CAROLINE POV

I woke up the next morning. Feeling great as I stretched my body with a smile on my face.
I loved my new loft. The sun through the balcony made everything brighter here.

Today was a good day for a run. And I went for it.

I continued my run as I thought about stuff like work. I start work tomorrow and I couldn't wait for it. Even though I know it will be awkward to tell Greg why I cancelled on him when I went out with Jaxon. But it was worth it.

I smiled again as I thought about him. I couldn't stop thinking about him at all.

Will it be a good idea to start dating again? Will it be a good idea to start trusting him?

He hasn't given me any reasons not to trust him but at the same time, I need to be careful.
Maybe I should go see him today. Go out for breakfast. I stopped in my tracks as I thought about him more.

Yeah, breakfast sounds good. I'm gonna call him and ask him to meet me at my loft and then we can go out for breakfast. Definitely my treat this time.

I walked back inside the building and pushed the elevator button but it was taking time to come down. I decided to take the stairs instead. It was hard but I pushed through till the eleventh floor.
I stopped to catch my breath and decided to call up Jaxon. Taking my phone from the strap around my thigh, I called him up and weirdly, I could hear a phone ringing. The door in front of me opened and out came Jaxon, looking down at his phone. Not noticing me at all.
I called him "Jaxon?" He looked up and his eyes widened as he shut the door of the apartment right behind him. I asked "What are you doing here?" He smiled nervously "Hey! Caroline! What are you doing here?" I raised my brow "I live in the loft above this floor. Did you forget that you're the one who helped me move?" He bit his bottom lip as I could see from his body language that he was literally lying to my face.

Maybe Jaxon is a bad idea.

I said "What are you doing here?" He replied stuttering "Um... I-I live here?"

That was more a question than an answer.

I asked again "You live here? But I thought that apartment was empty." He nodded "Yeah well, my building w-where I was living in... is getting renovated. Found out about it last night. So I asked my friend about this apartment and if I could stay here."

This was freaking me out. Is Jaxon a pervert?

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I-I-I wanted to but then when I moved in late at night, I knew you were gonna be asleep."

I folded my arm against my chest "You could've text." He scratched his jaw "Y-yeah I could but it didn't occurred to me at all-" I cut him off because I didn't want to beat around the bush anymore "Are you stalking me?!" His eyes widened but he stayed quiet, trying to form some kind of sentence.

Jaxon is definitely a bad idea.

I scoffed "Creep!" and started climbing the last floor to my apartment. Before he could grab my hand, I pulled out the little taser I had on my keychain and tased his hand as he backed away, holding his hand. He looked at me and I saw anger on his face. His eyes were as he will grab me and murder me in no time. I screamed "Stay away from me!" running up stairs and in my loft, making sure to lock the three locks that I got installed for extra safety and chaining the door too.

X

JAXON POV

She tased my hand and I back up. It was not painful but it still hurt a bit. I looked up at her as anger coursed through my body. I knew Tanner would wanna come out so I stayed silent "Calm down, Tanner. Not now!" He was scratching behind my head "Tell her!"

"Not now!"

She screamed at me "Stay away from me!" And run up the stairs, into her loft and shut the door, locking the three lock she had installed yesterday.

I run up the stairs and knocked on her door "Caroline, please let me explain." I heard her heartbeat rising as she stepped near the door and said "Go away!" She was furious.
I cursed myself "Fuck." And Tanner said "Jaxon, it's either let her stay mad at us or actually tell her. It's time. She's our mate. I know she can take the truth. She's strong." I sighed "You're right."

I ran down the stars and out the building to where her balcony was. I looked up as my palm became sweaty. I have never done this before. I never went through the anxiety of telling someone that I'm a supernatural creature. That I'm a freaking werewolf.

I said "Tanner, I'm gonna need your help."

"I got your back."

Tanner slowly bent down his paws in my head, ready to jump and I slowly bent down my knees as claws extracted through my nails. My vision becoming red as I focused on getting in.

