Ethan and I laid silently in the grass for a little longer before we decided to head back. I felt better about him. My wolf liked being around him, she wanted him to coat her fur with his scent.

I groaned at her. I wasn't fully ready for that, I needed to take baby steps, but Ethan was letting me take baby steps.

It was hard not to like him. The man was first off a cool drink of water in the Sahara dessert. The whole time we laid in the grass, I couldn't help but sneak glances of him; his naked torso with light dark hair growing on in, forming a trail to a place that made me want to literally keel over in embarrassment from the heat on my cheeks.

But he was also kind. He was patient with me. He didn't push. For a male with blood as strong as his, he reminded me of a nervous adolescent; but then again, I didn't behave much differently around him. I felt so out of my element with Ethan.

We shifted and threw our clothes back on before we walked quietly back to the cabin. There was a nervous awkward energy around us circling us like a slow-moving hurricane that we were the eye of.

"I have to go look into the rogue attack from yesterday, but I think Evangeline was going to come get you and show you around?"

I smiled. I liked the little red headed wolf. She was funny and fiery. A ball of sass that knew how to make me smile. "Sounds good, she stopped by last night actually."

"Yes, I heard," he groaned. I chuckled nervously as my cabin came into view. "Do you see that cabin back there?"

I nodded as I looked to where his arm was pointing. It was a cabin much like ours, a little bigger. It was tucked back about a few hundred feet away from ours in some thick trees. Private. I could see a small garden in front of it, though. Flowers were starting to bloom and the leaves of what looked like cabbage and carrots were starting to sprout out of the ground.

"It's our cabin, well, mine and my siblings. If you need anything you can come over, whenever you want..."

His voice trailed off as my face flushed slightly. "I guess we're neighbors then?"

He let out a breathy laugh and pulled at his hair. "It would appear so." He pointed to his right, to another cabin not far from mine; about the same size as his with a trail of smoke coming out of the chimney. "That's Andrea and Billy's. Billy's kind of rough around the edges, but he's a good wolf."

We stopped in front of my cabin. I could feel the two vampires watching me, I knew that I was in for an interrogation when I stepped foot in that cabin. I let out a nervous breath and smiled a little. "Thank you again."

He nodded and sighed as he looked at the house. "I think we have an audience."

I rolled my eyes back at the house. "I'm never going to hear the end of it."

"Try living with Evangeline and Evan."

I laughed and nodded. I felt a spark along my cheek. He had pushed a long curl behind my ear and grazed the side of my cheek. It shocked me a bit. I stilled as I felt my breath catch in my throat.

"Sorry—" He started backing away, flustered while I tried to hide the pink on my cheeks, equally as flustered. "Have fun with Evangeline, ok?"

I nodded, and for some reason felt some disappointed. I turned to the house and started walking, mindlessly touching the place on my skin where he had touched me.

"Charlotte?"

I snapped my head around. Ethan was tugging at his hair nervously. "Could I see you tonight?" I felt my heart flip flop. I nodded and bit my lip as my wolf hopped around like a crazy jumping bean. Ethan smiled to himself and nodded. "Ok, see you later then..."

I turned again and hurried back into the house before I could collapse into a puddle of confusing emotions. Derek, Elliot, and Andrea were all giving me knowing looks as I closed the door. I groaned inwardly as they all started to chuckle.

"All right, spill," Derek said while crossing his arms as a satisfied smirk tugged on his face.

"So it's true? You're really Ethan's mate?" Andrea asked, a little impressed. I nodded. "So that's what that episode yesterday was about. Dad laughed his ass off about it, he hadn't seen Ethan that worked up in a long time."

I groaned again and started to walk back to my room to change. "Did he kiss you?!" Elliot shouted after me.

I rolled my eyes at him while Andrea died of laughter. "Oh I am sure we will hear enough about that soon enough," she chuckled out.

I shut my door then threw myself onto my bearskin laying over my bed. My room was about as big as the one back home; it had a large widow next to my bed that sat horizontally on a wall, and another window that was smaller behind it.

I opened the blinds and let the lights in the beige room that had yet to be decorated, then let myself sink back onto my bear skin. It smelled like him. It smelled like Levi.

