Rejected but still desired

A leap of faith

Ethan POV:

I held out my hand to her and she shakily took it, before we left the room together. I didn't care if anyone saw us. I was going to tell her at the cliffs tonight. So it didn't matter. I squeezed her hand in mine and watched her smile. I pulled her along as we ran through the halls secretly, she was smiling and I had this feeling of childish freedom. When we got outside, she had this look of apprehension and she pulled back.

"What's wrong?" I asked, she looked a bit shy, "I've never gotten far, when I did decide to run, I was caught and right now," she looked around as she rubbed her arms, "I don't know if this is some sick joke," she whispered. I was shocked. I didn't think that she would feel this way, it never crossed my mind. "I'm sorry Selena," was all I could manage to say but even I knew that this apology would never be enough. I needed to be better. "Won't you trust me just a little bit, maybe just for tonight?" I asked as I reached out my hand to her, "well," she said looking thoughtful, "you have seen me naked!" She smiled and took my hand. I pulled her closer towards me, "not completely." Her face reddened and she looked away from me. I gave her a quick peck on the cheek and removed my shoes and pants, she averted her gaze but I could tell she wanted to look.

"What are you doing?" She asked, shielding her eyes, "I told you, you're going to ride my wolf." I pulled off my shirt and started the process of shifting. I could feel my bones cracking and shifting, Selena had not had her first shift yet and I could see her focused in awe as she watched my bones crack and break to accommodate my new form. A large black wolf. I stood before Selena five times larger than I was before and both my wolf and I were proud of ourselves for impressing her. I gestured with my head for her to get on and she looked apprehensive again. I could understand why, this is a sacred thing. Only a wolf's mate is allowed to ride him and she doesn't know that we are mates. I nuzzled my head against her until she took a deep breath and grabbed tufts of my fur before pulling herself on awkwardly.

I maneuvered my shoulders and shook myself to make sure she was stable and in the middle of my back. I could feel her heart beat and her warmth. I could smell her fresh citrus smell and my wolf was elated at the fact that she was on our back. I started running, showing off would be a better word and I felt her grip on tighter. We ran through the trees of the forest, everything was blurs of green and silver from the moon light filtering through. It was nothing that I hadn't seen a million times but I wondered what she thought and how she felt about all of this. What did it look like for her?

When we had reached the cliffs, she wanted to get off but I continued to run up the hill, not giving her a chance to escape me. "Ethan, you don't have to carry me all the way," she said and I could feel her wriggling around. I huffed at her and she giggled. I had watched her since I had found out she was my mate and never have I seen her smile and laugh. I really needed to make changes in this pack. She deserved better.

When we reached the top off the cliffs, I knelt down and let her get off before I shifted back. I was naked and didn't care, she blushed even more at that and to be honest I was enjoying it. "Wow! This is more beautiful than I could have ever imagined," she said, "I forget you haven't really been out of the pack house besides school," I commented noticing her awe, she shrugged her shoulders and I instantly felt stupid. "Yeah, that's true." She sat down on the cool stone and crossed her legs, looking over the river below. The night sky was beautiful and if ever there was a perfect moment to tell her, now would be it. I cleared my throat and sat down on the cool stone beside her.

"I need to tell you something," I said, she turned her head to me, a loose strand of her red hair fluttering against her cheek, "I turned eighteen a while ago and..." I stared into her beautiful eyes, waiting for some kind of reaction to know if I should stop or continue, "go on," she said smiling reassuringly. She was so soft towards me, maybe she would feel the bond once I told her. "Look- it's- you're-" before I could finish, my ears pricked at the cracking of twigs nearby and instantly I got defensive, "what's wrong?" She asked, looking around. "We're not alone." I knew that smell. The smell of burning flesh. Raze.