Chapter 18: Waking up from the dream?

**Nat**

In the morning, I felt the sun coming in through the crack in the window. It was time for me to leave. I wanted to sneak out, I didn't want to say goodbye. I tried to get up without waking him, but the way we were entwined it was impossible.

He pulled me back to bed.

" Five more minutes, please". — He asked.

I laughed. He was a very handsome young man and I wanted to save his image. So I stared at it to memorize it. Mat opened his eyes.

"Shall we have coffee?"

" I'd rather take a shower and pack my bags. And you have your coffee. Is that okay?"

" Yes, of course."

I was going to take advantage and leave without him seeing. Well, I would leave a note. When he left, I packed my bag and wrote on the mirror: thank you so much for everything, it was amazing. I don't want to say goodbye. See you soon!

I went down using the service elevator. I reached the sidewalk and went to the bus stop. I soon got on the bus. It was better this way. I would suffer less. He didn't have to send me away.

**Mateo**

I was in a bad way. I didn't know what to do. I wanted to be with her, but I knew it was temporary. I could never be hers. I was a werewolf and soon I would have a destined partner. The sooner I cut that tie, the better.

I had coffee and felt a pang in my heart. It was hard to leave her. But I had to do it. It was for her sake, for the pack's sake and for my own.

I went back to the room sadly, but I didn't find her. I read her note, my eyes filled with tears.

John appeared behind me. I had left the door open, he came in.

"Can I help you? Mat, I felt your pain..." — he saw the note in the mirror.

"Better this way, right? You were very attached."

"That's what's strange, John. If she's not a wolf, why did I feel a connection?"

"Maybe she has some wolf ancestor?"

"There's only one way to know, right?"

"What are you thinking, Mat?"

"We need some of her blood."

"Goddess, Mat, what good is this going to do? How are you going to convince your father?"

"Damn it! This can't be the end, can it?"

" Take it easy, if there's any sense in the union between you two, the Goddess will make it happen. Have faith."

The first night without her was unbearable. I had to take all of her clothes and smell them so I could sleep. I woke up feeling awful, but we were going to meet the Japanese ice hockey team and that cheered me up.

When we got back to the hotel I remembered that I hadn't even gotten her cell phone number.

I was an idiot. I almost broke the hotel room. It was like I was having withdrawal symptoms. John soon showed up and got scared.

"Damn it, John, I want her back!"

"Yeah, and then, you go back to the US and leave her here in love? What if she finds out that Prince Charming is a wild beast? Will she want to be with you? What are you going to do? Transform her? Take her to our pack?"

" I can't, John, my parents would destroy her in five minutes."

" So, hold on tight and let her find her own way in life."

"But what if there really is a connection?"

"Wolves have been extinct in Japan for a long time. It's not possible. There are no packs here."

" But, her father could be a foreigner, an American, a Canadian…"

" Calm down. We need time to think. Your father has given you permission to train and participate in a hockey championship. Are you going to throw your dream away because of guesswork?"