Matteo approached me slowly with a gentle smile as he reached his hand out, silently asking with his eyes for permission. I gladly intertwined our fingers, savoring the illustrious spark that radiated through my being the moment our hands touched.

He chuckled, a low rumble that rolled through his chest like a summer thunderstorm. Matteo pulled me close and enveloped me in his arms, holding me securely against his broad chest. He rested his chin atop my head for a moment while I was content to listen to his steady heartbeat.

I looked up at him and it felt like I was looking up at a skyscraper, strong and lovely. He smiled and placed a kiss on my forehead and then another on the tip of my freckled nose and another and another until our lips connected. He cupped my face and held me with such tenderness I nearly melted.

I stood up on my tip toes trying to close the gap between us, I was always wanting more of him. He smiled against my lips and he wrapped his arms around my waist and lifted me up off of the ground, spinning me once. When Matteo finally placed me down, it was not on the ground.

He laid me in the center of a luscious king sized bed, crawling playfully onto the bed through my knees and back to my lips.

Where did the bed come from?

I frowned lightly and turned away from him as I tried to figure out where we were but Matteo was quick to catch my chin lovingly in his hands and redirect my attention back to him, "Olive, I love you." He murmured against me and this time I was smiling, suddenly the room and how we got there didn't matter to me.

Matteo made quick work of undressing me, tossing my clothes messily onto the floor as if the only thing that mattered in the words right in that moment was just the two of us. His hand splayed across my hip bone, rubbing small circles on the exposed skin. I leaned back into the softness of the bed, already writhing beneath him after the simplest of touches.

As always, Matteo's keen eyes noticed everything. He smiled knowingly down at me as he slowly lowered his face to the same spot, placing a single, featherlight kiss on my hip bone before his attention was taken elsewhere. With a devilish smile he grazed his teeth against the waistband of my underwear, taking it between his teeth and dragging it down.

I laid there now completely exposed and vulnerable, at the mercy of Matteo and I couldn't get enough of the feeling. I screamed in ecstasy and my rolls back on their own accord as Matteo's lips connected with my core.

He teased me, bringing me to the edge again and again, refusing to give me what I wanted. What I needed. His sensual tormenting was driving me wild, I groaned loudly as I felt his mouth leave me and when my eyes snapped open we were no longer in the room.

I was standing alone in a river and the water that pooled around my knees ran red with blood. I scrambled to get away but the more I struggled with the current the further it dragged me in.

I screamed as the blood red water pulled me under, the liquid flooding my mouth and lungs as I was forced underwater. I surfaced sputtering, it was hot and sticky and I realized that this wasn't water at all...

***

My eyes flew open and I sat up immediately, my heart was pounding and there was a bead of sweat that ran down the side of my face. I looked frantically around and realized that I was not back in the river, I laid back down with a sigh of relief as I understood that it had been a dream.

My hand brushed against my neck gingerly and I remembered sadly that not everything had been just a dream. Matteo had indeed marked me and as a result it was discovered that I wasn't already in fact a werewolf so I was transitioning. No romantic, cheesily perfect relationship or river made of blood.

As I settled back down, I happened to glance to the side of me and I was face to face with Matteo. He sat calmly beside me and I instantly sat back up, scooting a few inches away from him for good measure.

Matteo raised an eyebrow and nodded to himself, seemingly pleased. "You're not dead, that's a good sign."

I glowered over at him and crossed my arms across my chest, "No thanks to you." I pulled my knees up to my chest and rested my head atop them.

Matteo scoffed lightly, "The first night is the most telling, you're alive so no thanks necessary." He smoothly pushed off of the grass and started to walk away from me.

"Thanks?" I repeated.

He turned back around to face me, a cocky smile on his lips and zero signs of remorse. "I stayed up all night making sure you didn't croak in your sleep, you're welcome."

I walked into that, definitely should've seen that one coming.

As soon as I started stalking towards Matteo, Amias scrambled over from the other side of the clearing and blocked my path. "Olive, don't." He kept moving as I did, barring me at every step I tried to take. "It's not good for you right now."

I angrily scrunched my nose and raised my hands in a temporary display of an armistice and Amias let a breath out in relief as he watched me visibly calm down on the exterior. In reality on the inside I was anything but calm, he didn't need to know and worry about that however.

Fran came over with Devin, the pair walking and behaving suspiciously chummy together. I made a mental note to revisit that.

She tucked her hair behind her ears as she looked me up and down before offering me an encouraging smile, "You look great, how do you feel?"

Honestly, before Fran asked me that I hadn't even realized that I was no longer in any pain. I nodded positively, "Surprisingly, pretty okay."

Devin laughed, clapping me on the shoulder. He looked significantly better from the last time I saw him when he was struggling not to maul me alive because of my wound. "Pretty okay isn't all that encouraging."

"I feel good." I corrected and it wasn't a lie. I was in no pain and I wanted to murder Matteo, nothing out of the ordinary there so I was tentatively optimistic.

