I watched her collect shells and stare at them before she lobbed them back into the sea. She was absolutely beautiful. He long red hair was blowing around her face and her smile infected any one who saw it.

"Nala?" I yelled and she turned towards me with a smile that made my heart ache.

"Why are you with him?" I asked and her face fell.

"Excuse me?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

I caught up with her and oh how badly I wanted to touch her and kiss her but I knew she would just hate me all the more with each mark that I left.

"Why are you with him? He is abusive. I would never hurt you! I would love you every day that you would spend with me. Every second I would think about you and what you would be doing, worrying about you." I paused and took another step into her personal space. "Because I would love you." I whispered and she tried to step back from me and everything in that second went by in slow motion.

She took a step back and didn't prepare herself as her knees failed her and she began to fall. Yeah, I could have let her fall, she would have landed on the soft sand. But when your mate is falling you don't think, you catch. And that's what I did. A stupid move and a selfish act. As she lost her height I grabbed her bare waist and pulled her upwards so she would find her feet.

She found them alright.

The moment our skin touched, sparks flew. It was like an ember had fallen on my skin where my hands touched. And from the way her foot came in contact with my nether regions, she felt it to.

"What the hell was that?" she asked, stepping back from my wounded and almost crying body.

God that hurt!

I took a breath in and looked up at her from my crouching point of view. "That was the mating bond." I breathed, scared of her reaction. I had a right to be scared to because I had to grab her ankle and pull her into the sand with me as her foot was about to reacquaint itself with my already wounded family jewels.

We stared at each other as the wind blew sand around us and past us. "This is why I feel the way I do around you isn't it?" she whispered, her eyes wide and never leaving mine. I pursed my lips and nodded. "Yeah." I said and I put my hand on the sand in front of her. "Do you want to feel it again Nala?"

She stared at my hand and then my face before nodding. "I think so." She said before placing her finger tips on my palm. I watched her closed eyes with curiosity as she felt the sparks that glittered across her finger tips.

Her eyes fluttered before opening completely. What I faced left me shell shocked.

** ** ** ** **

Her eyes were a brilliant gold. Her eyes were wide and my voice was gone.

I stared into her gold orbs for what felt like hours. In those moments, I felt myself getting lost. Nala was something else, something I could only dream of, something powerful.

When she pulled her hand away, I felt cold. A shiver crept down my spine and it seemed to leave my body craving her.

"What are you?" I begged. She stared at me and then held her hands out in front of her. "Your eyes changed." She whispered and then shook her head. "Our eyes changed." She concluded before standing and staring down at me. "What the f**k just happened?" she yelled.

"My eyes changed?" I asked and she nodded. "And then I saw everything from your point of view. I read what you were thinking and... what is happening to me Theo?!"

At that I had to close my eyes. That was the first time she had ever said my name. it rolled off her tongue so mesmerizingly I couldn't exactly find words to respond. My throat was dry and I was finding it hard to even swallow because of the lump in my throat.

"I don't know." I whispered and I heard a small sob break from her lips, that's when I couldn't take it. I stood and pulled her flush against my body. She let a few more sobs out before calming down.

"But I will find out." I murmured before running my fingers through her hair and catching loose strands.