Sam puts my bag into his SUV as I tellVincent to be good to Katie because I will know. He just shakes his head
at me but I did spot a faint smile on his lips briefly. We exchange a hug and a kiss and I leave with Sam.
Sam waited in his car to give us space. Somehow I doubt Vincent would've
paid him the same courtesy. Vincent is an odd one though. He puts me in mind of a cat because he is very fickle, stubborn, and chooses to like or
tolerate only a few people. He's anything but social, while Sam is the opposite. He's very adamant about his intentions, less
rigid, and very social. I can be social I just usually choose not to as it led to rumors about me. Katie has been the only female that has ever stood by me.
“Feel free to talk or put on music if it will help settle your mind,” Sam said.
My thoughts must be getting to him, but I just can't help where my mind drifts to, “Just a lot to take in. I'm sorry about how Vincent behaved.”
“It doesn't bother me that you both claimed one another. I thought he shouldn't have flaunted it is all. What we do
together is no one's business but ours,” he said. But I could sense some jealousy in his voice.
I decided to try and add some levity to our conversation, “Agreed, well, and Katie's.”
“What?” he asks as he glances over at me.
I laugh as I tell him, “She heard him and I and made sure we knew before she left this morning.” it wasn't funny right then, but it is comical now.
He chuckles, “Well she's been trying to get you laid since the Gala.”
I just shake my head because it is true, “If she had her way, l'd be too busy with you all to ever leave the house.”
He gets a serious look, “That bad?”
I nod, “Yep.”
He bites his lip, “Well…”
I have a feeling that I am not going to like this, “Just tell me.”
“During the haze you shouldn't go out alone,” he says.
I sigh, “Why?”
“Others might sense you. Even if you allow me to claim you others might challenge me,” he explains.
“So that's what Eric was concerned about?” I ask.
He nods. “But I'm not a werewolf so I could…”
“Eva!” he exclaims in a commanding voice.
I concede with my eyes, “Fine as a last resort. I could compel them to forget about me first or restrain them.”
He sighs, “I'm starting to see why Vincent said this was going to be a long eternity.”
“Why?” I want to better understand.
He says flatly, “Vincent and I like control.”
“So do I,” I say.
As if admitting defeat, “But he and I can't control you. You’re a different case altogether.”
Confused, I ask, “How so?”
I feel a sense of pride in his voice and it makes me tingle, “You aren't afraid of challenges, you'll fight fiercely for those you care about, and you have this
compulsion to make things right. Plus, you took on three vampires to protect Steven. Not anyone would do that, especially someone who thought she was a human with a gift.”
“Sam, I would do it all the same no matter what, but this time I would catch and kill her,” I say.
“Well, it doesn't matter because she's ash now. But please be careful. I don't want to lose my mate after I just found her,” he adds.
I know that he hates magic for some reason, so I have to ask, “Does what I am bother you?”
He grins, “I care more about who you are not what you are.”
I smile, “Who’s that?”
“A brave woman with a huge heart that's intelligent and cunning,” he beams.
I shake my head as he continues, “You are brave. You find solutions that others wouldn't or would be afraid to try. You're amazing and I couldn'tbe prouder that you're my mate.”
This whole time, I've had my phone synced to his Bluetooth stereo. I have it set to random.
“Smashing Pumpkins?” he asks.
I love music so I say, “I love all types of music. This is my favorite of theirs. Bullet with Butterfly Wings. ‘The world is a vampire, sent
to drain. Secret destroyers, hold you up to the flames And what do I get, for my pain?
Betrayed desires, and a piece of the game’ Take those lyrics. To me it means that my world is being
destroyed by secrets and betrayal that it's a twisted
game. It expresses that we can't all be saved if we don't believe
we can be. That were are trapped in a sick experiment.”
He quirks an eyebrow, “You know Vincent is a composer and songwriter, right?”
I laugh, “I do, I went snooping I'm sure he's responsible for some of my playlists.”
He shakes his head, “You creative types.”
Oh Mountain Man I have your number, “You are when it comes to food. Cooking fosters
creativity. Also in some of your businesses too, so hush.”
He laughs. Then a song that I love comes on and I start bouncing in my seat.
“Love this song!!! It is Little Bird by Anne Lennox.
‘I walk along the city streets
So dark with rage and fear
And I, I wish that I could be that bird
And fly away from here
I wish I had the wings to fly
away from here, yeah’” I belt out until I abruptly stop.
“Eva! Eva!” he exclaims worriedly.
I snap back, “Wreck!”
“What? Where?” he asks.
I gasped for breath, “Fatal wreck ahead whole highway.”
He puts his hand on mine, “Eva, breathe then tell me.”
I put my head in my hands. I breathe. I look up with tears streaming down my face.
