Leyla

Blue Ridge

Leyla POV

The minute he tells me his name I look up. «Callum? As in Callum Ashford?» he seems a bit taken aback that I know his name. «Yes..that’s me. How do you know my full name?» his blue eyes look deep into my emerald and I feel like I could get lost there. «In the letter.. the last sentence from my mother was: find Callum Ashford..» I pause and look at you. «I don’t know why.. but I do know she used her last piece of magic to look into the future. She never said why, and she died the next morning.» his eyes never leaves me, but something changes. His demeanour isn’t so.. powerful any more. Like he calmed down when I told him what the letter said, and what happened after my mom looked into the future. He turns his back on me, only turning Joshua’s a little before walking out. «Rest. Tomorrow I’m taking you back to the clearing, and I’ll follow back to your car.. this isn’t the life you want, and you are young. You need to live a little.. I don’t need a human.» He walks out and close the door behind me. I just met him, but those words struck something deep inside me.. something I didn’t know existed even.

*

Callum POV

Barrock, my wolf, is cursing in my mind. -How could you do that? She’s our mate! So what if she’s human? She’s ours! I ignore him. I know he’s right. I’ve been trying to find a mate for years.. I’m almost 40.. I’ve had girlfriends, but none of them have been Luna material.. and the elders will never accept her as Luna.. she’s not wolf.. she’s not even a witch.. she’s a human.. a weak, fragile human. But Goddess.. those eyes.. their hypnotising. I could stare into them for hours. And her lips.. those full, pink, perfect lips.. I shake my head.. focus.. tomorrow she’s scattering her ashes and she’s going home.. I’m never going to see her again. I walk to my office. The black desk stand in the middle of the room with a large window behind it, overlooking the territory. I start pacing. I can’t find peace. I can’t get her out of my head.. «damnit.. why now.. why her?»

*

Leyla POV

He didn’t come back at all yesterday. There were people coming in with food and more water, but none talked to me. They just sat the food down and left. I didn’t even have my phone or a book or anything. I just sat there, in the bed, until I fell asleep from boredom. I woke up again to someone coming in with a tray of food, but when I tried to talk to her, she just looked at me with disgust and left in a hurry, leaving me behind with tears in my eyes. What have I ever done to her?

*

I sit in my own thoughts and doesn’t even hear the door open or the footsteps on the floor. «Why are you crying, Leyla? Who hurt you?» his voice brings me back to reality and I look up at him. «There was a woman.. she came with food.. when I wanted to talk to her, ask her what time it was, she looked at me like I had just let my dog poop next to her and not pick it up.. like I was the most disgusting thing she had ever seen in her life..» His face makes me shut up.. he’s.. angry.. but why? «She shouldn’t have done that.. she should know better than to hurt what’s mine. I look up mine? What does he mean by that? «What do you mean yours?» I look at him with a mix of confusion and wariness, and he looks at me and sighs. «You’re my mate.. my human mate..» he looks.. sad.. his blue eyes is filled with sadness. «And you don’t want me because I’m human.» It’s not a question. It’s a fact. «Not surprising.. you’re not the first man who’s said they don’t want me because of who I am» I start to get out of bed when he suddenly drops to his knees in front of me. «I.. it’s not that I don’t want you, because believe me, I do.. but they will never accept you.. not the elders, and not the pack..» my head start spinning at the thought when I feel some weird thing in the back of my mind. A.. voice maybe? I can’t hear it, but I feel it. I shake my head. «Take me to the clearing.. then I’ll leave.. you won’t have to see me again.» He helps me up from the bed, gently, like i can break from his touch. He walks ahead of me and open the door. It leads to a hallways with at least a dozen doors on each side. He lead me all the way down and out a pair of double doors, leading outside to a large area with houses around, a building that looks like school and something looking like a training facility. I look around. People are starting to walk towards us, clearly interested in who I am, but I remind myself that I’m never going to stay here. Because I’m human, and he’s a werewolf. I follow him to a black car, and he opens the door for me. I climb in and buckle up when he close the door. He climb into the drivers seat and start the car without a word. He hand me my purse and shift the car into gear and start driving.

*

It takes about an hour to get to the clearing. He still hasn’t said anything. He stops the car, climb out and start walking towards the river. I remove my seatbelt and follow him. When I walk up beside him, I sit down by the river bend and find the urn in my purse. «This will be the last resting place for your mother. We will honour her every time we’re here» he finally says something, but I just nod. I open the urn and turn it upside down, letting the ashes fall into the river. A single tear fall as I watch the ash be washed away. I sigh and stand up. He’s so close to me I can smell him. He smells like.. pine and warmth. I feel the voice again, a little louder this time. I can hear one word Delilah. «What? Did you hear that?» I look at Callum and start looking around. «Heard what?» I look at him confused.. «I heard a name.. Delilah.., but that’s all I heard.. almost like a whisper.» I walk toward the lake, trying to see if I can’t hear the voice again. Your scent is so.. powerful.. like it’s something I need to stay alive. I turn around, expecting to see you right there, but you haven’t moved from the river. What the hell? How can I still smell him? I walk closer when I get a splitting headache. I fall screaming to the ground, my vision goes blank. I feel your arms around me, but I can’t move. Tears of pain fall down my face. «It hurts.. please make it stop!» The pain is excruciating, but then it stops, just as sudden as it started, and the voice I barley heard before, is now clearly in my mind. -I’m sorry, I never meant to hurt you. It’s so nice to finally be able to meet you. My name is Delilah, and I’m your wolf.