May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.

Nelson Mandela

"That...That could have gone better," she said softly, when she heard the first harsh howl rip through the night, unable not to want to bury her face in her hands.

She wanted to burst into tears and rip people's heads off at the same time, needing to breathe against the pain Luke's refusal had resulted in that was growing in his chest.

Did he always need to be so damn idealistic?

She knew the answer to that because he wouldn't be the boy she had fallen in love with when he wouldn't be that.

"Where is he going?" She asked softly, not looking outside, knowing that if she even snuck a peek at the big black wolf she wouldn't be able to stop herself from shifting as well and running after him.

"That's my son retreating physically from a situation that could result in the most pain he ever felt in his life," Stephen Schuyler said shortly. "Give him some time ."

"We don't have time," Daphne retorted, burying her face in her hands. "I am going to hit the fucking ceiling if I need to see Cyril Randall ever again."

"Daphne, Honey, he's your father," Caroline implored softly. "He's...he's the only piece of your family that you..."

"No, he isn't," Daphne cut her off sharply. "He isn't my family, Caroline. You are. Matthew is, Ollie, Grace is my family. He's just the person that supplied half of my DNA. I don't know him, and I don't know if I want to know him," she brought out, her voice becoming more desperate by the second.

She wished he had never come here at all.

"I was...getting better, I was happy. I didn't want to think about Michelle anymore or about New York or everything that happened before I came here. I could just let myself fall into this place that Luke carved out for me and I didn't need to worry," she pressed out, unable to keep the tears at bay. "I want this life, I want early morning runs with Luke and him sleeping in front of my bed, and I want strawberry milkshakes and cotton candy, and I want my own room with a desk and a bed, and watercolour pencils...And I want to live my life without expecting somebody to slap me when when I wake up!"

"Daphne," Caroline whispered, but she couldn't help herself from starting to sob.

Daphne didn't want that anymore. She wanted the life she had built here in Fairbury, in that tiny town at the coast of Maine. She wanted that. All of that.

She wanted the walks at the beach and the icy winters. She wanted the werewolves and the paranormal world she had been introduced to. She wanted the football games that she still didn't understand and the Art Club lessons. She wanted to go shopping with her girlfriends.

She wanted to be a teenager. And she wanted Luke.

Daphne wanted him and needed him. He had been the first person in her life that she had loved...on her own, without a familial bond, without anything other but just the two of them.

She didn't care about mating bonds or a mating pull or anything else. Maybe that was the one thing that Daphne believed to be destiny. Or fate or whatever.

"It's going to be fine, Honey," Caroline whispered from in front of her now, pulling her into her arms, but that weren't the arms that Daphne wanted to be wrapped around her.

She wanted Luke. She wanted Luke and for her father to disappear from where he had come.

One of these things probably wouldn't happen. But she would make sure she got the first one.

So she starved down the sobs that broke through her, wiped away the tears and tried desperately not to let herself break down again.

He hadn't...he hadn't refused her. He had refused her reasoning. He didn't want to hurt her.

He wouldn't hurt her.

So she met Caroline's gaze and wiped away her tears, her decision made.

"That's better, honey," her aunt soothed her. "We'll try to talk to him again tomorrow. Maybe he'll be a bit more reasonable then."

Daphne just shook her head at Caroline's suggestions. Cyril Randall wouldn't take no for an answer. He had probably never needed to do that before, he wouldn't start now.

"It's not his choice," Daphne said. It wasn't. It was her choice and it was Luke's and their opinions were the only two that matters. "And I am not going to let him take my choice away."

So she stood up, crossing her arms in front of her chest and made two steps in the direction of the front door until Caroline's voice interrupted her.

"What are you going to do?" Her aunt questioned her gently and she met her gaze, knowing exactly what she would do.

"I am going to find Luke," Daphne answered. She would find Luke. And then they would have a talk and would figure this out because Communication was important, damn it and she was not going to go with her father under any circumstances.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Stephen said tightly but she just shook her head.

" I think it is," Daphne declared drily. "Because none of you have any more say about what happens than the two of us. It's our life after all. "

"It's a serious thing. Mating. It's not..." Stephen started but then interrupted himself with a sigh. "Don't do it because you are scared of your father, Daphne," he warned her, but there was no heat in his tone. "Do it because you want to and not because you are pushed into it."

She looked at Luke's father for a moment and then nodded her agreement.

No. Her father wouldn't be the reason for them to mate. He would be the last drop that would make the bucket overflow, however. But Daphne's mind was made up, had been made up for months at this point.

She wanted Luke. In whatever way, she could have him and she had enough of her fear dictating her decisions. She wouldn't hold back anymore. She was a bloody werewolf and she had found her mate and now she was going to have what was rightfully his.

Daphne didn't say that outlaid, however.

"We talked about white picket fences this morning," she said simply. "I am going to find Luke and then I am going to remind him that I am very much able to make my own decisions."

