Chapter 11: Hope

Charlene's POV

When I heard him say that he had missed his wife or rather wife to be, I felt like that was a way of him rejecting me, blatantly informing me that what we shared meant nothing to him and that I will never be a part of his life. But then how could I ever blame him?

'I don't go around kissing young teenage girls' his words echoed through my mind as my pace increased enormously, running through the forests.

When he walked out of the door earlier, I felt like I had lost a part of me, as pathetic as that sounds. I knew it was over and it had to be over, but I couldn't deny that I was heart-broken and somewhat angry. Angry that he had to be my mate and heart-broken because I realised then that he and I will never be one. It hurt and frustrated the shit out of me. That's when I decided to let the animal inside to take over and to avoid bringing the whole house down, I decided to go to the forest where I can be free to do anything I wanted.

I was not the type of girl who locked themselves up in a room and cried over a heart-ache but I always unleashed the animal within, ran through the forest and just enjoyed another part of me.

Shifting was like voluntarily increasing oxygen intake for me. It filled me up with life. It made more sense than anything I have ever known. And when the weight of the world became too much to bear, there was no greater escape than unleashing the freedom that my wolf gave me.

I stayed at the forest until midnight, just enjoying the beauty of nature and being free for a while.

I walked home, shifting back where I had left my clothes on a tree branch and putting them on. It was bit chilly for a spring evening, but it was a lovely night regardless.

I had expected my mom to be in bed by the time I got home, but when I arrived I found her sitting on the couch, sobbing terribly. Could this day get any worse?

I walked over to her, taking my muddy shoes off at the door. I used to wonder what it felt like to live without your mate and finally, I think I knew exactly how my mom felt. The only thing that felt even worse was the fact that my mate was only three blocks away.

I wrapped my arms around her, letting her tears wet my top as she sobbed relentlessly. I shushed her, assuring her that she was gonna be fine, where as I knew that she would never be.

She calmed down after a while and got out of my embrace sitting up on the couch.

"Why did you shift today?" she asked after a while, putting on her brave face. But wasn't it okay to be vulnerable at times? She needed not try to act like it was okay when it was not.

Now how do I answer that, "I just...missed dad I guess." that was not entirely true but it was not a lie either, just part of the truth.

She just nodded, a lone tear running down her cheek as I mentioned my dad.

"You should go to bed, you have school tomorrow..."my mom said, her voice too soft from crying.

"I wanna be here with you, for you. I'm the only one you've got left and I'm not going anywhere." I said, wiping the tears off her face. Oh mommy.

She just chuckled humorlessly."But it won't be long till you also leave me, right?" she gave me a sad smile when my face showed nothing but confusion.

"Oh come on Charlene, you honestly thought I wouldn't know?"

"Uhm..know what?" what was she on about.

"Your mate? Dreams? The glow on your face?" No! She could not possibly know about Mr Garner, I mean, knowing my mom, she wouldn't be this calm.

"Well-I-about that..." No way I was getting out of this one...

"Is he one of the students at school?" my mom asked. The conversation seemed to distract her a little bit, making her forget about her current misery even if for a minute.

"He could be..." It was getting awkward. Talking to my mom about my teacher, well not directly, but Mr Garner was my only mate so all this was gonna be about him.

My eyes welled up when I thought about what had happened earlier and I averted my gaze from my mom.

"Is he human?" She held my hands into hers, turning my head so I could look at her.

Not trusting my voice to speak I just nodded.

She pulled me into a warm motherly embrace, as tears fell from my eyes, the realisation of being rejected by the one person who could make me whole hitting me pretty hard. "He doesn't-w-want me mom..." I sobbed deeply onto her arms, feeling the pain intensify as I thought of his last words to me, 'Goodbye Charlene'.

"Shh...it'll be okay sweetheart."my mom rocked me back and forth, humming soothing words into my ears. At times like this, it felt like I had my mom back, the one I knew before we lost dad.

"Charlie listen to me sweetheart, if he's human, he will not be capable of denying the connection, only werewolfs have that ability to reject their mates. But if he's human, the connection between you two is stronger than any werewolf bond that exist between mates." My mom assured me.

"So are you saying, he'll eventually give in to what we share?"

"Once you two have had some sort of connection, either some form of eye contact, kissing , touching or even hugging, he will definitely go crazy if he rejects you."

"And what if he's not human?"

Gosh I don't even wanna think about that possibility.

"One way or the other, fate will bring you two together."

Mom always knew what to say, in all circumstances, talking to her always sparked up hope.

And now, this was the hope, maybe one day,when Jonathan no longer perceives me as just another young teenage girl, he'll be mine, but until that day comes, I'll keep hoping.