Chapter 18: Chapter 18

ELEANOR

“Hey, sorry I’m late.” I turned around to see a dark silhouette walking toward me.

“That’s all right. I was only here for a few minutes,” I told Ivan when he came into view. He was wearing a pair of basketball shorts with a black T-shirt, and he had something in his hand. “What’s that?”

“Mom told me to give this to you,” Ivan answered as he handed me the box.

I opened it to see a slice of apple pie inside.

“She thinks you’re too thin for your age, so she wants to fatten you up,” he said with a shrug, and this made me laugh.

“Thin! I have a tummy that is threatening to spill out of my pants, Ivan,” I exclaimed, and he rolled his eyes.

“You have the perfect physique, Eleanor. Now, please eat that apple pie before I do,” he warned me while his eyes were glued to the piece of heaven in my hand.

I nodded my head, took out the slice, and took a bite. My taste buds immediately electrified with the taste of sweet, tart, and a hint of spice, making me moan.

“Don’t make such noises. You’re only tempting me,” Ivan said, and his voice sounded strained.

Ivan was still eyeing my apple pie. I ate half of it before I passed it to him.

“I know you want it. So go on and have it,” I told him, and he took it from my hand without hesitation.

He ate it in one bite.

“You know you should take small bites to savor the taste, idiot.”

“I think you’ve already done that for me,” he said with his mouth full. “Let’s go.”

He started walking into the forest.

“Which border are we supposed to be on patrol today?” I asked him as we continued walking in the dark forest. I occasionally spotted a warrior or two.

“The northern border. And that is always my favorite place to be at night.”

“Why is that?” I asked him out of curiosity.

“You’ll see when we get there,” he said with a mysterious smile on his face. Ivan stopped in front of a huge tree and started removing his T-shirt.

“What are you doing?”

“I usually always do patrols in wolf form. So why don’t you find a tree to keep your clothes and then shift?” he asked me, and I nodded my head and looked around until I saw the perfect place.

I quickly made my way over there and started removing my clothes. Once I was completely naked, I closed my eyes and let Erica take over.

“~This is going to be fun.~”

I heard her excited voice. My bones started shifting, and I felt the fur sprout on my skin.

“~Don’t do anything stupid,~” I warned her as I completely let go of my control.

When we opened our eyes, I looked around to see a white and brown wolf looking up at the sky. I walked toward him and looked up to see that today the moon looked especially beautiful. It had a mix of white and a hint of red.

“~Shall we go?~” Ivan asked me through the mind-link, and I nodded my head.

We began running. We ran along the border, making sure no rogues were lingering around. Our second patrol lasted for an hour when we finally came to a stop. During our run, I kept hearing Ivan chuckle through the mind-link.

“~What’s so funny?~” I asked him as his wolf turned around to face mine.

“~I don’t want to ruin this moment, Ellie,~” but he desperately tried to stop laughing.

This was the first time he used a nickname with me. And I cringed a little, feeling our relationship grow closer when I still wasn’t confident he wasn’t working with rogues. It was odd that Ivan never found any near the border during his shifts.

“~Well, if you don’t tell me, I’ll never speak to you again,~” I warned him, and this made him let out a huff.

“~You look so cute and funny. I mean, the color of your wolf makes you look so adorable and not at all like the crazy person you are in human form.~”

“~Excuse me!~” I was hurt, but I couldn’t control my smile either.

“~That was rude, Ivan!~” I yelled at him, and this only made him laugh even more.

“~I’m sorry, but I have never seen such a cute wolf like you before,~” he said.

Even though I wanted to be mad at him, I simply couldn’t. Mom would always tease me about my peculiar color combination, and it would always get me irritated, but after she died, no one cared until Ivan.

We did a few more rounds around the border before we headed back home.

LUCA

“This is the perfect opportunity, Luca. Why can’t we take her now?” Chantelle asked me but I shook my head as I watched Eleanor running with that warrior Ivan.

This may seem like the perfect opportunity, but I saw a few other warriors on patrol along with Ivan and Eleanor. Even though Eleanor looks oblivious, I’m sure Ivan is aware of it.

“When our time comes, no one would even realize what happened,” I said when I turned around to face my mate.

There was a fire in her eyes, and I knew she wanted to kill Eleanor as soon as possible so that Xavier would feel the pain that he put Chantelle through. I moved closer to her, pulled her to my side, and placed a kiss on her temple.

“I will make sure I give you what you deserve, my love,” I told her when she leaned against my shoulder.