Chapter 7

ELIOT

I went to the daycare center right away and was stunned as soon as I stepped inside the room.

I saw her.

She was like a goddess. A goddess with a pup in her arms.

I wasn't sure if this kind of goddess ever existed, but she was the one. Hannah was a genuine beauty with a pup in her lap. She looked so different from the best friend I used to know. Happiness radiated from her face was in a different level. I felt like seeing a mother now.

Images of a happy family instantly came into my mind. I pictured my life, her, and our future pups in my head, and it warmed my heart and caused a smile to tug on my lips. A happy and contented smile like the one she had on her face.

Yes. We would have a happy life, and I would ensure that happened.

Only if we accepted each other.

"You are a monster."

I couldn't help but furrow at her words. Since this morning, she kept saying I hurt her—which I had never done—and now she was calling me a monster. Where did the term come from?

"Explain," I ordered her but tried not to demand her. I didn't want her attaching more awful names to me.

"Make me understand, Hannah." I really begged her this time. I missed the Hannah I knew.

However, she was cruel enough to let me hang with her words. No explanation as she kept silent afterward, and it frustrated me because I couldn't do anything about that.

This situation continued until night.

I sipped whiskey from my glass while glancing at the clock from time to time. It was half-past eleven, thirty minutes before midnight. Half an hour to Hannah's birthday. And I was just sitting in my room.

I looked at the box on my bed and heaved a sigh after. It was supposed to be Hannah's gift when I threw a simple party with a cake and bouquet for her. And after making a wish, she would blow out her eighteen candles.

And one more thing. I could confirm Hannah's identity. Was she my mate or not?

But I couldn't do that after she refused to talk to me. Even her family didn't know why she acted that way. Who should I ask for, then?

I took another sip and then glanced at the clock. I did that continuously until I couldn't count it anymore, and the second glass was empty. Still, I didn't have an answer yet. What should I do?

I was contemplating between having a third glass or not. I wanted to be drunk but didn't want it either because maybe I would go to Hannah, and she hated seeing me drunk. But was the choice still possible?

But no one knew the result without trying it, right?

So I opted for a tiny viable option and immediately went to her room before I could refill my glass. With the box and bouquet in my hand, I stood in front of her bedroom. I knocked on it three times and waited outside like the obedient boy she might want me to be.

"Hannah, it's me, Eliot. I know you're not sleeping yet. I'm here just to give you a present. Please open the door for me." I said it low but loud enough to be heard by someone inside the room, which I believed was still awake.

No response.

I could only hear eerie silence along this third-floor aisle. My wolf's hearing also didn't get any movement from inside her room.

Was she sleeping?

No way. Hannah was always excited to wait for her birthday, so she would stay awake until midnight.

Or was she going to ignore me again?

"Hannah, please. I just want to give these. And I promise I will go right away."

Nothing.

"I'm counting to five. I will excuse myself from entering your room if you don't open the door."

Still quiet.

And I took it as a cue to start counting. "Five. Four. Three. Two. One. It's done, Hannah. I will open the door."

I grabbed the knob and pushed it carefully so as not to make a voice. Yeah, I knew I had already announced my intrusion into her room. Still, I wanted to look like she left me no other choice.

But I couldn't find her. Even her smell wasn't potent, which meant she had left her room long ago.

Where was she?

I rushed to every floor, trying to trace her scent. I also went to the basement where she used to hide when we played hide and sick back then, only to find nothing. The kitchen was also scanned, but no one was there.

Then where the heck was she?

If this was my pack, I would obviously wake the whole pack house to look for her. I might even wake all my men up to scout the entire territory.

But this wasn't mine. This was hers. Hannah couldn't possibly get lost in a place where she had lived her entire life, right?

And the fact frustrated me because I couldn't do anything. I hated not having control over something, especially something precious to me.

'Let me find her.'

Kai tried to calm my raging mind. He was the opposite of me. If I tended to be impulsive, then he always reminded me to keep calm and think of everything with the least emotions involved.

Like now.

I let him take over my mind and body and shifted to search for her. She might be there, in our favorite tree, as it was the only place she would go in the forest. It was near a stream that reflected the moon beautifully, which she often mentioned as her favorite.

I growled as soon as the place came into full view, and I didn't find a glimpse of her. I also couldn't smell her. Where was she?

I wanted to take control and run the forest to seek her, but Kai wouldn't let me in. I knew he was protecting me from making a scene, but I desperately needed to find her fast.

I might really throw a fuss if I couldn't see her soon.

Then it hit me. The smell of rose mixed with berries entered my nose and instantly calmed my mind. In the next second, I found ourselves inhaling it like it was the only thing that saved my life.

'Mate.'

My mind snapped back into reality at my wolf's words, and I just realized we were already on my paws, running as fast as we could toward the scent.

No! I couldn't meet my mate now! I must find Hannah.

Before long, I saw a grey wolf racing in the same direction as us, and Kai immediately knew she was the one we were looking for. She was our mate.

But wait.

Why was she running away from us?

Kai quickened his paws and, in no time, was behind her. He jumped and landed right over her, hovering and caging her so she couldn't move anymore.

And then I saw her dark blue eyes. They were beautiful and mesmerizing, like taking all of me into her world.

Her world?

It was our world!

But an unexpected thing happened. The wolf snapped her head to the side to avoid my gaze.

Hm, I guessed I knew who this she-wolf was.