Levi.

I felt my chest ache at the thought of him. I missed him. I missed home.

Before I could get more emotional, I pulled myself off my bear skin and threw on some clean underwear than a heather gray long-sleeve t-shirt dress. The material was thicker, like a sweatshirt; it was one of my favorite dresses that Derek got me for Christmas. I slipped on my Keds and walked back out into the kitchen.

Evangeline was laughing with Derek and Andrea while Elliot topped off a cup of coffee. She flickered her emerald green eyes to me. "So, how was my brother? Should I be expecting any nieces or nephews soon?" My cheeks felt like they were going to explode from all the heat that surged towards them. Evangeline just laughed then walked over to me and rubbed her cheek against mine. "If it makes you feel any better, Ethan is about to kill Evan. I think he's getting quite the verbal beating from Evan about this whole thing."

I sighed and pushed my hair behind my ears, desperate to change the conversation. "So tour then?"

She chuckled and nodded. "I invited Andrea too."

I let out a sigh of relief. "Thank God."

Andrea laughed then hopped off the barstool and linked her arm with mine. "Don't worry Char, I'll protect you from your big, bad, mate."

"I hate both of you."

They laughed then pulled me out of the house. I had a feeling, though, that I wasn't going to hear the end of it ever from them, but I was still glad to have them with me. My wolf liked the two females. Evangeline was bright, warm, and full of energy. Andrea was more quite, always thinking, always assessing the area; a warrior, as her father trained her to be.

We walked down a path and passed a few pack wolves on the way. They all gave me curious stares, some even whispered, which made me shift on my feet. I hated the whispers; it just reminded me of the knives behind my back I used to deal with back in Malibu.

Evangeline gave my hand a light squeeze. "Don't worry, they are just curious."

I nodded as we broke the tree line and headed to the pack house. The valley was bright today; the mountain breeze was combing through the grass that looked almost silky.

Like yesterday, pack wolves were running around on what looked like important errands. There were other wolves there too, sparring in a few circles, on the far side of the value across from us, made of dirt. Andrea waved to an older man who had been assessing the pair sparring in the circle. "That's my dad, you'll meet him soon." I nodded as we walked forward. "That's just part of the training grounds. Dad's got all kinds of fun he's built over the years. We can show you later today or tomorrow."

My wolf growled in approval. "Sounds like fun, say, when can we train? I know we aren't allowed to train with pack members..."

"Ya," Evangeline sighed out. "Well, it's more for your benefit since pack laws don't apply to you yet."

"But we could just train together," Andrea suggested. "I am sure my dad would work with us, he's also excited to meet you since your Levi's pup."

"I would like that," I smiled at her.

"You should join us, Evangeline, it would do you good to train with females of your rank," Andrea added.

"Do you not already?" I was kind of confused. Surely she had been at least sparring with other wolves around her rank.

She sighed and pushed a wild curl back. "Well, sometimes I train with the luna, Miranda, and her daughter, Amber. My brother's help me a lot, but being the beta female is hard, there's just so much work sometimes, which also why I am so thrilled you're Ethan's mate. I seriously need some help around here."

"Uh, what?" My wolf perked up as the words left her mouth.

She smiled as we walked up the train lined with tall trees to the pack house. "Well, Ethan is the first beta, which makes you the beta female. Since I am just the surrogate, I would just step down to be your second. But don't worry! I'm not going to just throw it on you."

"Ok." Apparently I had a semi-serious job now. In a pack I hardly knew. Awesome. "And that entails what exactly?"

She sighed. "Well, technically I am second to the luna, so I support the luna in any way I can. I also am in charge of organizing the transfer of newcomers, so like getting the cabin ready for you, as well as making sure that we have everything our pack doctor needs."

Andrea chuckled softly. "So you're technically Miranda's bitch?"

Evangeline groaned as she pulled the door open. Andrea gave me a coy amused smile, but my wolf wasn't a fan.

