When The Moon Rises

Sienna’s POV.

I wake up to the bright light of the sun shining through my curtains, I stretch and look up at my ceiling.

What am I going to do?

Why can’t my mate just be some simple guy from my pack or something?

No, he has to be a member of the pack my own pack fears most. I’m so glad I have Cade in all of this, it’s reassuring to have a familiar face around.

I jump in the shower and spend a long time washing my body, if only I could wash away all this stress. I let my hair dry into long curls and pick out jeans and a top. I take my time doing my make-up, wanting to look good for my mate.

I’m screwed already, this mate bond is just going to get stronger. As I draw on my lip-liner, I think back to the kiss we had last night.

I text Cade to let him know I’ll be ready soon, and then pack my bag to stay overnight. It feels so weird to be going on a sleepover, like I’m back in school or something.

I tell my parents that I’m staying at Cassie’s tonight, and then I FaceTime the girls, so we can have a group chat. I put my headphones in, not wanting my parents to hear our conversation.

“You found your mate?” Cassie screams and I wince, turning down the volume.

“Oh, my Goddess, Si! This is so exciting!” Kayla shouts and I try to smile at them.

“Oh, honey, I know that smile. What’s wrong? Is he with someone else?” Cassie asks.

I consider it for a moment, I don’t even know if he’s single! I make a mental note to ask about relationships later.

“He’s Cade’s brother...and next in line to be Alpha of the Black Mountain pack,” I tell the girls,

For a brief, miraculous moment, it silent. They both look at me, complete shock on the faces.

“Oh my...Sienna, I’m so sorry,” Kayla says, her voice gravely serious.

“What did your parents say?” Cass asks, her eyes still wide with surprise.

“Obviously I didn’t tell them! I only met him yesterday; I’m seeing him today to try and work something out.”

“It’ll be fine, Si, just don’t tell your parents.”

“Yeah, I know. I won’t.” I roll my eyes, but I can’t shake the uneasy feeling in my stomach.

“Be careful, Sienna, I’ve heard they’re in the middle of a fight with some rogues at the moment, make sure you don’t get caught up in it,” Kayla warns me, and I roll my eyes again.

“I’ll be fine silly, don’t worry about me. Anyway, Cade is outside, I’ve got to go!”

I say bye to the girls and then to my parents, I grab my bag and head outside to where Cade is waiting for me in his BMW.

“Good morning,” he says, his usual bright tone missing from his voice.

“What’s wrong?” I ask him as he pulls out of my drive.

“Oh, nothing, just one of my friends is mated to my dickhead brother,” he jokes sarcastically, smiling at me.

“Tell me about it,” I mutter, rolling my eyes at him.

“Are you excited to find your mate?” I ask and it’s Cade’s turn to roll his eyes.

“Not after seeing you and my brother, no. Although, I doubt we’ll ever have as many problems as you do,” he teases, but his words hurt.

There are so many “issues” in his family that I don’t even know about yet.

“Don’t worry, you’ll find him soon,” I say casually, watching carefully for his response.

I notice as he subtly grips the steering wheel tighter.

“What do you mean him?” Cade asks, keeping his eyes on the road ahead.

“Oh, come on Cade, I’m not stupid. I’ve got gay guy friends, I know about you,” I tell him, and I can see him grinding his teeth angrily.

“Don’t you dare tell anyone, Sienna,” he warns me, he glances over at me, and I feel awful as I see the panic in his eyes.

I lean over and put my hand on his leg, squeezing it.

“I’ll never tell anyone, Cade, it’s none of my business,” I reassure him, and he visibly relaxes.

“Thanks, Si, you’re the best.”

“You shouldn’t be embarrassed or worried about it you know,” I tell him, and he smiles.

“When did you first know?” I ask him.

“When I first slept with a girl at sixteen. After it happened, I just thought, nah, this isn’t for me,” he says lightly, and I can’t help but laugh at his blasé comment.

“Ever slept with a guy?” I ask, smiling as his cheeks turn red, at least it’s not just me that blushes!

“Three,” he mumbles, and I grin at him.

“Ooh, get you,” I tease, and he shoves me playfully.

“Nobody knows about it obviously, the guys have all been randoms from town, humans, even. I’m a big enough failure to my parents anyway, Goddess knows how they’d accept this as well, hence, why I’m dreading meeting my mate, he’s gonna give the whole game away,” Cade jokes, rolling his eyes and I feel so sorry for him.

“You should tell your parents, they might surprise you,” I offer, and he frowns at me.

“Right back at you, Si.”

I bite my lip. Okay, he has a point.

“Anyway, let’s forget about it, we’re here,” Cade replies and pulls into a garage with about twenty car spaces.

I step out and grab my bag, we walk across the gravel to the grass square around which all the houses are centred.

My mouth drops open as I see two guys fighting on the grass, both shirtless, both wearing boxing gloves. A crowd of people are surrounding them, cheering them on and shouting.

“What the fuck’s going on?” I ask, nothing like this has ever happened in my pack.

