A Gift from the Goddess by Dawn Rosewood novel Chapter 107

Bonus Chapter – Quick Home Recipes !! Important !! – You need to have read up to at least Chapter 96 to avoid spoilers. Continue reading at your own discretion.

This is just a short one-shot between Aria and Aleric during their time at the cabin. Explicit warning

Meat… herbs… garlic… butter… carrots.... 

I stared at the ingredients as if they were a dangerous foreign entity.

Not to say they were, but it wasn’t exactly like I knew how to approach what I was going to attempt. Things had seemed so much easier when I was just reading about it... opposed to having to actually do it. 

With a sigh, I picked up the kitchen knife and began peeling the carrots; preheating the pan on the stove whilst I did so.

Aleric had been doing the cooking for us both, having at least some experience with it. During times when he‘d been on duty for the Winter Mist, there had been moments he‘d had to cook whilst making camp somewhere random. 

I

I, on the other hand, had experience that went only as far as boiling water for tea. After all, I‘d lived my whole life surrounded by attendants and chefs. 

But it couldn‘t be that hard, right? 

I wanted to surprise him and give him a night off. Between the time spent with me and patrolling, I was sure he was getting exhausted. I thought this might be a good way to show m y appreciation for his hard work. 

I’d only read a few cooking books before, but I hadn‘t retained much. I knew the basic principles and theories, and knew what steps to do. The issue was in actually executing it though and making it taste good in the process.

The cabin had come stocked with bare essentials to last a while, the vegetables coming from a small, adjourned greenhouse and the meat was whatever Aleric picked up from hunting on patrol. Altogether, we were pretty fortunate considering we were in the middle of nowhere.

_ *Slick* 

I winced, looking down to see I’d cut myself.

I definitely needed to focus more. It wasn’t like I could heal quickly, thanks to the silver ring.

After washing my hands and the knife, I threw out the spoiled carrot and tried again. He was going to be home any minute and I‘d wanted to be finished before that. Though that was probably just me being overly optimistic considering my skill level.

Carefully, I proceeded to finish with the carrots, though taking far longer with it than 1 perhaps should have, and threw some butter, herbs and garlic into the pan. When that was sufficiently all nice and melted, 1 placed the meat on top, satisfied it at least smelt nice. That was surely a good sign if nothing else. 

“What are you up to?” Aleric then said from the doorway.

I looked up sharply to see him there, a little surprised since I hadn’t heard him approach over the sound of the pan.

“Oh, I‘m ah... I‘m cooking,” I said, a little embarrassed. “I wanted to surprise you before you got home.”

“I‘m still surprised,” he said walking behind me to wrap his arms around my waist. “Surprised you haven’t burnt the house down.”

“Hey!” I yelled offended, squirming in his grasp. “Come on, it smells good!” 

But he held me against me, laughing as he refused to let me go. 

“Aleric!” 

“No, you‘re right, I‘m sorry,” he said, his head travelling to my neck and nibbling gently. “It does smell pretty good.” 

Though I wasn‘t sure whether he was still talking about the food. 

“Ok, well I need to finish up here and I‘ll —.” 

I didn‘t get to finish my sentence though, instead losing my chain of thought. His hand had started tugging up the hem of my dress and immediately begun trailing across the bare skin of my stomach.

“... I um,” was all I said. 

What was I doing?

I tried to remember as I felt his attention then change, reaching up to grab at my breast and sending a shiver through me from the sensitivity there. 

I could feel his warmth against my back, his breathing deepening near my ear, sending another wave of desire through me. 

“What‘s up?” he asked, his other hand now venturing past the hem of my underwear, causing me to gasp from the unexpected sensation. I leaned back against him, melting into the feeling of pleasure he gave, greedily taking every

second of it he had to offer.

“Aleric,” I moaned, turning my head to capture his lips against mine. His taste was intoxicating

My whole body then started burning up, my heart racing. But just before I was beginning to get too lost in the moment, I completely spun around and pushed him back against the kitchen bench, wasting no time in jumping onto his lap.

I could tell he was just as enthusiastic as me, his own lower-body betraying him, and I proceeded to move my hips against him, relishing in the way he reacted to me.

This was my doing. He wanted me just as much as I wanted him. Did my touch send him into delirium just as his did for me? Was it even better for him with the mate bond?

Before long had passed, it soon became clear that this wasn‘t nearly enough for either of us.

Working as quickly as I could, I then undid his pants and positioned myself perfectly on top of him before….

“... Fuck,” Aleric slowly groaned, feeling as he pressed his length into me, and my own moan accompanied it.

How was it that he felt so perfect against me? As if he was naturally meant to always be there. Every sensation he had to offer me was enough to make me lose control instantly. As if proceeding with only pure desire. 

I started to move again, his hands on my hips as he guided me against him, and every few seconds I would alternate between his lips, ear, and neck. 

His own movement then slowly became more forceful as he quickened my pace, sending me into my own frenzy as that familiar buzz started to build inside me. 

Faster and faster we moved, going until he was almost completely controlling me, arms now wrapped around me to hold my body to him. All I could do in turn was coil my own arms around his neck and hold on as I let him take over, almost at my limit. 

