A serene place equipped with the abundance of nature and illumination of the stars and fireflies is where he takes me to.

He leads me to 'his' place, where he goes to unleash himself. Releasing his true self with no distractions or worry of hurting others.

He has only taken me here to talk, but I want to run with my wolf and his out here. I want to feel my inner beast come out and enjoy herself with her mate. With how Maverick and his wolf are being held hostage by this inner demonic creature, there is no way we could...at least for now, anyways.

He leads me to a medium-sized pond where a couple stumps are placed along the edge. I sit down on one while Maverick sits down on the other. I can tell he is upset about something. His face holds a look of guilt and sorrow.

"Elora...you know I feel deeply for you, right?" I furrow my eyebrows at him, but he is looking across the water with longing.

"I guess."

What was I supposed to say? One minute he is hot with me and the other he is cold like ice. I feel like damn Katy Perry with his mood swings. Yes, I know this demon possesses over him, but he still is hard to read at times.

His head snaps to mine, his beautiful golden eyes shimmering with unshed tears.

"You guess?" his voice is soft, hurt very evident. "I haven't made it clear to you, have I?"

I shrug hesitantly, watching his head hang lower in shame. "I mean, I haven't done a good job showing you how I feel about you either. I guess every time I want to, I get scared that-"

"That I'll attack you again. Goddess...Elora, you deserve better than me. You deserve a better life. You—"

"No! Maverick, stop it right now! We deserve each other. We are mates for a reason. Don't you dare say I deserve better because I don't. You're my soulmate, and I'm yours. We are going to get through whatever the hell is keeping you under its control. We're going to unleash you...together," I exclaim, standing up as I clench my fists.

I'm angry that he would even say any of that. We both deserve to live a happy life, and my goddess, I'm not going to just leave him like that. I can't leave someone who I care for and who I am falling in love with.

I'm falling in love with Maverick.

The realization hits me as I stare into his shining ember irises. Tears spill from his eyes, and he doesn't try to hide them. He lets them fall as he gets up and embraces me tenderly. One hand swings around my waist while the other tangles up in my hair. He dips down his nose to the crook of my neck as we stand there in the wilderness, in each other's arms.

"I love you," he whispers, so soft that I swear I imagined it for a second. He pulls away. He is looking at me as if I were the most precious thing in the world.

*beep beep beep*

It's the sound of Maverick's phone going off.

Sighing, he pulls out his phone, quirking an eyebrow at the number. He answers it, his face remaining stoic and passive. I pull away, taking a look at my phone while stealing glances at Maverick.

"Okay. Yep." A pause. "Yes, it would be best if you came here." He rolls his eyes. "Yes, it's locked up. Okay. See you later."

I peek up at his face. "Who was it?"

"Luna Opal. She wants to discuss matters about the Drac we captured. She and Reese will be coming in about two hours. She also wanted to see you, too," he says with a flat look. He obviously isn't too thrilled about her making an appearance here.

"Oh really?!" I say excitedly. I really like Alpha Opal, and I also want to learn more about these strange Dracs.

"We should head back. I'll let you and the girls finish you're spa time, but first let me do this." He tilts my chin up, bending down and giving me a sweet kiss. I want to progress the kiss into something more, but he pulls away before it can.

The walk back to the packhouse is nice as Maverick holds my hand and asks me more questions about school and the play I may try out for.

We talk the whole way back, and Maverick is about to leave me to go discuss some things with Vander. I wonder why he wouldn't include his Gamma as well. Ian feels left out, and maybe putting in a good word for him would include him in more.

"Why don't you also talk with Ian?" My question irritates him slightly, stopping him in his tracks.

"Why is Ian so important to you?" His eyes are flickering slightly to the yellow as he turns towards me.

I roll my eyes at his apparent jealousy. "I think you should be including your Gamma more. He feels left out. He also is a member of our pack. Every pack member is important in my eyes."

He casts his eyes downward before looking back at me. "Sorry. My wolf got jealous."

