EDDIE'S POV

2 days ago...when the Alpha and Luna Left...

"Yo Eddie!" I hear Soul yell for my name.

I sighed as I paused my secret show...The Originals, "It was about to get so good!" I groan to myself. Werewolves usually hate these kinds of shows because we receive it as a mockery. Me on the other hand...

I pop my head out of my door. I see the Alpha's brother standing there with a struggling Keith in his arms.

"You are going to help me babysit this monster."

I scoff, "Sure." I said sarcastically. I turn to shut my door, but his hand stops it from closing.

"Nah man. You're going to help me whether you like it or not."

I raise my right eyebrow, "And whys that?"

"Because if you do...I'll make sure Noah will actually let you do some patrolling around the boarders."

My ears perk up as the deal was sounding more attractive. I've been here for a bit and I've grown tired of just wondering around the pack grounds. I've been wanting to do something useful. Lately, I've been begging Noah to let me do SOMETHING with the security of the pack. But he keeps saying, 'You don't have enough skill. And the Luna wouldn't want her brother in danger.'

Pathetic excuses I know. But maybe if Soul'll ask him, I could actually get to do something that contributes my service to the pack.

"How long are we supposed to be taking care of him?" I asked.

"Just for the day." Soul making it sound so simple.

I sighed, "Fine. But, you have to make sure I get in the timetable of shifts for the patrolling, yeah?"

Soul smirks with his head held high and a big smile, "Bro, I'm the Alpha's brother. I can get you almost anything."

I eye him suspiciously, "Okay. So what'd we do with it?"

"It's not an it! It's a little kid!"

I gestured to Kieth with my hand as I said, "Well you called the kid a monster!"

"Yeah but I'm practically his uncle. I have rights." Pathetic excuse...

I roll my eyes, "Sure you do."

I follow Soul and Keith down stairs. We plop ourselves on the couch and...just sit there.

"What do we do?" Soul asks quietly.

I shrug my shoulders and look down at the kid, "What do you want to do Keith?"

He's too engrossed in his thoughts to even listen to me. Kids these days.

"Maybe we should get him some building blocks or something? Kids like this stuff right?" Soul questions anxiously.

"Wow Solomon, have I ever told you how smart you are?" My voice dripping with sarcasm.

Soul frowned in confusion, "No?" 

I shook my head, obviously Soul didn't pick up my joke, "Yeah, well, there's a reason for that."

I see Soul connecting the dots. His eyes widen as he scowls at me"Hey!"

Soul and I try to play with Keith for hours but whatever we give him, he doesn't want it.

"I don't want to do a puzzle! I want to play in mud!" He screams

Soul tries to softly say no, "Sorry little dude, we're on the verge of winter here. The mud will freeze to your skin."

Keith stomps his feet with a scowl on his face. His chubby round cheeks makes it hard to take him seriously. He's just too cute!

That is until he opens his mouth and releases a shrieking sob. His eyes are pouring with tears.
He collapses onto the floor and starts to punch and kick the floor.

Soul finally is distracted from his phone and stands up from the couch in a panic. His wide eyes look at Keith as if he's an alien."What do we do? Is he having a seizure?"

I roll my eyes and shake my head with annoyance, "He's having a tantrum Idiot! Do you know nothing of children?!"

He just shrugs his shoulders,"I was never a child so I wouldn't know."

I scoff, "Never was a child my ass."

"Guys I'm home!"

Soul's eyes widen with hope. He sprints to the door, "Zapora! Thank the moon goddess! Where the hell have you been?"

"I've been staying with mum and dad for a bit."

I walk to the entrance, only to be bombarded with a scent. A beautiful scent. An intoxicating scent that consumed my senses, electrifying every nerve. I close my eyes and inhale it and fill my lungs with the sweet aroma. It smells of cinnamon with a slight sweetness to it...honey? 

My inner wolf growls in pleasure of the scent. It is trying to dig out of my chest and leap onto her.

I open my eyes and see the most beautiful girl in the whole world.  Zapora.
"Mate." I growl.

She gasps and drops her bags. Her mouth is open with shock. Her beautiful doe eyes widen. I feel her gaze roam my body. My wolf likes the look of our mate.

"Mate," she whispers breathlessly.

Soul's head is looking back and forth between us. His face scrunched in confusion.
That is until his eyes burn with a protective gaze when it dawned on him that me and his little sister was mates.

"Please tell me no." He whispers.

Zapora takes a step towards me as I do the same. However, Soul interferes with our dramatic and romantic moment by tackling me to the floor.

