A Luna's Escape

It's Really You

Cole's POV

"What are you doing here?" Sophie glared at me as I helped her over to a chair by the front door.

"I…"

"Not here. My office is in the back. Take me to my office." She began walking towards her office as I locked the front door behind us. I hurried as fast as I could to catch up to her as she wobbled, using the walls to support herself.

"You didn't answer my question." She huffed as I wrapped an arm around her waist, taking her other arm in my hand.

"I came to see you." I said as I followed her to her office, holding her against my body so she didn't fall. My heart raced as her hair brushed my nose. Her scent was heavenly and made my desire to be with her stronger. Her skin was as soft as silk in my hands. I tightened my grip on her thin frame. She paused momentarily, wrapping her fingers around my hand. My heart skipped a beat, and my hope grew, but was quickly diminished as she pried my fingers off of her waist.

"Please don't." She said as she continued on.

I released my hold on her, but followed closely behind her, ready to steady her if need be.

"Sophie, what is wrong?" I asked as she made her way to her desk chair. She set her purse and meal down on her desk before crashing into the chair. I watched with concern as she put her hands on her head.

"I don't know." She whispered as she sat there. "Why did you come here?"

"Soph, I…."

"Please don't call me that. It's Sophie." She said, never lifting her head from her hands.

"Sophie." I said, dismayed. "I've missed you. I have missed you since the moment you severed our bond." She laughed as she sat in her chair, her head still in her hands. Her chocolate curls cascading over her face, hiding her expression from me.

"What bond?" She finally looked up at me.

"Our mate bond." I said, a little exasperated.

"We never had a mate bond. I don't have a wolf. How could we have a bond?"

"I felt it, Sophie. I felt you sever it the night you left."

"You felt it?" Her eyes met mine. They were even more gorgeous than I remembered. The green seemed to glow brightly in the dimly lit office, and the speck of brown was but a beautiful imperfection, made more vibrant as it was surrounded by the glowing green.

"I did. It was the most excruciating pain I have ever felt. I thought my heart was going to burst through my chest."

"Good." She laughed, and hurt coursed through my veins. How could she be so happy that I felt such great pain?

"You deserved it, you know." She said through her chuckles. I sat silently, accepting her anger. "You deserved to feel pain after everything you did to me. Everything you and HER did to me. You paraded her around the pack behind my back, pretending that I didn't know!" She slammed her fist down on the desk, the vibrations sending a notebook sliding down off the pile upon which it sat.

"I know." I held my head low, ashamed of everything I had done to her.

"You know? You know?" She repeated, her eyes wide. "You made a fool out of me! Everyone knew what was going on. I was the last to find out. You hurt me more than you will ever know." A single tear escaped her eye, rolling down her cheek.

"I know Sophie. I was a fool."

"I loved you Cole. I loved you so deeply. You were my world. My everything." She hung her head low, cradling it in her hands.

"I'm so sorry Sophie. I will never be able to express how sorry I am. I love you. I have always loved you."

"You don't do what you did to someone you love." She looked up at me. Her eyes red as a trail of tears made their way down her face. My heart broke to see her crying. Knowing those tears were caused by me. Tears of my own began to form in my eyes as I thought about how many tears had been shed from her precious eyes. How much pain I had caused her to shed those tears.

"Sophie." I managed to get out as I choked on my emotions.

"NO!" She shouted. "No! You don't get to come here after all these years and apologize for how you treated me. You don't deserve forgiveness." She sobbed.

"You're right. I don't." Tears were rolling down my face as well. Her pain was killing me. "But I didn't come here for forgiveness. It would be nice…to have your forgiveness, though."

"Then why are you here?" She wrapped her arms tightly around her shoulders as she leaned back into her chair.

"I miss you. Losing you made me realize how much I really loved you."

"I don't want to hear it." She cut me off.

"Let me finish, please." She sighed as I continued. "I was wrong to do what I did. I was wrong to flaunt Maggie like I did. I absolutely made a fool of you and I regret every minute of it. I never loved Maggie though. I always loved you."

"Then why?" She gasped. "Why did you do it?"

"I don't know that I will ever have an answer good enough for you. I don't know why I did it." I paused as I saw her eyes flash hurt. She took off her jacket, gently placing it around the back of her chair as she rolled up her sleeves and leaned back into her chair.

"I got caught up." She laughed as I continued to explain myself. "Maggie was always there. She started off as a friend, but we spent a lot of time together at work. She was always by my side. We joked, and eventually those jokes became s****l. It started off as an emotional thing. I would go to her with all of our problems, and she always had some excuse as to how you and I weren't right for each other."

"Of course she did." Sophie huffed. Sweat was visible on her forehead and I could see she looked tired.

"I fell into her trap." I continued. "I didn't realize it was a trap then, but I did right after you left. She wanted to be Luna. She made so many advances that I became numb to it. Numb to the dangers of accepting those advances."

"Don't blame this all on her." Sophie snarled.

