𝘞𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨: 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵

"Ember?" I heard my name called outside my window — as well as the sound of knocking lightly against the glass. Hesitating, I waited until the voice exclaimed impatiently, "It's me, it's Theo. Now please let me in before I fall 30 feet and break my neck!"

"Okay, okay!" I called back hurriedly, figuring out that he'd somehow scaled the drainpipe outside my window. Freaky werewolf.

Pushing my curtains back and flinging open a window, I let him into my room. I felt a pulse of anxiety bubble up in my chest — I'd never had a guy in my bedroom before at night and in secret. But Theo wasn't just some random guy; I trusted him a whole lot more than any other guy I'd been involved with.

Instantly, he shrugged off his coat and pushed off his shoes, which were covered in mud. I figured out pretty quickly that he ran to my house, judging by the slight sheen of sweat lingering on his hairline.

Suddenly aware of how I was only wearing my pyjamas, I blushed and swore under my breath. My PJs consisted of a grey vest and baggy PJ bottoms — not attractive at all. I folded my arms over my chest and waited for him to say something.

When he kept silent and continued to stare at my extremely uninteresting sandstone-coloured carpet, I started with a simple, soft, "Hey."

"Hey," he echoed, avoiding looking at me and fiddling absentmindedly with the hem of his hoodie. Either my carpet is incredibly interesting and exciting, or something is seriously wrong — well, more wrong than what he's just had to do to.

"Are you okay?" I asked, taking a few steps closer to him but not uncrossing my arms. I wanted him to know that I was there for him, but at the same time, I didn't want to push him too far. It was a delicate balance act with barely visible lines which I occasionally stumbled over.

"I've been better," he admitted with a half-shrug, finally looking me in the eye. Countless emotions swam in those hazel-blue irises of his; so many of which were indistinguishable to me. Pain, anger, hurt... Yet also relief — relief for me being there with him.

Oh God, I hope I don't let him down.

"You'll get through this," I tried to say encouragingly, but my words came out haltingly as the two of us fidgeted awkwardly.

"I know." He sighed softly.

Then neither of us said anything for a couple more minutes. He moved slightly back towards my window causing me to break the silence.

"You don't—" I began, but:

"I should—" Theo began at the same time.

"You go first." I shook my head.

"No, you go," he insisted, a small smile flitting across his forlorn face. "What were you going to say?"

"I was going to say that you don't have to go yet," I said to my feet.

"Well." He laughed lightly, but the laugh didn't quite reach his eyes. "I was gonna say I should probably go."

"I want you to stay." I worried the inside of my lip anxiously. "I need you to stay."

"Okay," he agreed — only half-heartedly like he'd been wanting to stay all along. He took me in his arms and held me before he smirked. "Nice jammies, by the way."

Frowning, though not angrily, I half-pulled away. "Oh, 'cos you just sleep in boxers all the time?"

"Basically." He nodded, drawing me closer to him again. "Or joggers."

"Hmm," I responded, my mind wandering to my memory of him after he got out of the shower — with hot water covering his torso and abs, trickling like rivulets of a stream tracking down a mountainside.

And then he whispered in my ear, "Or nothing," which just sent my mind whirling even more.

I turned around and leaned against his strong body, wrapping my arms around him. "Are you in control?"

"Yeah," he said, pulling me against him more. "The wolf's satisfied."

"Because you killed someone," I spat out bluntly, though without judgement — it was a blank kind of bluntness; there was no point in dancing around what we both knew to be true.

"Because, well— Yeah, basically," he managed to stumble out, clearly shocked at my matter-of-fact tone.

"It's fine. I forgive you," I reminded him as I leaned my head against his chest.

"Ember?" My dad's voice called out from the landing, beyond my closed door. Terror froze my veins momentarily; I'd completely forgotten about my parents.

"Oh shit," I whispered — before raising my voice to feign sleepy grogginess, "Yeah, Dad?"

"Is someone there? I thought I could hear voices," he said.

"No, just me," I replied, pressing my hand against Theo's mouth — when I knew I'd much rather be kissing his mouth. "I think I was talking in my sleep again."

"Okay, that's fine, honey." He sighed heavily; he was used to putting up with me by then. "Make sure you have some of your sleeping pills if you're struggling — okay?"

"Yeah, I know, Dad," I called back, my eyes wandering to avoid the interrogatory glare Theo was shooting me.

"Get to sleep, Ember," he told me and then I heard the landing creak as he walked back to bed.

"Night, Dad," I said softly as if I was already going back to sleep. Removing my hand, I whispered to Theo, "We'll have to whisper from now on. My dad's a light sleeper."

He nodded, before asking quietly, "You have trouble sleeping as well?"

"Yeah," I admitted with a brief nod. "But you're here now. Will you stay the night?"

"Of course," he replied without even a moment of hesitation.