"You can not be my baby sister's fucking mate!" He shouts/

I growl in frustration, "I don't give a fuck what you want! She's my mate whether you like it or not!"

Soul straddles my waist and pulls his fist back, ready to go full force on my face.
But I buck him off and shove him. By my natural instinct, I automatically go to my mate and push her behind me, ready to protect her. I'm glad I have at least half of an Alpha Gene in me. It makes me a little stronger than the average wolf.

"Soul stop it!" Zapora shouts, "You seriously can't actually beat up my mate!"

Soul's burning eyes switch to her, "I don't give a fuck. You can't have him as a mate!"

Soul steps forward and tries to punch me. Before I could react, Zapora steps in between me and the punch. It looked as if Solomon was about to punch his own sister. But to both of our shock she catches his punch in the palm of her hand. We all still. 

She scowls deeply at Soul, "I said enough, Solomon." 

Soul freezes as he looks down at his sister. He relaxes his arm, retreating his threatening stance. His nostrils are flared still as if he was trying to calm the storm in his chest.

I growled as I took a step toward Soul, "What the hell is wrong with you? You could have hurt Zapora! She could've been seriously injured all because you couldn't control yourself!" I breath heavily after my outburst. I've never felt this much rage in my life. My whole body is dripping with fury. He could have hurt my mate. With a deep growl I take a step forward. A soft and cold sensation hit my hand. I frown and look down. My mate is holding it.

Her eyes pleading, "Please don't. Just leave it. I know that he didn't mean it."

She turns to her brother Soul, "Leave soul. You'll only make things worse than it is."

"But Zapora-" He tried to argue.

"Leave." She growled.

With a defeated sigh, Soul left. FINALLY!

I took a step toward my mate, but she shakes her head making me halt. "Ummm...I need some time alone. I just need to um...process everything." She said nervously. 

I nod my head understandingly, "Of course."

"Thank you." She gives me a small smile. I take that as encouragement. I can do this.

I watch my mate walk up with stairs slowly. She is so beautiful. I watch her until the last bit of her disappear behind the wall.

I lean against the wall and sag down to the floor. This is what she does to me.

"You better not fuck this up." I felt this irritation in my chest as heard his voice.

Soul is leaning against the doorway with a white tissue against his nose that's stained with his blood.

"I heard tampons are pretty good for bloody noses." I joked.

"Shut up man."

I chuckle. I lift my self up off the floor with a grunt.

"I'm not going to ruin this. She's my mate. I don't even want to fantasise about other women let alone touch them." I shudder at the thought of another woman touching me with her long nails all it does is leave a little bit of bile in my mouth. "You'll understand once you get a mate one day."

Soul closes his eyes and shakes his head. "You don't get it. It's not uncommon for rejection to occur."

I look at Soul in a state I've never seen him in. Vulnerability.

"She has the ability to just leave your ass because she is so hurt! So if you ruin my sister...I swear on everything I hold dear...I will kill you." He growls.

We stare at each other in silence. I don't feel scared about his threat. I feel like there was more to Soul than he leads on.

"I'm not going to hurt Zapora. I can't even think of doing it."

"Well...I guess you're better than me then." He sighed looking tired.

I tilt my head a bit in question, "Why?"

Soul collapses onto the chair and stares at the floor. His face looked so...sad.

"My best friend. She was my mate. We didn't know when we were each other's mates. But we loved each other. We promised each other that no matter what...we'd always be friends. And then we hit high school. We started to date. Me and her were infatuated with each other. But then...she got pregnant."

His eyes glazed over as if he was replaying the memory in his mind.
"She became depressed. We both decided to keep the baby because we didn't believe in abortion. And she just...became a shell of the person I once knew. When she was 6 months pregnant, she turned 18 and we recognised that we were each other's mate. We were thrilled at first...but for some reason I changed. I started to drink, I was coming home late. I was even drunk on our wedding day."

"Oh come on man, it couldn't have been that bad."

"I threw up on her wedding dress."

I cringe, "Shit."

"Our marriage was bad. I could tell she was trying but sometimes she would do things that make me snap and I would do things that made her mad. And then we lost the baby. She hated me after and went away. She ran away to make a life for herself."

"That's tough man," I say softley.

Soul raises his head to me. His eyes are red and his nostrils are flaring.
"So I beg you Eddie...please...please....please...take care of my sister. Don't make the same mistakes I did. Be honest with one other, talk about your issues with each other. If I didn't keep everything inside and let my wounds fester...She'd still be here with me" His voice breaks as he pleads with me.

