I plopped my legs down on Logan's lap as we settled into his couch, switching on the television.

"Are you hungry?" asked Logan, causing my stomach to rumble, realising I hadn't eaten anything since that morning.

I nodded. "Yeah, do you want me to make something?"

"There's some cold pizza in the fridge if you want something quick? If not, I can cook something," replied Logan, going to get up off the couch, but I put my hand out.

"Yeah, pizza seems good. Don't worry, I'll get it," I said, making my way into the kitchen, humming to myself as I strolled.

As I slid the glass door open, I noticed Heather sitting at the kitchen table, her eyes intently focused on her hands as she fiddled with her fingers. I continued to look at her as I made my way to the fridge, but she didn't look up.

Millie waddled up to me, her pigtails bouncing with every step as she flashed her pearly white baby teeth at me. "Hello," she mumbled, grabbing onto the bottom of my jeans.

"Hi Millie, you look pretty today," I spoke, pointing at her fluffy pink and purple tutu she was twirling in.

Millie smiled, nodding. "Mommy made it for me."

Heather's head shot up, her stormy eyes meeting mine, flickering them to Millie as she gazed down at her sadly.

"Well, it's beautiful," I said, smiling, my eyes meeting Heather's.

"I want to see Logan!" squealed Millie as she tottered out of the kitchen towards the living room where Logan was noisily watching TV.

"You're a pretty good seamstress," I said to Heather, plopping the slices of pizza down on a plate, turning my back to her, knowing she would probably just shrug me off or tell me to go away.

"It's pretty much my only talent," replied Heather, causing me to turn to her, surprised she had spoken to me without her tone sounding rude or obnoxious. I raised my eyebrows at her, unsure of what to say or how to respond, standing there awkwardly. "I made those pyjamas I gave you."

My eyes widened and I furrowed my brows. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know. I promise I'll give them back to you."

Heather shook her hand, holding her hands up. "It's fine. I can just make some more. It looks like you're going to be needing some pyjamas now anyway since you're staying here."

I nodded, flashing Heather a small smile.

Heather leaned back, pulling her black hair out of her ponytail, ruffling it up messily as she ran her hands through it. "So, you and Logan look pretty cosy. What's that about?"

I shrugged, feeling awkward. "Well, he is my mate."

Heather raised her eyebrows, looking at me in surprise. "So you've accepted it now?"

"Why try and hide it around you? You already know," I replied, taking a bite of my pizza.

"Eliza, I just want the best for Logan. This family hasn't been that lucky in love. I just want one thing to turn out right for somebody."

"What about your mate?" I asked, remembering Heather had mentioned him at the dinner table when I first met her.

Heather's eyes turned gloomy as she dropped her gaze, bowing her head, avoiding eye contact.

"He left after he found out I was pregnant with Millie."

I bit my lip, shaking my head. "I'm sorry," I said, pulling a chair out and taking a seat opposite Heather.

Heather shrugged, shaking her head. "Turns out I wasn't his one and only. He didn't want to commit. He didn't want kids. So, he left without any goodbyes; just a stupid note."

I studied Heather's face, and I could see the pain lingering behind her eyes. It was obviously a tricky thing for her to talk about. The usual emotions of rage and annoyance she held had now dissipated, morphing into grief and anguish. "Millie will grow up without a father. She'll feel the exact same things I feel and she'll have the same questions I have. Why wasn't I good enough for him? Why didn't he want me? These are thoughts I battle with every single day, and it kills me. Sometimes, it's hard to breathe."

I couldn't do anything but listen to Heather. I didn't want to interrupt or ask questions. I didn't want to push her over the edge when she was clearly hurting.

"I don't want Logan to go through this. I want him to have a mate who loves and accepts him for who he is. I never want him to question why he wasn't good enough. I just want something to go right for at least one person in this family," said Heather, her stormy eyes boring into my dark chocolate brown ones.

I nodded in understanding. "I know. Logan and I haven't had the best start to all of this and it's new to both of us, but I won't be like your mate. I won't do that."

Heather nodded, wiping her sweaty palms on her jeans as she stood up. "Good. Well, I think we should get going."

I could tell Heather felt awkward about blurting out her feelings to me, and she was clearly in a hurry to leave as she collected all of her belongings, shoving her coat on as quickly as she could. "Millie!" she called, waiting impatiently by the front door.

