He is here, he is really here. My wolf whispered once more.

I nodded to myself still surprised and he removed his hand from my mouth. I was not going to shout but I was frightened. He was here, in the Alpha House when everyone was out there, looking for him. The intruder. Shirtless, my shirtless mate...

"We need to hurry, get dressed." he said in a low voice and headed to the window.

Get dressed? What was he talking about? I was not going anywhere. "What?" I asked a little lost.

"Yes, we need to go now. Before daylight, it'll be easier this way." he replied, his eyes never leaving mine.

"I'm not going anywhere, I don't even know you."

"You do, you are my mate." he walked to the bed and sat next to me. I tried to pull the covers up, feeling too exposed in my pajamas but he didn't seem to care.

"That's... the only thing I know about you." I whispered. "You are a stranger."

He held my hands softly, the now familiar spark running through our skins. I raised my head to find his eyes, feeling the natural pull, the current between us. "I know and that is why I want you to come with me. I want to show you who I really am."

I sighed and thought about it for a second. Yes he hadn't hurt me before and had saved my life, this without taking into account that he was my true mate. Maybe I could trust him. I nodded reluctantly "Fine, I'll go with you." A light smile appeared on his face but quickly faded. "But, I need to be back before dawn. We can't risk it."

"You will be here in time, I promise. Change. We need to go, now."

I stood up from my bed and made my way to the closet. I took a pair of jeans and a hoodie. My hands grabbed the end of my tank top to remove it, but I stopped. I turned around to see him watching me, his intense gaze on me and my body. I shifted uncomfortably, and he closed his eyes allowing me some privacy.

Once I was sure he wasn't peeking, I changed and made a ponytail. "I'm ready."

He walked towards me and stopped a few inches away. "We need to get out of the territory in minutes, so follow me and never stop running, until we are safe. If not, they'll catch us." He whispered as his thumb grazed my cheek.

I was silent, having a conversation with my wolf, that apparently seemed pretty awake now with his very close presence, too distracted to pay attention.

We should runaway and never come back, look at him. She said.

No, stop. If we are doing this we need to focus. Dad is out there looking for him.

But we have him.

Indeed.

"Any questions?" he asked.

I did have a lot of questions, but for now there was one thing that still wasn't clear to me.

"How did you escape last night and the other night?" I asked with certain fear. We were mates but there was so much that I didn't know about him and so much I wanted to find out.

He took my hand and I felt the urge to hug him all of a sudden. "I'll answer your question, but if we want to leave, we've got to go now." He led me to the window and opened it. "We need to jump, your guard is only at the front door. The rest is looking for me."

That last sentence made my uneasiness grow. "Wait, jump off the window?" I asked and gripped his hand tighter.

"It's okay, I'll catch you." He whispered in my ear and I felt goosebumps everywhere. "I promise."

Let's do this. My wolf said excited.

He jumped off the window like it was the easiest thing in the world and landed safely on the ground. I wasn't scared but I didn't want to break any bone or hurt myself. My healing process wasn't that fast just yet because I had never shift. "Are you ready?" he asked from below, waiting for me.

"Yes." I whispered and jumped. I bit my cheek to avoid from screaming.

"Hey," he said, and I opened my eyes to see myself in his arms. His hot skin pressed against mine, his scent filling my nostrils once more. "Let's go." He whispered looking at me with the same intensity I was, and I blushed even more when he slid me down his body onto the ground.

The woods weren't far from the pack house and we quickly ran to them. I followed him as fast as I could, but he did slow his pace for me knowing I couldn't handle too much speed.

I didn't know how much time we ran, but after a while he stopped. I did too and he took my hand as I gasped for air. His gaze drifted around the woods. "Your pack border is near, come." We walked until a river came into sight. "That's it." He said and in a second, I was scooped in his arms. I circled his neck shocked by his action.

"What.. W-Why..er" I rambled unsure of what he was going to do next. He smiled and walked across the river, not a single part of me getting wet.

"Thank you." I said to him when we got to the other side, his piercing blue looking at mine. He leaned to me and his nose nuzzled my cheek, slowly moving to my neck. He also sniffed me, taking in deeply my scent. I stopped breathing and moved my neck to the side, overwhelmed by the pleasurable feeling. It seemed any part of my body he touched, my skin sparked. I think we both felt it, and I knew by the way his breath had intensified.

"I.. we.. er, have we crossed?" I barely managed to ask and he backed away, coming back to reality.

"Yes, come on we are almost there."