"You're welcome, again." Matteo called, I took a deep breath as I fought the urge to take the bait he was goading me with. He really was the worst, I can't believe we almost...

Amias took me by the arm, "C'mon, we need to go over a few things." I followed him as he guided me over to his spot from earlier where various books and medical supplies littered the floor. "I'm guessing you have lots of questions."

I nodded and he mirrored my movements. "You survived night one which is a big deal, so congratulations are in order. From here on out, it should be smooth sailing."

"Should be?" I cautiously repeated.

Amias anxiously began picking up his belongings with a light laugh, "The majority of human to werewolf deaths take place then, the others during the first shift but that is mostly caused by lack of knowledge and support. You will have both of those so like I said, congrats you're basically a werewolf."

I twined my hands through my hair, "I just can't believe that all this time I've been a human." I thought back to the countless nights spent crying myself to sleep because I wasn't like everyone else, all of the times where I convinced myself that something was wrong with me. After all of my struggling to find my wolf only to now know that all of that was pointless because there was no wolf there to begin with.

"It's a lot for you to take in, I know." Amias agreed, "I don't have all of the answers but just know that we are all here for you, Olive. This is a difficult time for you and you're going to need all the friends you can get."

"I on the other hand, do have all the answers." Matteo announced from behind me and I swore I saw Amias roll his eyes.

Matteo moved forward and took hold of my other arm giving Amias a pointed look, I sighed as Amias was forced to release me. It wasn't his fault, his wolf was programmed to bend to Matteo's will so I couldn't be angry as he released me to the mercy of Matteo.

He tugged me away until I pulled my arm out of his grasp, walking on my own accord. I didn't know where we were headed but for some reason my mind lingered back to my dream from earlier. I stared over at him, trying to imagine this version of Matteo, the real Matteo doing anything remotely loving. Not that I wanted that, of course.

I grew increasingly more nervous the further and further we ventured away from the group, the last time we were off on our own he'd marked me so my nerves were valid.

Finally, Matteo came to a stop. When he looked at me for the first time I saw guilt and genuine concern, "How are you feeling, really?"

"Why do you care all of a sudden?" I retorted quickly.

He sighed in annoyance, "You're my mate, Olive."

I threw my hands up in the air, "I can't keep up with you, honestly, Matteo." I folded my arms across my chest and began pacing, "Either hate me or..." I hesitated, "Or I don't know, tolerate me but you need to make up your mind."

"I had to mark you, there was no other way." He said suddenly and I laughed.

"There was no other way?" I narrowed my eyes, "You couldn't have oh, I don't know, asked me or warned me?"

Matteo watched me carefully, "You were a human, there was no way you could work on our bond in that state. You needed to be a wolf."

"See there's always an excuse, there's always something with you, Matteo." I stopped pacing in front of him.

"Do you feel it too?" Matteo asked slowly, his voice was cautiously curious.

He didn't need to explain, I knew he was referring to the bond. Again, I thought back to the dream from earlier but that was just a dream and didn't...it couldn't constitute genuine feelings for someone. "I don't know what you're talking about." I bitterly replied, "Besides, if you truly did feel anything for me you have a hell of a way to show it."

From the moment I woke up this morning, Matteo had been an unapologetic ass. Hardly someone who was experiencing a change of heart.

Matteo looked down at his shoes, his long hair falling into his face and strangely I wanted to run my hand through it and push it away. "At the river...I've never felt that before." He said softly.

I'd never experienced anything like that before either. Unlike the last time we'd kissed in the bathtub, I was entirely sober and without any remorse. I couldn't explain away the passion I'd displayed.

"I'm a f:ck, Olive." Matteo announced with a pressing urgency to his voice as he stepped closer to me, I didn't budge. "I'm an awful person and I enjoy it. I'm no good at this, with you." He took a deep breath, "What I felt for you scared me, I reacted impulsively and marked you. And when you woke up, I didn't know what to do, how to act so--"

"So you decided to be a dick?" I finished for him and with the smallest of smiles he nodded. "I believe the words you're looking for are 'I'm sorry'."

Matteo looked up at me with a newfound sincerity that was foreign to us, "I'm sorry, Olive."

I laughed bitterly, refusing to believe his apology but Matteo gently captured my face in his hands, holding me tenderly just as he had in my dream and I shivered.

"I mean it." He pressed and I found myself closing my eyes, relaxing into his touch. "You are becoming a werewolf now, this is a new start for us. I can't promise that I'll be a completely different person, in fact I won't...But, what happened between us was real. It was real and that is enough for me to be able to stand here and swallow my pride to admit that I need you, Olive."

Sh:t.

I was probably going to regret this. Most likely definitely regret this but it wasn't enough to stop me. I leaned forward and kissed Matteo, shocking the both of us and any doubts of anguish melted away in that second.

😂