As I look into Solomon's eyes, I could understand what he was asking. He doesn't want me to make the mistakes that he did and hurt his sister, driving her away. But I know that ain't going to happen. Me and Zapora have a chance to get a clean start for this relationship to grow.

"I promise you Solomon, I will do everything in my power to protect, cherish and love your sister with everything I have."

Soul releases a deep sigh and sags against the chairs.
He closes his eyes, "Thank you."

I nod silently contemplating what Soul shared with me. He always seemed like such a fun silly chill kind of guy. It was just all a big cover up to hide what he was really going through. I should have seen it. I haven't been here for long, but me and Soul were close friends. I confided in him. I just wish he did the same.

I rub the back of my neck, "I'm ummm...I'm going for a run."

I walk out the door and shut it quietly behind me. I face the forest line and close my eyes.
The cold air against my skin just makes me want to run more. In my mind I picture myself into a wolf. I start to feel my body heating up, the crack and snap of my bones reforming. The fur peaking out of my skin, slowly growing longer and longer into a thick mane of fur.
My brown wolf stretches feeling the grass bedding our padded feet.

I take off into the forest. I hit my paws harder and harder as I run faster and faster.

I see all the trees pass me in a blur of motion. I love doing this. I feel like a real dog when I do this, as weird as it sounds. I can so relate to dogs on this level.

I inhale the fresh and pure air of my home. But something makes my wet nose twitch. I breath in again. There's a faint scent that's mixed with something else. Something delicious. My wolf growls. Mate.

My mate is in the woods somewhere.

I change direction and turn to my left. I run harder and faster into the woods near my mate. I feel my paws beat against the ground of the earth, feeling the energy from my home to fuel me, pushing towards my mates. My chest constricts as I am feeling more and more excited to see my mate.

I feel like a teenage boy, meeting his first girl. Damn it! No Eddie! Be a man. You have to act tough around her. She doesn't want a pussy for a mate. She needs me to be strong, especially now. The pack in under a threat. Our Luna, my sister, is in danger and that means everyone else is as well. Including my mate.

When I think anybody hurting my mate, let alone threatening her, I feel the drive inside of me, this instinct to protect her, to do everything in my power to keep her safe in my arms.

 I wonder what she's feel like in my arms? Her small figure against my big frame. What a contrast and yet, it sounds so right. I want to hold Zapora in my arms and never let her go. I want us to grow old together, see our children and see our children's children. I want experience everything with her and only her.

I feel the burning sensation in my legs as I run harder and harder. I finally come to stop. I'm at the lake.  Her scent is very fresh. But where is she? I walk behind a tree and shift back into a human. I quickly grab some basketball shorts that I stash led on a tree. My eyes roam around the area frantically, needing to see our mate, to see if she's okay or not. 

I finally see her on the far left of the lake where all the big boulders are. She's sitting on a big boulder in a white dress. It looks like she's squeezing the water out of her hair. Her eyes seemed glazed over as if she's lost in her maze of thoughts. She shouldn't be doing that here in open. Anyone could see right now. Anyone could've easily attacked her or kidnapped her or something! No one would have known.
Damn it Zapora!

"Zapora!" I yelled.

My voice snapped her out of her mind. Her eyes focus on me.  I make my way closer to her. As I come closer I see her white dress is slightly see-through. It flows around her body like an angel. I gulp as I see every curve, every slender outline of her body. I feel my wolf inside going crazy at how beautiful our mate looks right now. 

ZAPORA'S POV

I see Eddie standing a couple feet away from. I see his eyes grow black as they look at my body. He looks at me with such desire, it's strange. I've never been looked at like that before. My over-protective brother always made sure of that. He would warn every male away from me. I guess for good reason. But now I have a mate. I feel this spark of desire as I stare at his bare chest. It's wide and manly. My wolf growls a little.

"What're you doing here?" He asks.

"I decided to go for a walk, and then I saw the lake. It looked so nice to be in,"
I shrugged, "So I decided to rinse my hair a but."

He nods, "Okay then, mind if I join you?"

I look at him. My mate. He's my mate. I haven't gotten used to the idea yet. It just seems so surreal. I nod at his request. As he climbs up the rocks. I see his muscles tensing as he uses them. His whole being is so chiseled. I see his eight pack crunching together, his arms harden as he climbs up, making my heart skip a beat.
"You like what you see?" He smirks. I immediately turn my head the other way. I feel my cheeks betray me and start to heat up in it's all red glory. Damn it!

I quickly turn away, I cough in my hand even though I actually didn't need to. I just needed an excuse to do something. I feel so fidgety. I don't know what I'm doing!

