All Time Heat (re-done)

Chapter 14

After breakfast Noel had to go to his training and Grandma went out with some new friends of hers to do some shopping. I was currently stripping down to crawl in the bed for a short nap, after eating my tummy was so full and I just wanted to curl up somewhere warm and cozy. Shifting back the covers I climbed into the over-sized bed to get comfortable which consisted of re-arranging the pillows to surround my body before creating a mound of blankets over that with only the top of my head sticking out. I had just begun to fall asleep when I heard the bedroom door creak open slowly followed by the soft padding of feet. The mattress dipped in and suddenly the rush of Alrric's campfire like smell filled my nose. I could feel his breath on my face as he leaned over top of me, "You are asleep right?" Pretending to be asleep I let a light snore out to make it believable which was enough for him as he continued,  "Fay, I just-", a large sigh left his lips before he moved to run his fingers through my hair. "It's not that I wasn't happy. I just, my childhood was not normal. My mother was not my father's real mate. So from the day I was born my position of next Alpha was always in question", his hand stopped as he laid his body down next to the pillows surrounding me. 

He began stroking my hair again seemingly distracted by the movement as he went on, "My poor mother always tried to prove them wrong by pushing and pushing me to do better than everyone, 'As an Alpha should', as she would put it. It didn't help that my father only ever looked at me as though I wasn't truly his, like I wasn't the son he was supposed to have." His hand began to tremble slightly to which I gently moved my head up into his touch subconsciously effectively calming him down, "So I grew to be the man and wolf you see today. I'm terrible at communication, I try to hide my emotions and I have a tendency to put work ahead of my personal life." He paused almost thinking before he moved the pillows around me gently before he began to strip himself. I felt the bed dip farther as he settled in next to me; my face pressed against his chest as he pulled me close. I could hear his heartbeat against his chest; it was pounding and at this close proximity I could smell the anxiousness on him. "So my first thought when I heard you were with pup was with all honesty dread. Dread at what kind of a father I would be. At what kind of person he or she will grow up to be", his voice cracked slightly and my body instinctively moved closer to his wrapping my arms around his torso as I snuggled into him. 

Clearing his throat he went on, "I'm just scared of ruining my pup, of not being good enough for them." That did it right there for me, I couldn't let my mate think that way about himself so I opened my eyes and shot my head up to look at this incredibly foolish mate of mine. However, the sight before me had me stuck in place for a moment; his unruly curls were tangled and went every which way like he ran his fingers through it a million times, his emerald eyes were dampened with un-shed tears, and his nose was a light red but just the overall expression on his face killed me. That expression was just heart-wrenching it was like the whole world was going down around him and he was useless to do anything. My eyes immediately teared up at my mate's horrific state, I had never seem him like this; he was always so confident, possessive, and overbearingly cocky sometimes but never like this. My arms unwrapped themselves from his torso before cupping the sides of his face gently, his scruffy jaw scratched at my palms as he leaned into my hold.

 "Alrric....", my words came out as a whine, "Mate, you are not like your parents. You have proved to the pack, Noel and me that you are a good Alpha. You will be someone our pup is proud of and you will be a good father." My hands brought his face closer to mine and I bore my eyes into his for a moment to let him know I was sincere before continuing, "I love you. Noel loves you. This pack loves you and for goddess's sake our pup will absolutely adore you!" I leaned in slow while keeping eye contact with him only closing them as our lips touched gently together. We stayed there like that our lips softly connected and moving against one another before I pulled away slowly. Looking back into his eyes I saw the love he had for me, the insecurity of his own ability, and the trust he had in my words. I knew it would take time to coax him out of his negative thoughts but I loved him and I was here to stay and I would do just that. His head turning in my hands quickly brought me out of my thoughts as he kissed my palm.