Chapter 11

Forest's POV

After Aria fell asleep in my car I carried her up to her room before slowly walking down, trying to avoid the inevitable confrontation. But of course, when I reached the bottom of the stairs Ash was still there, sitting on the sofa, waiting for answers that would be complicated to give.

"Where is Skye?" I asked, trying to avoid the questions for as long as possible. "She was needed at home, now back to the business of Aria." So much for evasion tactics.

"Who is she? Is she your mate? Why do you say you are just friends? Why haven't you told her the truth?" He bombarded me with questions, the easier questions to answer. He was saving the harder ones for later. I let out a sigh before answering the questions that would shortly lead to questions I didn't want to answer, I didn't know if I could answer. Not fully.

"She is Aria, a girl from my new school. I met her on my first day. Yes, she is my mate, but she doesn't know of our kind and she doesn't know she's my mate. I haven't told her because I want to gain her trust before freaking her out with my secret." I answered, wishing those were the only questions asked but I knew the harder ones were still to come.

"How did she get those scars? And what are you going to do about this mess?" I took my time telling Ash Aria's story, careful not to leave out any important details. By the end my stone hearted, outspoken friend had tears running down his cheeks.

"She went through that for 11 years, never running away or telling anyone." I shook my head. My wolf howled in pain for what my mate went through. Went through alone.

Ash broke the silence with the question I didn't have an answer to. "So, what are you going to do about it?" I don't know what I can do though. She isn't ready to know about our world, but my wolf wants his mate by his side.

I told Ash my concerns and we both sat in silence, lost in thought, trying to find the answer to a question I didn't know what to do about.

"Ask her out on a date." Ash finally said. "Date her like a normal human and then after you've been dating a while tell her. Make it so the mate bond is too strong for her to walk away." He had a point. His plan had some serious flaws, but it also had potential.

"That might just work." I said, thinking through his plan, going over the pros and cons and working out every single, minuscule detail that could go wrong.

We talked for ages, going through the plan and how to put it into motion. I planned on striking after tea, when she was least expecting it. You do realise how sinister that makes you sound my wolf sneered. Jeez you're just asking her on a date. I rolled my eyes, ignoring him.

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After tea I walked up to her room. Nervously knocked on her door and waited for her to answer. Feeling like a prey, a weird feeling. I'm a wolf nothing scares me, nothing but this.

She opened her door and looked at me, she looked beautiful, my mate. I took a deep breath and opened my mouth.

"Hey Aria. Ummm" Ok I can do this, I looked down at the floor and said in a rush. "Do you want to go on a date with me tomorrow?"

She was silent for a long time. I stopped looking at the floor and looked in to her eyes. Hoping, preying she'd say yes.

Tears were running down her cheeks and I thought I'd scared her or offended her. But then she nodded. I thought I'd die of happiness. My mate said yes. It was only for a date, but it was my mate, and this was a step in the direction I wanted to go in.

She smiled at me and I told her to meet me downstairs in at noon. I am not afraid to say I then ran around the house grinning madly until my Mum came across me and asked me what I was doing. I told her and then she joined in.

"What's going on here?" My Dad's confused voice stopped me and my mum running around the kitchen table for the 100 th time.

"Forest finally asked Aria on a date and she said yes!" My mum said sending a beaming smile at me. I smiled back, and my Dad pulled me into a hug. "Took you long enough," He joked, "Where are you taking her?" I smiled at that too. I just can't stop smiling today.

"I thought I'd take her to the lake." I said before leaving the room to get changed. I packed a picnic and both our swimming costumes and towels; the lake had a beautiful waterfall and was great to swim in. I also brought my camera, so I could take some pictures.

I then had a shower and got changed into some black jeans and a white t shirt. Before I knew it, it was noon and therefore time for my first ever date, and I had to make it perfect. No pressure then.

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I got downstairs and waited for Aria. I didn't have to wait long and let me tell you, she looked amazing. She had minimal makeup on and a simple sundress with leggings, but it suited her perfectly and she looked wonderful.

My mum squealed as she came down stairs and made us stop for some pictures. Then finally she let us go and I led Aria to my car, where I had already loaded the picnic and other things we needed.

"You look beautiful Aria." I said, and she blushed. She was cute when she blushed, and she was all mine.