I hear him chuckle as he plops down beside me.
"The rocks really warm."

I nod shyly, "Yes, it's been warming in the sunlight all day. That's why I love to come here."

He nods, "So...Zapora."

"Yes?"

"We're mates." He stated

I roll my eyes, "Really I didn't notice." I say sarcastically.

He chuckles, "Just making sure you knew."

I nod awkwardly, "Yeah."

I tuck my hair behind my ear.

Strong callus hands softly grasp my chin and turn my face towards him. He stares at me as I feel his thumb trace my jaw.
"I hate that you almost got hurt."

I take his hand in my small one, "It's okay" I give him a small grin, "I'm okay. I'm tougher than I look."

"I know you're touch. But as your mate it's might job to protect you...I just feel like I didn't really do a good job."

I just shrug, "It's no big deal Eddie. It's in the past. You'll have plenty of opportunities to protect me."

He raises his brow in question and smirks. "Are you trying to tell me that you're a troublemaker?"

I scoff dramatically, "No! I'm not trouble...I just...sometimes get into tough situations now and again."

He chuckles,"Oh no, you're one of those mates."

I cross my arms over my chest and frown, "What do you mean 'one of those mates."

"The kind that I'll have to run around after and save all the time."

"I am more than capable to defend myself thank you very much!!" I argue.

He looks at me and smiles mischievously, "Prove it."

"I will!"

"Good, I'll see how good you really-"

Before I let him finish his sentence I lunge on him. I use the dagger that I keep on my person at all times...no matter what.

I am currently straddling his waist with my dagger against his throat. This position is so intimate. Our bodies in such close proximity. I can feel his body heat warming my own.

Eddie's face smirks cockily, "Damn, if you wanted to ride me all you had to do is just ask."

I growl. Eddie bucks his hips, making me fall forward over his body. I start rolling and rolling. I can't stop! I can feel myself about to fall of the big rock!

I see a glimpse of Eddie rolling after me. He grabs onto my arm and wraps himself around me jut as we fall off the rock. Out of instinct I wrap my arms around his waist and squeeze my eyes shut tight.

Eddie then turns us in mid air so than he hits the ice cold water first.

Our bodies are totally emerged in water. I feel the cold stab me all over my body. My insides clenching together to try and generate the little warmth I have left.

Strong arms wrap around my waist, pulling me to the surface.

Once my head is out of the water, I turn to Eddie and punch his chest,
"Y-you I-I-idiot!!!!! W-why'd you push us in t-the ice c-c-cold wat-ter!"

He bellows out in laughter, "I guess we have to work on your defending skills eh?"

I feel the cold slowly deep through my skin and throughout my inside. Totally freezing me.
"Eddie!" I say in a panic.

He is instantly on Mate mode."What's wrong?"

I hold his shoulders tightly, "I-I don't d-do well i-in the c-cold w-w-wa-ter!"

Eddie tightens his hold on me and swims us to shore frantically.

Once we get there he drags me onto the land and starts to strip me of my clothes. "What're you doing?!?"

He takes everything off except my underwear.
My whole body is shaking violently.

He then pulls my body totally flush against his. There is no skin of mine that is not touching his. He rubs my arms and back.
I start to feel warmer and warmer the longer I touch his body.
"Thank you." I sigh in relief.

He nods,"No need to thank me."

He looks down at me and I see his eyes sparkle with adoration and love. Those feelings were for me. He's looking at me with those eyes. To be honest, I feel the same way. He's my mate, how can I not?

My breath hitches as he slowly leans forward. My lips are totally infested with tingles as he presses his upon my own. I run my hands up his arms and around his neck as he wraps his arms tighter around my waist.

We separate breathlessly. He smiles down at me and I can't help but do the same."Stunning." He mumbles. I smile even more and blush! My cheeks heat up. Traitors! I bow my head down a little, hoping it will hide my face. But, Eddie's hand reaches my chin to pull my face up to his gaze. "Don't hide you face from me. It's too beautiful, it's be ashamed to hide such a masterpiece."

I just look at him in total shock. A smile slowly reaches my lips. His words totally warmed me. They make me feel like...I'm worth something, like I'm special.

"You are special Zapora." He said.

I get taken back a bit. How did he know I said that?

"No you didn't say it out loud and no I can't read your mind. I can just tell."

"Well...I guess because we are mates...we should probably see where this can go right?"

"So, you willing to keep goin with me?"He asks.

I nod, "I am."

