5

Eve groaned and rolled over to snuggle down under her blanket. After what seemed like an eternity, she finally brought up the painful memory of being turned down. As she reflected on what had transpired the day before, she was overcome with excruciating pain.

It is not possible for our souls to ever become one.

“Please no! Aaaaaaah!” She let out a scream just as a searing and piercing pain began to radiate from her chest and spread throughout her body. As soon as the door flew open, her mother and Joanne rushed into the room to keep Eve close while they waited for the intensity of the pain to lessen.

Eve was finally able to take a few deep breaths and turn around to face her mother after an hour had passed. They were both in tears and their eyes were filled with hurt as they simply stared at each other without speaking. Joanne finally opened her mouth a few moments later.

“Eve, please come with us so that we can get you something to eat and drink.” You have to keep your strength up and start moving around as soon as possible; otherwise, you might not be able to get out of bed again. Joanne stated this with firmness and an expression on her face that did not appear to welcome debate. Eve was aware that Joanne was correct, despite the fact that all she wanted to do was crawl into bed and sleep for all eternity. She fervently hoped that this would not be the conclusion of her story.

Eve turned her body so that her legs hung over the edge of her bed and her feet brushed the wooden floorboards. She then gave an unemotional nod. Joanne extended her hand to Eve just as the latter was about to stand so that she could help her.

“Although you are unable to remain in bed, this does not mean that we are unable to assist you in getting through this. Take my hand, and I'll make sure you don't fall.” Joanne spoke while consciously attempting to keep her voice from cracking.

Marie followed closely behind Eve and Joanne as they made their way to the kitchen, maintaining her concerned expression the entire time. Eve and Joanne made their way there together. Joanne was very careful as she positioned Eve at the dining table before moving on to the kitchen to get a bowl of broth.

Eve thanked Joanne with a grateful smile as the steaming bowl was brought over to her and placed in front of her. They were all together and sat at the table in silence until Eve moved the bowl, which had only a few drops of broth left in the bottom of it. Joanne gave a satisfied nod before getting up to put away the dishes and then sitting back down at the table.

“Pumpkin, I am aware that you are experiencing an incredible amount of pain right now. On the other hand, you really ought to fill us in on what happened, in my opinion. I am aware that this is the very last thing that you want to talk about, but I believe it is necessary for us to have this information to keep you safe.” While talking, Eve's mother reached out and gently grabbed hold of her daughter's hand.

“Mommy, I'm really scared.” Eve spoke in a low voice.

“I know, Pumpkin. But despite this, you are resilient enough to triumph over it. And if there are times when you simply do not have the strength, I will be that strength for you.” Marie declared this with complete and utter love for her child.

“Okay… I was out for a walk when I decided to stop by the field. The one that has an abundance of beautiful flowers. I laid down to rest, and I fell asleep for a second or two, I don't know,” Eve began, with encouraging nods coming from both her mother and Joanne. “I don't know…”

“I sensed someone was approaching, so I got up when I heard them. Blake, the future alpha, and Adrian, the future beta Adrian, he-- he-- he is…” Eve became overcome with emotion and was unable to finish her sentence.

“He is your mate,” she said. What Eve had been unable to express was articulated by Joanne.

“All he did was turn his back on me. There is nothing else. He admitted that I was not his partner and expressed his regret for it. I tried to stop him, but Blake grabbed my hand and pulled me away from him. He told me that I did not have the necessary strength to become a leader of the pack, and that I did not have the necessary strength to be Adrian's mate. Do you think I'm that feeble, mom?” Eve cried out to her mother.

“No, baby, of course not, Pumpkin, the leaders of this pack just don't get it when it comes to understanding what true strength is. You are a powerful person. You are the most powerful person I am familiar with. Those idiots are the ones who are the most vulnerable, if anything else.” Marie attempted to console her daughter, while a venomous tone seeped into her voice.

“What should I do now, Mom? I'm afraid that I won't be able to deal with this for the rest of my life because I don't think I have the strength.” Eve told her mother while her eyes welled up with tears.

“Oh baby, I wish I could tell you what happens next, but the reality is that every person's story is unique. But I believe it is high time that I told you about my background. I know that I haven't always been honest with you, but please understand that the reason for this is solely because I wanted to shield you from the outside world.” Marie admitted everything to her daughter.

“What's going on, mom?” Eve questioned, bewildered.

Joanne put a reassuring hand on her cousin's shoulder before giving a nod to indicate that she should continue.

“It has to do with your father…,” she said.

-----

A younger version of Marie ran through the forest giggling and giggling with delight as a younger version of Joanne chased her through the trees. Light was falling all around them as they ran through the trees.

“Return, cousin!” Joanne yelled out to the figure that appeared to be floating in front of her as it moved across the ground.

“You have to catch me, silly, haha. Or, are you too sluggish?” Marie responded to the call with a teasing laugh directed at the aggravated girl standing behind her.

Soon enough, the two young women broke through the line of trees, which revealed a sizable lake not far from the boundary of the Emerald Eye pack's territory. Joanne was struggling to keep up when Marie finally came to a stop, which made it possible for her to catch up.

