Chapter 6 - Sage
I was having an out-of-body experience. There was no other explanation for what was happening to me.
Somehow, some way, I was married to Noah. It had happened in less than thirty minutes, and for some insane reason, I had gone along with it when he pressured me. I felt like there was
nothing else for me to do, not when nearly a dozen of the wolves that had so vocally despised me when I was still in the pack were watching. Noah was the only safe person in the room, and I felt like I had to do what he wanted, or I would be all alone.
I said the words, and then he was kissing me, driving all the other thoughts from my head.
It was only the second kiss we had ever shared, but all the teenage hesitancy was gone.
Noah kissed me with an intensity that could only come from an Alpha who was confident in his skin and in his power, and the power of our bond was briefly loud enough that I could forget what was happening and just let myself fall into him.
Until it was over and the spell was broken. We were married.
Noah wasted little time, grabbing my hand and pulling me out of the building. Questions were thrown his way, but he ignored them, and it all just sounded like static to me. All I could really hear was my pulse pounding in my head.
It wasn't until he all but pushed me back into the passenger seat of the rental car that I was finally able to get a hold of myself. By the time he made it to the driver's seat, I was ready to fight.
I slapped at his arm, yelling, "How could you?!"
Infuriatingly, Noah didn't flinch. The only sign that he even felt me was the way his hands flexed on the steering wheel. "It was necessary."
"Necessary? Necessary?!" My voice was shrill enough to break glass. "There's no way kidnapping me and tricking me into marriage was necessary!"
"It was, actually. Would you like to know why?"
"Because you're insane?"
Noah let out a sigh and turned the car on. "You and I are mated, Sage. It doesn't matter if we've been together for years or days; we are a couple bound by fate. It's impossible to change that."
"It doesn't mean anything. It doesn't make you my husband, and it doesn't make you my mate. It just means we're connected somehow."
"We're married now, Sage. What you say doesn't matter. I know what's best, and this is what's best."
"For you maybe," I shot back, and then leaned over, reaching for the handle. "You don't want me. Let me go."
Noah laughed, and the sound was sharp. "You have no idea how wrong you are. There has been very little that I've actually wanted in life, and you are one of those things."
That made my mouth snap shut for a second, but did little to cool my rage. Although I had no response for him, I didn't care that he wanted me. All I cared about was that he had stolen the easy, simple life that I cherished.
Noah had just claimed me and my free will like he owed it.
I was already wishing that I'd fought back in front of the Council, but they all scared me.
Heck, the entire pack scared me. So I played the submissive she-wolf, stayed silent as much as I could, and got through it.
Noah thought we were married, but I was already planning how to show him what an awful wife I would be.
My current silence wasn't the submission he thought it was. It was just a way for me to survive.
My jaw was clenched tightly, and I refused to even look at him. It was petty, but he was the one who had forced me to play the pet, so now he was getting it.
The drive back was tense and silent, and when he pulled up the long driveway that led to his house, he was the first to break the silence. "Home sweet home."
I scoffed. "Maybe for you."
He simply grunted, unbuckling and exiting the car.
I had been so deep in my own thoughts that I hadn't paid much attention to where we were going, and there was a cold bolt of fear when I thought for a moment we were at the house Noah grew up in.
The house, his father Richard, undoubtedly still resided in.
Thankfully, the house was unfamiliar to me.
A new build, not flashy like some Alphas were preferred, but understated and well constructed, a reflection of Noah as both a man and a pack leader.
It had wide windows, sturdy wooden siding, and a wrap-around porch, also made of wood to blend in with the deep woods around it.
Ivy crawled up one side, telling me that he'd lived in the house for a few years at least.
If I weren't so pissed off at him, I'd have begrudgingly told him I liked it. Instead, I kept my mouth shut.
Noah reached into the back seat and grabbed the duffel bag, and I opened my door and slipped out of the car, following him up the porch steps. There were no extra vehicles around that indicated other pack members might be staying there with him, not even his Beta. I was glad.
