Stolen Fates - Anna

History

Anna could hear her heart beating in her ears and the world seemed to have stopped around her. Time stood still as Charlie's words echoed around in her mind. She pulled away from him enough to look over her shoulder for several long seconds, her face the perfect image of shock and surprise.

"You can't possibly mean that, Charlie. You've only known me for a few days," she replied quietly after turning over to face him, though she wasn't entirely sure if she was trying to convince him or herself with her words.

"Baby, I don't have to have known you for years to know how I feel about you," he spoke softly and secured his arms around her, letting his fingers trail up and down her spine. "To know that what I look forward to the most when I wake up is to look into your beautiful eyes and to hear your voice say my name," he continued just as quietly and had her barely breathing so as not to miss a word he spoke.

"Charlie," she began but couldn't find the words to convey the fluttering feeling playing havoc with her otherwise steady heartbeat. For the first time in as long as she could remember, she'd been rendered speechless. How could he know that he loved her when he didn't really know her.

Hell, I barely know who I am, she thought to herself, just barely stopping those words from slipping passed her lips. She knew who she was now but she didn't really know where she came from.

According to her parents, she'd been abandoned at a hospital in a different city than she was raised but refused to tell her which city. They'd adopted her when she was two months old. At thirteen, she'd had some issues that she'd been sent to counseling for and when the therapist had asked about any history of mental instability in the family, her parents had been forced to admit that they weren't her biological parents. At fifteen, her home had caught fire in the middle of the night and both of her parents died in the fire. Anna spent the last three years of her adolescence in the custody of her aunt and uncle in the country.

Anna blinked a few times, wiping her mind of a past that she'd rather forget and refocused on the man lying in bed with her, holding her tightly and looking at her like she was the only woman in the world. She cleared her throat softly and offered Charlie a small but reassuring smile, tracing her fingertips along his jawline.

"It's okay, baby," he pulled her from her thoughts in a gentle tone, a smile cornering his lips also. "I know how you feel, even if you haven't figured it out yet," he continued confidently and pulled his lips back from his teeth to give her the biggest, cheesiest grin she'd ever seen and had her laughing wholeheartedly.

"One step at a time there, tiger," she replied while still laughing and felt his lips press to hers, the smile on his lips evident against her own.

"Wolf, honey. Not a tiger," he answered her remark with his smile still lingering and his lips still pressed to hers. He pulled away from her and brushed his nose against hers once more. "You've brought up a good point though. I really don't know that much about you. So," he said and paused for effect, settling his head more into the pillows and pulled the sheets over the pair of them. "How do you feel about giving me a history lesson," Anna heard him ask before she rested her head on his chest and felt his chin rest on the top of her head, shrugging a shoulder at his question.

"There's not much to tell," she answered but could hear the wariness in her own tone and sighed. She felt his fingers gently stroke over her hair before pulling the length away from her face and brushing his fingertips against her temple.

"Are you close with your parents," he asked and she felt her heart clench at the thought. They'd certainly had their differences and disagreements but they'd been the ones to love and care for her when they didn't have to.

"N-no. They...they died when I was fifteen," she spoke softly with a gentle shake of her head. She hadn't spoken about them much since the night of the fire. There had been a lot of questions during the investigation into the cause but no answers ever came. Neither the fire marshall or the police detectives could find the reason for the fire, or how Anna had survived.

"I'm sorry," he said and she could feel the genuine empathy in his words. "What happened," she heard him ask. "If you don't mind me asking," he said quickly following the question.

She thought for a moment and sighed heavily as she let her mind travel back to the night of the fire.

"I'm not sure, actually. When I woke up, all I could see was the fire everywhere. It was all around my bed, almost like...a ring around it. I tried to get out but...I couldn't. The next thing I knew, I was in the backyard and I have no idea how I got out there," she retold the story and felt more relaxed now, having told him.

She felt his hand petting her head soothingly and felt Charlie press another soft kiss to the top of her head.

"You weren't hurt? At all" he asked and she shook her head to his question. She felt his chest rise with his inhale and and heard his heavy exhale of a sigh. "Somehow, I'm not surprised," she heard him mumble and lifted her head to look up at him, resting her chin against his chest. She watched as Charlie shook his head at her silent query. "It's just...there might be more to you than you know," he said a bit enigmatically and Anna tilted her head at him.

"What do you mean," she asked with a lift of one of her brows.

"What I mean is," he began but paused and moved them in the bed to bring her eyes more level with his. "What if there's another part of you that you just don't know yet? I have the wolf. What if...there's more to you, too," he continued and brushed some of her hair behind her ear.

Anna could see the curiosity and sincerity in his eyes as he posed the question to her. "Let's get through tomorrow...then we'll talk about me," she replied with a small smile and pressed her forehead to his.

"Don't think that I don't know what you're doing," Charlie said with a chuckle and a shake of his head with his forehead still pressed to hers. "Being cute will only distract me for so long," he whispered to her with a grin before pressing his lips to hers.

"Well...if it works," she mumbled against his lips with a laugh of her own and then pulled away to snuggle into his side with a large yawn. She felt him kiss the top of her head once again as she let her eyes drop closed and released a contented sigh, already starting to drift off to sleep.