“You are just too fast. I don't know how you manage to pull that off!” Joanne was out of breath as she lowered herself to her knees and rested her hands there.

“Haha, don't be silly—wait, can you feel that?” Marie's demeanor shifted abruptly as she stood vigilant, her eyes darting all over the place as she searched for the origin of this sensation she was experiencing within herself.

“What in the world are you talking about? I do not sense anything at all.” Joanne gave her cousin a puzzled look as she too started looking around in an effort to find out what Marie was referring to when she was talking about.

An enormous reddish-brown wolf appeared out of nowhere from behind the line of trees and approached the cousins.

“Your Mate.” Joanne articulated her thoughts very eloquently while wearing a broad grin across her features. “Oh wow. Okay. I'll be waiting for you when you get back to your house.” After a hasty retreat, Joanne abandoned her cousin in the company of the wolf.

“Hello, my name is Marie,” she said. The brunette took a few steps forward to meet her mate face to face with arms wide open. After reverting to his human form, he revealed Darren as the one who would eventually become the Alpha of the Emerald Eye pack.

“Hello, my little mate.” Darren uttered these words as he hurriedly moved closer to his partner to envelop her in his arms and bestow a breathtaking kiss on her lips. Marie was relieved to have found her mate so soon after her eighteenth birthday, which had only been a few days ago. She melted into the arms of her mate as they held each other close.

-----

When Marie first woke up in the morning, she immediately began searching for her partner. After a few seconds of feeling utterly helpless, she finally located him by the water's edge, where he was standing with his back to her.

Marie yelled out to her mate Darren while clutching her clothes in front of her to hide her chest and lower half. Darren was standing behind her. The man was startled when he turned around and saw his mate sitting up and looking at him.

“It is impossible for us to be together.” Darren made a stern proclamation.

“What…? On the other hand, we shared a bed. You took my virginity. We are inseparable. The Moon Goddess has decided upon this course of action.” Marie stutter-spoke out her response out of bewilderment.

“Well, you shouldn't have been such a slut and opened your legs up straight away. Then you would still be a virgin, wouldn't you?” The growl that Darren let out caused his mate to shrink back in fear of him.

“You are not strong enough to lead this group, and there is no way that you can make me happy in any way, shape, or form. I've been offered the chance to mate with the daughter of the Raven Ridge Alpha, and I've decided to take her up on it. She will guide this pack and provide me with healthy offspring. That is something you will never be able to accomplish.” Darren faced Marie with a determined expression, looking her in the eye.

“Marie Hammons, I, Darren Jonas, the future Alpha of the Emerald Eye pack, do not accept you as my mate. It is not possible for our souls to ever become one.” Darren remarked before making his way back into the trees and disappearing from view. Marie sat there naked until the pain started, at which point she began thrashing around on the ground and yelling out in agony.

-----

“Joanne located me after a few hours had passed.” After finishing the story, Marie returned her attention to her daughter, who appeared to be in shock.

“But I thought that my father, your mate, ran away, and you never saw him again,” Eve stared at her mother with a perplexed expression on her face.

“Pumpkin, Alpha Darren is your biological father. Please forgive me for lying to you for so long, but the truth is that I was only trying to protect you.” Marie let out a wailing scream as she felt tears welling up in her eyes.

“Don't worry about it, mother; I get it. I understand.” Eve wasted no time in enveloping her mother in her protective embrace.

“No, baby, it is not okay. You have been forced to bear the burden of rejection as well as the pain that comes along with it. I will not subject you to the same anguish that I have experienced over the course of all these years, which is watching my mate love another and bring up children with another person. I stayed because, in my ignorance, I foolishly believed that he would eventually come back to me and the child he had abandoned me with. But he didn't, so I've been forced to watch from the sidelines, and the only thing that's given me any relief is you. I won't let you go through what I went through because I don't want you to have to. Pumpkin, I know this won't sit well with you, but I really do think it would be best if you stayed away from the pack. The greater the distance that can be traveled, the more stretched out the mate bond will be, and the weaker it will become. After years of suffering through an unfulfilled mate bond, my physical body has become weakened. You are unable to experience the same thing that I did. You need to leave.” Marie expressed her remorse while maintaining her resolve.

“No, mother! I can't leave you. Why on earth would I ever want to go on living without you?” Eve jerked back from her mom's grasp in shock.

“Eve, I have witnessed the toll that the pressure of the bond has taken on your mother. However, she did not leave, despite the fact that I pleaded with her to do so and urged her to protect herself. It would be too much for me to bear to see you go through what I went through.” Joanne interjected, extending her hand to take a firm grip on Eve's hand.

Eve knew she had to leave, but the thought of doing so caused her almost as much emotional distress as the actual rejection had. She kept looking between her mother and Joanne.

“I know... but how am I going to make it without you?” Eve stated.

“Oh, Pumpkin, you will always have us. We will call you every day, and we will try to visit you as frequently as we can, no matter where you are or how far away we are.” The statement was made by Marie as she encircled her daughter and her cousin in her arms.

Joanne leaned in close to Eve and whispered in her ear, “Eve, it's going to be okay.”