Tanner said "Now!" I jumped, using my claws in grabbing the brick wall of her balcony and safely landing in on my own feet.
I made sure my claws were gone and my red eyes were too. I watched as her back was at me, putting on her shirt but I noticed that she had the same burned marks on her back too. Five of them and they looked like cigarette marks to me. I walked inside and she turned around, her eyes widening "H-how the fuck did you get in?" I put my hands up, trying to to tell her that I mean her no harm. I would never mean harm "Caroline, we need to talk. Just calm down." She grabbed her taser keychain and said "I'm not afraid to use it directly on your heart, Jaxon. If that's even your real name."

I said slowly approaching her but she just backed away "I have to tell you something. I'm..." I couldn't say it but Tanner kept scratching my brain "Blurt it out, idiot!" I took a deep breath, closing my eyes "I'm a werewolf."
Looking back at her again and she finally spoke "What kind of idiot do you think I am?! You think you could tell me all those legends and I'll believe you when you tell me you're a werewolf?!" She backed away slowly to the stairs and said "Im fucking calling the police!" She ran up the stairs and grabbed her phone from the charger. I could hear her tapping the numbers in her phone and screamed at me "Go away! I'm warning you."
Tanner said out loud in my head "That's it! I'm done playing good. I'm coming out. If she won't listen, she can definitely see."

I began walking up the stairs "You need to see something. Just let us show you." She had the phone in her hand and her thumb was almost on the call button "I'm telling you again. Get out!" Before she could press it, I stopped her "Wait! Wait! Just let me show you and then you can let the police come and take and I will be gone from your life. I swear."

That was a lie.

I knew I got her attention as I took off my shoes and pulled down my sweatpants. She looked at me disgusted "Get ready to go to jail, you pervert!" Tanner screamed "Get ready to shift, Jaxon. I've had it."

X

CAROLINE POV

I was scared to the core. Having a pervert in my apartment was frightening. And the fact that he can kill me was terrifying. I closed my eyes because he was taking off his sweatpants and said "Get ready to go to jail, you pervert!" But everything went silent.

Maybe he was gone.

I heard cracking in front of me that my insides cringe. It was a horrible sound. Like bone cracking in the movies. And then I heard a growl.

A growl?

My body froze as tears started coming down my cheeks. I think this is my last day. I think I'm gonna die today.
I opened my eyes shivering and I see a huge wolf in my bedroom. Taller than me with pitch black fur and red eyes looking right at me. It stood in a defensive way like if I move, it will kill me in a heart beat.
I heard him say "Caroline, relax. It's me. Jaxon and Tanner." I cried as I pinned myself against the wall "How the fuck did you speak?"

"The mind link."

"The what?"

I cried out "What the fuck is going on?!" The wolf slowly approached me and said "Caroline, touch the wolf." I cried more, closing my eyes and shaking my head. Jaxon again said "Touch the wolf. Tanner is running low on patience."

"Tanner?!"

"Tanner, the wolf. Just stroke it."

I opened my eyes as the wolf didn't stop approaching me. I screamed "Get away from me!" And made a run for it. Jumping across my bed and running down the stairs behind him with the phone still in my hand.
I unlocked the doors and before I could pull open, I hear a loud roar, making my heart race in fear. I looked back as the wolf was still up the stairs but it jumped down, landing perfectly.

That was a really high jump.

I slowly grabbed the door knob behind me and as I was about to twist it, it growled at me, sneering it's sharp teeth at me.
He started slowly approaching and I was quick to think by grabbing the pistol I had strapped under the coffee table. Taking the safety off and pointing at the wolf. Jaxon said "Don't do anything stupid. Put the gun down." I yelled "Shut up!" With the gun shaking in my hand. My finger right on the trigger.
I was ready to shoot but I couldn't with the way the wolf was looking at me. Right in my eyes, begging me to out the gun down. I cursed because I couldn't do it.

I grabbed the injection that I always keep under the table and said "I'm not afraid to use this either." He sneered again and jumped on me with a blink of an eye. I was pushed on the floor flat, with the gigantic wolf on me. I stabbed the wolf behind the neck and it fall down at me, his huge head beside mine.