Logan rounded the corner, a giggling Millie cradled in his arms like a little baby. "You leaving?" asked Logan, settling Millie down on the floor carefully.

Heather nodded, lifting Millie up into her arms. "Yeah."

"Okay, bye," replied Logan, making his way back into the living room, clearly still a little annoyed with Heather's behaviour earlier.

Heather dropped her gaze, opening the front door and stepping out, but she quickly turned to me, flashing the tiniest of smiles. "Thanks Eliza."

I smiled back as she quickly closed the door behind her, leaving me standing in the kitchen, an uplifting aura around me. I finally felt like Heather didn't actually hate me, and she was just somebody who was dealing with a lot, and didn't properly know how to express her feelings. I was sure Logan had been listening to the entire conversation, despite how loud the television was.

Logan appeared round the corner, raising his eyebrows at me.

"You shouldn't eavesdrop. It's impolite," I said, shaking my head and laughing.

Logan smiled, walking up behind me and wrapping his arms around me, causing me to melt into the warmth of his chest. "I couldn't help myself, I'm sorry."

"She's been through a lot," I mumbled.

"She has. I try to help her out as much as possible. I built an amazing house for them and I try and give her everything she wants, but it'll never take away the pain."

I sighed, closing my eyes, turning around in Logan's arms so I was facing him. "I know she's worried I'll break you."

"You definitely have the ability to," replied Logan, shaking his head and chuckling, flashing his pearly white teeth. "I'm just hoping you won't."

"The last thing I want to do is hurt you."

Logan leaned forward, pressing a lingering kiss on my forehead, sending tingles spark throughout my body.

I couldn't deny the feelings I had towards Logan. At first, I didn't know what to feel, and I had told myself I didn't want to feel anything, but I couldn't deny the mate bond. The situation was difficult and invasive, stopping Logan and I to fully focus solely on each other, but I had to be thankful I had a mate who cared for me; Heather's story had really struck a cord.

A knock at the door caused me to jump, furrowing my brows at Logan. "Is that your Mom?" I asked.

Logan shook his head. "It shouldn't be. She said she was going to be staying at Heather's tonight. She might be back to collect some stuff."

Logan pulled the door open, peering out into the darkness to see a very sweaty Theo standing in the doorway. "Theo? What are you doing here?"

"Oh, good, Eliza's here," said Theo, motioning towards me. "I got back from my run and you weren't at the house so I was just checking you were here."

"You need to shower," I laughed, sniffing at the air.

"Yeah, yeah I know," laughed Theo, wiping the sweat off his forehead.

"I haven't been on a run in ages. Can we go on one?" I asked Logan excitedly, smiling up at him.

"I was just going to finish some paperwork whilst we watched TV," replied Logan, furrowing his brows.

"I'll go on one with you if you want," said Theo, causing Logan to squint his eyes.

"You've just been on one," replied Logan.

Theo shrugged. "I could work on my stamina. I don't mind going for a quick one whilst you do your paperwork."

"It'll be really quick and then I'll come straight back here," I smiled, pleading with Logan with my eyes.

Logan shook his head. "Rosalina got attacked out there. It's dangerous, especially at night."

"We'll stay by the border. We'll literally be ten minutes," I begged.

Logan rolled his eyes. "Fine. If you're not back in ten minutes, I will come out looking for you myself."

I could tell Logan wasn't happy about the situation, but he knew he couldn't keep me locked up in a house forever. I was itching to get out, even if it was for just a short period of time.

"Make sure nothing happens to her," growled Logan, turning to Theo who raised his hands up defensively.

"She's safe with me," Theo replied, smiling at me as I made my way through the doorway and down onto the gravel path, waving at Logan as we walked towards the forest line.

"Let's see if you can keep up big boy," I teased, morphing into my light grey wolf and sprinting off into the woods, gazing back to see Theo shift into his speckled black one, shaking his head at me as he chased me.

We continued to run, leaping over ditches and logs, challenging each other on who could jump the furthest. The feeling of the evening breeze spiralling through my fur, creating an overwhelming sense of tranquillity to flow through me.

Suddenly, Theo zoomed past me, encouraging me to push myself and run faster, the sound of my pads hitting the forest floor creating a steady thudding rhythm. I shook my head as I gained speed, coming up behind Theo, preparing myself to leap over him, taking him by surprise, but I never got the chance.

