The aftermath of the war was pretty devastating, they still couldn’t rest because there were so many things that they needed to handle, since the destruction across the continent was very massive.
Therefore, after the war, there was no celebration and most people, though they were relief that everything finally came to end, they were shrouded by grief. They lost so many people that they loved the most and not only that, the damage because of the poisonous miasma and the backlashes had left almost all of them without a place to stay.
With that, Cane and his people had to work hard to stabilize the situation in the continent, just in case the people from the other continent would use this moment to put pressure on them and claim their territory.
There was no time for rest.
Will was one of Cane’s people, thus it was understandable that he had a lot of assignment to do, which caused him to have little time for Hanna.
However, every time he returned, he would find his beautiful mate there, welcoming him with warm food and pretty smile on her lips.
"Thank you, Hanna," Will said, he stared at her, while she told him about her day and what she had been doing in the orphanage. He loved to hear her voice and how cheerful she was, it was the only thing that he was waiting for in the end of his exhausted day.
"Okay, I will go back now," Hanna said, she stood up and was about to clean up the table after their dinner.
Hanna didn’t live here with Will, she was still staying in the pack house, but she would come every day to clean up this place and cook for him, even though Will told her not to do it, because he knew how tired her day was.
’If I didn’t do it, I don’t have a reason to see you.’ And when Will said that she didn’t need a reason to see him, she would say: ’I love taking care of you, so it is not an additional work for me.’
"I will put this food here, so you can eat it tomorrow, okay?" Hanna said, as she put away the remaining food.
Will stood up and hugged her from behind. He buried his face against her neck. "Why don’t you live here?" He asked.
"Hm?" Hanna was surprised with the request, but actually, she had been waiting for him to ask her this, since she couldn’t bring up the topic. She didn’t want Will to think bad of her, more so, knowing what he had gone through, she didn’t want to appear aggressive and invade his space.
"Stay here with me. So, I can take care of you too."
"We are not a mate yet," Hanna said.
"Let’s have a ceremony, only for the two of us."
Because of their current situation, it would be very inconsiderate for them to throw a party or have some short of celebration, Zander and Zenith didn’t even have one when they celebrate their one year birthday, therefore a little ceremony for the two of them would be enough.
"Stay with me, Hanna."
With that, they had a small ceremony, where afterward, Hanna moved to stay with Will. Iris was a little bit upset because they didn’t tell them about the ceremony and wanted to throw a party for them, but Hanna and Will felt bad if they had one during this period of time.
With that, they settled to have one once the situation was a little bit better and more stable.
"Are you, okay?" Hanna asked, she touched his face when she saw he was getting very anxious. "We don’t need to do it if you were not ready. Let’s do it next time."
Will shook his head. He didn’t want to humiliate Hanna. It would be very embarrassing for her if she went out there without a mark on her neck after everyone knew that they had the ceremony.
"No. I can." Will gritted his teeth, he started to kiss her and take her to the bed, but the intrusive thoughts kept coming to his mind and this make him very desperate and angry with himself to let that moment overlapped the moment he had with Hanna.
"Will?" Hanna stretched out her hands when Will gritted his teeth and he looked very tensed.
"I am sorry," Will said, he got off her and started to hyperventilate, which made Hanna went to comfort him.
"It’s okay, it’s okay..." Hanna hugged him and he started to feel better after a few minutes. To distract his thought from those unpleasant memories, Hanna told him about a few simple stories that she used to tell the children in the orphanage.
Will became a little bit better and he felt embarrassed because of it, but Hanna reassured him there was nothing wrong with him and she was willing to wait until he was ready.
And a week passed, they didn’t come to this topic because Will and Hanna were busy, but on the second weeks of their ceremony, Will intentionally came home early and cooked for her, he cleaned up their house a bit and prepared dinner.
Hanna was pleased when she saw this and thanked him.
It was only a simple, little thing, but Will could see how genuinely happy Hanna was. This woman deserved the world, but all he could over was his broken self.
"Thank you, Will. I love you." Hanna kissed his cheek and they ate their food.
Will took the initiative to talk more during the dinner, which made Hanna was very happy, she listened to him attentively and would ask some question here and there to understand him better.
"Yes." Will nodded. "You can change here in front of me."
"What?" Hanna blinked her eyes, her face was getting so red and Will love the color.
"Only if you feel comfortable," Will added. He didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable with him. He then let go of her hand. "I am sure that you will look very lovely in the dress."
Hanna was standing there for a while. Will wanted her to change in front of him. Did it mean...
She bit her lip and started to undress herself. She glanced at Will, who kept his eyes on her and when she saw his desire for her, this allowed her to be a little bit bolder, as she dropped her dress and stood there in her undergarment only.
But then, she took off her undergarment as well and stood naked in front of him.
Hanna watched how his adam apple bobbed and this gave her a little chuckled, as she put the dress on. "How do you think?" She asked him.
"Huh?"
"How do you think about the dress?"
Will nodded. "It’s lovely."
He then approached her and kissed her. The kiss was so gentle and this gave a butterfly in Hanna’s stomach. She gasped when Will lifted her body up and took her to the bed. This time, his eyes were only on her.
"Are you, okay?" Hanna asked, checked on him.
"I am fine." Will nodded. He kissed her knuckles and even though the unpleasant memories kept popping in his mind, he managed to ward them off, because right now, his main focus was on his mate. His focus was only on the woman with him.
Hanna shuddered when Will positioned himself between her legs and looked at her eyes when he spoke hoarsely.
"The dress is lovely, but I like it better if you don’t have it."
That night, Will marked Hanna.
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