Chapter 6

“Don’t be silly, girl, it’s a wonderful idea. You’re in training right? But you don’t have a trainer. He’s really good, and even though you’re his mate, he won’t go easy on you,” she says, and smiles at me still.

This woman doesn’t ever stop smiling, does she?

“In training?” I question again. I feel so incredibly stupid, and I just want to know when the fuck I can move on so I don’t have to break this guy’s heart. If I walk away now, he won’t get sad, and we’ll move on with our lives.

I internally groan as I reaAlbae my thoughts. I sound like I think I’m a catch, but in reality I’m just a loner. I’ve learnt to take care of myself, and while I would love to have a soulmate and someone to rely on, I can’t.

“Can you shift at will? Use your powers whenever?” she asks, raising an eyebrow at me.

I swallow.

“N-no,” I stutter.

“Perfect. Azaire will teach you,” she says, then she stares out into thin air for a few seconds, before turning to me again. “I told him you’ll meet him in the backyard after you’ve finished breakfast.”

“Wait, right now?” I ask her, not really sure if I’m referring to the fact that I’ll be meeting him in a few minutes, or that she told him now. “You didn’t say anything.”

I figured if he’s in the house he can listen if he wants to, but she didn’t say anything.

“I mindlinked him,” she explains. “Packs can talk to each other through a mindlink. Azaire will teach you all about it.”

She gets up from the bed and grabs the tray, before smiling at me again.

“Eat up!” she orders, before she leaves the room.

Holy hell. I don’t really know if I’m ready for this. I’m still in the clothes from yesterday, which I don’t find that weird, but maybe he will.. He isn’t used to this, like I am. I was in my dirty jeans for a week before yesterday, which is probably really disgusting, but I didn’t have anything else. I eat up the pancake a lot faster than I should, probably, and get up from the bed.

I walk over to the bathroom, and look at myself in the mirror. I look a little less tired, somehow, and my cheeks has some more color, but I still don’t like what I’m looking at. I doubt he’ll like it, either. What kind of soulmate would I even be? I huff as I pull my much more vibrantly colored hair behind my ears. It must have been really dirty before I showered yesterday, because I almost don’t recognize it now.

As I walk back out from the bathroom I look for my backpack, but it’s gone. What? I left it here, by the foot of the bed, but it’s not there. I bend down do look under the bed, but it’s not there either. I gulp a little, thinking someone might have taken it, to make sure I wouldn’t leave yet. That’s not cool at all.

I huff as I get back up, but I guess I don’t have a choice now. I don’t want them to get hostile, so I grab the empty plate and the glass, and leave the room. On my way downstairs I hear voices around the house, but I try not to listen in, even though I kind of want to. I really want to know who took my backpack, but I guess it’s not that wise to accuse them of stealing on the first day..

I stop in the kitchen to put my used dishes in the dishwasher, and on my way to the front door, Soraya approaches me again, pushing a pair of shoes towards me with a huge smile on her face.

“I put yours in the washer, and your clothes are next. These are your size, I think. The boots looked a little big so I looked for something a few numbers smaller, and we had something from Alba a few years back. You’ll probably need them,” she says, winking at me, before she leaves.

She seems busy, and I mutter a slight “thank you” that I’m sure she heard if she can use her wolf-powers whenever she wants to. I put the shoes on, before I walk out the door.

The weather is much better than yesterday. It’s not sunny, luckily, but it’s not raining either. And it’s light out. There are people everywhere, kids playing, parents yelling and siblings fighting. It’s just like a human town, except I know this one is filled with wolves. I cross my arms, hugging myself for moral support, before I walk down the steps to the front yard, and move across the grass to get behind the house.

His smell is so overwhelming. I know he’s already out there, and I don’t know if I’m ready to face him. How disappointed will he be when he reaAlbaes his “mate” is a starved loner who has every intention of leaving as soon as she can? I really don’t want to hurt him, and this whole thing seems like it’s a really big deal to them, but it’s not to me. I just have to keep moving, before someone figures out where I am and brings me back to my “parents”. I know they don’t want me, and they’ve probably already told people I’m dead, but since I don’t have any other name or anything, I can’t escape them if I’m found.

I was stupid to tell Juan my last name, but I was hoping he didn’t know who I was, since they live so secluded, and I’d gain some trust by telling them my real name. It seems like they don’t know of my parents, though, and they haven’t heard of me before, lucky for me.

My feet stops as I round the corner to the backyard. I keep my eyes down as I wait for him to do something. I know he knows I’m here, the same way I know he’s here. I can feel his eyes on me, and somehow I wish I looked more presentable.. I keep my arms crossed, and look over the ground. Soraya has some really gorgeous flower beds.

There’s flowers of every color. Red, blue, yellow, even orange and pink ones, decorating the backyard as far as I can see with my head bowed down. My hearing is once again focused on him, and only him. I want so badly for it to stop, because I can’t take it. I can hear his feet touch the grass, as each straw bends and some of them snap, trying to uphold his weight. The grass is dying a horrible death just because a werewolf is walking towards me, to train me, and get his heart broken.

I can only hope he doesn’t want me either, so it won’t be as bad.

A pair of pretty worn sneakers stop way too close for comfort, and a big hand reaches out, placing a hooked index finger under my chin. Fuck. I’m not ready for this. I close my eyes and my chin practically explodes as he touches it, with sparks and tingles spreading throughout my whole body, even down to my toes, as I curl them. He pulls my head up, and I take in a shaky breath.

Where has my snark gone? My sass, my defense-mechanism of gritting my teeth and growling at hostile animals, like I did to his brothers yesterday? It’s all gone, like I’m being left by all my intelligent braincells as they, too, turn to mush at this man’s touch.

Even though there’s all these intense feelings between us, I don’t really believe it. It sounds too good to be true, and whenever something sounds too good to be true, it always is.

No exceptions.

I still have my eyes closed, and time feels like it’s standing still. I can’t even feel the light breeze around me anymore, it’s all him, and his single finger touching me.

“So skinny and worn down, yet so beautiful,” his deep voice says.

I don’t believe him. It’s whatever bond he talked about with his sister, that’s talking. Not him. Not really. I saw myself in the mirror, and I don’t look like anything anyone would ever want as a soulmate.

“We’ll fix that. With my mom’s cooking and our training you’ll be nothing but beauty in no time,” he continues. “Look at me, mate.”

I suck in my lips, and slowly shake my head. Mostly because he called me “mate”.

“Don’t you know my name?” I ask him, still with my eyes closed, afraid to see how good he looks.

He smells divine, and his siblings aren’t exactly ugly either, so I already know he’ll look gorgeous. I just want to keep my dignity for a little longer, until I start drooling. If the soulmate-thing is half as intense as Soraya described between her and Juan, not that I believe it, I’ll have trouble containing myself.

And I just want to leave as soon as possible.

“I do know your name, Yohanna, but you are my mate,” he explains, and his finger leaves my chin, before it’s present again, on my cheek, brushing some of my hair away from my face. “Don’t you want to know what I look like?”

The way my name sounds from his lips is way better than how anyone has ever said it before.

“Just a little,” I say, barely above a whisper.

“Then open your eyes,” he prompts, tilting my head up further.

Oh, God, is he that much taller than me? I feel him take a step closer to me, and his hand is still resting under my chin for a second time, holding my head up, while his other arm slowly snakes around my waist, probably to make sure I won’t run away again.

I guess that’s it, then. I’ll open my eyes. On the count of three.

One…

Two…

Three.