I stepped in the pack house and was immediately impressed. Before us was a big living room area with large couches and a flat screen TV over a tall stone fireplace that rose high up where it met the large cedar planks that proudly sat across the ceiling. There was a large chandelier of antlers hanging towards the entry way, and pool tables with a small bar behind the couches.

Stairs were on my left, going straight up so some unknown location. A hall led to the left, that Evangeline started to pull me towards. We walked down it to find a huge kitchen and dining area. The kitchen, which was practically commercial grade, opened up to a dining area that had six long wood tables with benched on either side. On the far left of those tables was a more private dining room, more formal, with a round table and soft lighting.

"So some of the pack members eat here. There's always food for anyone who wants it, and plenty of coffee in the morning." Evangeline pulled me around and leaned against a table. "It's hard to hunt up here sometimes. During the winter we have lots of meals here together. Usually, all the warriors have breakfast here and lunch when they train. Our cook is also great, but Evan has also been raving about Derek..."

"Who is the bomb dot com," Evan said with a playful smirk as he rounded the corner from the hall we had come from. He stopped with Jake next to him and looked at both Evangeline and I a smugly. "Hello, my two lovely little sisters."

I rolled my eyes while Evangeline gave him a long look. "I am older than you Evan."

He chuckled as he walked up and patted my head. "Yes, but much shorter."

I growled lowly to him in annoyance. "Want to see how much that matters?"

His eyes widened a bit as Jake started laughing. "Nope, not today. Evangeline giving you a tour?" I chuckled and nodded. "Well come on, nothing to see here, it's just a kitchen."

"Evan," Evangeline groaned.

"What?! There are way cooler things to see," Evan shot back before he tugged me forward.

"Like?"

"Like our backyard that has a fire pit that Jake and I built," he said very matter of factly.

I shook my head as we walked outside with the others in tow. The backyard was impressive. It was pretty big too. There was a long porch with plenty of tables, raised above the grass that sloped downward below.

Stairs led down to the green grass where a fire pit that looked like it was used all the time sat in the corner, a few lawn chairs were scattered along, a hammock was tied between two large trees, and a few smaller tables and chairs were scattered about. In the distance, about two hundred yards away down the valley, was a larger building, but closer to the pack house on the right was a smaller one with a red cross on it.

"That is the only dorm. There's usually gammas and omegas in there, usually males or young families that are not quite settled into a home yet," Evan point out.

"And that's the pack doctor," Evangeline pointed to the building with the red cross. "Where you will be soon Evan if you keep pushing Ethan."

Evan laughed loudly and shrugged. "He totally deserves it."

"I second," Jake called out as he uncapped a water and chugged it down.

Andrea rolled her eyes a little. "Come on, on second thought, want to go meet my dad?"

I let out a sigh of relief. "Yes, that sounds great."

"I agree," Evan added as he turned to follow us.

Evangeline wedged herself between him and me then shot him a scowl. "Don't you have things to do?"

"Evangeline, I just want to spend time with my new sister, what is so bad about that?"

"Christ Evan, I cannot wait for Ethan to beat your ass," Jake chuckled out.

I laughed too. The young male had it coming. We walked back through the pack house that smelled like pine and clean sheets. Evangeline sighed tiredly. I looked over at her to see a wistful look in her eye. I wanted to ask, but something told me not too.

"What's upstairs?" I asked looking up the stairs as we walked out the front door.

"Where we keep the dead bodies," Jake smoothly replied as he held the door open for me.

Evangeline slapped his shoulder, hard enough that made him wince, then trotted back next to me on my right. "Offices, Ethan's, Thomas', and Billy's. We also have a third floor with some extra rooms, usually, we put people there if we are out of space or guests."

"Wanna go back and take a look in Ethan's office?" Evan shot me a dirty grin and wiggled his elbows.

"Wanna find out how I actually killed that bear?" His eyes widened before he snapped his head forward.

Evangeline and Jake laughed hard while Evan grumbled under his breath. Andrea winked at me and I nudged her side as we approached the rings where the warriors were training under Billy's strict supervision.

He snapped his eyes to us and landed them on Andrea. Immediately his hard demeanor softened at the sight of his daughter. He jogged over to Andrea and wrapped her up in a big bear hug before looking at our group amusingly.

