Finding the Wolf Within

Chapter 20

I smiled. Eddie and I were out in the woods. We had just spent the last hour lounging on some rocks in a small clearing. While it was late November, the sun was out and was gently warming our fur. I could feel him looking at me, so I turned slightly to face him. His vivid green eyes were so expressive that I felt like I truly was looking into his soul, a soul that told me about the depth of his love. He didn’t have to say it for me to feel that love seeping into every pore of my body, until I was completely overwhelmed by the truth of his feelings, and by the truth of my own.

I woke up with a secret smile on my face. Dreams didn’t get any better than that. It was early – the perfect time to go for a run. I snuck out of the house and hit the woods to change. As I ran, I thought about my dream. I didn’t know for sure if the feelings in my dream were true, but I wanted them to be. I knew that Eddie cared about me, just as I cared for him.

I also knew that it would only be a matter of time before we had to acknowledge what our relationship was exactly. I didn’t know how to define it, and I’m not so sure I wanted to. We were mates, yes, but I was also still holding a part of myself back. It was irrational, but that part of me was still scared of getting hurt, still unwilling to put every card I had out on the table, for fear that I would be outplayed. Eddie didn’t deserve that, but I couldn’t help it. It was almost like I had convinced myself that keeping guard of my heart would prevent it from being broken, even though I knew that Eddie would never break it. It didn’t make any sense why I would act this way, especially since even my human recognized that Eddie was good to me, good for me. I shook my head to clear the thoughts. I was determined to have another amazing day today with Eddie and I didn’t want my stupid insecurities to get in the way.

I made my way back home just as the sun was rising. After a hot shower, I put on a long floral top, a belted gray sweater, black leggings, and black boots. Eddie hadn’t told me what time he was going to be over today, so I didn’t know what to do to pass the time. I chuckled at the thought that I was now the girl who twiddled her thumbs waiting for the guy to show up. Never would I have ever imagined myself reduced to this state.

My phone buzzed with a new text message. It had to be Eddie since no one else would text me at 7:30 in the morning.

“Good morning. U awake?”

“Yep. All set 4 another mystery date. :)”

“Good. I’ll b over in 10.”

I guess I wouldn’t be twiddling my thumbs for too long after all. Eddie must be just as excited to see me as I am to see him. The thought made me happy. Even though I knew that he liked me, it still gave me butterflies every time I realized it.

I headed downstairs to start some breakfast so we could eat before we went to do whatever he had planned. I normally would have wanted more say in where we went, but I knew that Eddie would pick activities with me in mind. Maybe I should insist we do something today that he wanted to do. I knew that he had a good time at the museum yesterday, but that was definitely more for me than for him.

I grinned as I thought of some things that would make him happy – very happy. I would start with some more physical interaction, which would certainly please him as much as it did me. While we were no longer shy about displaying our affection for each other, I could amp it up a bit for today. I knew he was still holding back in that regard because he didn’t want to rush me or make me uncomfortable. But I was feeling bold today and I knew that I craved him more and more with each passing day.

Perfect timing. I heard his car pulling into the driveway, so I ran out the front door before I could rethink my plan and start doubting myself. He was just coming up our walkway when I jumped into his arms. With my legs wrapped around his waist and my hands tangled in his hair, I definitely surprised him. He had a shocked expression on his face, which quickly turned lustful. I winked at him before pulling him in for a deep kiss.