Chapter 13

Aria's POV

"Aria, I am a werewolf, and you are my mate." Forest said. A concerned look in his eye. He thought I was going to hate him for who he was, what he was, and I thought I would, but it's Forest. He has never hurt me, and he makes me feel safe. Layla said he would always protect me and I believe her, a terrible choice which would probably bite me in the back, but here we are.

"What do you mean by mate?" I wrote. Layla had told me a bit, but she wasn't very clear, and I was kind of panicking over the whole werewolves being real part and probably should have been paying more attention to her explanations.

"Well, each werewolf has one true mate. Like a soul mate. The one person who holds the other part of their soul," Isla explained, "Without a mate a male wolf would slowly turn mad, always fighting their wolf for dominance, giving them a mate gives the man and the wolf a common goal to protect their mate, helping them stop fighting and become one."

That makes sense. It all matched what Layla had said in my dream. I was confused and tired and I wanted to go to sleep in a warm bed. "Can we continue this another time. I'm tired." I wrote, not waiting for an answer before running upstairs.

I was about to climb into bed when there was a knock at my door. I opened it to see Forest standing there. "Aria. I'm sorry I got you mixed up in this. I hope I can make it up to you one day." I nodded my head in acknowledgement and watched as he walked down the hall.

I wanted to call him back, to tell him it didn't matter that he was a wolf, that I loved him. But I was too afraid. I knew he wouldn't hurt me. But I was still scared.

I lay down in bed and tried to fall asleep. It was impossible. I couldn't get comfortable and I couldn't calm my mind down. Nothing I did worked, and I knew that I wasn't able to sleep because Forest wasn't there, but I was too proud to admit that.

----------

After a night of tossing and turning and not being able to sleep I dragged myself downstairs for breakfast, looking across the table at Forest he didn't look much better.

"I agree we need to go but we can't leave them here." I heard Isla say as she walked into the kitchen, talking to Atlas.

Forest had also looked up at the end of his mum's conversation, "What is it mum?" He asked, looking confused.

Atlas was the one who answered, "We are needed in the pack house, will you be ok on your own here?" He directed the question at me.

I thought about it for a while before writing my answer down, "Can I come and meet some of your pack?" After meeting with Layla, I was less scared of the wolves and I wanted to meet some of them, maybe it would help me understand them better.

I looked from Forest to Atlas and Isla and they all wore the same shocked expressions, then again, I did run away a few days ago because of the whole werewolf thing, and they didn't know about my meeting with Layla.

Isla was the first to recover, "Of course you can come, I can get Forest to show you around the pack and to introduce you to a few people."

Forest gave me a small smile and I returned it, I wanted to know more about mates and I suppose Forest will know much more than I do.

-----------

"And this is the pack school," Forest said, showing me a large brick building, red in the sunlight. It looked inviting and had much more character then my school. We had been walking around the pack grounds for a few hours and there was so much to see. But wait, why does Forest go to my school when he could go to one full of his pack? I wrote down my question and watched as his face took on a slightly faraway look.

"A wolf will often know when their mate is near and will tell you to do things to help you find them. My wolf told me to change school and to sit next to you, he knew you were my mate and wanted to find you." He answered, a small smile on his lips.

Just then a bell rang and our ran a swarm of little children, rushing up to Forest, "Forest, Forest, come play with me." They all yelled. I was terrified of all the small children swamping us, but Forest just took it in his stride, playing tig and skipping, going from one child to the next, making them all welcome in whatever game he played.

On one side of the playground there sat a little girl. She had long brown hair, tied in bunches and green eyes. She reminded me of myself when I was little. She looked sad and lost. So, I was to her what I needed then. A friend.

Walking over there I decided how best to talk to her without frightening her. I sat down next to her and just watched the view for a bit before handing her my note pad. "Hello, I'm Aria, what's your name?" I had written.

The girl looked at me with tears flowing down her face. She sniffed before answering in a small, timid voice, "My name is Fern."

"Hello Fern," I wrote, "Why don't you join in with the others?" I asked, watching as her face fell.

"My mum's ill. I'm worried she will never get better. I thought maybe if I didn't play she would get better, but all the others said to give up." She was so much like me. I had the perfect advice for her.

"Never give up. Every cloud has a silver lining and there is a pot of gold at the end of every rainbow if you look hard enough." I wrote, it had been the saying that had got me through each and every beating my father and brother had dished out. It was my life line and I hoped it would help her too.

----------

After the children had gone back inside me and Forest walked back home. We sat in the sitting room and sat in thoughtful silence, "Where did you get that quote from?" Forest asked, breaking the silence.

I thought for a minute before writing my answer, "My mum used to say it to me when I told her I had a bad day, I repeated it to myself whenever I considered ending my life, when I thought no one loved me and I would be better off dead.

I had tears rolling down my face when I finished telling my story to Forest and he pulled me into a tight hug, holding me tight. "You are so brave Aria, I will never let them hurt you again. You are safe now. You are loved."

He held me tight and I stayed in the safety of his arms until we heard his parents come back home.

-----------

After tea I went up to bed and got changed before walking to Forest's room and climbing into his bed. He looked surprised to see me, but I didn't have my note pad, so he didn't ask me any questions, he just held me tight and we fell asleep.

In the middle of the night I woke up after a nightmare. I couldn't remember what it had been about, but I woke up to Forest shaking me, "Aria, Aria it's ok. It was a dream. I've got you, I promised you I'd keep you safe and I always keep my promises."

I turned so I was in his arms and he held me tight, stroking my hair. I rested my head on his chest and breathed deeply, calming my racing heart. I just stayed in his arms and listened to the beat of his heart. A lullaby to my ears and before I knew it I was asleep again.

----------

The next morning me and Forest walked down stairs to breakfast to see Isla and Atlas already around the table, drinking coffee and eating cereal.

"Hello, you two, do you have any plans today?" Atlas asked, putting down his cup while Forest reached for some bowls and I grabbed the cornflakes from the cupboard.

"I thought we would meet up with Skye and Ash, they wanted to meet Aria again since she now knows about werewolves." Forest said before turning to me, "If that's ok with you?" I nodded my head, I wanted to meet up with Forest's friends again too, they were nice, even if they were slightly unnerving.

----------

After breakfast I had a shower and put on some black jeans and a red jumper, before heading to the car. Just as I got there Isla came up to me, "Aria do you want to move into Forest's room, since you are mates. Most wolves move in with their mate when they find them, but it is up to you."

"I'd like that," I wrote, surprising myself. But as I thought about it I would like that, because I have fallen in love with Forest, slowly and without realising it. I have fallen deeply in love. I love Forest, as my mate, best friend and my love.