He was tall, incredibly tall like Andrea. He looked fierce like he ate nails or something for breakfast. In a way, he reminded me a lot of David. He had hair that was golden like Andrea's, but more honey colored, and very blue eyes.

He had tattoos running on his forearms in a script that read 'Truth' on one arm and 'Justice' on the other. I couldn't help but be impressed with this male, he reminded me of Levi; hard as a rock, and someone you wouldn't want to cross, but a soft spot for those he loves.

He smiled at me and looked me up and down before chuckling. "Smells like a Thorne, you much be Charlotte?"

I nodded and shook his hand. "Yes, that's me."

"I'm Billy. Master of Arms around here, but don't worry. The only ones who need to worry about me are these two who still owe me some laps," he said lowly as he eyed both Evan and Jake. Both of the boys stilled a little then turned defeatedly and started to jog directly to our left into the forest. Billy chuckled and bit back a laugh. "Don't worry about those boys, you're in good hands anyways." He smiled at Evangeline who nodded politely. "Evangeline, here is a sweetheart so you stick next to her and my Andrea. Have they shown you our training grounds?"

I shook my head. "She's not allowed to train with the pack yet," Evangeline replied softly.

Billy sighed. "Well work on that," he said as he stared to lead us up the field next to the sparring circles. "David told me you got a bear this last summer?"

I smiled and nodded. "A brown one, a female. She's a blanket on my bed now."

He shook his head and tossed his long toned arm over Andrea's shoulder. "Typical Thorne."

The men and women in the circles were going at each other with ferocity that made my wolf pace with excitement. Some of the onlookers standing on the outskirts of the arena paused to look at us for a few moments as we walked. They would look at our group and either avert their eyes or visibly shiver. I assumed they must be omegas or young wolves. So much alpha blood near them, blood like mine that they did not know, was probably making their wolves anxious.

"Now these are obviously the sparring circles, we have them organized by rank so omegas are not sparring with betas and so on. Out here are some lesser wolves, younger, or newer warriors that are not as seasoned yet. It's easier for me to keep an eye on them out here," he said as he pointed back to the dirt circles. We turned the corner and walked straight into the forest where trees had been cleared out and a long jungle gym type structure had been put into place. "And this beauty is my playground."

I looked over as he looked onto the many sets of monkey bars proudly. "Playground?"

Andrea shook her head. "Dad's always creative with his work outs."

I grumbled a little. "He should hang out with Levi."

Billy laughed and started to walk forward some more. "He have you swim?"

I laughed as we walked down the path through the trees. "Every damn day."

"We used to swim together sometimes when Chris didn't want to have to go to a training session with Levi's dad by himself." I laughed to myself. Levi's dad must have been one big pain in the ass.

The trees thinned and soon they were cleared out for four large circles, like the ones in the valley. There were warriors standing around them, wolves would could probably eat the omegas in the valley for breakfast.

Both men and women were sparring in the circle, and they were drawing blood. Their wolves were at war with each other, never quitting until the other truly submit.

"This is where the higher ranking wolves spar and my more seasoned warriors, both men and women," Billy pointed out as we turned again and walked down a path that ran parallel to the circles.

I felt their eyes on me as we walked down the path. Some of them quickly averted them, though, and some shuddered ever so lightly without even knowing it from the feeling of my curious wolf coming a little closer.

Evangeline linked her arm in mine and nudged me gently, which caused me to let out the breath I was holding. My beast came forward, she wanted to look at the training area too.

Billy saw something and led us to a circle where a thin scrappy girl, with long braided honey hair, and wild hazel eyes was fighting a young male with his dark hair pulled back into a small pony tail.

We stopped as Billy looked into the circle scrutinizingly. "Larissa's still got her head up her cocky ass," he grumbled to Andrea.

"Want me to have a go at her?" Andrea added a little wickedly.

Billy thought for a moment, seriously contemplating the idea. "Soon. Soon daughter. I will definitely enjoy that day."

Evangeline turned to her right quickly, almost nervously, and smiled. "Luna, Amber, it's good to see you. We were just showing Charlotte around."

