DEBATING

"We fall in love with people's flaws; the perfect person would be impossible to love" - Unknown.

His words echoed throughout my mind. 'I am going to fuck you, Phoebe. I've waited so long to hear you call out my true name'. If I could have ripped my vagina from my body, placed it in a gold chest, and presented it to him, I would have. It wasn't so simple as me just loving him. I need him. This was more of me finally feeling complete. And, the funny thing was I never thought I was incomplete. As soon as I found him; recognized him, my soul no longer knew who I was without him.

Here, in his embrace, is where I made sense. The world made sense. My heart knew it, my mind knew it, and my pussy most definitely knew it. My lady part was purring and aching for his touch when he declared he would fuck me. I wiggled and adjusted myself so that his dick was directly at the entrance of my heat. Bending down, I brought my lips to his neck, sucking the spot right under his ear. His growling response made me snort out a reply of appreciation.

"Elijah, why didn't you tell me what was going on between us," I asked just above a whisper.

He adjusted his shoulder to where I was now in front of him. Soon, as our eyes met, I immediately glanced down. At that moment, I felt oddly shy and apprehensive. The thought of wanting to cut his loss with his human mate was still there. Even after all that I found out, it was still possible that he could have wanted to start over with someone else. He did die for loving me. What if he wanted a second chance at an ordinary love with a she-wolf?

Stiff fingers lifted my chin, forcing me to look into those stern green eyes. He had a look of disapproval on his face causing me to shrink under his scrutiny.

" I know what you're thinking, Helena. Stop it, this very second! You are all I ever wanted. All I will ever need." His tone no longer sounded fierce but turned soft as he continued to gaze at me. "From the moment I got my first vision of you, had my first vision of our past life, I saw you at the diner; I knew you were my destiny. I love you, have always loved you, and will continue to love you. You deserve better than a wolf that can't protect you, Sweetheart." He sighed and pressed his forehead against my own. "I can't lose you again, my love. I don't know how we got this second chance, but I will save us." He whispered.

He didn't know about the spell.

I leaned back, " I had Rosa cast a spell after I first saw you in the village. I had her take a part of my soul connected to the Goddess, bind it to our mate bond, and cast it out into the Heavens so that we could find our way back to each other in this world. I knew there was a chance that we might be killed, so I needed to have a backup just in case."

There was confusion on his face for just a moment before a look of pride and admiration took over.

He brought the tip of his nose to mine, brushing it softly, giving me an Eskimo kiss.

"My clever little princess." He breathed in my scent." Have I told you how bad I want to fuck you, my precious human?" He squeezed my ass as he hiked me up higher on his torso. " You must take us back to the physical world, now, Sweetheart. I want to be inside of you there instead of here." He growled.

"Come to think of it, where is your body right now?" Iasked.

"Helena, I already knew where you were. It was just a matter of me getting to you quickly enough. When you passed out, it took me 17 minutes and 33 seconds to reach the room you were in. You have been unconscious for 26 hours since I arrived. Although, I'm not sure how much time has passed in this pocket of space." He mused. " You have to get back to your physical body. You need to eat and drink something." His tone left me no room to question him.

"Pushy much," I grumbled and pouted.

He tugged at my bottom lip with his fingers.

"Don't be crossed with me, princess. I want you healthy, safe, and back in my arms where you belong."

Goddess, when he says it like that. How can I refuse such a wolf?

"How do I get us back there?"

He laughed.

"Concentrate. Think about going back to the room. Think about being back with me. Then just let go." He smugly said, causing me to glare at him.

I did what he told me to do nonetheless; surprisingly, it was as easy as it sounded coming from him. I could feel the air around me shift, and then that disconnected feeling lingered in my body for a few moments before my eyes started to flutter open. I was met with someone else's bright eyes and even breaths. I turned my head, and Elijah stared at me like a grinning fool.

"What the hell is so funny?" I grumbled while shooting a pointed look at him.

"Your hair is different. It looks more like it did in our first life. It brings me joy to see it once again. And your glow is also back." He casually stated.

Glow?

"What do you mean glow? Do you mean figuratively or literally?"

" I mean literally. When I first saw you in our past life, your glow was the second thing I noticed about you. The first is your scent. I don't think every wolf can see it, but I believe the older the wolf, the more likely they are to see your radiance."

"Why am I glowing?" My tone makes it sound like the ridiculous thing in the world.

"I believe the part of your soul that is connected to the Goddess allows this to happen. From what I remember, the shine is more evident when your emotions are high."

So, I'm a human glow stick when I'm in my fucking feelings. Great.

My eyes narrowed, "How long have you known about our past lives?"

"I started getting glimpses of our former selves the moment you entered this world. Once your soul was reborn, the mate bond sought me out."

I gasped, "Huh? So, you felt me being born?" I asked confusingly.

"Yes, princess." He turns away, seemingly lost in thought, " I always knew what you looked like. I always knew that you were my mate. I didn't know the depth in which I would love or have loved you. I still love you", he laughed, "Something inside me became unhinged when I felt your soul enter this world. I was half a wolf. Half a man." His head suddenly turned back to me, "But, at that moment, I was absolute. Complete. Whole. I knew the Goddess would bring you to me. I just had to be patient. But, while I waited, I gained power and made connections to prepare for our reunion. I wanted to keep you in the dark until I was sure I could protect you."