Then we started running again, and with every step I wanted him to touch me again. I craved for him and my wolf wasn't helping. Oh God, just... ahh

I had never felt this way before and it was weird to want someone you didn't even knew. To want him in this carnal way, it was so hard to explain. I cleared my mind and kept on following him. We ran until we saw a red cloth hanging on a tree and we both stopped. "What's that?"

"This, is my territory."

We walked probably a mile until I saw a cottage. It was small and beautiful, right in the middle of the woods. There was light inside which made me wonder who lived there.

"Come." he said.

We surrounded it and that's when I saw it. The cottage was at the top of a hill, where you could see a nice valley that led to a small city.

"Where are we? You said this was your territory but.." My voice trailed off.

"Serena, this is my pack." he said, and I turned to him.

"Your pack?"

He nodded. "Yes, welcome to Eclipse Pack."

⌘⌘⌘

Eclipse Pack. I had heard many stories about other packs, but this one in particular didn't sound familiar and what surprised me the most, was how near it was from my pack. How come my father never mentioned it?

I keep thinking of this while I waited for my mate, sitting on the sofa of his cottage. He had put on a shirt, made us some tea and we had been silent for at least half an hour. Both of us, lost in thought. I guess mostly me, and he was just giving me the space that I needed. I looked at him and as if he had felt it, his gaze met mine.

"When you mean your pack, you mean as in..as in you are the, um.." I mumbled and he left his mug on the table and sat next to me, giving me his complete attention.

"You asked how I escaped that night." I nodded and he continued. "I camouflaged my scent."

That was all I needed to know. He had answered my questions, both of them with that sentence. A few years ago I had been taught only an Alpha could camouflage his own scent in order to protect himself from other threats.

I left my mug on the table as well and turned to him . "So you are an Alpha." I almost whispered.

"Yes."

"And.. you are my m-mate."

"Yes."

I was about to ask something else when I felt him pulled me to him all of a sudden until I was sat on his lap. He circled my waist with one of his arms while his hand took hold of mine. "Serena, I know this is all too much, but I want to explain." I nodded a bit nervous due to the intimate position we were in, but didn't back away. He continued. "When I entered your territory, I wasn't looking to harm anyone. I just wanted to know who you were, if your pack was a threat. Not many packs know about us, so we don't have many alliances to rely on if someone attack us. So I crossed your territory to be sure, but then I found him."

"Who?" I asked.

"A rogue, he had entered my territory a few nights before, so I chased him down. He escaped, and I continued searching until I came across with you. As a wolf, I didn't even recognize you as my mate because I was in full haunting mode, so I killed him; but when you touched me...in my human form, when you helped me, I knew. You were glowing, and I felt it. That crazy pull when we touch." He leaned and his nose grazed my cheek, my senses awaking. "I wanted to take you away, make you mine...but I was hurt. When I woke up, you were asleep in my arms. So I followed your scent and took you home, and before your soldiers knew someone had trespassed, I left." He murmured with a sad expression. "It was so hard to leave you behind, my wolf was practically begging for you, but I knew better than to put you in danger."

"Are you okay now?" I asked, remembering the huge wound across his ribs, even the thought was disturbing. It appeased me that by now, the wound was completely healed.

"Yes." His hand took the end of my hoodie and tried to pull it upward.

"What are you doing?" I asked, stopping him.

"Please, I want to show you something." He pleaded and it took me a moment, just one look at him and my hands fell at my sides, letting him. Trusting him.

He took my hoodie off me and I was left in my sports bra, under his gaze. I saw his eyes turned darker. He pulled me tighter until my legs surrounded his body, keeping us the closes we'd ever been. His hand traced my arm until it stopped at my right shoulder.

"Here." he said and pointed the spot where I had my birthmark.

I was born with it, only Alphas had it and every single mark was different, while my dad had a crescent moon just like our pack symbol, I had two crescent moons intertwined.

He took his shirt off too then, giving me no time to me and my wolf to react, and pointed at his shoulder. "Look."

Then I saw it, he had the exact same birth mark I had. I touched it and our pull intensified. Our chests pressed against each other and my breath stopped. "You are my true mate. You are mine."

My hands rested on his shoulders as we both enjoyed the proximity of our bodies. Skin to skin. The spark flowing through our bodies, our birthmarks symbols of our destiny.

Kiss me, I heard. Please.. My wolf pleaded

I lifted my gaze to his lips and gasped by the impulse that took over my body. But I wasn't the only one holding back. His eyes were telling me everything as they fell to my lips, his chest rising up and down rapidly as if he needed air. He leaned down, his eyes leveled to my own and ever so slowly our faces inched closer and when his lips grazed mine, I stopped him. "You never told me your name."

He smirked and his mouth pressed against my skin, his bottom lip grazing mine as he answered. "Mathew."