24 Contentmen

♔ Eustacia (P.O.V)

I stare at my mate as we continue walking, him on my left and me on his right. Slowly, we approach towards his pack ground, as confusion swirls in my body. I have so many questions I want to ask him, so many things I want to tell him. Yet, I can't because he won't understand me.

I'm a rogue now since I have no pack, and even if I did, it wouldn't be his. So, he wouldn't understand me either way. After all, only pack members can use the pack link, and only marked mates can use their mate bond to its fullest.

"We're almost there," Tristen purrs happily, he flashes a look in my direction, catching me looking at him. I shy away with embarrassment, if I were human, my cheeks would be tomato red. Thankfully, right now, I'm not.

We had another person with us, a blond man with a handsome almost boy-bandish look. He was about the size of Tristen, although slightly smaller, and they shared the same color eyes.

"I wonder if they're brothers?" I ask myself, knowing I won't get an answer.

I believe the man's name was Felix, or that's what Tristen referred to him as. He had rushed ahead as soon as our plane landed, leaving the two of us alone. Which kind of left us with a silent walk to his home.

I sneak a look at him out of the corner of my eye; just in time to see him sigh and open his lips. "You know, I'm sorry that I didn't get there sooner." He continues after an awkward silence, "I'm sorry for how I reacted too. You must've been terrified of how I acted."

It's not his fault that he didn't get there sooner. It's not his fault I had a shitty first mate. I was terrified sure, I still am. What if he's the same way Flynn was? What if everything everyone said about me was true? What will he think of me if I turn human again? The serum I needed Flynn has, so maybe being mated to the king will have its perks.

Goddess, I wish I could talk to him. I hang my tail low and drop my muzzle in sadness as I continue to walk.

"Don't be like that," he groans, "makes me depressed just looking at ya." Out of the corner of my eye, I catch him smiling a shit ass grin, I shake my head at him and silently laugh at his cockiness.

Quickly, a small pinch tingles the back of my left ear. Fleetly, I turn my head to look at him, a confused look plastered across my face.

"What was that?" I bark at him, knowing he would at least hear me even if it was an animal noise.

Tristen whistles and throws his hands up in front of his torso, surrendering. "Wasn't me."

I glare at him in response, flicking my ear as I continue to walk the direction we had been.

As we were walking, Tristen continued whistling a small tune, I'm not sure what it is, but it seems oddly familiar to something a dinosaur would sing. Whatever it is, it's annoying, but kind of cute.

Suddenly another pinch tingles my left ear, I spin once again, quickly.

He throws his hands up in response once more, but this time above his head, "I have no idea what you're talking about Lil' lady. I have been minding my own business, and then all of a sudden, I see these huge bugs smash into the back of your ear."

"Right, bugs," I growl with annoyance.

I swing my tail back and forth as I continue walking, picking up the pace slightly.

Once again, the pinch hits the back of my ear, but this time I was expecting it and caught the perpetrator in the act. Tristen's right thumb had still been in the position of a flick, as fear flashed across his face.

"Ah-ha!" I triumphantly howl. "Gotcha."

"Uhh... this isn't what it looks like," his tan cheeks blush slightly.

"Bullshit!" I bark, everything bad momentarily forgotten.

I pounce on him, sending him to the ground. I'm sure he did it on purpose, he's stronger than I am. Accepting the situation, I let out small playful growls as I nip softly at his arms and face. In return, he places his hands on my muzzle and gently shakes, making growling noises himself. Occasionally scratching behind my ears as he plays along with me.

A loud noise of someone clearing their throat quiets our growling noises, grinding both of us to a halt. I bury my face into Tristen's arms, hiding. "Ah-hem, Tristen, now's not the time for that." The voice nervously laughs.

"True, but she started it," Tristen shrugs underneath me as he replies.

"I started it?" I growl as I lift my head out of its safe place, and glare at him softly.

"I don't think your little girlfriend liked that," the man laughs, " I have what you wanted me to grab."

I tilt my head in curiosity. What did Tristen want him to grab? I look behind me where the voice had been coming from, and see the boyband looking man from earlier. In his hand was a large short-sleeve blue ombre shirt, dark blue fading to white from top to bottom.

"Thank you," he pauses as I look back at him, lifting his hands quickly toward me.

Panic springs over me as my heart sinks to the bottom of my chest. I yelp in fear, as I flee off his body and curl into a defensive ball. What did I do wrong? Was he going to hit me?

"Eusactia, hey, shhh," Tristen coos. I can hear his footsteps approach slowly.

I curl tighter into my ball, as I feel him bend down over my body. My heart racing miles a minute, almost as if it will burst out of my chest.

"Hey," he pets the exposed top of my head gently. "Look at me."

Slowly, I peek out of my cocoon and look him in the face.

Gently, he caresses my face, rubbing his thumbs softly along my muzzle. "I'm never, ever, going to hurt you. I've waited for you for so long."

Quietly, I whine. I wish I could tell him I'm sorry. That I didn't mean to freak out, it's just how I am. I wish I could hug him tight. Goddess, I wish for a lot of things.

"That shirt," he points at it with his left hand, "I'm going to loosely tie it around your neck. That's just so everyone knows, you're mine and not a rogue. Your eyes are kind of... unsettling to the lower ranks here. We don't have rogues often, so panic sits in when we have them near our border."

I can understand that. Although, I hate the idea of something else being around my neck. I'm still muddy and covered in blood, so I can only imagine the looks and things I'll receive from his pack.

"Alright, I'm going to put it on you now. Tell me if it's too tight," he says.

I give him a weird look, tilting my head. Tell him?

Tristen blushes once again, he's so cute when he turns red, "Right, bark or something. We'll figure this problem out when we get into the house. Until then, bark or whatever you have to."

Felix or I think that's his name, hands Tristen the shirt, and he drapes it rolled up around my neck and loosely ties it once. He kisses my nose softly before standing back up.

"Felix, go get your mate and go to my da- er- my office," he states.

Ah-ha! Felix! I was right, I wag my tail silently at my minor accomplishment of remembering someone's name.

"Meet you there, eh?" Felix questions.

"Yea," he looks me in the eyes as Felix sprints off, "let's break the news to my pack, shall we?" He smiles a large toothy grin.

"Yes!" I bark in agreement, quickly we both begin running towards his packhouse. I playfully nip at his ankles as he runs in front of me.

This is happiness, and I love it.

A/N: I'm sorry for a missing update and a late/short one today.

*I got behind due to schedule changes and a severe hypocalcemic episode. Almost warranted a hospital trip, so a huge thank you to the panic shoppers in my area. -.-

A new schedule will be in place next week. Wed. and Friday now. 8-9am ET possibly later. I will no longer be uploading on my profile an hour before I update.