Chapter 15: Chapter 15

Oh no…

I was panicking while opening the drawers and cabinets in the kitchen. I rushed to the closet to check if there were some leftovers stock, and the same results. There was nothing. It’s been a whole month since our lives have been peaceful, and nothing is troubling us. Everything was going through great when we forgot to buy some essentials. This is bad. We got so carried away that we ran out of stocks again.

I leaned on the wall, thinking about these. We can go to the city, but it would take us forever to get there now that Ethan is back to normal. I didn’t realize I was biting my nails while getting with my trails of thoughts when someone spoke beside me.

“Hey, you look worried.”

I glanced at Ethan, shuffling his hair, and water dripped down on his half-naked body. His scent flared through my nostrils, and I sniffed his aftershaves. For a minute there, I somehow forgot what I was thinking about when my eyes peeped down on his gravel stomach and broad chest. Even if I have seen it a thousand times already, I still can’t move on because this man is like a god.

“Natasha?”

My fantasies died down when Ethan snapped his fingers right before me, causing me to resurface again back to reality. I noticed he was caging me between his arms, leaning down just to level his face. Ethan tilted his head to the side. Some strands of his hair growth covered his left eye. My knees trembled from the sight, causing the demons in my stomach to create havoc. This man is just too much. I closed my eyes and composed myself before speaking.

“We’re out of stock again,” I mumbled before pushing him a little to create a personal space. Ethan’s brows raised in surprise.

“Oh, is that so? We can go to the market again and buy some.” Ethan was about to go upstairs when I grabbed his hand.

“Ethan, we’re still wanted, and the cops are still lurking out there. We can not go out being so careless. We may have run away for quite some time now, but we can not escape from the criminal acts we have caused.”

I don’t want to scare him, but this is the truth. Even if Ethan’s curse is lifted, Allen is still out there, willing to dig everything about us just to find us and blame Ethan. We don’t know how the government plays cards with their targets here, but I know it’s chanceful to play with those kinds. Ethan dropped his hands to his side, and his eyes were lowered to the ground.

I sighed and then caressed his arms to ease the tension. Ethan was bothered by it but couldn’t ignore it. I embraced him tightly, motioning I would be here even if bad things would soon occur between us. I won’t let anyone take him away from me.

Ever.

“You’re right. Even if the curse is already broken, I’m still a wanted criminal for killing innocent lives out there…” he trailed off, then continued.

“For killing my own family….”

I stared at Ethan, watching his emotions shift. We stood there for hours before he finally decided to let go of my arms and then walked out of the kitchen, leaving me behind. I watched his back until he disappeared from my sight. I dropped my hand and then stroked my arms. Somehow I felt terrible for opening that up and crashing his spirit. Ethan was always happy ever since his wolf form disappeared utterly. I sighed, then sat on the chair, massaging my temples.

I remained in the kitchen for another couple of hours until I decided to run up to him to apologize. Ethan must have been thinking of going alone to the market and buying what we needed. I can’t let that happen. Now that Ethan is ultimately a human, he can’t change back to protect himself. He could get killed!

I shook these thoughts away and focused my sprinting toward the room. I ran up with Bobby, who jumped up and down and wagged his tail. I greeted him before passing by his side. I sensed he followed me. When we reached the room, I was glad Ethan was still there, but he alternated his outfit. He was wearing a cap and holding a face mask when he glanced at me.

“I’m going to the market. Stay here. I’ll be back.” he exclaimed before wearing the face mask. He looks sick, but I think that’s his disguise, so people won’t recognize him. He nodded and grabbed his bag. I was too stunned to move a muscle when I realized he had already left the room and Bobby was trailing him.

“Ethan, wait!”

I caught up to him and stopped him by placing my arms around his torso. Ethan stopped from his tracks, but I felt he was getting annoyed by my actions since he let out a harsh breath and looked up at the ceiling.

“Natasha, we don’t have time for this. The sooner I leave, the sooner I will get back,” he argued and was about to pry off my hands when I shook my head in disagreement.

“Ethan, you can’t go out alone. I will go with you. It’s dangerous-”

“Natasha, it’s more dangerous now that I don’t possess my wolf spirit anymore.”