I sighed and tried to reach to my phone that thankfully wasn't out of my reach. As I pressed the call button, the wolf gained his consciousness.
He stood tall again all over me and slowly brought his snout towards me. One bite of my face and I'll be dead. I clenched my eyes crying "Please don't hurt me. Please." I heard it whimpered as it nuzzled it's snout in my neck, sniffing me. I let out a shivery breath "Oh god." I heard him say again "Caroline, just stroke the wolf. It'll calm you both down."
With shaky hands, I slowly stroked the thick and soft fur of the wolf, feeling calm. Like my fast beating heart was slowing down. But this was still all too shady. I realized "I saw you in my dream." Jaxon replied "And we saw you in ours."
I asked feeling uncomfortable "Can you change back?" I saw slowly as the wolf changed into a human.
Now he was hovering over me with a smile on his face, looking in my eyes. I cancelled the call before the operator could ask me anything and looked back at him. He sighed "I'm so sorry for scaring you, Caroline." He grabbed my face lightly and kissed on my forehead, looking back at me "But you're our mate, Caroline Quinn." He linked his fingers with mine and kissed the back of my hand "It feels awesome to tell you everything." He gulped "Almost"
I asked with his warm palm still on my cheek "Almost?" He pursed in his lips and finally decided to answer "You're actually in my loft."
And all that feeling of uncomfortableness went away and I got angry "What?!" I pushed him to the side and stood open, covering my eyes "Cover up, we need to talk."
I heard him running up the stairs and coming back down "Done." I opened my eyes and he only wore his sweatpants. His ripped apart shirt in his hands.
Folding my arms against my chest, I again asked "What do you mean your loft? Why do I have a feeling that there's more to things that you're keeping from me."

"So many. But you need to sit first. Please."

I sat on the sofa chair and instead of sitting on the couch, he kneeled in front of me. I tried to rest my back against the headrest, trying to create some distance between us but he wasn't having it.
His one hand was on my knee and he grabbed my hand with his the other, softly kissing my knuckles "You remember the legend I told you?" I nod. "It's true, Caroline. You're my soulmate."

"How do you know that its me?"

He smiled like was remembering something "That night of the fight. Your scent that day at the arena. I smelt you in thousands. I caught a whiff of your scent and I haven't let it go."

"I wasn't crazy when I saw your eyes glow?"

He shook his head and his eyes glowed red. I sucked in a deep breath as I looked in his red neon eyes. He blinked and it turned back to his natural ones again. I asked cautiously"Why am I here?"

"Destiny"

"In your apartment?"

"I followed you that night after the fight to your hotel. I stayed in the forest opposite for three whole days"

"You were the one in the woods."

He smiled "Glad you like liked the flower."

"The one who howled?"

"The very one. I wasn't planning to meet you at your hotel. If you were a wolf I would've met you and mated you. But you're human. I took everything as slow as I could. That night when you come back with that guy Greg-" he looked at me and said with disgust laced in his voice "I hated it. I hated the scent. That's why I couldn't wait to meet you. I gave you my loft because I couldn't bear being away from you anymore or any male being close to you except me. I had too"

"You're crazy"

He shrugged "Werewolves tend to get possessive with their mate." He grabbed both my hands "Caroline, I swear my intentions were never to harm you or scare you. I was trying to take things as slow as I could."
I stayed quiet for a while. Trying to process everything he said.

Werewolves exist. This was a lot to take in.

He pushed a strand of my hair behind my ear, looking in my eyes with love filled in his brown ones "You're my soul, Caroline Quinn. My one and only. The other half of my heart and soul. I love you so much" Suddenly I felt this wave of exhaustion hit out of nowhere. I barely whispered "You just met me." He shook his head "It's doesn't matter when."
It wasn't easy to digest this either that the guy I was starting to like, turned out to be a werewolf.
I took a deep breath and said the first thing that came to mind "Can I please have some space? To digest it all? Please?" He smiled lovingly "As long as you want. But know that, you're mine. My only"

He got up, kissed my cheek and walked out the door without looking back at me. Leaving me all alone with my thoughts.

•••••