Smiling, I whispered, "Come to bed with me." And I took him by the hand and pulled him into my bed with me. Grinning back at me, he followed, lying down next to me.

As soon as I'd pulled the covers over us, Theo kissed me gently on the lips and murmured, "You have no idea how much it means to me that you forgive me for what I had to do tonight."

"You did it to help Kaden, and ultimately to help your pack," I told him quietly and trailed my fingers over his cheek. "In a way, it was a pretty selfless thing of you to do."

"I don't understand how you're so willing to forgive me," he muttered and pressed his forehead against mine. "But I treasure it so much."

"I believe that everyone should get a second chance," I admitted — knowing from my own experience that you shouldn't just shut people out because they screwed up once or twice. My parents had done that to me, and so I tried to forgive others as much as possible.

Theo opened his mouth to say something else, yet he froze completely. I was about to ask what was wrong before I heard it too — a long, deep, plaintive howl from deep within the woods. The howl of a werewolf.

Victoria.

Clutching at my bedsheets and tensing up, I whispered, "That was her, wasn't it?"

"Yeah," he whispered back, swearing under his breath after finally unfreezing. His arms were trembling slightly, and I knew it wasn't from holding himself up, and then I felt sharp pains in my arms.

"Theo!" I cried out, as I saw his claws beginning to curl into my arms.

"Oh shit, Ember — I'm so sorry." He frantically pulled his hands away from my arms, making his hands into fists as he grimaced.

"Hey, it's okay," I winced, taking in the damage. Thankfully, the cuts weren't too deep because I'd noticed them just in time. Grabbing a tissue from my bedside dresser, I carefully wiped the blood away.

"I should go now," Theo told me grimly, climbing up out of my bed.

"No!" I whisper-shouted. "Stay. I need you to stay, especially after that."

"After what?" He spat at me. "After I nearly slashed your arms open?"

"No, Theo." I shook my head and placed my hand in his. "Because there's an Alpha on the loose out there — and I don't care whether you are part of her pack or not, I don't want you going out there."

Swallowing and closing his eyes, he muttered, "Okay."

"Look, I think my arms are healing already," I told him, pointing out how they'd stopped bleeding. I'd always healed relatively quickly as a kid, but the blood from Theo's incisions seemed to be retracting back into the cuts.

A faint notion of relief passed over his face and he lay next to me again, though he mumbled, "That doesn't make me feel any better about what I did." He wasn't only talking about having hurt me.

"Theo, I'm fine," I insisted, nuzzling against his chest — hoping that physical intimacy would encourage him to be more emotionally intimate with me. No such luck; while one of his arms folded around me and pulled me closer, he still didn't say anything.

What's going on in that mind of yours? I wondered as I watched him.

As strong as he was, there were lots of issues bubbling beneath the surface of his strong exterior... One was that he refused to talk to me about anything that was bothering him.

"Please talk to me," I whispered extra quietly, my words barely louder than a breath.

He kissed the top of my head. "It's late, you should get some rest."

"As should you," I replied, kissing a spot on his collarbone.

"I doubt I'll get any." He sighed against my hair, his breath sending a shiver down my spine.

"Theo Aquila," I declared, sitting up suddenly and startling him, "Talk to me — you said that you would talk to me. So: talk or I swear to God, I'll—" I hesitated, what would I do? Blackmail was out of the question due to how little I actually knew about him.

"What will you do, Ember Hestia Milburn?" He pursued, raising an eyebrow in slight amusement.

"I'll..." Damn it, I need something good. "I'll force you into talking to me."

"And how will you force me, exactly?" He quirked his eyebrow up even further.

"I'll make you want me so badly you won't have any choice not to talk to me." I'll admit, it didn't make much sense whatsoever; but if anything, I could depend on Theo's attraction to me.

It was the only thing I could come up with, and it was pretty weak.

"You tease me anyway," he huffed. "Why would this time be any different?"

Raising an eyebrow, I threw back my covers, "When we were in your bed last Sunday morning, you said that you'd talk to me about these things."

"There's nothing to talk about." He brushed it off. "I killed an innocent old guy that was dying anyway. Period. Nothing more to say. It's over. It's done. End of story. Goodbye."

"You're not telling me something," I insisted. "What is it?"

He looked away. "Nothing, Ember. Just drop it."

"I'm not dropping this one, Theo," I told him, pushing him back against my bed and sliding my leg over his waist.

"Wh-what are you doing?" He stumbled, struggling to keep looking at my face as I arched my chest toward him.

"Isn't it obvious?" I frowned as I pressed my hands against his firm chest. "I'm teasing you so that you'll speak to me."

I lowered my mouth down onto his and instantly deepened our kiss as I slid my tongue into his mouth. I could feel my body begin to burn for him and his touch and all I wanted was him and all I needed was him.

