Chapter 7: Chapter 7

For hours I ran as a wolf through the dark forest and kept howling in agony until I noticed the first rays of the sun and sat down under a tree.

I would prefer never to go back. How could this happen? I cursed the fate that suddenly unbalanced my life. I thought of Lou, my sweet little Lou, who was probably tearing me up inside for just running off, but what else was I supposed to do?

My wolfness was too strong, especially since I was alpha. My whole existence revolved around my instincts and my destiny and yet I didn't want to accept it.

Again and again Samira's face flashed before my eyes. Her smell, which was unique. Her appearance that drove me crazy and at that moment my wolf made me want to be close to her, to want to make her mine, but I resisted it, no matter how much it hurt me.

I got up and kept walking. Made me think only of Lou, but it just wasn't working. It was just an awful feeling like I was cheating on my whirlwind whenever Samira got into my mind and my heart stopped.

I wouldn't leave Lou, I swore to myself the day she first spoke of love, and I wouldn't break it, whether it would break me or not. We knew that this could happen and we promised each other that our love wouldn't break because of it, but the way I felt, it was already breaking.

Before I stopped again, I heard fast footsteps behind me and immediately the smell of my boys hit my nostrils. I didn't want to see her, much less let her into my thoughts. Jayden would curse me. He knew something like this could happen and I could break his sister's heart. And Ethan, with the chaos in my head, I could do without his provocations.

I ran faster, feeling the sun on my fur, the forest floor under my paws. The wind blew in my face, my heart beat in time to my running rhythm and I didn't stop until I arrived in front of the hut where my little one was already waiting for me at the window.

I morphed back in front of the door, standing frozen, unable to move. Absolute inner turmoil spread through my heart. Lou rushed out with my robe and wrapped it around me, fleeing into my arms as soon as all of my body was covered.

"Where have you been? I was so worried!" she whispered softly, but I also heard anger and desperation in her voice. I wrapped my arms around her petite body and closed my eyes to take in her scent, but it was different than usual and it was driving me almost insane.

"Fuck that!" I hissed, breaking away from her to run into the cabin in frustration and collapse onto the couch. The little one hesitantly followed me, closed the door quietly behind her and stood in front of the coffee table. She looked tired and that was my fault. I was so sorry, all I felt was pain, if she knew who I had met, would her heart take it?

"What is it? Is it because of Alec? Just forget him," she said, nervously pacing in front of me without taking her eyes off me.

It would be nice if it was just about Alec. Lou had discarded being a wolf. If she had any instincts at all, it was so weak that she didn't even have to think about Alec, but I wasn't like that. I could think of nothing but this woman who was my companion.

"Chace?" I heard Lou say and looked up at her standing in front of me with her arms crossed, impatient for answers.

I loved her and had never lied to her, but I didn't want to hurt her. Ain't a plain lie better than a horrible truth, I thought, but I had to be honest with her, she deserved it.

With my eyes closed, I took a deep breath and then looked into her brown eyes.

"Tonight, something happened," I began and she nodded for me to continue. "There was a girl and-"

"Yes, I saw it. You danced all over her. Is that what you care about? Did you hurt her so badly that you thought you had to flee?" the brown-haired interrupted me and it hit me immediately my breath away If Lou knew that this woman could be the reason our relationship was failing, I'm sure she would wish her worse than me ramming her.

"So? What about her?"

I looked down, finding it so difficult to say the following words that my heart threatened to stop beating.

"She is my mate."

I stopped breathing and looked at him confused. It felt like a nightmare and I was just waiting to wake up. How high was the chance that we both met these people within a very short time? Did the moon goddess want to punish me for not wanting to be a wolf? Or was that already predetermined for us?

Before I could catch my breath, I looked at Chace, who was staring sadly at the floor, petrified. My heart ached, but that didn't mean I would give up. Resolutely, I sat down next to him and put my hand on his back soothingly.

"We'll make it. We'll just stay here for a while and then we won't see you again and after a while we'll forget about you," I whispered, confident to myself and to Alec that it would work. I just didn't know how Chace felt about it and he didn't look like he wanted to talk about it right now.

"Yeah, that'll be for the best," he breathed, and without looking at me, he took my hand and pulled me into the bedroom after him. Once there, he silently helped me out of my dress and we lay in bed together to find our way into the land of dreams after this eventful night, where there was only me and him.

***

For the next few days everything went as usual. We would wake up rubbing the tips of our noses together, cuddling, laughing and spending the lunch hours cooking and eating. The only thing that struck me as different was that he seemed calmer, kind of absent, but I just wanted to give him the time to process it all, he just needed it.

It wasn't until there was a knock on the door on the seventh darn day that I was snapped out of our dream bubble when I opened it and a blonde, pretty girl stood in front of me. I stared at her, heart racing, not even waiting for her to say anything, but slammed the door with a gasp, hoping Chace wouldn't have heard the knock in the shower.

"I'm not going away!" I heard this bitch yell from outside and immediately I yanked the door open again.

"Oh yeah? I'd advise you to run away!" I hissed at her, glaring at her while my hands started to tremble.

"You have no right to! Is he to live unhappily with you just so you can brag about being with an Alpha?"

Did that bitch really just say that? Did she think that was what I was about? I loved Chace with all my heart even before he was an alpha. She didn't know me, she didn't know him, and that was driving me mad with anger.

"Get the hell out of my cabin! You have no idea what makes him happy!" I hissed, my voice shaking, and slammed the door again.

Just as I had my back against the door fighting back tears, Chace emerged from the bathroom covered in only a towel and I could tell from his look that he must have smelled her already. His eyes looked at me in wonder and immediately after that he turned to disappear into the bedroom.

I was relieved that he didn't yank open the door and fall into her arms, but I felt himself slowly changing. He became quieter, more thoughtful. The last few days his laugh wasn't as hearty as before and even though it tore my heart, I had to agree with her. Could I still make him happy? Did he just stay with me because of a promise?

When the question of whether he would desire her entered my mind, warm tears immediately ran down my cheeks, which I could no longer hold back. Was this really my destiny, to fight for someone for years, to defy my brother and then, just when my life was blessed with nothing but happiness, to lose everything I had fought for? The bad thing about it, she had the right to want him, because she also felt the connection and probably only thought about him.

I slid down the door crying and laid my crying face on my knees while outside I heard her footsteps getting further and further away and I heard Chace throwing something against the wall in the bedroom. I heard the shattering of glass, but even louder I heard his pain, his brokenness. What am I supposed to do?

It was all just my small, weak hands that lay trembling against my body, because Chace wouldn't leave me, he was too selfless, too good, too nurturing. But did I really want to let him stay by my side to be miserable? Would those feelings go away if she disappeared? I had to go ask someone who knew about it and I quickly found my way back on my feet to make my way to Ludwig.

He would know a solution because I wasn't selfless enough to let the love of my life go.