Drawl Forest

“I’ll be fine Nicole, don’t worry,” she responded before opening the car door. As she was about to come down, she remembered something she was supposed to tell her friend. 

“Nicole, can you promise me something before you go?”

“What is it?” Nicole feared what she was about to say. 

“I don’t want Ray, Ethan or anyone to know about what happened today. Can you keep it a secret?”

“Are you sure? this isn't something you should keep Ava, if you're so uncomfortable about rejecting him yourself why not tell Ray? I'm sure he'll agree to stand by you when…”

“No! I want to do it on my own, Ray didn't need my help when he rejected his mate, I should be able to do the same, the only thing I need you to do now is not to tell him what happened, promise me you won’t tell him.”

Nicole sighed defeatedly. “If you say so.”

“Thank you.”

Ava dropped off at the bus station before Nicole drove away, she was standing there before a taxi stopped in front of her. 

“Going anywhere miss?” The driver asked after rolling down the windows. 

She thought of going somewhere, but she couldn’t think of anywhere to go, so she shook her head and the driver sped off. She began to take a walk, and then her mind began to travel back to what had happened today. She didn’t know how long she had walked nor the direction she walked until she realized that she was still in Bandera; Nicole had dropped her at the outskirts of Chester, the town they resided and she’d unknowingly walked back to Bandera. She feared this town she met her mate but her heart wasn’t too troubled because she knew it was still a far distance from the restaurant she’d met him in.  

She stopped at a sign board and read what was written on it. 

‘DRAWL FOREST.’

She turned to her left and saw the large trees that marked the entrance of the forest, she then remembered something about letting Layla coming out to play. The forest would be much safer for her wolf, as she couldn’t let a wolf run loose on the streets within the sight of humans. 

She walked in the direction where the arrow on the sign board pointed. Taking Layla for a run would be a good idea at this moment, she needed somewhere to process all that happened today, and Layla needed somewhere to play. 

She walked into the thick forest entrance, where the first batch of tall trees stood, she then took off all her clothes until she was dressed in nothing but her skin.

'Ok, Layla, time to come out now,' she crouched down on all fours and then her bushy thick wolf fur with a furry tail at her butt started protruding from her human skin. Gradually, her legs and hands turned into four wolf feet with extremely sharp claws, her pointed canines grew larger replacing her human teeth. Within less than a minute, she was now fully in her wolf form and Layla set off into the woods, running with great speed. When it came to running, she was nowhere as fast as Layla. 

As Layla played, her mind went back to what she’d been thinking about before. Ava had always heard stories of this strange attraction, but she'd never thought that it would be this tremendous, she'd never thought that it'd have such an effect on her, she'd never thought that it would make her almost want to curse herself for chickening out of the situation like that, but she had no choice. She wanted it.... No, the mate bond made her want it, and she just couldn't bear the thought of abandoning the duties she had been prepared to do her whole life; to serve her people and become a Luna to an Alpha she was not attracted to. 

She remembered when she'd first asked this pending question to the one who raised her, Ray's late mother, Mitchell, at the time where it troubled her the most.

"But Luna Mitchell, how will I be joined to someone I don't love? I've seen the other pack members with their true mates and how they're doing pretty well with each other, what will happen if I end up with someone who is not my mate?" 

"Nothing my dear," Mitchell answered briskly. "As you can see, I am very happy with Ray's father, and he's not my true mate. At first, I thought that the leaders were punishing me by joining me with someone who I felt nothing for and making me reject the one I was fated to be with, but later I understood when I started feeling an attraction for Ray's father. The attraction for Ray will come soon dear, just like it did with the other Luna's before me, the two of you just have to spend more time with each other."

She gave her a reassuring smile which seemed like she was trying to convince her to believe what she said. 

Ava took her word for what she said that day and tried spending more time with Ray, but it didn't help. With Mitchell's expression that day, something told Ava that there was more to what her Luna was saying, that there was something she didn't want to say to her, but she'd brushed the thought aside, it was best not to keep bothering her if she'd told her all she needed to know. Up till today, a few years later, she'd still felt the same way she felt when she asked her Luna that question. Mitchell might have given her an answer, but yet her heart still wasn't satisfied. It wanted more answers, and she knew that she could only find those answers when she found her true mate; the same mate she ran away from today. Upon realizing the distance Layla had taken her, she made her stop before she got lost, they were now in an open space surrounded sparsely by trees. She didn’t know that so much time had passed since she entered this forest, she’d spent hours thinking and Layla had been playing all the while, it would soon be time for the party, what a good way to while away the time she thought, she’d soon be on her way back home but first she wanted her wolf to rest before continuing the journey. 

'Good job girl,' she commended Layla as she slumped on the cold forest ground to rest, her ankles ached a bit from running for such a long time and distance. Minutes of silence stretched and girl and wolf lay there catching their breaths whilst enjoying the serenity the cool forest night had to offer and gazing at the moon that had just come out. As she was about to close her eyes, her ears twitched and then Layla observed that they weren't alone. 

'He's here,' she informed Ava.