Chapter 11: Chapter 11

“ETHAN!” I opened my eyes, sitting vertically on my spot, reaching for something. I was gasping for air, controlling my heart that was beating obstreperously. I had another nightmare about him. I roamed my eyes around the area and saw I was inside our room. I closed my eyes, recalling what happened earlier. Was it all just a dream? Or did it really happen?

“Thank god you’re okay.”

I felt a masculine pair of hands wrapped around my waist, and he buried his face in the nook of my neck. A tingling sensation flowed down my system, making me shiver. I sniffed his familiar scent that was lingering in my nostril. My eyes widened in stupefaction when I realized it was Ethan. He’s back!

“What are you doing earlier?! Why did you run in the rain? Now you’re sick!” Ethan scolded me. He did not let me go and kept saying that what I had done was harmful. Ethan repeatedly stroked my head while showering me with a kiss on the side of my head. I felt burning and debilitated even though he was embracing me. After sitting there for almost half an hour, Ethan let go of me and caressed my cheek.

“I heard your voice earlier yelling for my name. I didn’t go anywhere, Natasha. I was just breathing some fresh air in the woods to compose myself.” he closed his eyes, letting out a ferocious and shaky breath. I was stunned to even say anything. Once again, my overthinking led me to something destructible. I shivered when the cold wind brushed on my skin, and I sneezed out loud, jumping on my spot.

“It’s your fault you got sick. What are you thinking earlier?” Ethan asked soothingly before tucking me into the sheets.

“I thought you had run away and returned to the city we escaped once,” I mumbled, making him stop what he was doing. I didn’t look in his eyes. I clenched my hand on the sheets, turning away in the other direction, discomfiting what I had caused.

“I thought you came back there to seek your brother’s body if you really killed him or not. I run away to chase you because you can’t go out there alone, Ethan. You could get killed.” I breathed in.

“We may not know what is happening there right now, but you know what Allen capable of is. He can call all of the forces out there if he wants to just to prove that werewolves exist in this world, Ethan.”

A tear was forming on the corners of my eyes, and I restrained them from falling. I sniffed since I got a cold. My nose suddenly got itchy. Damn, my overthinking is eating me up. This is what I get for not waiting for Ethan to come back. This just proves I don’t have faith in Ethan. I bit my inner cheeks, then sank down on the bed. I should take a rest and not think much about any of these.

“You were right.”

My brows knitted in a straight line, and I suddenly glanced at Ethan behind me to see him massaging the bridge of his nose. He sat on the edge of the bed, staring at nowhere.

“I was about to run away from this place to see if I really did bury my twin’s body,” he mumbled, and my eyes widened…so it’s true all along. The thoughts that were haunting me earlier…

“For a moment there, I got so scared that he might return and you will choose him this time since he is your first love, not me. So, I decided to go back to our old house earlier to check his body in the basement to see if it’s still there.”

He chuckled before shaking his head. He glanced at something, and I followed his gaze. I saw he was looking at Bobby, placed on the chair. There was a bandage wrapped around his paw. He sighed before gradually looking at me. His eyes were inspecting my situation when he suddenly forcefully gritted his jaw.

“But then I remember I would make you concerned for not coming back for days. The thought of your worried face made me cease to continue. So I chose to come back, but I saw you running and screaming for my name. Both of you were coated with droplets of the storm. You don’t mind if you’re running in the middle of the forest carrying Bobby and the wounded. You will stagger upon everything in your way just to be caught with me.”

Ethan smiled, then he bowed his head. I saw a teardrop on the sheets. I was about to sit, but he stopped me.

“Thank you for your unconditional love, Natasha. I’m sorry for making you worried, my love. I promise I will stay here with you and not go out without your consent.” he exclaimed before standing up. He breathed in and then exhaled all the oxygen in his lungs to free the stress.

He was about to go out of the room when I called him.

“Ethan! Wait!”

He peeked at me from his shoulder. His eyes were asking. I bit my inner cheeks as my emotions were ready to burst out. I closed my eyes before yelling at him.

“I love you, Ethan! Please, don’t run away ever again without my knowledge! Nathan may be my first love, but you’re my last and forever grateful choice! Don’t ever think I will choose him over you! Do you think my love for you is that shallow?! Do you think everything I have been through will be put for nothing if I choose him?! You’re wrong!”

“Nathan is dead! Even if he’s alive, I don’t give a fuck about him. It’s you I will forever choose, Ethan. It’s always you!”

I think I overdid from the yelling since my throat went dry, and I couldn’t scream anymore. I covered my mouth and glanced at Ethan to see him smiling while a tear streaming down his left eye.

Ethan closed his eyes and raised his hand to put it on his chest, where his heart was beating. He bowed his head a little. I was stunned to see him making this gesture. I have known Ethan as a prideful man and egomaniac. But he steps aside those characteristics of him to show his intention to me.

“Thank you, my love. I appreciate you so much. Please take a rest there. I won’t go anywhere, staying here in the mansion. I will make your favorite food.” then he left the room, leaving Bobby and me inside.

I stared at the door, blinking and processing what had just happened to our argument. I let out a shaky breath and then looked at my hands, shaking severely. Honestly, when I released those words to Ethan, I was relieved. I was shocked since I knew I was not really affectionate, and my first relationship with his twin failed. Still, I did all my best to show him how important he was to my life.

God, I don’t know what will I do if ever Allen catches us, and he will be taken away from me.

I closed my eyes and let myself residual. I waited for hours until Ethan returned, and I smelled a corking aroma that made my stomach grumble. I open my eyes to see Ethan standing at the end of the bed, looking my way. His eyes were gleaming, and he was screaming thousands of words to me. The sight of him made the demons inside my stomach chaotic. I caress my shoulder but flinch when I remember I had wounds.

“Careful, Natasha. You’re still injured,” he muttered, then sat on the edge on my side, scooping closer to feed me.

Ethan gently stroked my chin then he lifted my face to observe them. He tilted his head to the side when our eyes locked, and we both chuckled in response. Bobby woke up and rushed to our side to join the celebration as if on cue. Ethan embraced him carefully, and we played with him on the bed. We laughed, joked, and teased each other. As if the time had slowed down for a moment. As of the moment, I couldn’t ask for more. Something ignited inside my chest that subsided the dark milieu of it.

I just hoped that everything would go according to the flow of our life here. I think the gods above have heard my prayers since the following days went swimmingly. Ethan didn’t run off away as he planned to. Bobby’s wounds healed, and the injuries in my arms that Ethan caused somehow lessened.

The rain has stopped for a week, and the weather is sunny for this day. Ethan and I decided to clean the house and, for this time, trim it for good. Ethan was busy cleaning the ceilings to remove the webs, and I was assigned to explore the rooms.

“Bobby! Can you get that broom for me?”

I left them and went to the kitchen. I roamed my eyes around the area, and something caught my attention. There’s a door at the end corner of the kitchen. It was senescent, and some parts of it are impaired. I had never noticed this before until now. Since Ethan was the one who was always here in the kitchen.

I walked towards it to open it when something whispered in my ears.

“Look out! The Alpha!”

I gasped and jumped to see the whole area and saw nothing. What the heck did I just hear? I stood there for minutes, apprehending what just happened when I shrugged it off, then continued to open the door.

I froze on my spot when I saw a chilly basement pitch dark. Only the staircase above was seen. I gulped, finding the courage to step into this eternal abyss. Something is telling me that I shouldn’t go down here.

However, since curiosity kills the cat, I rambled all the drawers in the kitchen to find a flashlight and decided to explore it.