The door opens and Joyce is about to walk out but stops when she sees me standing there. She is looking angry but tries to compose herself by smiling at me daringly. She crosses her arms on her chest, looking me up and down. I just stand there, not sure on what to do.

"Oh, look who it is. The runaway decides to show up." She grins. I guess she already forgot we aren't on speaking terms and that I don't like her. "I'm sorry but you’re a bit late." She adds.

I smirk and place my hands in my pockets. Looking straight in her eyes, I decide to play along broadly.

"And why must that be?"

"Because I just had sex with him and we might have already conceived a child."

I laugh at her words, not believing any of it. Can this girl get a lot more desperate?

"Oh, good for you." I smile at her and she frowns not expecting that. "The thing is, I would know if he slept with anyone and this whole week, he didn't." I add. Well, that's a lie but not a completely lie because it is only possible if me and Elijah are completely mated, something which is yet to happen. So right now I wouldn't know if they had sex but I trust Elijah wouldn't do that to me.

"Joy, you left your underwear on my desk." Elijah says coming out of his office, blue underwear in his hands. My eyes scan his appearance, hair looking like someone run their hands in it, the shirt wrinkled and his belt off.

Did they really have sex?

"Kacper?" He asks, looking at me in disbelief.

"Elijah." I respond as calm as I can. Joyce sees the hole in my defense and she smiles going to Elijah and kissing his cheek.

"El-bear, I thought you were keeping this?" She trails her hand on his chest. Elijah does nothing, his gaze still on me. Only when Joyce becomes too bold with her touches, Elijah snaps.

"Leave!" He yells, successfully surprising Joyce and me.

Thinking he is yelling at me, I turn around leaving the couple there and make my way out of the house. I walk aimlessly away from the house.

I knew I shouldn't have left in the first place. Or maybe it’s good I left because now I know where he and I stand. We will never make things work and I should just give up already. I feel the tears dropping down my cheeks, my breathing heavy and slightly shaking.

"Kacper!"

I hear him calling me. Why is he even following me? I don't want him to see me crying, so I start walking fast.

"Kacper!"

This time he sounds so close and I begin to run.

"Kacper! Will you stop running and let me talk to you?" He shouts and I am still running but he suddenly grabs me by my waist and holds me to him. My back pressed to his chest, his right arm on my waist and his left holding my hand. He rests his head on my shoulder, breathing softly on my neck which makes my body to tingle.

"I didn't mean you to leave. I was talking to Joyce." He whispers.

"Joyce huh? What happened to 'Joy'?" I push away from him and look his way. He sees my tear stained face and he frowns.

"I don't like seeing you cry." He mutters and brings his hands to my face, trying to brush the tears off. I swat his hands away and do it myself.

"You should like it since it’s all you’re doing." I snap at him.

"I didn't sleep with her Kacper. I wouldn't do that." He defends and I scoff at him then brush by him going back to the house. The least he could do is admit it not denying the obvious.

"Kacper, I'm telling the truth. I didn't sleep with her and I can prove it to you."

Suddenly I feel something intruding in my mind. Then I see everything that happened in his office. What I see makes me angry at that stupid bitch! I warned her before but now she tries to sleep with my mate. I will squeeze the life out of her.

"I will kill that bitch next time I see her." I snarl angrily.

"I'm glad you believe me now."

"Yes I do but I don't forgive you. This doesn't explain why you introduced her as your girlfriend." I ground out; finally making it out of the woods I don't even recall entering. He grabs my hand halting me in my step.

"I will explain to you why, just go with me somewhere." He suggests, pointing to a car.

"So you can kill me and bury me where no one will find the body?" He looks hurt by my words but then he gives out a small sad smile.

"Please! I promise to explain myself to you." He pleads looking hopeful and makes me lower my defense just a bit.

"Okay." I agree and follow him to the car. He opens the door for me and closes it once I'm inside. He enters the driver side and brings the car to life.

He drive down the familiar road I'm now getting used to but he turns to the left, entering the woods in a small path. I never knew there was a path on this side nor did I saw it before. We pass so many trees and I start to wonder where we are going. I bite my lip, holding myself back from asking, 'Are we there yet?'. I don't want to act like a child so I bear the long silent road trip to wherever we are going.

