Love & Tribulations

Chapter 3

Ezra's POV

I was entranced by her pale blue eyes, I couldn't help but admire her utter beauty. In the blink of an eye, she was standing before me causing me to snap out of my trance. What the hell does she think she's doing? I growled at her before shifting back into my human form.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?!", I questioned, "This is our territory!"

"I couldn't help myself", she murmured, glancing over my body before straining to turn her gaze away, "you're naked."

"Well, so are you", I said, feeling a flush race up my cheeks as I realized what I had said.

She bit her lower lip slowly as her eyes shamelessly traveled over my body. I tried not to think about how hot that was, as if my cheeks couldn't burn anymore. Struggling to keep my eyes from wandering, I only just noticed that she was taller than me.

Her gaze was drawn to my lips as her hand reached up to cup my face. She gently ran her thumb across my lips, sending small tingles through them. My heart rate increased as she slowly leaned forward until our noses brushed past each other.

"Can I kiss you?", she asked. Her lips are only a few centimeters away from mine. My heart felt like it was about to leap out of my chest any second. What the fuck am I doing? At that moment, I had lost all sanity. Before anything else could happen, I sensed Asher approaching us.

I growled as I quickly pulled away. "You need to leave", I said before transforming back to my wolf. She was gone in an instant, and I felt somewhat hurt at the loss of her presence.

(Ash, what are you doing here?), I asked, running over to meet him halfway.

(It's your dad, Sophia said you should come right away), he explained, and my heart dropped as I heard the worry in his voice. We rushed back to the packhouse, and after throwing on some clothes, I practically flew up to my father's room.

I barged through the door, Sophia was attending to him, and my mother was tightly gripping his hand. My chest constricted as I felt my tears start to build up; his heart was beating slower than earlier. I walked over to them placing my hand on top of theirs.

"Dad...", I whispered, trying my best not to panic. My hands were starting to shake. This isn't happening; it's not real.

"Hey, you can't go now, I just got back and I'm not going anywhere, you hear me?", I said, tears running down my cheeks as I tried to hold them back. His heartbeat gradually got slower, and I lowered my head as my sobs ripped through my chest. I couldn't breathe, and my dizziness was exacerbated by the lack of air.

"Ezra..." my mother gripped my hand pulling me out of my panicked state but I was too heartbroken to even function.

"It's okay, Mom, he's... he's fine, he's gonna be okay. The healer is almost here, so...so we just need to keep him with us." I cried, turning to face her, but seeing that look of despair she wore caused me to start breaking down again.

"The healer will be here soon, so you need to stay with us, okay? You have to stay with us Dad!...please?" I frantically begged, listening as his heart rate decreased until I couldn't hear it beat anymore. The reality of the situation was beginning to sink in.

"Dad, no...please don't leave me", I wept, placing my head on his chest. My mother comforted me by wrapping me in her arms.

The pain alone was incomprehensible, the mere thought that my father was gone from this world didn't seem real. My chest felt empty, and my mind didn't stop racing long enough for me to breathe, so I switched it off.

I was always good at turning off my emotions, but this time it was proving more difficult. A lump formed in my throat as my body finally started to go numb, my eyes burning with tears. I must have passed out at some point because the last thing I remember was being completely enveloped in darkness.