I turned to meet the eyes of this luna. She was blonde with ashy brown undertones. An aristocratic-looking woman with calculating amber eyes. I smiled at her and nodded. "It's nice to meet you," I spoke first to break the award tension.

She softened a hair and smiled at me. "It's good to finally meet you, Thomas told me a lot, and Charlotte just call me, Miranda." I smiled again as she gestured to her daughter. Tall blonde, but not near as striking as Andrea. She had amber eyes, true to her name, that were like pools of the melting liquid. Her blonde hair contrasted almost harshly with her tan skin, she reminded me too much of the real housewives from my past life.

She smiled slightly but said nothing. I didn't care. My wolf eyed her up and down and was not threatened at all. This female had blood that didn't hold the status ours hold. Sure she had some alpha in her, but it was mostly mixed by beta. She would be an easy kill.

"Amber right?" I asked politely, causing Andrea to bite back a chuckle.

"Yes," her cool voice replied. "Mom, I'm going to go check on Larissa."

She left and walked towards the little female warrior who was walking out of the ring from the center while a male entered the middle. Boyish, brown crew cut hair, amber eyes, and a cocky ass attitude. Another male entered, a warrior about his size.

"That's my son, Aaron," Miranda said while nodding toward the cocky male jumping around in the center. "I've got to get back to help Thomas with some things, but let me know if you need anything, alright?"

"Thank you," I replied as she scurried away. Evangeline sighed and grumbled under her breath. I eyed her curiously but figured after a few glasses of wine that I would get it out of her eventually.

Andrea pulled me forward so we could watch the fight. My beast was excited, she was excited to see the new challenges that awaited her. Billy had walked around to keep a better eye on the males when I felt him.

I felt him near the circle. He was walking with some other young males, pulling his shirt off his sweaty torso. Ethan ruffled his damp hair when his blue eyes snapped to mine. His cheeks were flushed already from the run, but I think they were flushing more the long he held my gaze.

He started to walk around towards me with a small smile when a blonde female stopped him. I couldn't see, though, the fight had started and the males were moving in front of my view. Evangeline and I stepped to our left to avoid being too close to them when the came our way, and as I did I felt my beast snap with cold anger.

Amber was chatting with Ethan, which would have been fine if she wasn't trying to undress him with her eyes. She kept leaning her weight on one foot then the other, moving her hips covered in tight yoga pants side to side.

She flipped her blonde hair back and said something that made him smile a bit which made my beast want to rip all her hair out. I snapped back at my beast. We were over reacting, we had no idea what they were saying and for all we knew it was probably nothing.

However, Amber soon leaned forward and whispered something in our mate's ear while touching his shoulder ever so gently. Then she pulled away and gave him a sultry smile, the kind that held promises for the future with evidence of the past, and walked away towards Larissa, brushing her fingers against his naked torso as she did, too much skin for my own comfort.

Insecurity flared in me. I started to scold myself. I was better than this, it could be totally innocent. But all I kept hearing were demons of my past screaming the opposite; one look at her sultry smile was enough to fuel the demons.

I wasn't that girl anymore. I wasn't a weak insecure little girl anymore, or was I ?

Ethan's eyes met mine again; the bond twisted which made me almost wince. He sucked in a sharp breath and started to walk toward me again, but it felt like the air was sucked out of my lungs. "Can we go? I'm getting hungry." I quickly asked Evangeline.

I hated how much control this pull had over my emotions and feelings for a person I barely knew at all, regardless if he was my soulmate or not. Evangeline looked over at Amber, who whispered something to Larissa which made her laugh loudly, and nodded. "Ya, let's get out of here."

We walked quickly away before Ethan could catch me to my relief. Andrea caught up with me and nudged my shoulder. "Don't worry Char."

"You really shouldn't," Evangeline added. "She's had her claws out for Ethan forever, and he has never once given in to her. She's just jealous, that's all."

"It's shameful, though," Andrea said as we walked across the valley, towards the woods close to my cabin. "It's shameful to flirt or entice a wolf with a mate, even if they haven't marked each other."

"I agree," Evangeline bit out. I smiled at her and sighed; I was lucky to have her and Andrea near me.

