Shani Khoza

There is a storm raging inside her, but she can't explain how it's happening, or why? She races through the forest, trying to push down the fire within, but it doesn't budge; she has no control over it. It's like the anger, the frustration, isn't hers; as if it's controlled by someone else. But if that's the case, where is it coming from? Let's find out! She knows how, or at least, she thinks she does. All she has to do is follow the scent that has been stuck in her nose for the last few minutes. It's intoxicating, and she has to use all her willpower to keep her mind sane. The scent is getting stronger, thicker. I'm on the right track.

She hears a terrifying scream, and within seconds, her destination is in sight. It's a werewolf, she sees immediately. My mate. Following her instincts, she jumps towards him, making him lose his balance. They roll on the forest grounds for a couple of meters until they come to a stop. Shani opens her eyes, staring directly into her mate's. She stiffens when she sees they're bright red, the way they are when a wolf is shifting. But he already shifted, they're not supposed to be this red anymore. She then notices his rapid breathing, it's going so fast he might faint; his heart rate is so high, even with the enhanced hearing she can barely hear it beating so fast. She places her paw on his, trying to ease his alarming condition, and after a few seconds, she hears his heart rate slow down. She's on her back; he's lying on top of her. She pushes him off slowly, still shocked about the situation. He immediately withdraws. His eyes, which were dimming a few seconds ago, start glowing again and before Shani can do anything, he runs off.

Perplexed, she watches her mate go; not capable to run after him or even comprehend what just happened. The sound of a weapon being loaded makes her look up. Only now, she sees who was screaming a minute ago. She's staring right into a crossbow that is pointed directly at her. The girl holding it is staring at her in shock and anger. Her other hand contains the gun she heard. The sight should have made her quiver with fear, but she feels empty instead. Her mate just abandoned her, and she can't go back to her friends. Now they know the truth, they probably never want to see her again.

What did she do? I ruined everything.

She closes her eyes because she doesn't want to see the arrow flying towards her, but she also doesn't have the strength to change her position. My mate walked away from me. I lost my friends.

She waits, but the arrow never hits her. Confused, she opens her eyes again, revealing the scene in front of her. Darius is standing before her with the arrow in his hand. He's growling, and Shani sees he's beyond angry. He looks terrifying. Demir and Athena are standing beside him. Too quick for the two humans to see, Demir takes the crossbow and the gun away from the girl, while Athena walks towards her. In a reflex, Shani takes a step backward. Athena tries approaching her again, but this time she points at the tree behind them. "Can you shift? I have some clothes for you," she says soothingly.

She'll be vulnerable when she shifts back. They could easily kill her. They could have already killed her, but they didn't. Shani wonders why. Her own pack thought she was an abomination. Why would they think differently? Not entirely sure about the decision, she listens to Athena. She sounded kind and understanding when she came close to her. Shani walks to the enormous tree and shifts back immediately. It still hurts to shift. Normally, after the first few times, the pain is gone, but Shani was never allowed to shift once they found out what she was. Today, it was her ninth shift in five years, seven of which have occurred in the last few days. "Are you okay?" Athena asks, supporting her while handing over the clothes. She quickly put on the shirt and leggings Athena brought her, shivering from the adrenaline still pumping through her body.

"Come, let's join the others before they kill the humans," Athena says to her. The witch smiles, amused, but her eyes reveal the worry she felt before. Together, they walk back to the part of the forest where Shani saw the girl. Now she sees there is another girl at the scene. She looks terrified, but doesn't hide behind her friend. Instead, she's just staring at the wolves until Shani reappears. When the girl sees her, her eyes widen immediately.

"Guys, back off, you're scaring them," Athena whispers, but Demir answers her with a growl.

"She's a hunter, Athena," he says, "I don't like hunters very much."

"I am not a hunter," the girl says. Demir scoffs. "So, the gun and the crossbow weren't meant to kill us?" he says, approaching her dangerously fast.