“Training, it’s a Beta’s job to train the new recruits. Your mate is giving a lesson,” Cade tells me.

As we get closer, I’m very alarmed to see my mate punching a much smaller, much slimmer man. He grabs the guy and flips him backwards, so he lands on his back on the grass. I breathe out a sigh of relief as he helps the guy up and they both take off their gloves, shaking hands.

The crowd starts to break away; the training is obviously over. The poor opponent of my mate is sat on the ground, panting heavily, and chugging his water. My mate grabs his water and drinks some himself, Cade and I walk over, and I take my time admiring the absolutely incredible specimen that just so happens to be mine.

The sun is shining down brightly, showing off his dark, tanned skin, glowing with sweat. I bite my lip to stop my mouth falling open as I take in each and every contour of his abs and pecks and every ripple of his arms.

I frown as I see a group of girls stood blatantly watching him.

Have they no shame?

I’m allowed because I’m his mate. They, however, are not being subtle.

I hand Cade my bag and step onto the grass, Jax must smell me because he turns to face me, a heart-stopping grin on his face. I smile back at him and step into his open arms. I don’t even care about the sweat; I throw my arms around his neck and press my lips against his.

His large hands reach down to cup my ass, squeezing it not so gently. He takes over, his lips moving confidently against mine.

Just as his tongue swipes teasingly along my bottom lip, Cade clears his throat loudly. I pull away and wipe the lipstick off his mouth. I sneak a subtle glance over at the group of girls who are watching me with looks of disgust on their faces.

Too bad.

“I’ll be inside,” I tell him, quickly pecking his lips before turning around and walking over to where Cade is waiting, a scowl on his pretty face.

“Sorry, it had to be done,” I tell him as I take my bag back and we walk over to the pack house.

“Well, I think it worked,” Cade joked, and I grinned at him.

Call me petty, I don’t care.

I sit with Cade in the large pack kitchen and wonder when I will meet their parents, although I’m not sure I want to. Jax comes in ten minutes later, his black hair wet from a shower, he looks delicious.

He comes over to where I’m sitting on a bar stool and wraps his arms around me, kissing my neck. I never would have expected this yesterday, but I’m finding it very hard to say no to him.

“Care to explain what that was about outside?” He asks and I stand up so I can look at him.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I reply innocently and Cade scoffs next to me.

“It’s alright, baby. I’m possessive, too,” he mutters huskily, pulling me into his arms and kissing my forehead.

“Okay, I’m leaving before I vomit,” Cade says, sighing heavily and marching out of the room.

“Do you want to put your things in my house? You are staying over, right?” Jax asks, and my heart melts at the hope in his eyes.

“That depends, do you have a spare room?” I ask and Jax frowns.

“What? Baby, that’s not fair. Do you have any idea how long I’ve waited for you?” He whines and I struggle to keep my resolve, I grab my handbag and head for the back door.

“Well, if you’ve waited that long, you can wait a bit longer.” I smirk at him and step outside into the sunshine, laughing when I hear him growl behind me.

“Come on, it’s this way.” He takes my hand in his and I try to control my excitement at holding hands. It sounds so stupid, but I can’t remember the last time I felt so...content.

He leads me over to a large, two storey house across the square. It’s beautiful, with bay windows and shutters.

“Mum designed it, don’t ask,” he mutters, unlocking the door and leading me inside.

I take my shoes off as soon as I see the cream carpets and Jax laughs at me.

“So well-trained,” he jokes, and I smirk at him.

I check my phone and see a text from my mum hoping I’m having a lovely time at Cassie’s; I roll my eyes and quickly reply.

He gives me a tour of his house, he has a huge living room with a TV that puts mine to shame, a gorgeous kitchen, and two bedrooms with en suites upstairs.

He finishes the tour in his bedroom. The walls are painted cream like the rest of the house, but all the furniture is black, including his king-sized bed. The whole room smells of him and I think I’ve died and gone to heaven as I breathe it in.

“You can put your stuff in the spare room if you want,” he offers, but he looks reluctant.

“I don’t want you to get the wrong idea of me if I sleep in your bed straight away,” I tell him, knowing full well my dad would never allow him to stay in my bed at my house.

“Sienna, you’re my mate, no one would think anything bad of you if we mated on the day we met! My parents did for fuck sake,” he shrugs, and I know he has a point. It’s very different in our world, you’re more likely to be judged if you don’t mate with your mate straight away.

“Yeah, I guess, okay. I’ll stay in here, but nothing is happening okay?” I tell him and he grins, pulling me against that gorgeous chest of his.

“I can’t promise anything,” he mutters, kissing down my neck. I push away from him and put my hands on my hips.

“Fine, fine.” He backs up, putting his hands up in surrender. “I promise I won’t do anything you don’t want, which means, if you want it, I’m allowed to do it,” he teases, smirking cockily at me.

I scowl and grab a pillow off his bed, throwing it at him before running out the room and downstairs.

This is going to be an interesting night.