant in my arms. the second our mouths connect.

Kissing Gisele is like tasting sunshine on my tongue. Her rapid breathing turns to a soft sigh of passion the longer I drink her in. She's pulls away and breaks the kiss.

No, no," she says, all coy smiles and shy giggles. "You're promised we'd spend time together before my big party. "Is this not time well spent?" I ask, nuzzling the tender spot of skin just below her ear. "Because I, for one, am having a blast," I whisper, pleading with her to let me get close to her.

Gisele's hand is on my chest, her palm lingering on my sternum, applying a small amount of pressure to keep me at bay. "I think you're wildly overestimating how amazing you are, Jacob."

My upper lip curls into a smirk and I can't help the rush of air that slips through my nose. "With you as my fated mate, I think

I'm plenty amazing."

There it is again; the rosy blush on her cheeks that makes me fall harder for her every time. "Are we gonna go for a run or do I have to stand here all-night listening to you tease me?" she whines cutely, her lower lip jutting out in a pout.

Everything about her is soft and pink: her cheeks, her lips, the tip of her adorable nose, the flush spreading down her neck and across her chest.

God, I can't wait to belong to her. "Sure, c'mon," I say, shrugging out of my clothes and tossing them into the bag I used when out on runs. "Hand them over."

She blinks shyly, like we don't do this every time we have to shift. She quickly discards her clothes and stands in front of me, completely naked. I can't help but stare at her perfect body.

She hands them over, blue eyes averted, and I muftle a snicker while shoving her lump of clothing into the makeshift rucksack "Ifit bugs you that much, I'l keep my eyes closed until you shift," I say, keeping my eyes fixed on the zipper that keeps catehing on a piece of fabric in the bag.

I walk back into my room to grab the picnic blanket and stealthily hide it away so she won't see anything. I texted Derek earlier to help me set things up so I wouldn't have to run with food on my back.

When I come out, she still hasn't spoken. I wait, giving her time to think it over. She is quiet for a beat, and I wonder if she'll accept, when I hear her take deep breaths.

No," she says on the exhale. A bit of the tension slips free with it. "We 'are' fated mates. It would be weird if I was shy around you for any reason. Just-I don't know, maybe try not to stare?"

I laugh at her and throw the bag over my shoulder with a shrug. "You got it."

I look up at her, and even though she's completely naked and I 'want' her so badly, it's like I'm choking on the ash. Her embarrassed smile immediately drew my eyes to her face. Her features are so soft, so delicate. She is like a beautiful dream.

Let's go," I say, holding my hand out for her to take.

She slips her fingers through mine and it feels right. It feels like the universe carved our hands from the same bone fragment.

Our fingers made to fit into the spaces left behind when we were part.

We leave my house and shift almost the second our feet touch the grass outside.

Running beside her in wolf form feels just as monumental as holding her hand in mine.

We sped through the trees, faster than the birds soaring high above our heads. I let out a yelp of excitement, breathless with it, laughing internally at how free it all feels. The wind whips past us, our paws rhythmically landing on the ground, like thunder rolling through clouds of on the dust dispersed from the dirt on the forest floor

When we're close enough to the spot rd chosen for our picnic, I veer off. She follows me easily, huffing just behind me.

We finally arrive and it's exactly how l'd pictured it.

The clearing is darker, cooler than the rest of the forest surrounding us. The sky above is an inky black eternity, dotted with speckles of silver stars here and there.

The full moon shining brightly above us, illuminating her surprise perfectly.

Gisele shifts and I follow, both of us panting slightly in our human forms. "What is this?" she breathes. The stars reflected in her eyes as she gazes up at the night sky.

A surprise," I admit quietly. It feels like I should speak softly, like I might shatter the fragility ofthe suspended moment between us. "For your eighteenth. Happy birthday, baby.

She turns those endlessly blue eyes on me, tears clinging to her lashes like tiny constellations. Without a word, she links our fingers and pulls me close, our bodies pressing together

Surprised, she whispers, "You didn't have to do so much for me.

I frown, my hands genty cupping her face.

I give her a quick, gentle, chaste kiss. will do anything for you," I whisper, and ch as she offers me a blinding smile efore slotting her lips against mine.

We stumble back and somehow, thankfully, land on the soft grass without either of us getting hurt.

The bag slips off my shoulder andI remember- "The blanket," I mumble, my words barely audible under her ardent kisses. "Don't need it," she replies, letting me pull her into my lap, her thighs straddling mine, and suddenly it's way too hot. Suddenly, all

I can smell is the arousal growing between us. Suddenly she is everywhere. "l just need y you."

Her candor surprises me, but there isn't a bone in my body that wants to fight her on it. She has a hold on every nerve ending in my body, each one strung tight on a string.

When she tugs at the string, I'm ready and willing to sing. She is my puppet master.

Her hands run down my chest, nails catching skin and making me shiver. I can't help the low groan that slips through my teeth when her fingers trace down my stomach and circle the base of my cock.

Her hands are smaller than mine, but I've felt nothing better than the grip of her hand. "Can we?" I rasp, the words sticking in my throat awkwardly, but she understands anyway. She kisses me again, deeply. languidly, and my thoughts scatter like pigeons.

Td be a little sad if we didn't," she murmurs. "It is my birthday, after all. And you haven't given me anything yet." "When did you get so cocky?" I chuckle.

But it quickly tapers off into a whine that would have embarrassed me if it was anyone other than Gisele working the length of my cock.

I can smell the arousal on her skin, her slick practically dripping onto my thighs, the scent sweeter than any honey Ive ever tasted. "You make it easy to be, she admits, and I love hearing it.

She fills my heart with joy. I love she feels safe with me. That she feels like she can be herself. My fingers dig into the softness of her hips as she adjusts her body on mine and she guides the head of my cock into her dripping cunt.

Our mouths connected, moaning in unison as she sinks down onto me.

Itake it all back.

EverythingI thought about how amazing it felt to have her hands wrapped around me pale compared to the wet heat gripping me now in a way that I never thought was possible

She's whining, her teeth nipping at my lips while she adjusts to the novel sensation and, honestly, I'm trying to adjust too.

It's hypnotic. Every atom of my body zeroes in on the push and pull of our bodies as she grinds her pelvis on mine. The way her pussy sucks me in and I'm drowning in it.

Drowning in the warmth encompassing my entire existence. I can barely pay attention to more than the soft gasps she drops on my shoulder, the sting of her fingermails carving tiny red erescents into my skin.

Something primal forces me up, rolling her onto her back and preening at the new pleasure cresting on her face. Her brows pinched, eyes squeezed shut, one of her hands dipping down between her thighs and pulling higher-pitched whine from her throat.

She's fluttering around me. I can't describe it, the heat burning low in my stomach. "Did you hear that?" I breathe, my head snapping up and scanning the tree line near to us.

Gisele is confused, her chest heaving with a muffled cry:

"What are you talking about? Please don't stop moving," she whines, fingernails scrabbling for friction.

I can't see anything, and the blood rushing in my ears is too loud to hear anything else.

I shrug it off; it must have been a small animal passing by, nothing to be alarmed by.

I turn back to Gisele, kissing her in apology before roling my hips into her, eliciting yet another moan. It might be my new favorite

Sound. "Sorry" I grunt, picking up a steady rhythm and chasing the high that builds and builds.

Waiting for the moment, it snaps.