The Hermit

Chapter 5

Eve ran. Past the street and buildings. She caught scent of her trail back home and once she reached deep into the woods, she shifted.

Her mind blanked for a split second and she let her feral instincts overrun her. She felt the air grew warm and her skin turning to silky fur. Her white dress tore into shreds, littering the forest floor as a result. Her bones snapped, stretched and rearranged until she was on all fours. Her heart beat sped like a racehorse, quick and strong. Once she had fully shifted, her mind snapped back to reality.

She recalled the boy, the way his touch warmed her and the way his eyes saw through her like an open book. She recalled the warm pull she felt and his homely scent that was almost made for her. She recalled his name, Gray Howell.

Eve halted in her tracks, hunched her back before letting out a wild howl to the moon, her emotions running like wild fire.

How? How was it possible for her to have a human mate? Such a thing never happened before in the supernatural world. It was impossible. Completely and utterly impossible... but it happened.

Worry, fear and confusion whirled in her before she let out another howl, one that wrenched a grown man's heart. 

Eve was afraid. How is she supposed to mate with him? How is she supposed to tell the truth to him? It'll all be easy if she had just been mated with another werewolf but with a human? That's just impossible.

Eve sped off, kicking her hind legs beneath her. She shot through the forest like a bullet, forcing her body to pump in adrenaline in attempts to forget everything. But she couldn't. With each stride, she felt the pull. She felt the longing and insufferable pain from being away from him.

It was the first time she had ever experienced this and she couldn't cope with it. 

She recalled her mother telling her years before about the prospect of a mate, how every second away from each other was a biting agony. The pull would be intolerable and you'll be tense without the other. It only dawn on her how her parents were rarely seen from each other, always in a pair. Never one without the other.

Is this how she is going to be with him? Unable to stand a day, an hour, a minute away from each other? She has difficulty handling the distance away from him, so does he feel the same way with her?

A whine whimpered its way from her throat and she felt her wolf let out another heart wrenching howl. Having spent years without her, Eve struggled to quieten her wolf. Already, she could feel its instincts overwhelming her own and she fought to stay in control.

A low growl emitted from her wolf. She was demanding her to return back to the boy, to be with her human mate but Eve stood firm. She can't face him, knowing she had ruined his life. Humans aren't suppose to know about the others and the fact that she has a human mate just pretty much screwed his life.

Immediately, Eve worried. How is he going to live a normal life? How is he going to cope, knowing that his fate is eternally bounded to hers? He is never going to have a normal life because of her now and God forbade her from ruining it any further.

His life is never going to be the same and Eve can't handle the fact that it was all her fault. Not even an hour from their first meeting and already Eve cares more for the boy's future than her own.

She whimpered, feeling the mating sense overwhelm inside her. Already, she can feel the need to serve him, to protect him and to sacrifice herself for his every need. She was ready to die for him if it meant that he would be safe. Such emotions were strong and it drove Eve crazy that she could feel this way in such a small time.