"I am not letting my father take me away from here." She looked at Caroline and Matthew and willed them to understand. If not to approve, at least to understand her reasoning. Her Uncle met her gaze and the only thing that made it obvious about how angry he was was the way his eyes seemed to flash amber. It was obvious though that he wasn't angry at her. "I want to spend the rest of my life with Luke. If not now, it would have happened soon. And I have enough of other people thinking that they have any say about what Luke and I make out of our lives."

And then she finally brought the words over the lips that she hadn't managed before.

"I love Luke. That's all that matters right now."

***

He smelled her before he heard her.

Daphne hadn't yet learned to be quiet in her wolf form and to be honest, he wasn't sure if she even tried to. She made enough noise that he had plenty of time to get away from her if he wanted to. He didn't. He couldn't.

Luke knew exactly that he had hurt her when he had refused. His reasoning was right, he told himself again, even when his wolf was far more pissed off than ever before. Luke couldn't fault him.

It went against every single one of his instincts to not take everything that Daphne was offering him.

The smell of sugar and spice, of his grandmother's pineapple upside-down cake, hit him and he kept still until her smaller body had found its way through the trees.

Daphne didn't say a word, she just laid down a few feet away from him, placing her head on her paws.

*We talked about white picket fences this morning,* her mental voice was dry and matter of fact and he stayed silent because he didn't know what else to do. *And you think I just want to mate with you just because of my father?*

He wanted to be angry at her for hitting him below the belt like that but he couldn't. They were all being a bit snippy at the moment and that couldn't be helped. Still, he hated that she was ready to put him on the spot like that.

*Would you have wanted it without him there?* he snapped . *Because we haven't even talked about it yet, Daphne!*

They had put it off the table a few months ago and since then they hadn't talked about it again. And really...they should have done that.

*I am scared,* she told him frankly and he stared at her. *I am terrified, Luke.*

That...that made the abyss in his stomach just grow even bigger. What was she scared off?

*The last time...I laid curled together on your chest and I said the words only after you were asleep because I was so terrified,* she said, not looking at him, instead staring at the ground and he crushed the hope he felt growing in his chest about what these words could be.

Luke couldn't allow himself to think about it.

*I never saw a healthy relationship. I don't know how to be a good girlfriend. Or wife. Or mother. Or anything really. I am terrified that I am going to mess this up,* she continued.

Daphne couldn't mess it up. She couldn't. Daphne was everything he had ever wanted and they just fit together. The two of them.

They had worked hard to be adults about this whole relationship and to communicate properly, and still, sometimes she said something that surprised him so much that he was just floored.

*Because it's the most important and precious thing I have ever had before and I would prefer to cut off my own arm before I mess this up,* she admitted in a whisper, still staring at the ground and everything inside him screamed to go offer her comfort, to at least touch her, to make it all better for him. But he was frozen on the spot, still waiting to hear the words.

He could hear a dry laugh from her, a snuffling from her wolf as she went on.

*I am terrified that you'll think that sex with me is terrible and that I am really a frigid bitch,* she spat out and he couldn't help but growl at that. She wasn't. If anybody was ever going to call her that again and he heard it, he would probably gladly commit his first murder. * I am terrified that a few years down the road you will regret it. All of it and wonder how you ever thought that you liked me,* Daphne continued.

* And you really think I just want to mate with you just because of my father?* she looked at him as she thought the words, her amber eyes boring into his and he shook his head.

*I am sorry,* he apologised finally. *I am so fucking sorry.*

*My point...my point is that I...* she continued like he hadn't interrupted her, her voice growing shaky but she still pushed on. *I love you. I love you, Lucas Schuyler. More than I have ever loved anything else in my whole life and I want to kill him for hurting us like that.*

The words from her were like a balm to his soul. They would figure it out. They could figure it all out.

For each other, they would figure it out.

And her words...her words were also just pouring gasoline over an already raging fire. He wanted to kill Cyril Randall and he wanted to take Daphne to bed and make her his. He wanted that. The two of them.

*I love you too,* he brought out, his mental voice ragged. Her head snapped up and she stood to come nearer to him, curling up next to where he stood.

He laid his head over hers, tucking her underneath him and for a moment just laying there in the quiet forest before Daphne broke the silence.

Feeling her like that, feeling how much smaller than him she was, was tripping up every single one of his protective instincts. He knew that if anybody would come near them right now, he would lose that already precarious grip that he still had on his wolf.

*I am not going with him. I can't,* Daphne whispered at that moment, her voice broken and he took a deep breath knowing that really...there was only one thing he could do.

If she said the words, his self- restraint would rip apart like it was nothing and he was already hanging onto it with a very, very fragile grip at that moment. *You said we deserve happiness,* she said softly and he could just nod.

