Her Given (Editing)

Chapter 10 - Realizations

Avelyn's POV

Their shocked expressions are almost comical, but I'm too determined to laugh right now.

"Y-you want to see my wolf?" Xavier sounds hesitant, almost like he doesn't want me to see it.

"Yes, of course. I wanna know what he looks like, and I've never met a werewolf before, obviously. So I'm curious."

"Are you sure; we only just met each other. I don't want to scare you off." His voice is but a whisper at the end. He's unsure, but he also doesn't realize that I'm not leaving unless they want me to. So, to ease his insecurities, I tell him just that.

"Trust me, Xavier. I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to stick around for as long as you'll have me. And believe me, nothing you do could scare me away."

He smiles gratefully at the reassurance and stands. "Are you sure?" he asks once more.

"One hundred percent," I reply.

"Come on, then, follow me. We can't do it in here; there isn't enough space." He takes my hand and graciously helps me to my feet. I smile in thanks. As we walk to the back door, my other boys get up to follow, most likely wanting to see my reaction.

Xavier opens the back door for me, gesturing me to continue. We stop in the middle of the open yard, and I don't take the time to look at my surroundings or the scenery. I'm too focused on the fact that Xavier is undressing right in front of me. I let out a squeak and turn around quickly.

"What the hell, Xavier?!" I squeal, my hands covering my eyes.

"What? You wanted to see me shift; this is part of it. When we shift, our clothes shred into pieces, and I just got this shirt; I'm not trying to ruin it," he chuckles.

"Well, you could have at least given me a little warning before you just stripped in front of me." They all chuckle.

"I don't see what's so funny. You're going to taint my virgin eyes; I'm not ready for that yet." Okay, maybe that was a bit of a lie. I wouldn't actually mind seeing them naked, but I'd never admit that to them.

"Okay, Ava, I'm going to shift now. The boys will tell you when it's okay to turn around. We don't want to 'taint your virgin eyes'." He's making fun of me, I just know it.

Suddenly, I hear the sound of bones breaking, and a deep rumbling--coming from his chest, I presume.

"Alright, baby, Professor Snuggle Puss says it's okay to turn around now." I giggle at that, uncovering my eyes. I completely forgot he was still in the process of fulfilling his dare.

Slowly, I turn my body, only to be greeted by a huge auburn wolf. His eyes match Xavier's normal--though abnormally beautiful--emerald green eyes. The wolf looks so familiar. It's at that moment that I realize, I have seen him before . . . more than once. And now I know where I recognize those eyes from. I gasp at the realization, and my hand shoots to my mouth trying to silence my shock. How did I not realize this before? Though, I can't keep the shock from my voice.

"N-no t-that can't be p-possible."

"What is it, kitten? Is something wrong? Did he scare you?" Cole sounds so sad when he questions me, like he knew this would happen all along. And I feel bad that I'm the one who caused his sadness, so I eagerly try to fix my mistake.

I turn to face him. "No! Of course not! That's definitely not it. I told you, I'm not scared, and I would never be afraid of you." My fingers are threading through my silver locks, trying, but failing, to grasp the situation.

"Well, then, what is it, Avelyn?" Ashton has given up on his dare, clearly the game has become unimportant. And I appreciate the fact that they're worried about me. Though, they have no reason to be. I'm just completely flabbergasted, is all. So I attempt to explain the situation.