We quickly made our way back to my cabin where Derek had fixed us all up some sandwiches. Evangeline spilled to him over lunch the whole 'Amber incident' and Derek proceeded to help me plot all the ways to kill the female. Well, he did most of the plotting.

Elliot had run out to scout the area, and I was still too grumpy to do much else. Evangeline suggested we watch movies, so she Andrea and I camped out in our living room and had a Star Wars marathon for the rest of the afternoon into the evening.

"Can we just talk about how good looking Harrison Ford was?" Derek said while shoving some gummy bears in his mouth.

"Agreed," Andrea eagerly added.

I chuckled and nodded. He was a babe, but not even Harrison Ford could help me shake off my funk. I needed to run it out and let my wolf out, even if it wasn't for long.

"Do you think I could go run?" Evangeline gave me a cautious look; technically I wasn't supposed to go anywhere without someone since I wasn't pack yet. "Just for a bit, I won't go far?"

Andrea smiled before looking at Evangeline. "She'll be fine." She looked back at me and winked. "There's a trail directly behind this cabin that my dad loves. It runs for about fifteen miles to a creek. Shouldn't be anyone out there, I think he's the only one that uses it."

Evangeline sighed and nodded. "Just don't stay out too long, ok?"

"Ok mom," I teased before headed out the door.

I felt better the moment I stepped outside. My wolf was ready, she wanted to run. She was tired of being inside my brain, she needed to shake her fur out as well as her frustration from earlier.

She was frustrated with the pull. Thinking about Ethan right now just made her think of Amber, which pissed her the hell off. I groaned as I pulled my dress and Keds off, shoving them under a bush before quickly shifting.

We tore off down the path that Billy used. It was easy to find, not fifty feet from the house. Once we were steadily on it, I sat back and let my beast have more control, she needed this more than I did. Although, I would be lying if I said the sight from today had no effect on me. It did.

The path was narrow and challenging. My beast and I could see why someone like Billy would like it. There was a stead incline up the hills through thick forest that sometimes was rockier than it was grassy.

My beast loved it, she loved the challenge. She missed the feeling of being pushed to her limits, it helped her take her mind off the pull. She ran hard around the twists and corners without relent, and she needed it.

Soon we came up to the creek that Andrea must have been talking about. We smelled around, it only smelled like Billy; Andrea was right, he must have been the only one up here.

She sighed and took a long drink of water before trotting into it and sinking herself into the cool current. It was like a cool blanket–calming. It soaked our fur and combed through it, combing out the frustration and leaving us a little more peaceful.

That is until the hair raised on her back.

He was here.

She turned to see the large male stare at her with hopeful eyes. She wasn't sure what to do, this was new to her, a new territory that she had yet to venture into. She stood up from he water and cocked her head curiously at him.

He stepped forward which solicited a low growl from her lips. She didn't forget how he let the other female touch what was hers, nor was she about to.

His huffed and stepped forward again, but my beast was not having it. She stood her ground and growled some more. He may be her mate, but she would not hesitate to show him how sharp her claws were if he kept this up.

I felt something try to press in my mind, but I just pushed it out. Hard. His beast winced a little, he wasn't used to being shut out with such a strong wall. I knew he wanted in, I knew he wanted to talk; but he could use his mouth, right now he wasn't going anywhere near my mind.

He stepped forward and shifted back to his skin. My female didn't take her eyes off of him though, she wouldn't dare break eye contact now. He tugged at his hair with a tired look and walked over to some bushes; he pulled out some gym shorts, which he slipped on, and a long t-shirt which he folded neatly and set on a dry rock close to me.

He sat down and gave me a small smile. "Charlotte, please shift." I sighed. My beast, although pissed, nudged me to; using my own logic against me, she urged me to listen.

I turned in my paws and trotted to a deeper area then dived in, shifting under the water where I knew my naked flesh would be hidden from his view. I popped my head out a bit and eyed him a suspiciously. I mean, I shifted didn't I?

He sighed and scratched his head. "Can we talk?"

I shrugged. I had raised my head out some more but still kept my neck mostly hidden from his view. "Sure. Talk."

