And There Were Wolves

(d) nine

"I am coming with you."

That was the response I'd gotten from Eros. Albeit it was different from what I'd expected, I couldn't say yes to his request. "No. Er, the whole point of me going there alone is so that they won't know that I'm half a wolf. I may only be here and know about all these supernatural worlds for less than a year, but I even know that wolves and witches or any magical beings don't coexist."

"Of course, we don't! How could we coexist with them?" he scoffed. "We should inflict fear on them. I mean, you know how dangerous they are. If we don't make them fear us, they could easily mess with us, Xy. Like what that witch did to me and my buddy Seb. I may hate the Night Walkers, but at least they're wolves. Three out of five territories are owned by wolves. We've managed to corner and put them all in the East."

"Yes, what Adelina did was wrong, but not all witches are like that. You can't hate the entire species just because one of them did something bad to you." I let out a deep sigh and then took a seat on my bed. I'd taken Eros to my room so we could tell him in private. "But can't you see that I'm one of them, too?"

"You're not." He shook his head adamantly. "You're one of us. You have a wolf, Xy."

"But I'm also a sorceress!" I said frustratedly. "Are you going to deny that part of me? Not until a week ago, I was just a sorceress. I had no wolf. Was I supposed to be cornered and put in the East with the rest of them, then?"

"It's different. You're different." He started pacing about the room. He knew I was right, but he simply refused to admit it.

"No, it's not." He stopped on his track and our eyes met. "You're just not being fair, Er."

He remained silent for several passing seconds before he opened his mouth again and said, "They're gonna know that you're a wolf, Xy, trust me. You're gonna have your heat pretty soon, especially since you're not marked yet. They're gonna find out and when they do, it's not gonna be pretty, Xy."

"My wolf appears to be missing for weeks now. I doubt she will come out soon and even if she does, I'll talk to her and make her understand. About the heat, I've read about it online and asked Trish, you don't have to worry about it. That's my problem."

"This is mental, Xy." Eros Adler approached me and bent his knee. He was kneeling in front of me, his hands were holding mine. "This is pure madness, so please." His bottom lips trembled slightly, and I watched pain searing in his blue-green eyes. "Please stay. I'm begging you. Stay here and I'll bring Ryker to you. You don't have to learn from those crazy witches."

I held his eyes for a few more seconds before I shook my head, revealing that my answer was still the same. I'd made my decision. "I'm sorry."

"I love you, Xy," said Eros out of the blue, causing my eyes to widen to the point where I'd thought wouldn't be possible.

"What?" I dumbly asked.

"I love you and not as your mate. I've fallen in love with you since—" he shrugged, shaking his head, "since forever, I suppose. I've always been in love with you, even when Crystal and I were still together. I love you and I know I should've told you sooner, way before you got involved with Ryker, but I was such a coward. I don't want to be like that anymore, so here I am telling you exactly how I feel about you."

"This changes nothing. I'm still going, Er."

"Why can't you stay here with me?" He swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down. "Am I not enough for you?"

"I—" I bit my bottom lip because I knew that what I was about to say was going to hurt. It would hurt him and possibly break his heart, which was why I was so reluctant to do this, but there was no other choice. It was better for him to know the truth and get hurt than to believe in false hope. "It's not like that. I'm so sorry, Er, but I don't feel that way about you. You're my best friend and I'm so lucky to have you in my life, but Ryker is my mate. He's my soulmate."