The last thing I needed was another person watching me.
My eyes roamed over the outside of the house as Noah unlocked the door, and when he stepped inside, he stopped, and the door was left open. He was looking at me expectantly, and I crossed my arms, not willing to move.
"Sage."
"Noah."
He sighed. "Just come inside." "Why should I?"
"Because this is your house now, too." "Not by choice."
He didn't respond, instead holding out a hand. "Come on."
I acquiesced, but in the smallest way possible, ignoring his hand and pushing past him into the house. I was shocked to find the interior of the house was far more welcoming than I expected, given the fact that Noah had essentially abducted me.
I'd imagined the place as some sort of fortress, filled with sharp angles and cold colors.
Instead, I was standing in a beautiful, open floor plan that had a warm, earthy feel to it.
The front door opened up into a large living room that had a couch, a few chairs, and a large coffee table, all arranged around the massive stone fireplace that took up nearly an entire wall.
To the right, in the corner, was the kitchen, with dark, rustic cabinets and a large island.
Noah stepped past me and put the duffel down, and then looked over at me. "It's nice, isn't it?"
I was trying to maintain my anger, but the space was so inviting, and I was so exhausted from the emotional rollercoaster that the day had been, and my guard was slipping.
"It is. Very nice." "And all yours."
"Right. Mine." I repeated the words, but they didn't sound right coming out of my mouth.
"Can we sit and talk?" he asked, motioning towards the chairs near the fireplace. "I know it's been a whirlwind, but I want to explain myself. So if you hate me, at least it's for the right reasons."
He tried to inject some humor into the last part, but I wasn't buying into it. Still, I wanted to know exactly why he did what he did, besides the obvious sense of ownership he feels over me.
"Fine," I muttered, and walked over to the chair, settling into it and crossing my legs.
Noah followed suit, sitting across from me, and took a deep breath before starting.
"I know you're furious with me, but I also know that you understand how pack dynamics work.
I've been the Alpha of this pack for three years now, and you know as well as I do how much some of the wolves in this pack cling to tradition.
Every month, there is more and more demand for me to take a mate and continue the bloodline, but no one knew that I already had a mate.
I wasn't going to let them force my hand and pressure me into marrying someone I didn't care for, not when I knew you were still out there in the world, Sage. "
That was news to me. A surge of jealousy hit me at the idea of Noah taking another mate, and that jealousy annoyed me. Wouldn't things have been easier if he were married? He never would have tried to kidnap me, I'd still be back at the Brokenclaw pack...
But I still couldn't stomach the thought. Stupid mate bond hormones.
"And what if you had never found me? Would you have just married someone so you could have a Luna? Surely you wouldn't have stayed single forever."
He leaned forward, and even though he was across the room, I felt crowded. Noah and the energy he put off were just so large, so overwhelming. "I would have."
I snorted, trying to play it cool. "Bullshit."
"You don't believe me? Sage, everyone wants me tied down and making pups.
My pack, my council, my father, everyone.
An Alpha with a Luna is more stable than just an Alpha.
I could have increased my pack's loyalty in me by simply taking a wife.
It would have been so easy. But I didn't. Because of you. "
His words made my heart stutter in my chest, but I couldn't let myself fall for it. "You had no idea where I was or if I was even alive. You'd have gotten lonely and there would have been some sweet, pretty wolf from a friendly pack batting her eyes at you—-"
Noah surged forward, his hands clenched on the arms of my chair, his face suddenly so close to mine that I didn't even have time to flinch. "You think I wasn't lonely? I was fucking lonely, Sage. Miserably so. And I still held out."
I was shaking, the sudden closeness making my skin tingle. He was angry, and his power rolled off him in waves.
"And what would have happened if we'd never seen each other again?"
"Then I would have died alone."
His words settled into the room like a stone, taking the air out of my lungs as they dropped. Noah dying at all was unthinkable to me. He felt like a constant—even when we were apart, I'd always known he was out there.
But now I found out...he was out there waiting for me the entire time.