Naya's P.O.V.

"You cooked for me?"

"I wanted to do something nice for you." Livia was ecstatic to hear when I asked her for some groceries to be sent over instead of cooked meal. I made six chicken parmesan, spaghetti with spicy tomato sauce and lots of garlic bread.

According to her, Ocean could eat enough for three people. So, I made extra. I was told he usually got home around 8 so I made sure everything was ready.

"This is so stupid. Look at me being a perfect little mate waiting on her man."

And now I'm talking to myself.

He, however was right on time.

His eyes roamed over the table full with food. I used the actual dining table near end of the window instead of the wooden island. We usually ate there. I couldn't find any candles so I used the overhead lights. Unfortunately, they were too bright and not at all romantic. 7

Personally, it was better that way. We've only known each other for a week and were destined to be together for the rest of our lives, so we had all the time for romance. I just wanted to get to know him.

He didn't comment, neither move for a generous amount of time.

"Oh goddess you don't like it." Livia didn't mention anything about Ocean disliking food that is not from the pack house.

"No, no..." He shook his head from side to side. "It's just, since my parents died I really haven't had a home cooked meal." He paused before widening his eyes. "Not that Livia's cooking isn't amazing. Nor that they aren't like my family." I smiled liking the relaxed side of him. 

"I'll wait for you." I picked up the hot dishes, placed them back in the warm oven.

"What did you make?" His feet were bare. Mud smeared his clothes, he must have had to shift at some point.

After I recited the meal to him he seemed elated. I heard the shower running soon after. I wanted to change into a dolly dress but I opted for leggings and a long cream coloured sweater dress.

It was exceedingly cold outside, even I felt the chill in the air. The fact that we were more than just civil and making some progress from where he didn't even want to bring me here, was a blessing.

I was giddy with excitement.

When I heard, footsteps stomping down the stairs, I took out the food from the oven and set back on the table. Ocean came in with black cargo pants and a grey sweater.

"I'll do it." He pulled out my chair like a gentleman.

"There's six. Are we having people over?" Sounding disappointed he served me first.

"Nope. I saw you eat for four people this afternoon, so, have at it." He looked away from me but I saw the smile on his face before he did. Clearing his throat, he carried on.

"So, how was work." I've heard my mother ask that question to my father nearly every night. They had a successful marriage or mating, so why not try it out?

"It was good." He paused thinking something over. After he served himself, he sat down before continuing. "We found the boat, it kind of floated away but we finally found. There were other scents that we can trace back to the human civilization but there's no point of putting more guards in danger." He sounded heartbroken. His people were dying and the only crime they committed was being born with supernatural powers.

"The police, what can they do?" I wondered.

"We contacted them. We have a right to have guns and when they are shooting at us we can protect ourselves. The mayor of Darkwood is a human who thinks we are like guns baring religious cult but can't deny our rights. Especially after what happened to my parents." He sounded angry now. "Anyways, we contacted the authority and they will deal with it now."

"He was trespassing so hopefully they won't put as much pressure on you guys." I despised myself for judging these people. For thinking they were old fashioned. They just wanted to live simple life.

I felt no remorse for the humans. They were born from us. No matter how hard they tried to remove our existence from their history, we never forgot. We were always taught about our heritage.

"Are you okay?" I asked softly. He seemed deep in his thoughts.

"No one got hurt this time so there's no point in alarming the members." He was going for seconds. "Also this is amazing. You really cooked?"

"YES." I pretended to take offence to his question but the smile on my face countered my mock outburst. "I can cook."

"I thought city princesses didn't want to cook."

"Okay, what is this City Princess thing? Is this what you guys call us?" That was the second time I heard the phrase in one day.

"Yes. It's just always thought of pack that live-in cities as... conceited." He spoke honestly. I respected that.

"Some can be. We are so wrapped up in the human desires that we forget our lineage sometimes." It's true. I loved all the temporary satisfactions of the world. It took me away from reality. "Do you think I'm conceded?"

"No but I think you have issues with rules." He finally brought up the issue from previous day.

"I don't have issues with rule." This outburst was very real.

"All Alphas have issues with others' rules."

"Ohh!" He was right. It rubbed me the wrong way when people told me what do. Then I found a loophole. "I technically didn't know the rules."

He smirked at my remark then sighed with a shake of his head. He knew I would find a way around it. We made small talks throughout dinner. He ate everything but made sure I had enough before and I was grateful that he enjoyed it.

We finally got to know a little bit about each other. He worked from morning to night and loved food, that was a given.

