Chapter 9: The Seeds of Feelings

"There is no harvest for the heart alone. The seed of love must be eternally re-sown."

-Anne Morrow Lindbergh-

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“You have a much larger appetite tonight, don’t you, Sabrina? I thought you said you would be going on a diet.” Layla remarked as she saw her sister putting pounds of meat on her plate. She did not even pour any sauce on them which was quite unusual. Sabrina shrugged it off and told her she was just feeling a lot hungrier lately due to the amount of physical work she needed to do. Her father did not really question her like Layla did and acted nonchalant about it, which was such a relief for her.

“Let her be, after all she has been working quite hard lately. Just eat as much as you want. Groceries are incredibly cheap around here. These meats are locally grown so we can always get them at any time.” Greg just laughed it off as he took a piece of meat from his plate and bit it. Sabrina was glad at least her father was not stingy on grocery.

Of course it was all a lie, she was not hungrier than usual just because her chores had increased, she was just putting most of the meat on her plate on a box hidden on her lap and planned to bring it to feed the black wolf she had been hiding in the storage house a few meters from the main house.

Fortunately for her, the wolf had not been making much of a sound so she could keep him hidden without being discovered by her family as well as continuing his wound treatment.

She discovered the wolf was a male since she accidentally saw its genital while cleaning it up and it was pretty surprising for her since most male wolves were supposed to be aggressive, but the wolf she had brought home was surprisingly docile.

Not one time did he ever try to attack her which was a good sign. It seemed like the wolf was harmless toward her even though it looked big and scary, she was not sure why he acted like that but it made her feel even more affectionate toward him.

After dinner was over, like usual, they cleaned up the kitchen and she had make sure to hide the meal she prepared for the wolf. She kept it in one of the pantry after Layla was back to her room and went back to bed herself and pretended to be asleep. After she was sure everyone in her house was already asleep, she sneaked out to the storage house to find the wolf. As expected, when she opened it, the wolf was asleep, but somehow it was alerted by her presence and immediately woke up in defense mode.

“It’s okay, it’s just me.” She hushed and calmed the wolf, who began to relax after he realized the one coming was just her. She approached him and placed the meat she had transferred to a plate in front of him since she would feel bad making him eat from the ground all the time. Besides, it would help to prevent any meat stain on the floor.

Alpha Maxi stared at the plate of meat and he was used to something a lot finer that that cheap steak but he did not want to disappoint her. Slowly he began to ate the meat and from the corner of his eyes, he could see her smiling as she watched him eat. For some reason, his heart felt unusually warm when she was near him.

She did not stop there though. Once he had finished eating, she looked at his legs and found his wound nearly healed. She touched it softly without pressure to make sure that there was no wet blood patched on the new bandage.

“It looks like you are almost healed. I have no idea why your wounds can heal so quickly but I am relieved. Once you are fully healthy, you can go back to your family.” She stated gently. Sabrina watched the wolf staring at her and those piercing blue eyes appeared as if they were trying to convey something to her, but unable to.

After he was done eating, she could not resist the urge to touch the wolf. The creature remained still as she reached out her hand to touch him. First she touched his snout, then she moved upward and gently caressed his hair. As she had expected before, his fur was incredibly soft. Although he looked scary, he had been behaving gentle toward her. Perhaps because she was the one who saved him.

“I wonder what I should call you, I don’t know your name, so can I call you wolfie?” She asked him and he leaned in forward to her as if he was approving it. She laughed as the wolf licked her hand and surprisingly, she was not disgusted at all. It was the opposite, Sabrina was enjoying each seconds she spent with him.

There was certainly something interesting about the wolf’s behavior toward her. As she was sitting, he stood up and became much taller than her seated self, then he spun around her, sniffing every inch of her body before burying his head in her lap, asking to be caressed.

At that point, all the fear she previously had for the wolf had vanished, she was sure not all wolves were like him, but the one she had saved was such a gentle and sweet wolf. Sabrina had no idea that back in the pack, he was someone to be feared and respected, but for Sabrina, he was just her big sweet wolf.

“I think I have to go back before anyone realizing I’ve gone out from my room. I will see you again tomorrow, wolfie.” She patted his head again and stood up to leave. However, as she was about to open the door, the wolf jumped in front of her and covered the exit, as if it was trying to prevent her from going out.

“What’s wrong? Why won’t you let me out?” She questioned as the wolf remained standing in front of her. Maxi desperately wanted to speak to her.

“Don’t go, stay here with me.” It was something he desperately wanted to tell her, however, she did not seem too pleased about it. Sabrina was the kind of woman that if she was determined to do something, she would definitely do it and finished it on time.

It included going back to her room on time out of fear of being caught, however, the wolf did not seem to understand it. In term of strength, she could not possibly win against him. However, when she looked into his eyes that were filled with so much loneliness, she could not help herself.

Eventually, she decided to stay in the place with him, they played and he rested his head on her laps. Sabrina giggled because of how adorable it was acting. For her, it was like having a dog, only the dog was a huge wolf from nowhere.

After playing for a little while, Sabrina was getting a bit tired. Eventually she fell asleep on his body. Maxi noticed this and grabbed an unused pillow from the storage room and placed it on the floor, then he gently removed himself from her and pushed her head so it was rested on the pillow.

For a few minutes, all he could do was to stare at her. Maxi still could not believe he was  able to find another mate in that lifetime. Especially a human mate. It was such a blessing and a curse at the same time because she did not belong among the werewolves. He did not know what could possibly happen to her if he brought her back to his pack to meet the others. Surely, they would not be happy to have a human as their luna.

Also, since his wound has healed, Maxi could no longer stayed at her place considering his family and pack back home must have been worried dead for him. He had plenty of responsibility to do and the longer he stayed out, the more people would think he was actually dead. He knew he needed to go back that night, but his heart ached knowing that he had to leave his mate behind. However, since she lived nearby, he knew he could always visit her anytime.

Maxi transformed into his human form for the first time in days and even though he was naked at the moment, she was unconscious so she did not really know it. He stared at with a loving and pained gaze as he was unable to have her at the moment even though he wanted to.

The woman whose existence he did not even know just a few days earlier suddenly became the one who made his heart ache at the thought of leaving her.

No humans would ever understand the bond a werewolf had with his mate. As much as he wished he could just reject her and moved on with his life, Maxi found it difficult as his heart which had almost died before started beating again for love.

He knelt beside her and leaned in closer to plant a kiss on her lips. The kiss was his mark, a promise that they would meet again soon. He ran his fingers along the side of her ears and took a few strands of her hair with him as a good luck charm. Then he walked toward the door and opened it. Maxi turned around and spared one last glance at her before transforming back into his human form and ran back to the forest, back to his home.

As he ran, he made a promise to himself that as long as she was mated to him, he would protect her indefinitely, even though she probably would never see him as a man and only as a wolf, but it did not matter that much as long as he could stay by her side.

He needed to shake the thoughts of her from his mind and focused on his works, there were plenty of things he needed to catch up back in the pack, however, he had no idea that moon goddess had planted another seeds of fate between them and it was just the beginning of everything.