We drove to the woods in silence, but it was a comfortable silence and it didn't feel awkward. As soon as I stopped the car I felt a hand tap my shoulder. I looked over at Aria, who wore a confused expression on her face.

Luckily, she had brought her note pad, so we didn't have to play charades, which I am terrible at, "Where are we?" I looked into her frightened eyes and I knew I'd scared her. Looking around me I could see the forest could be quite a scary place for those who didn't know it.

"It's fine, we're in the woods on the edge of the town. I used to come here a lot with my parents, there is a lake up ahead, I thought we could have a picnic."

I was worried she would hate my idea and want to go home but instead she smiled. "I used to love picnics" She wrote, I returned her grin and grabbed the basket from the boot, grabbing her hand and leading her to the lake.

When we got closer I turned around to see Aria gazing at the lake in awe. "It's so beautiful." She wrote, and I agreed. "I used to love this lake. We would go swimming in it or draw it and I thought you might enjoy it here."

I spread out the picnic blanket and sat down, bringing out sandwiches and hot chocolate. I don't know why. I just love hot chocolate.

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I spent the day swimming in the lake, eating cake and sandwiches and spending time with my mate. As it got dark I grabbed a blanket and wrapped it round our shoulders and we sat and looked at the stars. It was perfect.

All too soon we had to go back. I packed up the picnic and blanket and we walked back to the car. I looked over at Aria and she handed me her note pad. "I had a wonderful date. Thank you." I smiled at her and opened the car door for her.

Just before she got in there was a ferocious growl and a wolf came hurtling out the trees. Not just any wolf though, a werewolf. Wolves can smell if it is a normal or a werewolf, and this wolf reeked of were.

The wolf started circling the car. I was stuck on what to do. I could drive away but there is always a chance the wolf might follow and attack us, or I could fight back. The second one would be the best option, except Aria isn't ready to learn our secret.

The choice was taken out of my hands when the wolf lunged at Aria. My wolf took control and soon I was a big brown wolf. I jumped at the wolf before it could attack Aria and we fought.

We circled each other for a bit and in this time, I managed to herd the wolf away from the car and away from Aria. He made the first move and the first mistake. He lunged at me but in doing so left his flank unprotected I bit down, and he whimpered. He wrestled free and lunged again. I tried to get out of the way but this time I wasn't fast enough, and he bit down on my leg. He didn't have a tight grip, so I managed to pull out of his hold with only a scratch on my leg.

I had to think tactically, I couldn't afford to let this fight go on for much longer. I waited for him to strike again and this time I ducked under him, so his throat was exposed and bit down, ripping his throat and killing him.

I didn't want to, but I would do anything to keep my mate safe. I ran to the boot of my car where I kept spare clothes and got dressed.

I rounded the car and unlocked it. Climbing in the driving seat and looking into the eyes of my mate. My shaking mate. She had scribbled something on her note pad and she kept looking from the dead wolf to me and back.

"What was that. Get away from me you savage. Leave me alone. Please." As I was reading Aria's eyes were growing bigger and bigger. I looked into her eyes just as her eyes flickered and she fainted.

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I drove back to my house silently. Worried at what was going to happen. I wished she hadn't found out this way.

As I opened the door to the house my mum came charging around the corner. "How was it..." She started to say before she saw me in the entrance way with my fainted mate in my arms.

Instantly her smile turned to a concerned frown, "What happened," She yelled causing my dad to come through from the kitchen where he had been sitting. "You, boy, have some explaining to do," My mum continued to yell at me.

"One minute," I answered before running upstairs and putting my mate in her bed, hoping she would be calmer when she woke.

I ran back downstairs and told my parents everything. Hoping they knew who the wolf could be. Sadly, they were as stumped as I was, "The only thing we can do is look into it and hope they left some clues, as for your mate," My mum shot me a sympathetic smile, "You just have to hope she gets used to it."

I walked up to check on Aria, feeling lost at what to do. As I rounded the corner to her room I was hit by a breeze. I walked into the room to see the window open and Aria gone. On the bedside table there was a note, Dear Forest. I'm sorry. I wish I could say the wolf thing doesn't affect our relationship, but it does. So, I've gone away. I will find someone else to stay with. Thank you for letting me stay and I'm sorry things didn't work out differently. Aria. My wolf let out a mournful howl. My mate left us. She hates us for who we are. We are all alone now.