/ ZHASK /
“No, your name is Greya. And you’re a werewolf,” I told her with my serious face but what came out of her mouth was a sarcastic laugh.
“So what about you? A vampire?” she said and then burst out laughing again.
“No, vampires live farther north. We have no business with them.”
“So you’re a werewolf too?”
“Yes but not here. In this world, we’re mere mortals.”
She laughed again, the same laugh I remembered when I used to tell her jokes. I miss that laugh. I miss her so much.
“Look here, mister werewolf, I don’t know what your game is, whether you escape from a mental facility or high on drugs, but because I saw something weird last night and also because you have almost the same tattoo as mine, I won’t report you to the police. But I need to get you back to where you came from…”
“My tattoo?” I asked, cutting her off.
“Yes. Apparently, we could be related.”
“It’s my pack’s symbol,” I told her while looking at the mark of the moon on my chest. “You have one too. It’s your pack’s symbol and you’re my mate.”
Again, she laughed. “This is unbelievable!”
But I stood up despite the pain all over my body and went close to her. Now she was inches from me and I planned to get even closer.
“W-what are you doing?” She asked but she had her eyes locked on my body. She didn’t move back from her place.
I was trying to mark my territory so she would know she still belonged to me despite not being able to remember me, and I think it worked.
I could kiss her right here… I really wanted to kiss her or even embraced her. I could still feel our deep connection and I wished she could feel it too. I locked my hands with hers and pressed my forehead against hers. She was looking down and but she didn’t stop me yet.
“Once upon a time, we mated and it’s the best thing that ever happened to me,” I told her. Our lips were so close but I didn’t want to kiss her without her permission. I could feel her heartbeat. “I’ve been looking for you for four years. And now that I found you, I’m not going to let you go again. Whether you like it or not, I’m taking you back and you will have to marry me.”
She still seemed a little confused, which was good because I think her inner wolf recognized mine. They were communicating through our emotions. They were bonding after a very long time of being apart
“What did you do to me?” she asked and kept shaking her head, but she didn’t let go of my hands.
“It’s okay,” I reassured her and planted a kiss on her forehead. “It’s me, Greya. You’re safe now.”
The connection was too strong and too intimate that I was almost sure it would make her remember the memories she had lost.
However, the sound of a car pulling up in their driveway startled her and she broke from my embrace, losing our connection.
“Shit! It’s my parents,” she cursed, alarmed. “I didn’t know they would be back too soon. Stay here and don’t make a sound. I’ll be back later.”
And then, there she went, out the door and vanishing out of my sight.
I was so close! I could have made her remember. Doesn’t matter, she will remember me eventually.
I sat back on the bed and contemplate about what happened. My broken limbs still hurt like hell but it was only because the power of my inner wolf could not be felt in this world. I couldn’t shift here but I could still communicate with Fenrer, my inner worlf.
“You lost your chance in taking her back home…” he was telling me in my head.
“It’s okay, we’ll wait for the next full moon,” I reassured him. I could feel how angry and impatient he was to take his mate back to our world, but he needed to wait a little longer.
“We can’t know for sure if another portal could still be open… that was our last chance!”
“I know, alright! But things just don’t go according to plan! Don’t worry, I got this!”
“You better!”
My relationship with Fenrer had never been okay since we lost our mate four years ago. He thought it was my fault, because I was careless. But now that I found her, I would make sure that mistake would never happen again.
“It’s okay,” I told him. “We’ll take her home soon.”
***
/ABBY’S POV/
“Mom! Dad! Why are you back so early?” I greeted them with a kiss.
“Your dad suddenly has arthritis and forgot his medicine. One way to ruin our trip!” Mom said in exasperation.
“It’s okay, we can still go next week!” Dad replied while he took his medicine and sat on the couch, trying to relax.
“And why are you not in school?” Mom asked me.
I thought of all the ways I could explain to her about the man I kept in the basement but I decided to just keep it to myself for now.
“I wasn’t feeling well,” I lied and sat next to her.
“You should be in your dorm,” she said.
“I forgot something here,” I lied again.
Suddenly, in my peripheral vision, I noticed some movement outside the house. I looked through the window, and there! The man I kept in the basement was outside in the sun! He was wearing his black robe which made him too visible in broad daylight and he seemed to be holding a….. cat?
I cursed in my head. I told him to wait inside!
“Darling, who’s that man over there? Do we have a new neighbour?” mom asked when she noticed him too.
I sat up, feeling alarmed. They can’t know about him.
“Where?” my dad answered and his eyes drifted through the window too. “Who’s that? A priest?”