"Wait, don't hurt them," Shani yells, receiving a few confused looks from the rest. "She almost killed you," Darius says softly. "I know," Shani says, stepping forward, "but only because he attacked them."

"Who?"

"M-my mate."

"Your what? What are you talking about?" Demir's puzzled face watches Shani carefully. "It's why I ran," she whispers. "I sensed my mate and followed his scent. He was here, but he fled from the scene."

"He left you?" Athena asks in disbelief.

"Where is he; I'm gonna punch him," Demir answers; the fire kindling in his eyes.

"Don't, please. He seemed terrified, there must have been something wrong." Why else would he have left her? Why did he run away? Didn't he even want to give her a chance?

"His scent is all over the place," Darius says, frowning his eyebrows. "I don't sense his exact presence in the forest," Athena adds. "He's here, I can feel it, I just don't know where," Shani whispers, feeling more desperate by the minute.

"He's probably heading for the lake." All their heads turn to the human who just spoke... she doesn't seem intimidated by the fact four powerful supernatural creatures, one she tried to kill a few minutes ago, are staring at her. This girl has nerves of steel.

"Why?"

"To cool off, wash away his scent; you said he was terrified, he's probably calming his nerves in the water."

"And how would you know that?"

"Because I used to be a hunter."

"Look, I'm trying to help here. That wolf was like a starved lion in an arena. There will be a trace to follow because all the animals crossing him would have run in the exact opposite direction. Find the empty path, and you'll find your mate."

"Who are you?" Shani asks them, stunned by the hunter's words. "I'm Denise, and this is Kara," she answers, shielding the other human a little from their group. It's very clear this girl has no clue about the supernatural world; seeing Shani change must have been unbelievable.

"Is she your mate?"

"We don't call it that, she's my girlfriend."

"She doesn't know, does she?"

"I don't know what? Denise, what's going on? Even after seeing Shani turn from a leopard to a human, the girl–Kara- isn't convinced about the situation. It's not a matter of stupidity or ignorance. This girl is on the edge of throwing away everything she thought she knew; in Shani's eyes, there isn't anything more difficult than that. The hunter looks at her mate, then to the other four, the guilt written all over her face. "I'm sorry, Kara, I never meant for you to find out this way, or ever honestly, because it's too dangerous for people like us," she whispers.

"What do you mean, people like us?"

"Humans. Not supernatural."

"Right," Kara chuckles, "because that," she points at Shani, "just happened". Connecting the dots must have been too much for her, because after speaking the words out loud–making it real–her body collapses. Demir, who was still standing close to them, catches her before she could fall on the hard forest ground. He places her softly on some moss and quickly takes a few steps back to give the two humans their much-needed space. It only takes a couple of seconds for Kara to wake up again, but she refuses to open her eyes for a couple more minutes.

"I have to find him; I want to know why he ran off," Shani says to Athena, not paying much attention to the two humans. He cannot just run away and expects her to be okay with it. He must have a lot of strength to ignore the mate bond drawing them together. She almost doesn't know whether to feel impressed or horrified by that thought. Almost. Athena nods, but Demir shakes his head in disapproval. "I'll go with you Shani, you shouldn't be alone," Demir says, squeezing her shoulders softly.

"I'm not sure whether that's a good idea. It's not recommended being in the presence of another male when you meet your mate," Darius says gravely and Demir answers reluctantly: "He's got a point, if I had stood between Darius and Athena, my head wouldn't be so close to my body right now."

"You got that right," Darius growls.

Athena gestures to Shani she should go. "Go get him, we'll be here," she whispers, and Shani jumps up and starts her search for her mate. The hunter was right; there is a path available if you follow the right track. Shani follows it until she finds his scent again and just like the first time she smelled it, it was overwhelming. He must know she's approaching him, but this time, he doesn't run away. She's relieved he stays; it means there is a chance for a proper meeting and a normal conversation.