He looks at me with such compassion in his eyes, “Eva, tell me please.”
I cry as I speak, “5 dead, 7 injured some
critically. One of the dead a child maybe 6 years old. Pain and sorrow, so much pain and sorrow that I feel.”
“Tell me where,” he demands.
I so tell him, “5 miles ahead, crews are getting to the scene now.”
“Tell me how you know as I look for a way off of this highway,” he says.
“A bird, I saw it all through a bird,” I try to explain.
“Shit!” he yells as he grips the steering wheel tighter. Then he says, “You know that the police won't let us anywhere close.”
I sigh, “I still want to try. The guy that caused it has to pay!”
He looks at me with empathy, “Eva.”
“Sam, I'm not going to hurt him, I'll leave that up to the courts. He's faked his logs. He's on speed among other substances. He's gotten away
with this before. I can feel his nature,” I explain.
“Fine, but what are you going to do?” he asks.
I squeeze his hand, “Make him confess in front of everyone including the cameras both police and news.”
“Eva, should you be interfering? Not everything is meant for those like us to become involved. There are always consequences,” he says with concern in his eyes.
“Sam, I have to. With or without you, I will try,” I tell him.
He nods. We pull off before the traffic jam. We take back roads to get near the scene. I get out of the car and sit in the
grass. I feel it in me what I must do. It's like an instinct.
I reach out and find the birds. I go to the scene where I see the truck driver.
He's playing the victim which fills me with rage that I intend to use.
He falls to the ground and grips his head. I have the bird land near him on the roof of the ambulance. I'm looking right into his eyes now. I
force him to confess using my link to the bird to compel him. He does. I have the bird fly to where
Sam and I are. I leave the bird's mind.
“Thank you little one,” I tell the bird as I give it a piece of my granola bar. It ate and then looks at me as if to say thank you before it flies away.
He takes my hand, “Okay, what just happened? Because my link to you diminished. I couldn't hear you but I could still feel you.”
So I explained it to him. I like how open he is about everything and I know that I can trust him. My feelings for him are growing quickly, but they feel so right and I am done fighting them.
“Well that's certainly nothing a wolf or vampire can do or witch either unless the animal is her familiar. I'm going to have to tell
Vincent and Eric,” he says.
I fear that Vincent and Eric might not be as receptive as Sam is, “Let's wait till we get back. He doesn't want me to use my abilities.”
He smirks as he drives, “Okay, are you hungry?”
I grin, “Starving.”
He chuckles, “I know a place.”
I smirk, “I bet you do.”
He rolls his eyes, “Whatever, Snow White.”
I laugh, “So who's my Prince Florian?”
He grins, “Take your pick.”
I smack his shoulder, “Don't start!”
We drove to this small drive-in diner.
“Anything I should try or avoid?” I ask.
“It's all good,” he says cockily.
I roll my eyes, “I bet.”
I swear we ordered half of the menu. I wonder why I get so hungry though.
He looks at me, “Now a tiny drive, and then we can eat.”
We go to a secluded park. We get out and he grabs a blanket from the back. We walk a bit into
the cover of the trees. We are now under a beautiful canopy of nature. He lays the blanket down. We sit and eat and talk.
He asks, “Try something for me?” I nod. He continues, “See that squirrel.”
I interrupt, “Don't you dare go chase it!”
He shakes his head as he laughs, “Very funny, mate. I want you to get into its head and have it come here.”
I close my eyes and focus on the squirrel. I can now see through its
eyes. I have it come over. He tells me what to have it do, “Make it roll over, sit, okay now release it.”
It did everything that I asked it to do. He gives the squirrel a piece of the bun to his cheeseburger, “You can control animals. You could control a wolf, maybe even one in half-wolf form.”
Confused, I say, “I know I can compel. Eric told me.”
He nods as he explains, “Yes, but compelling and possessing are different. You can compel a vampire but you see through an animal. You become that animal. But you can't compel or possess me even if you try.”
I know where he's going with this but I answer anyway, “No.”
He smirks, “Why?”
“You just want me to say it don't you!” I exclaim.
“Maybe,” he says.
I sigh, “Because you're my mate.”
A huge wolfish grin spreads across his face. Yes he won this little
conversation and he's very pleased with himself too. My wolfy mate is such an ass!
——-Sam’s POV——-
I have been truly blessed by the Moon Goddess herself. My mate is
extraordinary, but I can't help but feel overly protective of her. Yes, an Alpha should be over his mate but this is something more as if I am bound to her. However, I do think she could fend for herself, but I don't want her to have to. I also don't want her to rely on her
magic. It leaves traces and I don't want others to find her!
Wolves and witches don't have a very good history. Witches have used my kind to do their bidding. I know that Eva isn't a witch, but I
worry that one would come for her and use her to destroy all that I have
built.