I chuckled inwardly as his sat down begrudgingly. His cheeks that rested on his defined cheekbones reddened a little as he flickered his eyes over to me. "About today..."

I bit my lip and bit back a growl. "Mhmm?"

The alpha male tugged at his hair. The muscles on his arms seemed to ripple as he did so, and my wolf couldn't help but gawk. God, she was no help at all...

He looked back at me with those blue eyes that almost made me forget why we were even talking. "Listen, there's nothing going on with Amber and I there never was. She's just—uh—she's just kind of forward."

I sighed and sunk down in the cool water. I heard plenty of apologies before, but in that same thought, I remembered that Ethan was not the one who used to give me meaningless apologies. It wasn't fair to judge him a way.

But still, the thought of her fingers on his torso plagued my mind. I cringed, I didn't realize that the pull between us would do this to me. "It didn't seem like you minded too much."

The minute it left my lips, I felt like a stupid insecure little girl for saying it; and I hated the pull for making me feel that way. My wolf stroked my mind, trying to relax me. We had no reason to feel that way and we knew it, it was just the pull and I was going to have to do better to manage it.

"As much as it bothered you, it bothered me too. It burned, I still feel it..." he rubbed an area mindlessly on his torso where her fingers had been as if there was a ghost pain of some sort. He sighed and flickered his eyes back over the water to me. "Can you please come out? It's very—uh–It's very distracting."

I sighed and nodded. "Turn around!" I called out over the water.

Ethan quickly turned, scooting a few feet away from the shirt. I swam up quickly and snatched the navy shirt, throwing it over my skin before he could peak. I wrung my hair out to the side then pulled the shirt down over my legs, I suddenly felt so aware of my scars.

I sat down and faced the water, away from him. I could feel his head turn, it made the hair on my neck stand. "Are you going–"

"I didn't say you could turn around, now talk," I teased. Ethan grumbled with a low growl but begrudgingly complied.

"I'm sorry." The words carried over my skin and seemed to stir something in my belly. "I didn't think–I uh...I didn't realize the pull was so–"

"Strong?" I said wistfully.

"Yes," he breathed out with a tiny laugh. "I thought I lost my mind when I saw you that first time you know? I don't even know what I was thinking other than I wasn't." I felt goosebumps run up my arms as the memories flashed forward when the breeze carried his scent over to my nose. I was starting to get a bit more used to it, but every now and then the wind would pick up and I felt like I was back to square one.

I could hear him scoot backward until his back was touching mine. The sudden feeling of it made my spine straighten; it felt like electric fingers were running up it. I tried to move but he put his hand over mine and held me in place. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Well," he mused. "All you said was that I couldn't turn around. You should start being more specific sunshine."

I let out a hot breath and settled. As much as I wanted to move, I couldn't. The feeling of him against me was too comforting, it was feeding a bond that felt like it was almost impossible to break from.

"I—It's just a lot, you know?" I sighed. He moved his hand away from mine and my wolf whimpered in the back of my mind while the pull between us started to dully ache. My fingers raised a hair, catching his and stilling them. He settled, calming the ache and my whimpering wolf, damn her. "I just, I don't know. It's so strong it scares the hell out of me"

"Why?" He asked a little breathlessly.

"Last time anything this strong had control over me it beat the shit out of me," I replied more to myself than to him, but the minute it left my lips a loud rumble vibrated through his chest and sent shivers through me.

"I wouldn't ever–"

"I know. I know," I breathed out. "I killed him and that life long time ago and I don't intend on bringing them back. Sorry, it's," I breathed out and paused for a moment. I hated this. I hated feeling so vulnerable, so exposed, yet the pull towards him was pulling me to open up and let him in, but a tiny part of me was doing it as well. "It's still closer than I want to admit."

He rubbed my fingers with his thumb mindlessly, relaxing my mind that was racing to build a wall. I was so tired of building walls. "Do you want to get out of here?"

"And do what?" My wolf's ears perked up a bit, she was curious was this male had planned.

"Well, you did say I could see you tonight..."

I smiled to myself. "I did."

"Alright, then follow me."