He brushed his finger across my cheek, leaving a trail of heat in their wake. Rosa was talking about this when she said, 'there are people that would walk this earth never knowing what it felt like to be complete.' I couldn't help to send a silent 'thank you' to the Goddess for blessing me with a chance to be whole. Twice.

"Well, I am sorry you had to wait so long for me to feel what you already felt. But I am glad I finally know. You were beginning to fucking annoy me, love." I smirked.

His laughter mixed with a growl echoed throughout the room, "I'm your mate; of course, I'm going to annoy you." He ruffled my hair, " I would much rather annoy your vagina if you're ready."

His fingers smooth the space on my back right above my ass.

"We have the rest of our lives for you to pop my cherry. I have a few more questions." I innocently stated, and it was worth his impatient, annoyed look. It took everything inside of me not to double over with laughter. He was so cute when he was crossed with me.

"Why are you torturing me, you evil little human? I miss the feeling of being inside of you. You already let me taste you. My fingers have already felt the groves in your tight little pussy. Why can't you let my cock do the same?" He pouted.

The warm liquid seemed to coat the lining of my underwear. My thighs clamped together tightly to fight the urge to let Elijah take me.

His smug smile tells me that he can sense the conflict within me.

I clear my throat, "So, what about my Mom? Do I tell her all of this? Would she even be safe if she knew this? How do I even explain our relationship?"

An unsettling thought came to the forefront of my mind with that question. It was a memory of my life as Phoebe. It was my mother being murdered to get to me. A man whose name was at the tip of my tongue but I couldn't remember found out about me and killed her to get to me. I can't let that happen again. I won't let that happen again.

"You're overthinking about this too much, princess. You're still Helena and Phoebe but keep in mind that Phoebe's life has ended. You need not worry about anything that far into the past. The only people that need to know the full details already know. Your mother doesn't need to know the nature of how or when we met or what I am. She only needs to know that we are together. The rest, we will cross that bridge when we get there." He shrugged his shoulders.

"You're oddly calm about all this. Considering wolves will come at me from every side for the right to eat my heart. And let's not forget that you can't be with someone other than your species." I threw my hands up in frustration.

" I am not the same in this life, Phoebe." I stiffened at the sound of my other name, "I'm a potent Alpha now. I'm on the council and I watch them inside instead of outside. There is no information I am not privy to, Sweetheart. A battle is not won by brute power. It's won by knowledge of one's enemies. If a motherfucker dares to get close to you again, I'm ripping their heart out without hesitation."

His tone sounded like murdering someone was an everyday occurrence. I wonder how many people he has killed? Could I kill someone? If it came down to them or me, would I choose to go against everything I believed in and take another person's life, even if it meant that I would perish because of that choice? I did have self-preservation, but I don't think I can bring myself to do it. While I struggled with my internal dilemma, I didn't notice Elijah calling my name.

"Helena, I can see the conflict swirling inside of you. I would never put you in the position where you would have to choose between your life and someone else's. And, my choices are my choices. I will always make the hard choices if it means keeping you safe. Please, try to relax. How about we go to the kitchen and get you something to eat." He asked.

But I had other plans. Other questions.

"Where is Miranda? What did you do to her after she stabbed me?" I crossed my arms.

He didn't even flinch.

"Oh, that bitch is in the dungeon back at the estate. I had her tortured for 36 hours using silver whips across her back. She will be hung until her neck breaks for trying to take you away from me." His cold expression admittedly scares me.

Don't get me wrong, I want to punish her for what she did to me, but I think executing the idiot is way too much. People do shit for all kinds of reasons. Did he even try to understand what prompted her to do something so drastic? How she started pacing after realizing she stabbed me made me know that it wasn't planned. I don't think anyone would conclude with murdering someone lightly.

"Listen, I think that is a bit much. Can't we just put Miranda in jail or something? She didn't even have a trial. What about due process? She has rights?" I glared.

"What the hell do you mean due process? She was caught with the fucking knife and dragging your dying body off to Goddess knows where. If this were human law, there wouldn't even be a trial. Any self-respecting defense attorney would have tried to get a plea with the overwhelming evidence the prosecution would have had. Besides, this isn't something we can handle as if she was a human. Sweetheart, she is a wolf. And, because she is a wolf, she knows the consequences of taking an Alpha's mate by force. She most certainly has to die, my love. It's an ugly business to maintain order, and everyone has to know what lies ahead if they so much as fuck with my mate."

Whew, child.

Who would've thought the debate on whether a murderer would get executed would turn me on? His protective and feral side was just so fucking arousing to me. I was a little peeved at his way of thinking, but I was also proud that he was willing to go to such lengths for me. Love, after all, will make someone do things they never thought they would do. It also made you see past the flaws of those that captured your heart.

I pulled him in for a hug. I wrapped my arms around his waist, nuzzling into his chest, taking in his scent.

" I love you too, Elias."