Don't lose HOPE [COMPLETED]

Chapter 20

HOPE

The house is empty when we get back. We walk into his room and I change to one of his t-shirts while he goes back down to get us some food.

I sit on the bed with my legs crossed while Zeke sits on the couch and eats. Now, I know why he eats so much, why they all do.

"Do you only eat human food?" I ask him.

"While we're in our wolf-form, we can hunt and eat animals, but that's not necessary if we eat human food."

"Does it hurt when you shift?"

"The first time, it does. You can feel your bones breaking. You shift for the first time when you turn 16, but then, your body adjusts and it doesn't hurt anymore."

We finish our food and Zeke goes down with the plates. I appreciate that he's not talking unless I ask something. My brain needs to process and I need answers to all of my questions.

Zeke comes back and goes into the closet to take his clothes off and put a new pair of boxers on. We crawl into bed and sit there with the cover over our legs. I lean into his chest and he holds me tight.

"I was afraid that you would run away on me when I shifted," he says quietly.

"My brain told me to, but when I looked into your eyes, I knew that it was still you. I was freaked out, but I wasn't afraid of you."

"You never have to be afraid of me. I could never hurt my mate."

I look up into his eyes and he's got so much love in them.

"Do the others know that I know?"

"Yes, I mind-linked them on the way back home."

"You what?"

"Every werewolf in the same pack or same family can mind-link each other. It's like talking through your mind."

I think about all those times that I've seen them stare at each other without talking. So, that's what they were doing.

"Can you only do that if you're a werewolf?"

"We will be able to mind-link each other since we're mates, but only when we are fully mated. We will be able to hear each other's thoughts and feel what the other one feels. I can already feel what you feel, but you have to turn 18 first to be able to do that."

I guess that's what he means by being fully mated. I have to turn 18 first.

"That's why I was able to save you before you jumped," he says with pain in his eyes. "I felt you. I felt your sadness the first day I found you. I watched over you the whole time and saw how your parents and everyone around you treated you like nothing. It hurt so bad and I just wanted to hold you and comfort you, but I was afraid that I would scare you away if I was too forward, so I watched you from a distance. Dad knows the principal, so he made the transfer happen to your school so I could keep an eye on you all the time."

Now, I'm crying. He watched over me when I was at my lowest point.

"Did you know what I was going to do?" I say, sniffling.

"I didn't know exactly, but I felt that you had given up. You were so sad that day and I watched you sit there alone in the classroom after everyone left. Even the fucking teacher didn't care."

"You were the wolf?" I say, suddenly remembering the bear and the wolves.

"Yes. Chris, Ryan, Ben and I followed you. I caught up to you first. You didn't even seem afraid of the bear."