“Priests don’t wear black, Dad,” I replied, trying to calm myself. I need to distract them.
The man sat down on the ground and played with the cat in his hands. The animal seemed to like him as it licked his face.
“Probably just a visitor dad. You know what, why don’t you guys eat something? I know you’re tired. Come, I’ll make you a sandwich.”
“Good idea, ‘cause I’m starving,” dad said.
I led them into the kitchen. But I kept my eyes focus on the man outside. He didn’t seem to be escaping any time soon, though I would be happy if he would escape. But I still had a lot of questions to ask him. I couldn’t lose him yet.
I made my parents their favourite sandwiches and even served them some orange juice. And now that they were distracted, I slipped out of their sight and went over to the man outside.
“Hey!” I called him from the porch but being careful my parents wouldn’t hear.
He looked over to me.
“I told you to wait inside!”
“Sorry, I got distracted by this cat,” he said.
“Get back to the basement now!”
“Can I take the cat?”
“Leave the cat! Our neighbour will not be happy if their cat disappears.”
“Here you go, buddy.” He stood up and set cat the free. “I’m deeply hurt by how you addressed me but I understand!”
“Oh please, are we going to argue again? Hurry up before my parents see!”
He hesitated for a moment. He looked so innocent like a child, yet very charming at the same time. There was something in him that really intimidated me in a way that I felt so powerless and small in his presence. Some sort of deep connection. Something I just felt earlier when he stood close to me in the basement. Who was he? And why was he making me feel some emotions I didn’t know I had?
That’s why I need to keep him for the meantime. He could be a link to my past, to the life I could no longer remember.
He followed me back to the basement. I realized he could have been hungry since he had not eaten since last night so I went back to the kitchen and sneaked some sandwiches and orange juice. I also took some medicine with me.
“I usually eat meat, but this is fine,” he said.
“Let me see your wounds.”
He took off his robe and the upper part of his body laid bare. Again, I had this weird urged to wrap my arms around him.
“Turn around,” told him.
He had some serious cuts on his back and I applied some medicine on it.
He winced in pain. “Does it hurt a lot?”
But it seemed like the pain was too much because he suddenly groaned and hold his head.
“What’s the matter?” I asked, worried.
“Ahhhh,” he groaned again. Then before I could hold him, he collapsed to the floor and went unconscious.
“Hey! Wake up!”
CHAPTER 5/ ZHASK /My head hurt so bad it felt like it was going to explode. I could feel Greya trying to wake me up but I really needed to close my eyes for a while because the world seemed to be swirling around me.“Fenrer… are you there?”I called out to him but he was wailing in pain. He was suffering too.“Fenrer, what’s happening?”He didn’t answer though. His wails continued, as if he was in desperate need of help. But I had no idea what was going on. It felt like his voice were getting distant, as if he was moving far away. Then suddenly, I could no longer hear him. There was nothing at all.“Fenrer, answer me! I’m losing you!”But there was still no answer. Nothing. I could not feel his connection nor his bond. And I began to worry.“No! Fenrer! Come back! Where are you?”Still no answer. And for the first time in my life, I felt so alone. I was so used of hearing his voice in my head, his nags and his annoying opinions, but now that I could no longer hear him, it felt like
CHAPTER 5/ ABBY /The room that my friend, Shade, lent me was a small one, but this would be enough for one person. Besides, the view was spectacular.I opened the closet in the bedroom and found some extra clothes so I took some out and looked for my wolfie friend. I found him standing by the window, watering an almost dead cactus on a nearby shelf.“Hey wolfie, wear these on. We’re going to go shopping,” I told him and threw him the clothes. I called him wolfie because I kind of forget what his name was.He caught the clothes with one hand and was about to strip off his clothes in that area but I stopped him.“There’s a bathroom right at the corner. Please get change over there,” I said.“I can do it right here,” he answered, not really getting my point.“Oh come on! You can’t just get naked in front of me anytime you want!”“Why not? You’ve seen all of me before,” he answered as if it was no big deal.I felt my cheeks blushing.“What do you mean?” I asked, even though deep inside
CHAPTER 7/ ABBY /I looked at Wolfie as if I had seen a ghost."Hello, my love," he greeted me with a bow.Genebeth beamed with laughter and started teasing me. She looked at him from head to toe."So you finally got yourself a hottie boyfriend huh?" She said, smiling widely at me."He's not my boyfriend," I told her straight away."Oh it's okay to be shy about it. What's your name, by the way?" "I am Zhask Magesblood Zaffiro. Pleasure to meet you," he said in a very respectable manner and extended a hand. "Cool name," Genebeth said, shaking his hand before whispering in my ear, "Where did you find this guy?"I wanted to tell her I found him in the woods but I'm sure she wouldn't even believe me anyway. "Let's talk," I told Wolfie and dragged him further along the hallway. "How did you find me?" I asked him, feeling furious. "I followed your scent.""I told you to wait there!""I can't. I won't."I felt so stressed out, so I wiped my forehead with my hands even though I knew the
CHAPTER 8/ ABBY /Wolfie, or should I call him by his name now since I already remembered it?Okay, Zhask took the phrase 'look after me' to a whole new level when he punched that guy who tried to make a move on me. The guy had a deep cut on his face and they had to take him out to the hospital because he was bleeding too much. The security guards kicked us both out and I tried so hard to apologize to everyone for making such a scene. I was just glad we didn't have to pay for the damage we had done.When we were out, I gave Zhask a scolding in the parking lot. "You can't just hurt anyone like that!" I yelled at him, pacing back and forth while trying to calm myself down."So would you rather let me watch while he's trying to sleep with you?" He answered, still feeling furious. I could tell how disgusted he was, how angry, how the calmness and the warmth I had seen hours ago vanished from his face."It's a club! People are always trying to sleep with anyone! What did you expect?"
