Searching for Always and Forever

Chapter 14

It started to get dark and Hope still sat on the dock, staring at the lake. She had no desire to go back in the building, she surely looked like a mess after her previous breakdown. She didn't feel like explaining to Grace what happened. She would ask about her session with Freya and Hope was still very much on the edge to give her a believable lie as an answer. She wouldn't share with her what really happened and what an embarrassing breakdown she had. She had to be stronger than this... only if she could have wolfed out. It was dinner time and she still wouldn't move. Was she really missing dinner with her siblings? Was she not going to say goodnight to the little ones? It never happened before but she was unable to move. They would be fine, Emma was taking care of them and Grace would stay with them for dinner, she would kiss them goodnight... Hope couldn't believe she was actually taking advice from Freya... of course she only missed dinner because she was a mess and not because she was taking care of herself as Freya suggested. Well... she was taking care of her unsettling emotions in a sense... maybe that's what Freya meant.

It was really late when Hope made herself move and finally got up on her feet. It was way after curfew, everything was silent around her. She walked into the forest and found the Old Mill, what Landon mentioned. Luckily there was no party on a Sunday night. She walked in the little run down wooden mill and started undressing. She left her clothes carefully in a corner so she could retrieve it when she returned from her run. She walked out of the mill naked, in the dark and cold forest and she started to transition. Hope welcomed the excruciating pain. She gasped and whimpered in pain as her bones broke at once but she did it fairly quickly and after she finished the transition, she could finally let go. She was free, there was no worry, no pain, no sadness. Just her wolf and the cold breeze that ran through her fur as she was running fast in the dark winter night. Hope didn't run for long, in fact she just transitioned a little while ago when she caught up on a familiar scent. She couldn't place the scent but she was sure she sensed it before. She followed the tracks, then she saw him. She growled at him. Her first instinct was to attack and kill. He was startled at first, then he started to run and it only made her wolf more excited. She loved a hunt. Hope ran after him. He didn't have much of a chance running away, the giant wolf was much faster than him. When he was finally in an approachable distance, the wolf jumped on him, pinning him to the ground. She knew it was wrong, the moment he looked into those eyes. Those green mesmerizing eyes... Then she felt the pain... burning pain on her chest. Hope fell back to the ground, the wolf howled in pain as her fur was on fire. When she realized what was happening, she turned back immediately to her human form. She was laying on the ground, naked, gasping for air as her skin burned with pain. There was no fire anymore, only the smell of her burning flesh and the agony of her wound.

"Oh my god! Are you okay?" Landon asked. She barely heard him, but she felt as he laid his coat around her body. "Hope, I'm so sorry, I had no idea it was you." He said as he grabbed her face lightly, lifting it up so he could look into her eyes. Her eyes started to clear as the pain was vanishing. Luckily she healed fairly quickly, but it didn't mean it didn't hurt like a bitch. Hope pushed his hand away with anger, then she sat up, holding the coat around herself.

"What the hell? Were you trying to kill me?" She yelled furiously.

"No! I mean you attacked me, you were the one trying to kill me." Landon snapped back at her.

"I wasn't going to kill you!" She said it in a slightly controlled tone.

"Well, it seemed like you were gonna rip my throat out as you were looking at me with those scary glowing eyes."

"I wasn't." Hope said, now completely calmly. "I recognised you when I looked into your eyes, I wouldn't have hurt you." Hope said as she slowly stood up from the ground and put the coat on herself properly. Luckily it was long enough to cover every important part of her. "But I get why you would think that we are just feral filthy creatures made to kill." Hope shrugged and started to walk away.