He leans down and smashes his lips on mine. My hands wrap around his neck and he holds my waist. I've never done something like this before. It's so...passionate that it's overwhelming me. I feel this build up inside my chest.

I lay my hand on his shoulder and push him slightly back.
"We need to take it slow though. I need to."

He smiles and nods as he looks deep into my eyes with such happiness and adoration.
"I can do that...anything you want."

Someone coughs and clears their throat. We both break eye contact and look at the man.

Eddie sighs in disappointment and stands up, but he pushes my behind him to hide my body. 
"Hey Noah."

I see my brother's best friend standing there as stiff as a board. He always reminded me of those cold generals that had no emotion.

He nods towards me in a respectful acknowledgment. "Zapora."

I nod to him, "Noah."

He turns to Eddie, "Soul talked to me." He stated.

Eddie's brows scrunch slightly, it made me look cute. Like a confused puppy. "And?"

"Your first patrol is in an hour. Don't be late." Noah turns around, planning to leave, but he stops suddenly and turns to my mate with a slight grin. I'm surprised, Noah doesn't usually grin to people. He normally just grunts or growls. But, he's grinning at Eddie. "Oh and Eddie? don't make me regret my decision."

Eddie's face totally transforms when he gives Noah a big smile that melted away his intimidating and manly exterior into a boy. "I promise you won't."

Noah then shifts and take off into the woods.

Eddie turns to me and raises his fists in the air in victory, "Finally!"

I frown, "What're you talking about?"

"I've been trying to get on the patrol for so long."

I nod in understanding. I slight chill makes my skin raise in goosebumps. I look down at myself and see that I'm still in only my underwear. Damn! "ummm...Eddie? I kind of don't have any clothes."

He looks down at my body and his eyes turn black. He freezes. It's like he's in a trance or something. I start to feel uncomfortable and nervous. I didn't want him to look at me like this when I hardly knew him.

"Eddie?" I ask hesitantly.

By the sound of my voice, he snaps out of it. His eyes instantly fill with guilt, "I'm sorry...it's just a male mate thing I think. You're just so incredibly...gorgeous. I'm a lucky man."

I shyly look away and smile, "Well...can the lucky man please get me some warm clothes?"

"Oh right! Okay. I've got some of my clothes stashed here and there in the forest."

"Why?"

"Just in case there's an emergency shift or something."

Eddie quickly leaves to try find one of his shirts around the forest while I'm sitting on this big rock, almost naked and vulnerable to any attack. Stop it Zapora! You're over thinking it. Nothing bad is going to happen.

Eddie finally comes back with one of his shirts. He hands it to me and I pull it over my head. His scent totally invades my nose. It brings me this sense of safety, peace and comfort. Weird. Must be a mate thing. "Thank you."

For the next hour we talk about everything and everything. About his home life. About how Lizzy was abused by his family. How he felt like he didn't really have a relationship with his father and how it effected him.

Afterwards we made our way back to the pack house. I still couldn't shake off this weird feeling. There was a strange presence that carried in the wind from the woods. I thought I was just getting chilly, but after I got the shirt it made no difference. It was a sense. Whenever I had a sense, something bad always happened. I had it when the pack was attacked by rogues and when Xander got taken. And I feel it again.

"Are you sure you have to do the patrol tonight?" I ask Eddie anxiously.

"Yes, why's that?" He asked curiously.

"I just think...it would be better if you didn't. Besides, we just found each other, lets spend some time together?"

He smiles at me softly, "Don't worry about me Zapora. I'm not that weak. Have a little faith in your mate." He sounds like Xander.

"Please be careful then," I plead with him, "Don't have your guard down. Don't trust anyone in the woods. "

"I won't."

I grab onto his arm and pull him closer to me, "Promise me Eddie. I need you to promise me that you're going to be okay and that you're going to come back to me."

He looks at me with a frown, but I think he understands because he wraps his arms around me tightly in his safe arms, "I promise, "he whispers, "I'm going to come back to you. And if I don't...I'm going to damn well try my best to."

My sting with tears. I feel this intense sense of loss already, even though I'm in his arms. I nod and lay my head on his chest. I want to move closer and closer to Eddie until there is nothing that could separate us. But I know I can't.

I raise my head and tip it up to try reach his lips. He moves his hulking figure down to my level and kisses me with all he has as I did. My fingers weave through his hair. This kiss was no ordinary kiss. It was a promise.

We separate. We look at each other with such love. His eyes alone give me comfort. It gives me strength and hope too. He will come back to me...I know it.

He gives me a kiss on my forehead and whispers, "I love you."
Then he runs into the darkness of the woods to patrol.