Theo halted to a stop, skidding across the forest floor. I attempted to slow myself down behind him, bumping into him as I hooked my claws into the ground, trying to pull myself to a stop.

Theo growled, staring at two men who stood in front of us, their heads held high.

"We mean no harm. However, we ask you to shift, so we know no harm will come to us," one of the men announced, raising his eyebrows at Theo. It was hard to hear them over the sound of aggressive rushing water from the wide river beside us, but I could just about make out what they were saying, not liking the mysterious tone that was being used.

Theo took a step forward, looking down at the men, baring his teeth.

"We don't want a fight. Please just hear what we have to say, but first, again, we ask that you shift."

I shook my head at one of the men as he pulled off his top, throwing it over to me. The other followed his lead, throwing his denim shorts over to Theo, leaving him standing there in a pair of boxers.

"If you're worried about your modesty, then take these."

I glanced over at Theo, who nodded, morphing back into his human form and pulling on the denim shorts.

Squinting my eyes at the two men who stood in front of me, I made my way over to a tree, shifted and pulled on the extra large top, thankful it flowed all the way down to my knees.

"What are you doing on the border of this territory?" asked Theo loudly, asserting himself greatly as I went to stand next to him, sure to keep him close.

The two men in front of us laughed, and I glared at them, taking a step back, grabbing onto Theo's arm, alerting him that these guys were going to be trouble.

But, before I could say anything, I was grabbed from behind and pulled away from Theo's side, helplessly watching as Theo was also grabbed, and pushed down onto the floor, his face being shoved into the leaves and mud. I clawed at the arms around me, using my nails to scratch at the skin of my attacker, but it only made him tighten his grip around my waist, squeezing me until my ribs ached.

"What are you doing?" I screamed as Theo was stabbed with a syringe, causing him to wail out in pain.

"Wolfsbane, Eliza! It's wolfsbane!" yelled Theo, grunting as he clutched at his side.

"It'll keep you both weak and stop you from shifting," said the man in front of me, grabbing my arm and aggressively piercing my skin with the needle, injecting me. I cried, falling to the ground, attempting to crawl over to Theo, but I was grabbed and hauled away from his crippling body.

"Let go of me!" I wailed, kicking out in any direction I could as I was grappled, my hands arms being pinned to the cold dirty floor.

I could feel the wolfsbane taking affect, and my muscles began to shut down, making any slight movement feel like I was lifting ten tonnes in weight. I looked over at Theo who was looking in my direction, his eyes barely open and his hands stretched out in pain, gripping at the dirt. The men were by his ankles, tying multiple knots in the thick rope they were securing around them. My eyes trailed down to the end of the rope, where a large boulder was connected; the rope tightly wrapped around it multiple times so that it was secure.

I gasped, shaking my head. "What are you doing? Stop!"

Suddenly, Theo was picked up by multiple men, walking past me and stopping just on the brink of the deep wide roaring river.

"No! Please stop!" I screamed, attempting to push myself up off the ground, only to crumble into a heap on the floor.

Theo was released, and he flew through the air, landing with a loud splash in the water, sinking to the bottom of the river bed, the boulder weighing him down, stopping him from being dragged along with the current, but unable to swim back up to the surface.

The men turned, making their way over to me as they grabbed my ankles, wrapping them with thick rope just as they had with Theo's. I kicked and screamed, feeling my body disapprove of the large movements, causing fatigue to sweep through my entire body.

"Get off me!" I wailed as they hoisted me up, making their way over to the river bank. I gazed down into the murky water, the speed of the current creating a loud rushing sound, causing my ears to ring.

Suddenly, I was thrown.

Time seemed to stand still for the seconds that I was in the air. It felt like a lifetime that I was up there, falling to my death.

I was twenty. I had barely lived. I hadn't got to do any of the things I wanted to do. I had never got be a proper mate to Logan. I never got the chance to start a family. I never got the chance to reconcile things with my own family.

In that moment, all I could feel was sorrow, because I knew that Theo and I would be found like this one day, and we would just be known as the two kids killed in the river.

I gasped, taking my last breath before hitting the ice cold water, my body going into instant shock, and then, I was fully submerged, drifting down to the bottom of the river.

Drifting down to my death.

...................................................

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