Forgetting I was supposed to be in control, I found myself wanting to kiss him and touch him all night long. In an instant, I dragged Theo's hoodie over his head. Then I grabbed the bottom of his t-shirt and dragged it off him, revealing his stunning body.

Again, we were kissing each other intently, with no space between our bodies. His hands slid up my thighs, and found my butt.

"You're not allowed to touch," I chastised half-heartedly, before kissing down his torso. I slowed as I reached the waistband of his jeans, aware of the bulge there, aware of his racing heart rate.

"Fine. You win," he gasped as he reached his hands out to me. "Now let me touch you."

"And then you talk?" I reaffirmed.

"Sure." He nodded and sat up, cupping my face with a hand. "You know that was blackmail, right?"

I arched my body against him. "It worked though, right?"

"Worked too well." His mouth reached mine, his tongue slipped inside my mouth, and I felt complete.

Breathing in through my nose, I kissed him back, moving even closer to him.

"You know you're playing with fire, right?" I grinned as I sucked on his ear. "You know you'll get burned?"

"Then burn me, Ember," he growled — both of his hands finding my ass and squeezing me tightly, pulling me hard against his crotch.

"Ah!" I couldn't help but cry out, and I clapped my hand over my mouth afterwards.

A handful of silent seconds later, I heard my dad call to me from the landing, "Ember, are you okay?"

"Yeah, Dad," I called back, scrunching my face up in embarrassment. "I was just getting my sleeping pills and I stubbed my toe on my dresser."

"Okay. You need to get to sleep now." He sighed. "I've got a busy day at work tomorrow and I need to get at least a few hours of sleep."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." I bit my lip.

"It's fine." He exhaled heavily. "Do you need me to get you anything whilst I'm up?"

"No!" I said a little too quickly and a little too loudly, "I mean, no, I'll be fine."

"Go to sleep, Ember," he mumbled and walked back to his and my mum's bedroom.

Amusement was written all over Theo's face when I turned back to him. I threw him a look that said, 'shut the hell up', and rolled off him.

"Now talk to me, Theo," I insisted as I turned to him, pulling the covers back over us. "Tell me the truth. Are you okay?

He took a deep breath and whispered back to me, "No, I'm not okay, as much as I pretend that I am. I know that guy was dying already but it doesn't even begin to excuse what I did, and now the local police are going to be on the lookout for some monster. Victoria looks so much like Jade; it seriously creeps me out — especially when she tries to get closer to me. I'm scared shitless about these hunters coming after, and I'm not just scared for me, I'm scared for you and Kaden and Wednesday and Al — and everybody else I've let into my life."

I blinked, not expecting that much information. "I'm glad I didn't forget to ask you."

"And then there's you." He continued, caressing my face with his slightly calloused fingertips. "There's you, who is confusing, and fierce, and beautiful, and sexy. You, who is so strong and decisive about what she wants." He sighed, closing his eyes. "You who forgives me for the terrible things that I've done. You who I'm falling for."

Trying to make light of the situation, I joked, "And just think, you're telling me all this because I stripped you and gave you a lap dance."

He smiled ever so slightly. "I was going to tell you at some point anyway."

"Thank you for telling me." I clasped his hands in mine. "Okay. One — you're not a monster, the police will be looking for some sort of animal. Two — I will personally beat Victoria up so that she looks less like Jade and stops getting too close to you. Three — everybody that you've let into your life here in Lake Oldoy can protect themselves. You're literally friends with another werewolf, a witch and a pixie, and you're dating a Phoenix, for God's sake! Four — of course I forgive you; you deserve to be freed from malice and anger, as most people do. Five —" I took a deep breath before I whispered to him, "Five — I think I've been falling for you ever since you mixed up 'hook, line and sinker' with 'hook, line and floater' all those months ago."

He laughed quietly. "In all honesty, I knew what the saying was. I was just seeing if you'd pick up on it. And then you said 'right from the start', and I knew I was gonna like you."

Nestling against my pillow and laying the duvet back over us, I got comfortable. In a moment, Theo's chest was pressed to my back and we were spooning.

"Is this okay?" He muttered to me, looping an arm around my body.

"More than okay." Unexpectedly and rudely, I yawned as an unbidden waft of sleep washed over me.

Theo smiled at me. "Go to sleep now, Ember. Heart-to-heart's over."

"We should heart-to-heart more often," I mumbled as I rolled back over, pulling my duvet up around me.

"I might not be here when you wake up," he said, though I barely heard him.

"Just stay the night." I yawned again.

"Night Ember," he said, but I was too tired to even find the words to say back to him.

And so, I let sleep consume me, smiling slightly as I felt Theo's body relax against mine, his hand holding mine, his breath tickling my neck as his breathing slowed.

I found ultimate comfort in his arms and revelled in every moment of it — even while I slept.