The house that we were currently living in was originally his parents. He used to live in the quarters with his elite team when he was training therefore, when his parents were attacked he wasn't there to save them.

I still wasn't a hundred-percent sure how he got his wounds. We didn't expand much on the topic but I was humbled that he even mentioned it.

He was letting me in.

I told him about my University degree, he was surprised by my business background and threw out a nonchalant remark about how I should speak to Ryan.

He was in charge of import and export business hence he usually made business deal with humans. Considering I was brought up with humans, I had much more experience with their tactics.

It was a huge responsibility but I doubted that it was any different than what I did for my father. After loading up the dishwasher, we found ourselves on the sofa with in the lounge.

He turned off all the overhead lights and allowed the lamps to illuminate certain parts of the room. It was romantic. Only item missing, was some wine.

We spoke comfortably for a few more minutes. I found out he was 25 and his birthday was in June. I told him I just turned 22 in November. I wanted to ask him personal questions but keeping it light and superficial was the right decision due to our premature relationship.

"Can I ask you something?" I needed to put my mind at ease about the girl from the pack house.

"Sure." He made himself comfortable by leaning back against the back rest. His hand rested on his tight stomach making me chuckle lightly, happy that he was sated.

"The girl at the pack house... Should I be worried?" He thought about it first before reacting. A true trait of an Alpha. Think before speaking. Don't be rash. The frown on his face disappeared when he figured out what I was insinuating at.

He took a deep breath. "First, nothing's ever happened between us. We've hardly spoke let alone what you're thinking. I'll never do that to you." The vehemence in his voice sent chills down my spine. Not because I feared him, I was overwhelmed by how much it affected him when I thought about him like that. It was forbidden to fornicate with anyone who wasn't a mate and especially with humans.

"So what's the story?" I asked after he calmed down.

"She was like the people you saw at sanctuary run by Octavia. Unfortunately, her whole family was obliterated three or four years ago just behind the mountains. They were actually from Central, a modern pack and they were travelling. They got caught up with the hunters when they touched silver cutlery in a hotel down town.

"Someone told someone and words spread, they ran into the woods and we heard the gunfire so we fired back. She barely survived." He sighed. "It wasn't me who took care of her but when she regained consciousness I was there to question her and I guess she ended having a crush on me."

"Doesn't she want her own mate?" And leave mine alone.

"She's never been outside of these gates since then." I rolled my eyes but deep down I understood her fears. We sat there in silence for a long time. Snow started float down heavily and started to stack up again. Whenever it snowed, a red hue hung in the air. I didn't know why but it brought an unexpected lightness to the dark. It was captivating.

"Did you..." He cleared this throat. "I mean..."

"No." I didn't move my eyes away from the large checker window. Wooden panes framed in grids with double glasses in each square.

"Do you like it here?" The doubt in his voice surprised me.

"Of course I do? Why would you ask that?" Perplexity clouded my mind.

"It's not a mansion, is it? The type of place you grew up in."

I moved closer to him. My knee touched his thigh, hand rested on his shoulder.

"You're my mate." My stomach flipped. "I want to be here. With you." We stared at each other for eternity. Slowly my hand moved to his semi damp hair.

I brushed the hairs away that fell to his mid ear. I didn't know if this was his normal hairstyle or if he need a haircut but I liked the length. His hair wasn't soft but it wasn't rough either. They slipped through my fingers as my nails grazed the roots softly making his eyelids drop.

He must have been bone tired if he was this drowsy by 9:30. I repeated the actions all over his hair and it didn't take him long to doze off. This time it was him who fell asleep on the sofa.

No way in hell I would be able to carry him upstairs. I mentally laughed at myself at the image of such absurdness.

So, I spread a thick quilt I found in the drawers under the TV. I was buzzing with excitement when I went to bed that night. Our relationship was finally looking up. My small smile died when I remembered all the crazy hallucinations that had taken over my life.

Two in two days. If it happened again I was going to have to tell someone. My heart dried at the thought him not wanting me after finding out that I wasn't a sane person.

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I will be updating on Friday evening (GMT)

In 3 chapters you will find out the reasons behind her Hallucination and why Ocean acts so weird around her. I can't wait for you guys to read Chapter 8 Part 1 and 2.

Chapter 9 and 10 are written from Ocean's P.O.V. So you'll know everything very soon.

Why am I revealing such an important plot line so early in the book? OMG I have so much more CRAZY things for you guys.

Comment, vote and let me know what you guys think x