/ ZHASK /Abby left me at the parking lot outside the club and told me not to follow her. I realized she needed a moment for herself after that intense fight. She had raised her voice at me and was on the verge of panic. I was used to that side of her. The Greya I knew would always argue with me. In fact, the first time we met we were arguing and at that moment, we both never expected we were each other's mates. Greya was loud and reckless, a fighter with a free spirit who didn't need my protection. She was stronger than me and sometimes, I always thought she was the one who was protecting me all those times after we mated. And this is probably why I fell so hard for her because I lost my mum when I was young, I didn't know what a mother's warmth was. But when I had Greya, she gave me that kind of warmth that made me feel safe and at peace Anyway, I watched Abby cross the street. I waited until she was safe in a cab before I headed to the apartment myself. I had gotten used to this t
/ ABBY / I wasn't asleep. I just pretended to be so he could go to the bedroom and sleep himself. But instead, he waited on the couch. I closed my eyes but a moment later, I could feel him moving towards me. Then, suddenly he was lifting me off the couch. I never dared to open my eyes and just let him do as he wanted. I breathed in his musky scent and it was warm and felt like home. I could also hear his heart beating in his chest and the warmth of his body as our skin touched. It was electrifying and felt safe at the same time.Then, I felt him place me on the bed. Still, I didn't open my eyes. For a second, I thought he was gonna sleep beside me, but he didn't. He took a warm blanket and covered me with it. I pretended to get cozy on the bed, stretching my arms and turning to the side, then I heard the sound of the door closing. I waited a few minutes before I opened my eyes and saw that he was gone.What he did was just heart-warming. I gotta admit, he was rather kind of sweet. He
/ ABBY /We went to the groceries afterwards and this time, he was calm again. I bought him some meat to eat because he said it was his favourite and we always ran out of those in the fridge. Then I also bought Zhask a phone so he could contact me anytime or if there’s an emergency.He took it and studied it as if he didn’t know what is was.“You don’t have that thing from where you came from?” I asked him.“No,” he said, flipping it over.“Well, you can call me using that. Here, let me save my number,” I told him, getting the phone back. I save my number on it then I save his number on mine, named it “Wolfie” because I liked that name better than his real one, then I gave it back to him.“Try giving me a call,” I said and gave him instructions on what keys to press.He learned fast so I didn’t have to elaborate it any further.“You can use that phone to call me, okay? I’ll be working tonight so I’ll be coming home late. You don’t have to worry. If I’m in danger, I’m gonna call you to
/ ABBY /I looked around the apartment for Zhask and even called his name over and over again. But there was no answer at all."Come on, you think this is funny?!" I shouted in the air, hoping I would get an answer, but all I ever heard was silence.Where the hell could he be? He wouldn't just leave without saying goodbye, right? This was so unlike him, considering he was the one who didn't want to be apart from me.I tried to call his phone. "Please pick up…." I whispered after hearing it ring.But then, I realized that his phone was ringing inside the apartment because it was sitting on top of the table in the living room.So I gave up and just sat on the couch, trying to think. He didn't leave me a note, he didn't say goodbye, he just vanished into thin air. It was past midnight already. Did he follow me to the convenience store? But that was impossible because I would have noticed. So what could have happened? Did his sanity come back? Did he finally realise he was a madman who es