Chapter 3: Tension

"Victor..."

He appeared harried, hair out of place and glasses crooked. He only had on his jacket and an old pair of sweatpants; feet bare.

Enora's sharp intake of breath broke the silence. Their bodies were pulled into an embrace by an invisible force; his arms crushed her like they had never done before, as if they would hold onto her forever. A new wave of emotions erupted in her, and it made her pull back to look at him. His body was littered in scratches, bits of dried blood smeared everywhere as well.

She gasped, "You're hurt!" She was about to get supplies, when his hold kept her there and the cuts began changing, moving. They disappeared before her eyes, completely healed, and she felt herself step back, the chill from earlier returning in full force.

Victor's features softened and hardened in the same instance, when he looked from her to Gil, as if just remembering he was supposed to be there. He scanned the room, giving them both an observant up and down before landing on the other man.

"You're dismissed. I'll see you later."

Gil nodded in confirmation, grabbing his things from the couch and giving Enora a small, encouraging smile before exiting.

"I asked him to stay inside" she voiced with an annoyed scoff, momentarily distracted.

She made her way into the kitchen where she opened the cabinet to grab a bag of vanilla flavored coffee, her hands shaking uncontrollably. A stream of early morning sunlight crept in through the gap in the curtains and shone across Victor's face, highlighting his eyes. Honey colored once again.

"Enora, I..." he began.

The ice in her body was starting to burn, crystalizing all over her skin, "What? You what, Victor?! If that's even your real name."

"It is. I wouldn't lie about that–"

"Oh! Not about that, but about everything else?! That's great." she snapped sarcastically.

He took a breath, giving her a look that made her pause, "I didn't come here to fight, Nuoli." He took the coffee bag from her as she could barely get a spoonful out and prepared it.

Her shoulders relaxed. The way he would say her nickname: Norrie, in Mandarin, never failed to make her soften, and he knew that.

"I don't want to fight either. Why do you think I'm making coffee? I'm owed an explanation and we're staying up for as long as it takes, right?" she shrugged.

"Of course." he answered simply.

Once in the living room, Enora was a bundle of nerves. She found herself wishing she wasn't in this situation. That time would reverse itself and stick to the script of her normal every day, like it was yesterday. There would be no fear or hurt. The man in front of her would be the same as before, familiar and honest, not a stranger.

"Where do you want me to start?" he asked, interrupting her thoughts.

"Um..." She felt her mouth dry up.

"I want you to know, I didn't do this on purpose, revealing it in this way was never the plan. Circumstances led to that split second decision." He collapsed onto the couch with his head in his hands. Enora went into her bedroom to grab one of the countless sweaters she's stolen from him and offered it. She could tell he wanted to laugh.

"I knew that rogue. He was exiled from my pack a year ago, before I became the Alpha. He was a rule breaker, but to get to this state... something else must have happened. Either way, it became my responsibility to act."

She thought back to what Gil had said and wondered how much more pressure it was for Victor as the leader.

"I also wanted to tell you sooner, but the time wasn't right." He began, hands itching to hold hers. "No, I had the opportunity but I... I stopped myself."

"Then it was deliberate..." she whispered; voice small.

"No! Well, yes. But mostly no," he interjected quickly, this time unable to stop himself from taking her hands in his.

"My rule is to wait the first month in order to determine if the dating is serious or not. Shifters and humans may be common nowadays, but you know it isn't completely accepted."

She nodded, looking down at their hands rather than at him.

"So, when the first month came around and you mentioned never wanting to date a shifter, I... I didn't know what to do."

Enora's head snapped up at this. She had almost forgotten about that day. Victor had intervened when an older man was harassing a young shifter and human couple. He deescalated the situation by convincing the man to walk away, the couple thanking him profusely for it. And as they walked away, Enora overheard the human tell the shifter to be more careful with his eyes.

The most obvious way to tell shifters apart from humans were their eyes. They were reflective, shiny like a piece of aluminum foil, no matter the color. Though there were rare individuals with wild or shocking colors, most were your common, everyday colors. Enora had never seen Victor's eyes reflect, but then shifters had the ability to conceal that, so the fault was hers for not thinking of that possibility.

Once the couple were out of earshot, Enora had said that she was glad she'd never be in that situation. She knew it would be harder for her than most, so avoidance was the obvious option.

She looked at Victor, unsure of what to say.

"It doesn't excuse my selfishness, I know, but I liked you more than I thought. And when I told myself to break up with you tomorrow, tomorrow never came."

Enora stood up, moving away from him.

"But you took away my choice, Victor. I don't know how to feel about that." she answered honestly. It was hard to imagine what her current situation would be if he had thought to let her choose. She didn't regret their past few months, but she couldn't make her negative feelings go away so easily either.

"I thought of the outcome every day and I knew it would make things harder. I won't lie and pretend I don't hope for this to work out; that you'll stay with me."

The words tugged at her heart; perhaps she could get over this. With time to process and reasoning with her own guilt, this could work, right? She loves this man...

"Which leads to my next confession," he continued in a grave voice.

"I've put you in danger Enora because it's not just a rival pack that may be after you, but a... mafia."