It was not until the next morning when Eve fully regained consciousness. It was later than she usually woke, but it was clear that her body and mind needed time to recover from the previous day's ordeal.

Sitting up rapidly with shock, Eve fell out of bed whilst hurrying to get her training clothes on. She ran down the hall and into the kitchen where Curtis stood at the stove preparing breakfast. He turned to face her as she flew through to the back door before stopping.

'What are you doing?' Eve said.

'Making breakfast. What are you doing?' Curtis replied as he corked his head to the side.

'Going outside to train. I slept late, I thought you would have been outside training already,' Eve stated confused.

'Training? No, not today. You should rest today. It was a long day yesterday and you deserve a break,' Curtis replied as he turned back to the food he was cooking.

'A break? I don't need a break. If anything, yesterday proves that I need to train even harder. It proves that I need to get stronger in order to not succumb to the mate bond. I need to train,' Eve said.

'I understand how you're felling. How about we make a deal? Sit down and have breakfast now. Later we shift and go for a nice run. I know it has to a long while since you have stretched out your wolf's legs.' Curtis tried to make a bargain.

'No. We train now like every other day since I have come here,' Eve put her foot down denying Curtis any wiggle room.

'Okay. Okay. But if you feel anything wrong, you have to tell me straight away and the training stops. Any pain, any feeling sick and training is over,' Curtis said giving in to her demands and switching off the stove. He turned and walked to the door following Eve.

'Can we... can we still shift and go for a run later?' Eve hesitantly questioned as she slowed, and Curtis walked past her.

'Yeah, I suppose it would be good for both of us,' Curtis replied.

Eve made her way over to stand in front of the tree.

'Not today. Something different. I know you do not want to take it easy. Trust me we won't,' Curtis interrupted her and motioned for her to stand in front of him.

'Hit me,' he said.

'What?' Eve scrunched up her face at him.

'You heard me,' Curtis said with a serious tone.

After hesitating momentarily, Eve threw a hard punch towards Curtis' torso. It was strong and fast just like every other punch she had thrown at the tree over the last few weeks. It was a punch that would have undoubtedly shook the tree.

Curtis stepped forward and to the side, catching Eve's fist under his arm, utilising her momentum, Curtis stepped back pulling Eve forward along with him effectively disrupting her balance. He released her stepped back again. Curtis stood unshaken, ready for the next attack.

'Again,' he said waiting for Eve to make a move.

'What are we doing? Why are we doing this?' Eve questioned Curtis as she moved backward and moving her feet to the position Curtis had first showed her the day that he started training her.

'Fighting. This is what you have been building you strength for is it not. So you are able to defend yourself. Now throw a punch,' Curtis said.

Eve nodded curtly and proceeded to throw another punch, careful not to step into the same trap. This continued for the next hour, Eve attacking but never able to land a punch. She never repeated the same mistake, but Curtis seemed to be able to see every flaw in her movements. And there sure was a lot of flaws.

'Alright that is enough for today,' Curtis said as Eve lay on the ground trying to force more air into her lungs.

'Come inside and eat breakfast now. I have a few things to do and then this afternoon we will go for that run,' Curtis said moving back to the cabin.

With a groan, Eve managed to get to her feet and follow Curtis inside. She collapsed on one of the chairs at the dining table. She bent forward and rested her head on the table turning to watch as Curtis divided up their breakfasts. She pushed herself up onto her elbows as Curtis placed a bowl in front of her. She was pleasantly surprised to see slices of banana sitting on top of the porridge. It was a nice change to have some freshness added to her diet.

'I bought a few things for you when we went out. A couple of books. A jacket – it is going to get cold up here quickly. A sketch pad with some pencils. A few other things - this and that you know. You ought to entertain yourself with some of it today before we leave,' Curtis said gesturing to two green plastic bags that sat at the entrance to the hallway.

'Really?' Eve's eye shot up to Curtis' face as her mouth was half filled with food.

'Yep,' Curtis nodded, trying not to laugh at the goofy expression of Eve's food-covered face.

'Thank you. I mean... really thank you so much. You have done so much for me already. You didn't have to,' Eve said trying to convey her sincerity as much as she could.

'I figured you would start to get bored during the day soon. Didn't want you to start bothering me outside of training,' Curtis said trying to brush off her appreciation. He quickly packed up their dishes and moved out of the kitchen and down the hallway - effectively retreating to his office.

Eve stood after a few moments and walked to the green bags cautiously. She picked them up and moved them over to the table. Carefully she took out each item. On top, there was a puffy jacket with a big hood that was a muted green colour. Slipping it on, she zipped it up - it fit perfectly. Slipping it off and folding it up, she turned to see what else sat in the bags.

As Curtis had said, there was a few books piled on top of each other - including a cooking book absolutely packed with recipes. She would enjoy reading them and trying out some new recipes. However, she wasn't sure what Curtis was trying to say about her cooking - she at least thought she was a half decent chef considering all of the time she had spent in the pack kitchens with Joanne. Maybe she had been wrong.

Also in the bag was a bundle of stretchy headbands - those would defiantly be useful when training. Curtis must have noticed how she had been trying out an array of different hairstyles trying to find the best one to keep her hair out of her eyes.

There were a few pairs of new socks - including some fluffy ones with grippy bottoms. After pulling out some new soap and candles, Eve finally pulled out the sketch pad that Curtis had described to her. The pages were thick, smooth, and high quality. Sitting at the bottom of the bag, a silver case remained.

Within the case there was an array of sketching pencils covering the whole spectrum of colours. Sitting down, she began to draw a rough outline of what the picture would eventually become.

Eve had always loved to sketch and paint - following in her mum's footsteps. Some of her fondest memories had been drawing and painting with her mum as a small child.

She sat for hours drawing until the image started to form more clearly on the page as she added shading and the colours began to blend together smoothly. She became so engrossed in page only coming out of her concentration when Curtis walked down the hallway and came to look her shoulder.

'Wow. If I had known you were such a good artist, I would have got you some more supplies - some better ones too,' Curtis said as he looked down appreciatively t the sketch pad.

On the page a woman and child were dancing in the sunlight, surrounded by a field of wildflowers. Both of their faces were filled with joy and delight, fully engrossed in each other's company.

'No no - you have given me more than I could ever hope for,' Eve shook her head, closed the sketch pad, and got up to begin making herself and Curtis lunch. Curtis sat at the table, watching as she busied herself around the kitchen.

Quietly the two ate their lunch before cleaning up the dishes. Eve and Curtis then made their way outside. Eve steadied herself as she stepped down onto the ground. Taking a deep breath, she prepared to shift.