Bitter Winter

Chapter 6

I wake up the next morning to orange eyes, a mate's mark, and a huge, naked alpha watching me intently. It's kind of amazing just how big he is - even Alpha Damen and his son Connor would look like a Beta next to him. He doesn't just look like an Alpha - he's clearly built like a warrior among alphas, his huge, powerful muscles ripple with each breath. Dayn makes other Alphas look tiny next to him - and somehow it doesn't scare me shitless. I have no instantaneous fear on seeing someone that downright scary, even before my senses come to me and tell me he's my mate, someone who would never hurt me. For my whole life, someone built like him would surely mean a more painful beating - but nothing about him made me want to slink off, tail between my legs. His presence just feels reassuring, protective, and safe - feelings that are wholly new to me.

"Good morning, little one", he rumbles sleepily, through his chest, and moves his hand toward my face, bringing his thumb right beneath my eye, cupping my cheek, for a gentle caress. Slowly, carefully, he pulls me into his body, fitting us together like two halves of a whole, and nuzzles his chin over my shoulder against my mate mark, pressing a sparkler of raw feeling into the skin there, and I shiver against him.

"Good morning, big one", I joke, the first attempt I've made at humor in nearly a decade. Relaxed, comfortable, his strong chest presses against my back, reminding me just exactly who's got my back, literally. Dayn chuckles in response, and I feel it vibrate against my back, his muscles expressing a warm emotion I can't quite put my finger on. Contentment? Is this what... feeling content is like? Suddenly, my stomach makes a noise, responding to his... only it's a clear growl of hunger. Dayn's warm chuckle grows to a full blown laugh, full and amused, and he moves his chin off my shoulder to place his lips next to my ear and whisper, "Maybe the little one has a not-so-little appetite."

"Or maybe it's been four days since I last ate", I giggle, surprising myself. I haven't giggled about anything since... Connor and I were friends. Dayn, however, does not giggle. His face darkens with something primal, and his orange eyes give way to red, just for a second, and then it's gone, just like I imagined it.
"You're right - especially just after being knotted... What am I thinking? You need a hearty, warm meal", he responds in a low voice, just above a growl. Dayn seems flustered, genuinely upset about me going hungry. For a second, the thought lingers and I rethink that - my alpha is concerned with my well-being.

It's kind of crazy how the smallest thoughts can be so powerful. Just days ago I'd asked Dayn to get it over with, to kill me so I would avoid a life of being sold as a sex slave, and now that same alpha is concerned that he hasn't fed me because we've been asleep together, completing our mating ritual. Not his own belly - which has gone an equally long time without out food - no thoughts to his own well-being. Just mine. I can't even keep track of all the implications, but the baseline is there - he really, really cares about me, and it makes my insides twist in all the right ways thinking about it.

Snapping back to reality, Dayn interrupts my giddy thoughts with a gentle, playful tone, "Didn't think you'd be this excited about food." He squeezes me gently against his chest and sweeps me up into his arms, standing up at the same time like a balancing act that seems incredibly difficult but with musculature like his is cub's play.

"It's not that. I - nevermind," I try to protest but my face reddens and I can't quite admit to him that I'm letting his treatment and demeanor get to me, like the guard I've built up for years doesn't exist. It's strange, I always thought that if I was mated to an alpha it would take years to learn to relax around him, but Dayn has me completely at ease, even emotionally. I wish I could thank the goddess personally for this gift of a mate. It's so strange, being mated. It's like my soul and his are intertwined, somehow right next to each other, existing together. I can feel his emotions and speak directly into his mind, not just into the air surrounding his ears.

It's crazy, I've only known him a couple of days and I already feel completed by his soul. Being mated is as good as life gets.