Revised 12.11.18

"What do you mean he is a wolf?" Jacob yells. When we walk into the hallway there's a large brown wolf standing in the middle. It's large head moving in all directions in confusion.

His eyes land on me as he walks over to where I am standing. He nudges my hand with his large head. I run my hand over the soft fur on his head until I feel a pair of large hands pull me in backwards.

"He's not going to hurt me, Jake." I mutter, then he moves to stand in front of me, shielding me from Tim.

"You don't know that. He doesn't have control of his wolf. He's freaking out. He doesn't understand how this happened." He warns as he examines my face.

"Well, can you do anything to help him, please?" I beg.

"Eric, please escort Samantha to the car. We will meet you in a moment and if all turns out well, we will have Tim with us as well."

"Yes, Alpha. Please follow me." He commands and waits for me to follow outside. Before I leave, I turn and glance back at Tim only to find him looking back at me. He nods his head up and down as if to tell me that everything will be alright. Despite my worry and wariness of the situation at hand, I leave the room.

As we wait in the car for the others, I start to ask Eric a few questions about himself. He was born werewolf. He's twenty-five years old and has only been with the pack for ten years. When he was fifteen, his previous pack was attacked, some died but those survived went their separate ways since there was no longer an alpha to lead the pack.

He stumbled into the Blackstar Delta territory and the alpha at the time, Jacob's uncle, took him in and trained him up to be one of the core leaders of the pack.

"So, Are you always this serious?" I ask jokingly. I nudge his arm making him laugh a little.

"No, not always. I guess I'm just a little on edge from all that's going on. I don't want anyone else hurt on my watch. Especially you. Jacob is so happy now that you are in his life. I mean he was happy before but not all the time. He was actually real reserved and quiet most of the time. I like this new Jacob. He lights up every time you're in the room and has that smile of his permanently plastered on his face."

He reaches out for my hand, his cognac eyes gaze into mine, "I will protect you with my life. I know I haven't known you long but thank you for accepting him and all this. Not many are strong enough to go through all this and stick around. I've seen it many times. Mates are meant to be a blessing not a curse and it's obvious that you love him."

I smile at him and thank him for his meaningful words. The car door opens as we pull away. Jacob jokingly says,"Your not trying to steal my girl are you, Eric?"

"Haha, don't act like you didn't hear what I said about you. And don't let it get to your head." Eric laughs and turns in his seat. We spend a few more moments waiting for the others to join us.

"So??? What happened?? I demand.

"Kiss me and I'll tell you." He winks at me and I smile leaning forward to plant one on his lips. "Now tell me..." He smiles back, amused with the hint of aggravation in my voice.

"He's fine. It took some time but he finally changed back after we talked him through it. He's pretty freaked out still especially since finding out that he has a werewolf mate. Don't worry, you'll be able to talk to him once we get up to the cabin. He's coming with us." He says.

"He is!!! Thank you." I got so excited that I started to bounce in my seat.

"Don't get too excited about being around another man, my love. My wolf..."

I quickly cut on him off and say, "Oh tell your wolf to get a grip. I'm not going anywhere. I just can't wait to talk to him and I know you'll be right next to me the entire time. So chill!" I sternly say but with a smile spreading across my face.

A deep growl vibrates in his chest, "I love you, Jacob." I coo. Obviously pleased with my statement, Jacob sits back and visibly relaxes.

It takes a couple hours before we reach our destination. The view from the cabin is breathtaking. The deep red and oranges paint the sky as the sun sets and the moon rises. It really stands out against the dark green of the forest and the white and grey of the mountain.

I tug on my oversized sweater as I stand gazing out of the floor length window. It is so secluded and quiet up here. Strong arms wrap around me and Jacob whispers sweet nothings in me ear. I would have never thought I'd be here much less with this amazing man.

"Jacob, thank you for everything you've done for me. In such a short time, you've helped open my eyes to the beauty that is still in this world. I can't wait to see what the future has in store for us. I love you."

"Neither can I, my love. I love you too. It will be me and you, always and forever." He vows while he leans in and kisses me softly. "The others are waiting for us to join them for dinner."

"Okay. Just one second." I say as I walk over to the huge oak dresser. I look into the mirror as I pull my hair up into a ponytail.

"What's that?" Jacob asks me.

"What's what?" I pull at my hair and touch my face trying to find an answer to his question.

"This. Have you always had it?" He touched the space right behind my me drawing a image with his finger. I tug on the back of my ear trying to see what he's talking about but can't. "Can you take a picture of it? I can't see it."

He takes the photo and shows me. It's a rose. A small red rose tatooed on the back of my ear. "Is this a joke? I've never seen that in my life. Send to my aunt and see if she knows."

We head downstairs and join everyone for dinner. Everyone stays pretty quiet. I notice that Tim and Scarlett are acting strange. Jacob's phone chirps. He unlocks his phone quickly to read the message. "Well???"

"She says it's a mark of royalty. Your mother had one just like it but on her shoulder. She says that maybe you do have fae magic running through your body after all."

"Wow! So, I guess there's no way to deny it now."

"It's all going to fine, love." Jake promises as he notices the worry in my voice. I search everyone's faces for what I'm not sure, but my eyes land on Tim's face. He seems to be in deep thought. He gets up and leaves the table without saying a word.

I whisper in Jake's ear that I'm gonna go talk to Tim even though it was completely pointless because everyone at the table could easily hear what I said.

I search for Tim and find him sitting on the edge the couch just staring at the floor. I step in front of him and kneel down. I try to get his attention but he keeps avoiding having to look in my eyes. I grab hold of his face making him look at me.

"It will all be alright, Tim. Please talk to me......"

"What's there to say? You want me to say that I'm happy?? Or want me to talk about how I almost died? Oh and by the hands of vampires. And as I was taking my last breaths a terrible excruciating pain spread through my body, that thought surely this is the end of my pathetic life. Nope, it turned out that it was my miracle!" He spits out sarcastically. "Want to talk about how I lost the woman I love? Then I'm told that it's fine because I wasn't suppose to love her in the first place. That you were never mine. How do I tell my heart to stop loving you and to love another woman who's my mate? Is that why you want to hear, Samantha? Is it?" He says as he grabs me by the neck and squeezes tightly.

"Tim,I can't breathe" I try to say as I gasp.

"Release her Tim!! That's an order!!" Jake commands. Tim obeys and releases me. I fall onto the hardwood floor gasping for air. Jake runs over to check on me. Tim walks away and doesn't even look back to see if I'm okay.

"I'm okay. I guess I should of just gave him some space....I didn't think that he may not have wanted to talk to me. I just assumed.... I'm okay though." I choke out as I run my sore neck.

"I'm sorry, love. I think his emotions are heighten right now. He's needs to learn how to rein in some of that anger and let it go. He's just not feeling like himself. He'll come around."

"I hope so, Jake. I really do."