I halted, unable to continue my words. My hands loosened, and I backed away. I was gaping at his back the whole minute. Bobby was silent, sensing that something was wrong. Ethan remained there, clenching his fist.

“I can’t lose you, Natasha. Please understand that I can’t protect you anymore this time like before.”

A tear escaped from my eyes when he peeked from his shoulder to look at me. His eyes were hooded.

“You have to stay here, guard the house, and wait for me to get back."

"I promise, Natasha." his last words were before leaving the place.

I was left there, standing in the middle, feeling so hopeless suddenly. I almost drop to my knees when I quickly compose myself. He’s right. He can’t protect me anymore if we come facing peril again. He can’t change his form to become unstable like before.

Ethan has given up his Alpha form.

I stood there for seconds that turned into minutes before I decided to go to the kitchen and look for something to distract myself. Bobby was following me, and I’m glad that I had a companion somehow.

Keep yourself together, Natasha. He will be back, okay? Don’t stress yourself too much from this. When I got back to the kitchen, I recalled cooking something earlier. I grab a bowl and spoon before placing the food before me on the table. I let out a violent sigh since everything feels so heavy. Even if I pushed the thoughts away several times, they haunted me.

There are so many what-ifs that couldn’t be answered with a maybe. Ethan is out there, ready to risk his life to bring home the essentials we needed. If anything grievous happens to him, I would never forgive myself.

I jumped from my seat when Bobby barked at me. When I looked down, I saw him wagging his tail, waiting for me to play with him. My tense shoulders suddenly relaxed, and I couldn’t help myself to smile. I got up from my seat since I was already done eating before picking him up.

“I’m sorry, baby. Mommy is just worried about your Daddy.” Even though I knew he wouldn’t talk back to me, I told him. Bobby tilted his head before sticking out his tongue, looking cheerful. I sighed, and I decided to play with him outside the mansion.

“Bobby! Fetch!” I threw the ball not that far so that Bobby could run back to me. Bobby quickly ran away, his eyes never leaving the stick I threw.

The weather was unexpectedly good today. The sun was radiating on my face, making me cover my eyes so that I could see where Bobby went. The wind blew on my skin, caressing and whispering softly. Bobby got the stick I threw then he ran back to me happily. I smiled, then kneeled down on the ground, stroking his head.

“Here, Bobby, fetch!” I yelled again, and this time I went a little higher. Bobby ran to catch it excitedly, and I stood there, darting my eyes around the area. We’ve been living here for months now, and everything was running okay. No one has ever come across this place. The mansion is located in the middle, so it’s tough to set sight in this house.

Well, I wouldn’t ask for more since I would prefer to live here peacefully after all the chaos that had happened to us. I sighed and then put the strands of my hair at the back of my ear when something caught my eyes.

I quickly jolted my eyes in the middle of the woods, squinting to see what was coming. I couldn’t see anything at first since the woods were full of branches of trees and bushes when I saw a shadow of a man approaching us. My eyes widened in fear then I looked for Bobby to get inside the house and hide.

“Bobby!” I called his name, but he was nowhere to be found. I cursed under my breath and was about to find something for protection when I recognized who it was.

“Ethan?” I narrowed my eyes to see it clearly. He waved his hands, and I was relieved when I saw it was just him. I relaxed my shoulders and hurriedly ran to his side to embrace him.

“Thank god you’re back. I was so worried!” I said when I stopped before him. Ethan smiled, but he didn’t say anything. I saw he was carrying a huge bag pack as if a person could fit in there. He must have bought it while buying our stuff.

“It took you a while, though,” I told him and was about to touch his cheeks when he held mine and sealed me with a long kiss. I was too stunned to even move a muscle. What is going on with him? Though I didn’t have any problem kissing him, it was unexpected.

I closed my eyes and kissed him back. We stood there for minutes, just biting each other’s tongue, when he finally let go.

“I miss you,” he exclaimed, his eyes tracing my face. I knitted my eyebrows in confusion.

He was just gone for hours or maybe because he thought he wouldn’t come back. After all, he doesn’t have anything that could protect him.