Chapter 5.

Hope's POV.

I roam the forest for hours in search of Camp Hotstuff, but it's like it never even existed. I walk around aimlessly in hopes of running into Talon or Malakar again. Mostly I hope that I run into Malakar, but Talon will do as well.

I'm soaked and freezing. My wet hair clings to the side of my face and I'm really out of breath. The forest is completely shrouded in grey mist that makes it impossible to actually see anything.

I consider turning around and heading back home. It's my day off, I'm tired, and I could be in bed right now binge watching Teen Wolf, but something inside me won't let me. I feel something pulling me forward. Almost like my feet know where to go even if I don't. It sounds really weird when I think about it, but it's like I can sense Malakar. Like I know that he's close, I just have to keep looking.

I haven't been able to get him out of my mind. All I can think about is him. Those piercing yellow eyes that looked right into the deepest parts of my soul. The feeling of his warm skin beneath my fingers as I worked to get the bullet out of him. The way he stared at me, as if he had been waiting his entire life for me to show up. When I sleep I dream about him. When I wake up I miss him. And that's weird because I don't even know him. How can I miss someone that I've never even spent any time with?

I can't focus like I need to at work. He consumes every second of every day. That's why I have to find him. I have to see him again. I need to talk to him so that he can explain to me what the hell is happening to me.

I spent every spare second over the last couple of days researching (if you can call scrolling the web for answers you don't have the questions to researching) but mostly came up empty.

I typed in key words like 'abnormally large' and realized my mistake as soon as I hit 'enter'. I had to clear my search history after that, and hoped that no one in the E.R saw me blushing in front of the computer screen. I then went for some safer options like 'piercing yellow eyes', 'unnaturally high body temprature', 'silver bullets', and 'rapid healing'. My search mostly came up with a whole lot of nonsense, but one word that kept popping up was 'werewolf'. That's impossible though. They don't exist. They aren't real. Someone would have said something by now if they were. I would have heard about it. Especially in a small town like Black Hollow.

I finally decided to give up on the internet and knew that the only way to get some real answers would be to find them/him again.

Now I'm standing in the middle of a creepy forest, drenched in rain, hoping that one of them finds me before I die of hypothermia.

Suddenly, I hear movement in the trees behind me. I spin around on the spot and squint my eyes so that I can get a better look, but all I can see is the thick, grey mist hanging a few feet above the forest floor. I hear it again, to my left this time, then to my right. It's moving fast. My heart falls into my stomach. My mouth goes completely dry. My entire body begins to tremble. I pray that it's one of them, but for all I know it's just some other wild animal who saw me standing around like some pathetic lost puppy and decided to make an easy meal out of me. I feel very stupid.

Then a deep, husky voice speaks up behind me. "Hello, mate." I jump and turn around so fast that I almost fall over my twisted legs and struggle to find my balance again.

It's him. It's Malakar. He looks even better than he did the first time I saw him. Unfortunately he's fully clothed this time, but he still looks like someone that should be on the cover of a cheesy romance novel. I have to catch my breath and clear my throat before I can say something.

"Hi." The word comes out in a weird little croak. I feel my cheeks flush. Malakar smirks at me. His eyes are bright and swimming with laughter.

"What are you doing here?"

I take a deep breath. I am a strong, confident woman. My voice works. I can talk to this super attractive man without sounding like a little bird. "Looking for you, actually." My voice sounds much better this time. It actually sounds human.

Malakar raises an eyebrow at me. It makes him look dangerously seductive. A wave of heat washes over my entire body. "Why?" He drawls.

"Because I have questions. A lot of them." I raise myself up to my full length, which isn't much, but I feel more and more confident with each word that I speak.

He raises the other eyebrow as well. "You do? Like what, exactly?" He takes a step towards me. The air between us immediately becomes charged with something intense and a little dangerous.

I square my shoulders. "Well, for starters. Why were you shot with a silver bullet? Why did your wound begin to heal all on it's own as soon as I took it out? Why did your large friends have to kidnap me to help you? Why didn't they just bring you to the hospital? Why do you live out in the forest like hippies? And last, but most certainly not least, why do you keep calling me mate?" "I have a name. I like it, and I would prefer that you call me by it." I have to exhale sharply after my rapid fire ranting.

Malakar has a smirk on his face as he regards me. He takes another step towards me. I don't move away from him. Instead, I have the urge to take a step towards him as well. I have to restrain myself. He has a strange look in his eyes.

"The answer to all those questions is pretty simple, actually. I'm a werewolf, Hope." He places extra empasis on my name. "And you just so happen to be my fated mate."