"I'm not. I am just as much at fault. I accepted those advances. Eventually, emotional cheating turned into physical. She was different. She was more wild in bed than you." Sophie scoffed and I reached out across the desk for her hand, which she quickly tucked away under her folded arms.

"I didn't mean that in a bad way. It was exciting, and I got caught up in it. The thrill wore off quickly though. But by that time, I was in too deep and didn't know what to do."

"She was more exciting than me." Sophie whispered to herself, her eyes falling to the floor.

"NO! I…I mean yes…in bed. She was obviously more experienced than either of us, and I gave into the thrill. But that was it, Soph. It was a physical thing. I never loved her. I always wanted you."

"No you didn't. If you wanted me, you wouldn't have found her."

"That's not true."

"But it is!" She cried.

I rubbed my hands on my pants. My nerves expressed themselves in the form of sweat on my palms. We sat in silence for a short while. I was waiting for her to say something, anything.

"Sophie, I didn't come here for forgiveness, but I would like it, If you could find it in your heart to forgive me. I have been searching for you since the day you left."

"You didn't marry her?" She asked and I almost thought I could hear hope in her voice.

"No. I didn't have anything to do with her after you left. I couldn't hardly stand to look at her. Every time I saw her face I was racked with guilt. Remorse. I never wanted to hurt you. I never wanted to lose you."

"Then why? Was I not good enough?" She asked, and a pain shocked my heart. Tears began to flow like a waterfall at her words.

"No. You were good enough. Maggie convinced me that you could never give me a proper heir. I needed a pup, and she had me believing that you would never be able to give me that."

"So, I wasn't good enough."

"No. You were. I just didn't realize it until it was too late. I needed a pup to continue my line, our line, as Alpha of this pack. But, I got caught up in ruling the pack. All I ever wanted was children with you, be they wolves or not. But Maggie had me so convinced that I needed an heir to the pack, not just a normal child."

"My mother was a human, my father was an alpha. Three of their four children had wolves."

"I know. I was so stupid." I said, searching her eyes for any clue to how she was feeling.

"Yeah, you are." I sighed, I completely deserved her hatred and anger.

"I know it's an excuse, and not a good one, but I just got caught up in everything she fed me. She made me feel good, and I played into it. We always had fun together. She had a great personality, and I would be lying if it didn't tell you I did think about what life with her would be like."

"You didn't want to be with me?"

"I did. I absolutely did. But our life was stressful at times. It wasn't always positive. We argued and disagreed and sometimes life was just stressful. I did think that maybe life with her would be better. You know…the grass is greener on the other side."

"Was it?"

"No. I realized pretty quickly that it wasn't. Relationships aren't perfect, and I was stupid to think that ours should have been."

"You know, had you put half as much effort into me as you did her, our relationship could have been pretty close to perfect."

"I know." I hung my head again, too ashamed to look at her.

I watched as tears ran down my nose, reaching the tip and diving to the floor below. Then I caught a scent. It was Sophie's regular musky vanilla, but the sweetness; it was like warm brown sugar, almost like the smell of freshly baked cookies. My mouth watered as the scent grew stronger. I looked up at Sophie. She looked distressed. I knew coming here would be a risk, and take a toll on her. Her face was wet from tears and her hair was growing damp with sweat. My eyes fixed on her. I couldn't bring myself to look away. It was like a trance.

"Ahh." She cried and doubled over, grasping at her stomach.

My eyes grew wide as I realized what was happening. I hopped up out of my chair, leaning across the desk as Sophie fell to the floor, cradled up in a ball, her arms wrapped tightly around her stomach.

"Sophie." I rushed around the desk, scooping her up in my arms.

"What is wrong with me?" She cried as her face contorted in pain.

"Sophie, you're shifting!" I cried as I began to unbutton her blouse.

"What…what are you doing?" She panted, clutching her clothing closed.

"I'm sorry." I leaned back, realizing that was wrong of me to do. "Sophie, you're shifting. I need to get you out of your clothes, or you'll rip them to shreds." She hesitated, her glowing green eyes meeting mine. Her face was full of fear as she tried to process what was happening to her.

"Okay." She finally whispered, letting me gently remove her clothes. I folded them neatly, placing them in her chair as I pushed the desk away, giving her the room she would need. She panted as her face grew flushed. Her breathing became labored and I cradled her body close to mine. Her arms wrapped around her chest, hiding her beautiful, full brea.sts from me. I chuckled, thinking to myself that she was hiding things I had seen dozens of times over. But I understood her need for privacy."

"Will it hurt more than it does now?' She asked, reaching her hand up and grasping my bicep.

"Yes." I sighed. Tears fell from the corners of her eyes as she looked up at me. Her brown curls falling over my arm and into a pile on the floor.

"Gosh, you're so beautiful." I murmured.

Just as the words escaped my mouth Sophie's body went rigid. Her legs spread out straight, pushing themselves free of my arms. I cradled her shoulders in my arms as I ran my fingers through her hair.

"I'm here babe." I cooed, trying to comfort her. She smiled at me before her head snapped backwards, her back arching up as she rolled onto the floor in front of me.

"It's happening." I gasped.