In this position, his length was now pushing even further in as his speed increased, stealing moans from my lips with every thrust. I could feel myself tightening too, getting closer and closer until….

Finally, with a last cry escaping my lips, I felt myself come undone against him, shaking as the waves of pleasure swept through me. The overwhelming bliss fogging up my mind as the seconds ticked by.

Aleric wasn’t far behind in his own end, a groan alerting me to his finish, and proceeded to rest his forehead against mine as we both fought to catch our breath. 

How could things be this good? How was one person able to make me feel so euphoric from their touch? It seemed almost like a dream.

But, of course, with every dream, it had to come to an end eventually

The smell of burning quickly snapped me out of my trance, reminding me of exactly what I’d just been doing

The meat

“Shit!”

Without looking back, I jumped off Aleric’s lap and ran to the stove… only to find it really was burning

“Oh…. no..,” I whined, turning it over.

It was almost completely black on the opposite side, no longer looking appetising in any way.

The dish was ruined With a dejected exhale, I gave Aleric an apologetic look, only he didn‘t seem phased in the slightest.

In fact, by the time I’d served us our half–burnt dinner, the review I received from him was overwhelmingly positive.

Apparently, in Aleric‘s words, the meal had been delicious. It was ‘one of the most satisfying dinners he’d ever had’.

…Though, *somehow*, I knew he wasn‘t talking about the food. Sigh. 

Bonus Chapter – The Cycle of Change This chapter follows a young Elder Luke (Luke Hastings) 30/40 years prior to the main story. It was a very different time when things were not so accepting. This POV shows the beginning of how Elder Luke became the man he is today and why he holds the strong values he does – known by Aria as one of the deadliest men in the pack.

Fifty-two. There were fifty-two books I needed to reshelve today. Several more than the day before, even more than the day before that. It meant I would need to work late today in order t o finish this in time. At least I had the entire day to get through it. 

With a sigh of resignation, I grabbed my trolley and began the journey to the back of the library where I would start the process, giving small smiles to those I made eye contact with along the way. This was the life of a librarian. Day in... day out... 

Not to say I didn‘t enjoy my work. On the contrary, I immensely loved what I did for a living. But I couldn‘t deny that it wasn‘t as interesting as say the ranked members of our pack. No, they led an eventful life of luxury and power. The kind of lives only unranked members such as myself could dream of.

“Excuse me,” a deep voice then said behind me, making me turn around. 

I was surprised to hear someone had followed me all the way to the very back, however, I quickly realised why. 

“..What can I do for you, sir?” I asked politely, taking several steps towards the man. 

“I was hoping you could help me for a moment. I‘m trying to find something...” 

He had the strong build of a warrior, with broad shoulders and a small air of authority about him to match that position. 

I raised an eyebrow questioningly as I came to stand directly in front of him. “...Looking for a particular book, perhaps?” 

“No, not quite...,” he replied, looking down at me. 

“Then how can I be of service today, sir? What exactly were you looking for?” 

His hands then came up and grabbed either side of my face, sparks immediately erupting throughout my body from where our skin made contact. 

“...My mate,” he whispered, right before his mouth came down to meet mine. 

Immediately, I was enveloped by him as we drew closer together, my senses overridden by his touch... his scent... his taste. It was only once I found myself pressed up against one of the shelves that I realised we were at my place of work… not our house. they felt lange 

A deep chuckle escaped me as I pulled away, smiling up at the man. At my mate.

“What are you doing here, Xavier?” I asked quietly. I was conscious of not being too loud so w e weren’t caught. “I didn‘t think I would see you until tonight.” 

“I need a reason to visit you now?” he questioned back, his lip pulling into a crooked smile.

I laughed once more before untangling myself from him, walking back towards my trolley.

“It’s not as though I don’t appreciate your presence, it‘s just that I know you are meant to be a t work right now. And it’s very unlike you to skip out on such a thing.” 

He then sighed, his smile turning into more of a guilty one. “I came to tell you that I‘ll be heading out over the border today. Official business in one of the neighbouring packs. My unit has been asked to supervise the proceedings.”

“… Then do they not expect you to be packing right now?” I asked, a small frown forming between my brows. “I would think that you‘d... not want to risk coming to see me.” 

His face then contorted from the unpleasant topic. “Luke... You know it‘s not like that. I just... I’m so close to this promotion, I can feel it. Maybe today will be the day they recognise that.” 

But I remained silent, my jaw clenching to stop myself from speaking my mind. 

“Hey...,” Xavier then said softly, coming up to place his hands on either side of my waist tenderly. “Soon, I promise. Maybe in a few years, and after I get this promotion, we can make our relationship public. We can even finally buy a house in town... a nicer one at that too.” 

His touch was making me want to melt into his arms but I managed to hold myself back. 

“You say this every time, Xavier. We‘ve been together for almost ten years now and it‘s always the same promise.” 

“Well... I mean, things might be different soon,” he said, finding an excuse. “Alpha Dominic is getting older and I‘ve yet to hear the Alpha heir Tytus express any sort of... ‘grievance‘ with our kind of relationship.” 

…But he would be fine, right? He was strong. There was no way...