Finally after what feels like hours, we reach a clearing. He stops the car and I get out not waiting for him to say so. I take a deep breath loving the scent. I hear running water but looking around I don't see any. Listening again, I start moving towards the sound and squeeze pass tree brunches only to reveal a beautiful place.

My mouth drops at the sight before me. This place is very green than the rest of the forest. There is a small river forming a water fall at some point. The green plants and trees are found alongside the river. There are also many kinds of flowers. The trees around this place form a kind of curve in the air, only a small part clear which allows the sun to shine through. All in all, it’s breathtaking.

"It’s beautiful right?" Elijah inquires and I only nod, still looking around the place.

"I knew you would love it."

"What is this place? It gives me a weird feeling but it’s nice." I state, loving everything about this place.

"You feel it huh? It is said this place is the life of the forest," he explains. "It is always like this, evergreen. The weird feeling you mentioned must be the life of this place."

Wow! Now that he mentioned it, I can feel it clearly. This place is magical, though it doesn't explain why I'm here.

"Why did you bring me here?" I question looking up at him. He looks at me for a while, not saying anything then tells me to follow him. We reach a big tree and he spreads out a blanket on the floor. I didn't see him carrying that. We both sit and I wait for him to say something.

"Kacper, bringing you here shows how much I trust you." I look at him questioningly waiting for further explanation.

"Jemima was giving you lessons right?"

I nod.

"Did she tell you everything or there were something’s she kept from you?" I think of it a bit.

"I remember when we were in the library, I took a certain book but she told me to leave it. Something about not the right time to read it."

"It's something you will be able to read after the mating ceremony. This part of forest is also written in that book. It’s against the pack laws to show you this place now, but I trust you. This is my favorite place and means a lot to me." He explains.

"Why is that?" Curious, I ask.

"My mate."

What?

"Excuse me?"

"My mate; who is you Kacper. This is the life of the forest, just like you are the life of me. I've been thinking that way since I found you when you were ten." I stand up and he stands too, in front of me. He grabs my face, making me look up at him.

"You are what keep me breathing. Without you I can't live or survive. You are everything I need in life and I love you. When you left me on that day, I was devastated. I'm glad you came back, I never meant to hurt you because I love you Kacper." He confess, his hands rubbing circles on my cheek and his eyes showing how honest his words are.

I close my eyes, feeling myself lost in all he said. He loves me. Me. Shaking my head I move away from him.

"I might be your life, Elijah. But you already rejected me by bringing Joyce in our lives." I feel a tear drop. I hate to admit it but he did reject me.

"I am so-"

"No, let me finish." I pause, taking a deep breath. "You say I have all you need but you already showed me, in your actions, that I don't have everything by bringing her. You want a child and Joyce can give you that. I don't like Joyce and I don’t like seeing her anywhere near you. I'm afraid," I sob, pausing. “Your love and need for a child surpasses the love you have for me and I’m afraid that once you get a child, I won’t matter to you.

He takes me in his arms and holds me to his chest. I can’t help the sobs that escape me as my own words hurt. He holds me there, whispering comforting words in my ear until I stop crying. He tilts my head up and my teary eyes meet his sad ones.

"I don't like seeing you cry and it hurts knowing I'm responsible. I promise you; from now on I will only bring a smile on your face and the only tears that will come down these cheeks will be those of joy and happiness. My actions earlier were childish, very immature and I promise to never do that again. Whatever it was between Joyce and I, it’s gone. I will never again take you for granted and please, never leave me alone again.”

“You say that now but what if you don’t keep your promises?”

“It might happen that I once again hurt you, Kacper, but you should know I will never break my promises deliberately. I am to blame for your disbelief and I promise to work on building the trust I foolishly broke. Please give me just one chance to repair our bond.”

My heart aches and I want to end whatever is left of us but hope is blooming despite the entire ache. This man is my mate, the one the goddess chose for me and the one my wolf accepted. I don’t understand what was all about Joyce but he promised to no longer include her in our life. I know I will regret it if I don’t give him a chance and with that, I make up my mind.

“One chance." There is a warning in my voice and I hope he understands that it's just a single chance.

"Thanks. Now let's seal the deal." He says proudly; confusing me.

What deal and what sealing? I open my mouth to voice my confusion but another mouth shuts me up before I utter a single word.

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