"Mhm blame the wolf," I mutter, giving him a smirk as he shoots me a playful glare.

"Well, just to let you know...Ian found his mate." His smug look turns into a sort of scowl.

"Who?"

"The Drac we captured." I furrow my eyebrows in confusion.  How is that even possible? I mean, being mated to a human is rare in itself, but being mated to a creature so unusual seems impossible. Aren't they more closely related to a vampire than our own kind?

"H-how?" I stutter out as he shrugs, beginning in the opposite direction towards the shed.

As I shake my head at the strange news, I turn back around towards the pack-house where is Liz standing. Her eyes reflect her true emotion; disappointment. I know she overheard the news either from my conversation with Maverick just before.

"So, he found his mate? It was the thing they captured?" she asks me in a small and quite shaky voice.

I walk over to her, giving her a hug. "I'm fine, El. Really. I just had hoped we would've been mates...I'll find mine soon."

I pull back and nod with a smile. She would find a mate that is perfect for her.

"That's right! And isn't it your 18th birthday soon?" I ask, trying to change the subject. This earns me a small smile from her as she nods.

"Yeah. Next week on Friday night I'm having my party. The whole pack is welcome to come." Her voice would have been much more exuberant, but I know she's still a bit upset with the whole Ian finding his mate ordeal.

"Awesome! I can't wait!" I exclaim, hoping to cheer her up more. My enthusiasm seems to help a bit; her eyes still a dead giveaway to her true feelings.

That's one thing I've learned over the years, a person can smile and act and appear happy, but the eyes of that person reflect their true emotion. After-all, our eyes are a portal into our souls. Except, only a few seem to notice this blatant portal...it's seemingly a rarity if one can even interpret it too.

"Chels is waiting for us inside. She thinks you and Maverick did the dirty, so fair warning, she'll be be giving you suggestive winks and smirks." Liz says to me, changing the topic as we walk inside.

As we walk back into the living room, Chelsea sits there, crossing her arms while giving me a smirk. I notice the girls must have cleaned up our spa since the foot baths and incense are nowhere to be seen.

"So...how's Maverick?" she asks, scanning my face for a hint of a blush of some sort.

I shrug. "Good, I guess."

Chelsea rolls her eyes.

"Was he good because you two decided to get to it?"

Liz lets out a huff, sitting down on the recliner. "Chels, stop patronizing her. They only talked."

"No. I simply don't believe that's all that happened. I can sense something big happened, and I'm hoping you all fu-"

"He said he loves me," I quickly say, cutting off her vulgar way of saying 'sex'. I instantly regret saying it as it wasn't a full blown 'I love you', it was more of a whisper.

I think it just slipped out.

Liz sits up immediately, and both her and her sister begin to mush over how adorable him and I are.

"Aww! I knew it was time he was going to say the big L-word! Awww!!!"

"That's so sweet!"

I blush at their reactions. I guess it does feel amazing that he said it to me.

"Did you say it back? Or do you know if you love him? I know sometimes it takes time to realize you love your mate," Chelsea asks, patting the seat beside her for me to sit down. I sit down, realizing that the sofa is insanely soft.

"No...it wasn't a full on 'I love you.' I mean, I know I love him, but I want us both to say it, you know?" They both nod in agreement with my statement.

"Yeah, I understand you...but—oh my goddess!—he said it! That's exciting! I can't wait to meet my mate! They better be at Liz's party next week because I'm tired of waiting." Chelsea pouts as she speaks. Liz simply smiles, letting out a laugh.

"You and me both," is all Liz mutters before a flash of sadness passes across her face.

"I have a strong feeling that you both will find your mates."

-------------------------------------------------

Hey !

I have been swamped with school work (no excuses though) so I sincerely apologize for this late update!

Hope you enjoy! Leave your guesses to who might be Chelsea's and Liz's mate's! 😉

Much love <3
~Madelyn Joy

**edited 9/28/21**