*Then mate with me, Luke. Make me yours,* she implored gently. Her words were braver than her expression but she was serious. And she wasn't scared. He could feel that. She was anxious as hell, ready for him to tell her no again, but she wasn't fearful. If anything...there was a giddy sense of excitement underneath it all.

And wasn't that a thing.

*Nobody can take me away then,* she whispered. *I want this.*

He could feel his self-restraint snap. That was what he had needed to hear.

His wolf was growling in warning again, making it very obvious that if Luke refused again he would pay for it, but really, he didn't want to refuse her again. He didn't want to tell her no anymore.

*Daphne.*

He was pretty sure he whimpered her name. She would be the death of him.

At least he would die happy.

*I want this,* she repeated again, meeting his gaze. *I want us .*

He gave in.

*You'll need to tell me to stop. Whenever you...For anything, Daphne,* he told her. He couldn't hurt her. He couldn't do this if... *Promise me.* I couldn't live with myself if I hurt you in that way.*

*You won't,* she disagreed but he shook his head.

He could. Even with her a werewolf he was still double her body mass, still was more than a match for her physical strength. She could take some of his strength. But not all of it.

*I could. Very easily. And I don't want that. So you need to promise me...* he repeated, just hoping that she would agree.

*I promise,* she said finally. *But you won't hurt me.*

*I wish I had the trust in my self that you have,* he said drily as he jumped up and pushed her in the direction of home. Now that that decision was made...he needed to have her home. Or he wouldn't

Home. They would figure it out.

He couldn't help against the giddiness that he felt, how much he did want it to be just the two of them. Alone and having the time to explore what was building between them to their heart's content.

*I have enough for both of us,* she told him, and he could hear the amusement in her voice, before she darted home and he gave chase.

***

They managed to get back to the Schuyler house and Luke's cottage but then she just felt...awkward.

Very awkward .

He shifted in his stride, something that she still hadn't learned and pushed open the door, letting her jump up at the porch and slipping inside as well, before she turned to face him, startled by how beautiful he was.

Every time she saw him naked, she felt like she looked at the early morning sun in all its glory. Luke was beautiful. Acres of perfect skin that even now in the winter seemed to have this golden glow about it that she couldn't help but be jealous about.

She needed to take a deep breath to steel herself because she reached out and pushed down, pushing away the wolf until she could feel the shift drift over her skin.

"I apologise beforehand if it's terrible," she blurted out as she stood before him completely naked, her hair wildly framing her head even when she was patting it down and his lips quirked up.

He stepped nearer to her, cupping her cheeks with his big hands and she was forced to look up at him. He ran his hands through her hair, pushing it away from her face in a movement that he had done hundreds of times by now and that still pleased her far too much whenever he did.

She couldn't help but lean into his touch, to enjoy the attention he gave her when purple eyes met laurel green ones and he smiled at her.

"Hey, there are two people involved, after all," he told her with a grin and a nervous laugh escaped her. "It's not going to be terrible, I promise."

He was awfully certain about that, wasn't he?

"You don't know that, Luke," she disagreed, even when she melted in his arms when his hands slid down over her shoulder to her waist, pulling her flush against him. She stared at him wide eyes, feeling him press hart and heavy against her belly before he kissed her.

He kissed her like he had all the time in the world, and in a way, Daphne supposed, he had. They had all the time in the world to get this right.

She let the rest of the world melt away, the worries and fear and anxiety. There was just Luke. Just the two of them.

They would figure this out.

She relaxed in his grasp, relishing the feeling of his arms around her, holding her tightly and she wound her arms around his neck as she returned the kiss. She needed to stand on her tiptoes to make it easier, lightly swaying but then he growled and grasped her, pulling her up in his arms bridal style like she weighed nothing.

Daphne squeaked in surprise as he swept her feet from underneath her, but let him carry her to bed, her back hitting the soft mattress as he crawled on top of her.

"That's better, isn't it?" He growled softly and she nodded her agreement, letting herself melt back into the bed, opening her legs to make space for him, letting his bulk press her onto the bed, utterly surrounding her with Luke and nothing but Luke.

That was her favourite thing about it all. She could close her eyes and surrender to him, concentrate all her sense onto him so that Luke was the only thing in the room that even mattered.

So Daphne did just that.

She could feel the warmth of his body, and the way his heart seemed to hump in his chest just like Daphne's did in hers. She could feel him kiss her carefully and gently like she was the most precious thing he had ever held in his hands and she kissed him back, with everything she had, wanting to make him feel at least a fraction of what he made her feel.

She kissed Luke greedily, until they both gasped for breath, him pressing his head against the crook of her neck so that they both could breathe again.

"Still think it could be terrible ?" He asked her teasingly and she couldn't help but laugh in exhilaration, letting her hands slid over his broad back but shake her head with a grin on her face.

"We'll do it together ," she said instead of an answer and he kissed her in agreement, his hands trailing over her body, his bulk pressing her to the bed.