Reaching You

Bonus Chapter 1

Bonus Christmas season (On the way to the annual Alpha Meeting)

RYDER POV.

I groan as the sun hits my face. I quickly bury my face into the crook of my mate's neck and inhale her addictive scent of vanilla. I smiled as I looked at my tiny mate. Her head was resting on my outstretched arm. She was fast asleep, her pink lips were slightly parted and her cheeks were rosy from our night of lovemaking. I grinned like an idiot. Her beauty managed to stun me all the time. I gently brushed the hair out of Paige's face. I plant a kiss on her lips softly and she squirms at my touch. I chuckled at her adorable reaction. Warily, she opens her enchanting green eyes that my wolf and I drool over. As if recalling the events of last night, she suddenly bites her lip bashfully and whispers, "Hi." I grin at her sweet greeting and pull her naked body flush against mine in response. She squeaks and raises the bedcovers higher to cover her body. Goddess, I loved how shy she was after we made love. During sex, she was so demanding not that I was complaining. It drove me insane to hear dirty words leave my angel's innocent lips.

She is perfect. I kiss the mark on her neck. My hands cup her pert behind as she lets out a moan. She blushes and slaps my hands away before rolling out of bed. She walks to the closet and starts getting changed. I watch her lazily, before jumping out of bed to hug her from behind. She giggles as she turns her head to look at me. When did I become such a clingy Alpha mate? She pats my bed hair down. "We need to get ready or we'll be late. Giana won't be happy with us if we're late." She says, teasingly. Giana was scary when she was upset especially her being pregnant made her thousand times worse. Not to mention how protective Wesley had become over his mate whenever she grew upset. I pout and pull out my grey suit from my side of the closet. I quickly get changed. When I finished, I could not help but stare at my mate. Her brown curls framed her heart-shaped face. I swallowed as I saw her outfit. She was wearing a beige dress that was elegant yet hugged her all in the right places. Paige bites her lip and shakes her head at me. "Don't look at me like that." She complains as she fights with her wolf. Her eyes darken and it's Hope. She skips over to me, sassily. "Your tie is all crooked." She states, leaning over to fix it.

She grabs me by my tie and pulls me down for a kiss. I wrap my arms around her waist and pull her closer to me to deepen the kiss. She pulls away and I see that it is Paige who looks flustered. She ignores me as she starts fixing my tie. Fuck, perhaps this year it would be us giving Alpha John a show. We sealed the mate bond months ago, but I still couldn't keep my hands off her. I knew that I would never tire of her. I convince myself to wait until the end of the Alpha meeting. Only two hours. Unless you guys excuse yourself earlier. Liam suggests making me shake my head with a wicked grin. It was crazy how my hot-tempered wolf was all putty in my mate's arms. I kiss the top of her head as she takes a small step back to check her handiwork. I watch her walk over and put on some lipstick. I slip on my overcoat and pull out her coat from the closet. I reach over to grab my most prized procession, my red scarf that my mate had knitted me for Christmas about two weeks ago. I recalled the day she had given it to me.

Paige turns pink as she hands me a wrapped present. Louise giggles and looks over at Ashley. "He's going to love it," Giana says, with a huge smirk. I unwrap it carefully and grinned widely. It was a beautifully woven scarf. "I thought that... maybe...I would-" She stammers, making me laugh. I pull her onto my lap and shower her with kisses. "I love it. I'll treasure it, forever." I say, my cheeks hurting from smiling so wide. I quickly wrap it around my neck. Ashley bursts out laughing. "I bet that idiot's gonna wear that in summer!" She exclaims, making me growl. Wesley gives Ashley a high five while Giana hides her smile by lifting the mug cup to her lips. I stare into my mate's eyes as she snuggles closer to my chest. " GUYS! GUYS! GUYS!" Bellows a voice from the hallway loudly startling all of us. "Guys! Why does Santa have a big sack?" Yells Chase, running into the room, looking thrilled. "Cause him only comes once a year!" He blurbs, making Ashley and Wesley fall into hysterics. I pout unhappily as he ruins a moment between my mate and me. I gasp in shock as I see my mate's shoulders shaking with laughter. Giana groans as she watches a tear run down my mate's face. "She loves shitty jokes like that." She elaborates, making me groan.

I grin at my mate and walk over to her. She flushes as she sees my scarf. She then quietly puts on the necklace with the two wolves howling at the moon that I had carved out of elk ivory for her around her neck that I had given her. I beamed as she faces me with a shy smile. It made spending hours in my office to make it completely worth it. I take her small delicate hand in my own and guide her into the car. I open the passenger door for Paige and she kisses my cheek as she gets inside. "Ready for your first Alpha meeting?" I ask as I slide into the driver's seat. She affectionately pats my thigh and smiles. "Never been more ready." She states, her eyes shining with excitement. I grinned, kissing my mate before setting off.