While she tries to keep her heart rate as normal as possible, she walks slowly towards her mate. He is - just like the hunter said he would be - sitting by the lake. It's a beautiful sight, Shani admits to herself. The clear blue water contrasts with the different shades of green all around them, and the werewolf sitting before her is the most beautiful aspect of it all. Only his back is visible; he's wearing a bright-yellow T-shirt, making him stand out even more. His broad shoulders move slowly, showing his breathing is steady again.

Shani says nothing when she walks towards him; she's too nervous. He still doesn't turn around; if she hadn't known he had enhanced hearing, she would have believed he hadn't noticed her yet. Why is he ignoring her? What did she do wrong? The bond between them is pulling her towards him, but she's working against it. She will not give in if he isn't even looking at her.

She places herself on the ground beside the werewolf, with a safe amount of space between them. His feet are in the water, but she pulls her own legs towards her, not wanting to get wet. She hates water. There are a million questions she wants to ask him, but there's one question her insecure self is worrying about the most.

"Why did you run?"

Shani doesn't get an answer, which frustrates her more than she could express. Why can't he talk to her? A part of her wants to walk away, but she knows their connection will make that almost impossible; it would hurt too much. A significant part of her wants to touch him; shake him until he talks. But a smaller part, the kind part, wants to give him time.

"I'm Shani," she begins.

...

"Leon," he says. Shani's relief when she hears him speak is great. He talked to her. His voice is low and a little raspy, as if he hadn't spoken in a long time, and his face barely changed when he forced his name out of his mouth. His facial muscles seem glued together, preventing him from smiling.

"Do you want me to go?"

"No."

And so, they just sit there in silence, gazing at the water, the trees, or each other. For how long, Shani doesn't know, nor does she care. His presence makes her heart calm and her head empty. Shani is certain he feels it too, it's the only reason he hasn't left. That thought gives her hope he isn't gone tomorrow. Maybe he'll stay close; maybe he'll even stay with her? She still doesn't know why he ran away from her earlier, but she knows the panic he felt was there for a reason.

Just a few days ago, she witnessed the meeting between Athena and Darius. It was beautiful; they didn't fight their connection; they embraced it. Despite their issues towards trusting people, they trusted the mate bond; they chose to trust each other. Why is it so different for her? She's only trying to ignore the bond because she's quite certain he'll run off again if she tries to come closer. Why is he fighting the bond? What is holding him back?

"I'm a werecat," she says, "and my friends just found out." Saying it out loud makes her realize what really just happened. "Do you know what they did?" The silence is making her nervous, but knowing he's listening, she keeps talking. "I thought they'd kick me out and leave me in the forest to die," she says grimly, "that's what my old pack did, but for some reason, they didn't."

"Athena, she's a witch. She gave me my clothes and told me to relax. Darius, her werewolf mate, saved my life by jumping before an arrow that was pointed at my heart. And Demir, another werewolf, made sure that the hunter didn't have time to fire a second arrow. After that, he wanted to go with me to find you, but we all agreed that probably wasn't a good idea," she says, releasing an awkward chuckle.

"Anyway, I don't know what I did to deserve it, but they saved me. They like me; they consider me their friend. It feels weird to say it out loud; nobody ever wanted to be my friend because I wasn't a werewolf. I couldn't help it there aren't many werecats left in the world; that's not my fault, so why would they punish me for it, that doesn't seem fair, right?"

She isn't really expecting an answer.

"Anyway, I have friends now and since they helped me, I'm sure we can help you. Would you like to come with us?"

"Not a good idea."

"Oh. Do you want to run away again?"

...

"No."

"Good. So come with us."

I-I hurt people," he says, sounding so sad, it breaks her heart too.

"We don't get hurt that easily. We'll only hurt each other if we ignore it. Can you give it a chance?"

Silence.

"Please?"

A longer silence.

"Yes."