CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

I woke up to the sound of a knock at the door. Getting up from bed I tied my robe and went to open the door, immediately I got a whiff of V's scent.

What could he want this early? I quickly arranged my hair which must have looked like a bed's nest.

I was still arranging my hair when I opened the door just as he was turning to leave.

"Oh, Hi. I thought you were still asleep and was just about to go"

"Oh, I just woke up. I hope you weren't at the door for long".

"not at all". He said. We soon lapsed into silence not knowing what else to say to each other. I had no idea why he would come to see me this early. Not that I was complaining.

We spoke at the same time.

"you can go first," we said again at the same time. Laughing I gestured for him to speak first.

'Okay... mm... I noticed you normally go for a run early every morning and was wondering if you would like to go with me today".

I hadn't planned on going for a run this morning. I was too exhausted from yesterday's picnic and had planned to sleep in, But I didn't want to miss this chance to be with him. Suddenly I felt a surge of energy. I wasn't tired anymore; I guess my wolf was as happy as I am.

"Of course, I would go with you. Like you said I love running. Running is my thing. I'm a runner. Okay ill shut up now I've said the word run too many times". We both laughed smiling at each other. This was nice I thought to myself.

"Okay, could you wait for a moment while I go get changed, I can't run in my robe"? Okay, that was dumb I can't run in anything. The thought of that made my cheeks heat up. We would both have to get naked in other to run. Some inappropriate thoughts came to my mind and I was suddenly feeling hot.

I quickly ran inside slamming the door in his face. I shouldn't have slammed the door like that. Would he think there was something wrong? I quickly went to my walk-in closet and changed into my running shorts and a big t-shirt. This was good. I turned to the mirror arranging my hair once more, before opening the door.

"I'm ready now we can go"

"okay'.

We were silent for a while during our walk to the park grounds, but he broke the silence before I could.

"I had a good time yesterday, it was the first time we had a family picnic since Sel-, well you know" he stopped looking at me. I could see that he didn't want to talk about Selena to me. Maybe he thought I would be uncomfortable. I grabbed his hands in mine.

"It's okay, you can talk about her. I would like to hear about her from you, and also we agreed to be friends. So let me be your friend". he nodded.

"Well, it was the first picnic without her, and I thought that it would be the hardest thing ever, but I still wanted to try because you know mum, and I am trying to move on. But surprisingly. I was fine". He paused. I could sense that what he wanted to say was hard for him.

"but I was fine, so fine to the extent that I felt so bad. I felt like I was somehow forgetting her because I didn't think about her throughout the whole picnic".

"look, it's okay, it's all part of the process of moving on. Sometimes, it's not easy, and most times it's not easy, but it's what we have to go through. Also never feel like you are forgetting about her. She'll always be in your heart and your life because she was a part of your life. An important part of your life. Okay".

He turned to me, and stared at me for a while, tucking my hair behind my ear. This was the first time we were this close and touching like this. I guess we were making progress no matter how small it might be. Today he even spoke to me about Selena and what was bothering him.

"let's get changed then". It was time for us to strip and once again my body felt hot along with my cheeks. We both went behind the two big trees and took off our clothes. I could feel my bones breaking as I changed forms. Unlike the first time when we turn and a few times after that, there was no longer any pain. The process of turning to my wolf was now painless.

I landed on my four feet and shook my body. I came out from behind the tree and was met with V's pitch black wolf. He rubbed against me and licked my nose, even though I knew his wolf was the one in control I still felt giddy inside. Although we haven't reached that level of physical contact yet, our wolves were long there. He led the way and I followed him.

We ran around the Pack and its environs and we had a good time together. We went back to our respective trees and changed back to our clothes.

We were both breathing heavily from the run. I was so hungry after expending my energy that I could eat a whole tree.

"I noticed something and wanted to ask you about it if you do not mind," V said as we walked back to the Packhouse.

"of course, ask away".

"Okay, I noticed why we were running you have a crescent moon birthmark, and at some point, it was glowing. What is it".

"Oh that is, just a weird birthmark. But it only started glowing on the night we met. Pretty strange right". He nodded.