~ Stella's POV ~

The mid afternoon sunlight comes down in beams, making the colors of autumn in the trees even more beautiful. A light crisp breeze drifts by, the scent of nature in the air.

"Gorgeous day out, huh?" Alex asks, his gaze meeting mine, sending a wonderful feeling through my body. It's like we're connected somehow, someway. I can feel it constantly, all the time. It grows stronger with each day.

What is it?

Say something, for goodness' sake! Nova reminds me.

"Oh, um, yeah."

Real smooth there.

Why, thank you. Hey, do you know what this...feeling is?

It's called liking someone.

No, this is...a little more than that. A connection or something.

I thought that only werewolves can feel that...it can't be possible.

What?

Umm...

"Do you hear that?" Alex asks, bringing me back to reality. I am about to say no when the thundering of hoofbeats gets my attention. The two of us watch as a palomino horse and a brown wolf emerge from the woods, looking terrified and hysterical at the same time.

"Guys! What's going on? And...why does Colt have braids in his mane?" The two share a quick glance like they know that they probably are in trouble. Kirsten quickly turns back and with a nervous chuckle, she takes out the braids.

Colt shifts back and does an imaginary hair flip. "It's called being fabulous, dah-ling."

"Or just being downright derpy," Kirsten says, smacking him upside the head. He winces and shoots her a dirty look.

"What were you two doing this time?" The expression on Alex's face makes it pretty clear that their shenanigans are getting a little annoying.

"Would you believe aliens?" Colt asks, trying not to laugh. "Right. Sorry."

"We were just going for a run when we saw some hunters. They didn't see us luckily, but we heard some of what they were saying." She looks at Alex and continues. "They know we're going somewhere, but the location is unknown to them. Also it seems like the weaponry is getting more and more dangerous."

"How so?" I ask, intrigued.

"They don't just have wolfsbane. They also have silver and whatever Colt was injected with. They know our weaknesses and they will use them against us."

"Good to know. Nice work, guys." Alex says.

"So...we're not in trouble?" Colt asks with a hopeful smile.

"Just be glad that you guys didn't get caught. That could have gone downhill really fast."

"Whatever you say, Alpha." Colt says jokingly. He exchanges a look with Kirsten and they both nod, shifting back into their horse and wolf forms. In a blur of fur and hooves, they're off to do...whatever it is that they do.

Alex chuckles at their shenanigans, then he looks at me with his vibrant green eyes which seem to make me love him even more...and that smile. For once I don't question my thoughts about him.

What were you saying before, Nova?

Just...enjoy these moments with Alex, okay? He's a great guy.

Okay...

Can it be possible? A horse and a wolf being together?

I'll figure that out later. All that matters now is that we're together and safe.

And I don't want that to change anytime soon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ Colt's POV ~

"Awww. Look at them!" I say, watching Stella and Alex exchange looks at each other from the woods. "They're so cute!"

"Yeah." Kirsten agrees. "Pretty adorable."

"When do you think they're going to tell each other?"

"Probably in a day or two."

"Wanna bet?"

"In your dreams." She chuckles. "Wanna go for another run?"

"Sure." Turning into her brown wolf, she runs off leaving a trail of fallen leaves that have been kicked up in her path. Just as I am about to chase after her, a creature with red fur and brown eyes catch my attention.

"Hey there..." I say carefully, crouching down to meet it. The fox watches me cautiously from behind the tree. "It's all right, I won't hurt you."

She places a white paw forward, not once breaking eye contact. The fox twitches its fluffy red tail with a black tip and lets out a bark. Suddenly a larger animal pounces on top of me, and the familiar sound of bones cracking leads to Kirsten in her human form holding me down.

"Come on, slowpoke!" She laughs, standing back up again.

"Hey, did you see-" My sentence ends once I realize that the fox is gone. Aww.

"See what?"

"Never mind." I shrug. "Let's go."

Quickly turning into my horse, the two of us run just deep enough into the woods where we can play freely without any worries of the hunters.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This chapter was a little shorter than usual, but I hope you all liked it!

What did you think? Let me know in the comments below.

Do you think the fox was just an adorable little smol bean or something more important?

What is the connection between Stella and Alex? A few of you guys have probably figured it out already 😘

When will Alex tell Stella that they are mates? Anybody wanna bet with Colt? Just kidding 😂

Get ready for some serious shipping and probably some action in the next few chapters. I have something big planned *places fingers together diabolically*

Have an amazing day, everybody! 😘😘😘