Chapter 8: Chapter 8

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 my back was against the door, fighting back tears, Chace emerged from the bathroom covered only in 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 should I 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.

I slammed a vase against the wall and despaired inwardly because her smell alone made it almost impossible for me not to run out and want to be near her.

Lou's gaze as she leaned against the door and looked at me infected my mind and I didn't know what to do. I didn't know anything anymore. Everything spun around me and only when I heard the door slam shut was I pulled out of this whirlpool of despair.

"Lou?" I asked, slowly walking into the living room only to be concerned that she was gone. only where? My eyes widened at the thought of something she could do to Samira. My little one was petite, but anyone who knew her really well knew what could happen when she was angry.

I quickly ran back into the bedroom and pulled on a pair of gray sweatpants and a gray shirt to go after her, but when I opened the front door, my eyes met Samiras, who was leaning against a tree a few meters in front of me. The sun made her blond hair shine and her smile was just so incredibly beautiful that my heart pounded.

I immediately averted my gaze and wanted to go back into the hut, but then I heard her soft voice.

"Chace, right?" she asked, slowly walking towards me. I knew it was wrong, I knew I was playing with fire, but I couldn't resist looking at her again and getting lost in her gaze.

"Right," I whispered, my heart beating faster the closer she got to me.

"Can we talk?" she asked, stopping right in front of me. Her sweet smell made it difficult for me to think straight and my inner wolf tore me apart. He wanted her, only her and everything else didn't matter. Not me.

I growled at her softly and turned my gaze to the forest.

"There is nothing to discuss," I said in a trembling voice, feeling the pang in my heart racing through my entire body.

"Chace, please," she breathed, wanting to take my hand, but I pulled it back and quickly walked past her. I had to get out of this situation before I would do something I would never forgive myself for.

I followed the scent of Lou, but when I got to the Wialtrama I thought I needed some time to myself and turned towards Chiara's house. The boys might distract me, the babies might cheer me up, and I might be able to briefly forget the drama that was taking over all of me.

Arrived at the dead end I increased my speed and excitedly knocked on the door, which was opened for me by a smiling Jo.

"Hey," she greeted me and pulled the door open a little more for me to enter. The smell of baby food filled the house and I walked over to the living room where Ethan and Jayden were sitting on the couch laughing at something on the TV until they looked over at me curiously.

"What happened last week?" Jayden asked. I hadn't seen either of them since that fateful morning, but I wasn't ready to talk about it and I wanted to distract myself and not think about it anymore.

"Oh, I needed some fresh air," I shrugged and faked a grin before settling down on the couch next to them.

This is where life really happened. While it was always calm and quiet in my hut in the woods, you could always hear babies crying from above and Chiara singing soft children's songs. There was a smell of fresh vegetables coming from the kitchen and I could hear Jo stirring pots and then there was the TV playing a comedy.

"Where's Lou?" Jayden asked me, throwing me back into the whole drama with that question.

"In town, I think," I replied, taking a deep breath.

"Are you all right?" he asked and I nodded with a fake smile.

"If anything-"

"I know, thanks," I cut him off, glad he then sat back and focused on the TV.

It wasn't long before Jo set the table and looked at me thoughtfully.

"Didn't you want to look after the little ones on Saturday? We actually wanted to come over because we thought something had happened," she said worriedly and the boys also looked at me curiously.

I wanted to tell them, to tell them everything, but I still needed time.

"We completely forgot about that," I smiled apologetically, whereupon she just nodded and disappeared back into the kitchen.

"Will it work this Saturday?"

Good question Ethan, I thought and realized that I didn't even know if I would still be staying at the cabin on Saturday. Who knew? I didn't even know where Lou was, but to put everyone at ease and not start asking any more questions, I just said yes for Saturday.