IrinaI TOLD MY PARENTS about my date with Hunter, the moment I got back home. Not because I needed their approval or anything, but because, for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why he wanted to see me again. I couldn’t talk to my friends about it, because they would just tease me.“I thought you two broke up.” My father was the first to respond and frowned.“Well,” I shrugged. “We weren’t really a couple, dad, so we couldn’t break up.” That was exactly the problem. I didn’t want Hunter to promise to one day marry me, but I needed to know that he wouldn’t tell me it was over after our next date. I needed some kind of security from him. If he didn’t want to go out with me, he should just leave me be. If he wanted to see me, then we could go out.When I got up in the early hours of the morning, Hunter had sent me a message to dress casually for our date. I wondered what he had in mind, but I didn’t have much time to think about it. I had to get to work. My day was pretty busy, whic
IrinaWhat I didn’t like was that he seemed a little entitled. I still didn’t know much about him that was of real importance. We walked into the forest and it was absolutely breathtaking. I could just see all the pictures I could have taken.“I wish I had my camera with me.” The words were out before I could even think about it. I just felt so relaxed in Hunter’s company.“I have my phone.” Hunter grinned. I shrugged and pulled a face.“No, it’s okay.” Whenever I take pictures, I go into my own world. It was a safe space. It was my way of recharging. I wasn’t ready to share it with anybody just yet. We kept on walking and I asked Hunter about some of the beautiful plants. He seemed to know a lot about the forest, which was nice.“Irina, do you believe in the supernatural?” His question came out of nowhere and I studied him for a moment to try and figure out where it came from.“I believe that everything that has a name existed once. It might not exist now, but someone named it so it
HunterI KNEW I WAS TAKING a huge risk by showing her. I also knew I had to show her. There was no way she would have believed me if I just told her. She didn’t run in fear, which was at least a good thing. Damn! I shouldn’t have told her! I should have stuck to my original plan of rejecting her.I didn’t think she would tell anyone, but with her current state of mind, I had no idea what she might do. I drove back to the pack house and went straight into the forest. It was this forest that first drew me here. It was magical. The trees formed a thick leafy roof, cooling the ground. The dark dirt was soft, and the flowers' scent hung thick in the air.There were smallish animals but none of my pack ever hunted them. We buy our food from the local supermarket just like everybody else. I rolled my eyes thinking how incredibly stupid my thoughts were. I had just broken the ultimate rule for werewolves. I told a human. The only reason I knew she wouldn’t be harmed was because she was my mat
IrinaALL MY LIFE, I had believed that the supernatural world existed. I believed that at some point everything people considered as magical or strange had to have existed. Actually, seeing it come to life … My mind spun into overdrive for the umpteenth time. I hadn’t seen Hunter in days. My body was screaming for him in ways I never could have imagined, but I just couldn’t bring myself to call him.Hunter didn’t make any attempt to contact me, which was even more confusing. With everything I knew about werewolves, I was sure he would contact me at some point. Droning on through my days, I felt as though I was growing weaker. I convinced myself that I was getting sick. One week turned into two, and then three, and then the fever hit me again.Exactly one month after the first fever, the second one put me in the hospital. I was delirious. I was sure I was seeing things each time I woke up. Hunter was there, and so were my parents. Everything was so fuzzy and all I could really think ab
IrinaI TOOK TWO DAYS to regain my strength and just think everything through. I wanted to be sure that I was doing the right thing and not just rushing into this relationship because of the strange fever I had. I was dressed and ready when Hunter arrived and although my mom wasn’t entirely happy that I was pursuing this relationship, she was friendly enough. We said an awkward goodbye and Hunter put his hand on my lower back as we walked out. Images of what I dreamed about during the fever rushed through my body and a shiver ran down the back of my spine.“Are you cold?” Hunter pulled me closer and I smiled as I shook my head. How did you tell your possible future boyfriend that you had wet dreams about him while you were sick?!“No, I’m okay.” I felt the blush creep over my cheeks as he opened the door for me and we got into his beautiful classic sports car. When he slipped into the driver’s seat, I just had to say something. “I love the car, but it’s a bit cliché, don’t you think?
IrinaI could almost lift my arms and feel as if I were flying if Hunter wasn’t running so damn fast. The wind blew through my hair and kissed my face and I wished I was like them. To be this free. To live without boundaries and just running barefoot in the forest must be the most amazing experience of all time! The trees were whizzing by and a couple of times, I thought we were going to run right into one, but Hunter would just side step quickly.When he finally started to slow down and came to a halt, I was completely out of breath with excitement. My cheeks were completely flushed, and adrenaline had flooded my body. Hunter stepped behind a tree and came back wearing only a pair of shorts. I almost swallowed my tongue at the sight of his tanned, naked upper body.“Like what you see?” He grinned and I rolled my eyes.“Well, for an old guy, you look pretty okay … Ish.” I shrugged, crossing my arms over my chest the second I felt my body respond to him. He put his arm around my should
IrinaHis warmth was so inviting that it felt right to be in his arms. Our kiss deepened, and it almost felt as though I was losing something when we finally pulled apart. His cheeks turned red and he smiled when he stepped away from me, but he still held onto my hands.“I better go before …” He didn’t have to finish his sentence. I giggled slightly and I knew exactly what he meant. I nodded and watched him run down the stairs and to his car. He waited until I was inside and drove off and I leaned my back against the door breathing in deeply. If you asked me what my idea of the perfect date was, I would never have imagined that.“Hi, honey.” My mother’s voice pulled me out of my memories of the night and I looked up to find her standing at the top of the stairs smiling. “I take it the date went well?” She tilted her head to one side and I giggled again, pushing away from the door. I walked to the kitchen knowing she would follow and my dad probably wasn’t far behind. Switching on the
IrinaHunter was the first to break the kiss and he pulled away sighing.“I’ve actually come to tell you I need to go out of town for a couple of days. Can we go out again on Friday? I should be back by then. Say around seven?” He looked a little worried, but as soon as I nodded, he smiled again. “Great, pick out the best bouquet you have in the shop for yourself. I will send Emily to come and settle the bill this afternoon.” He winked and I grinned at him. I felt a little speechless. I met Emily when I visited their place the first time.She seemed to be Hunter’s assistant or something. Hunter gave me a soft kiss on my forehead, and he was gone. It felt as if someone had sucked the air out of the room for a moment. Was this what he meant when he said we had a mate bond? Was this what he felt each time he left me? The shop door opened and I had to shake my head to clear it of all thoughts of Hunter so I could work.I spent the day taking care of customer orders and attending to the wa