Fourteen
Tate tried everything he could think of, to try and teach Arwen to shift back into her human form, but nothing worked, and the distress on her face was nothing to the pain in his heart.
That fate could give him a mate, but curse her so that they could never be together, like true mates...
oh, now that was rich. Arwen was trying, too, he could see that.
At first, he'd suspected that she was staying a wolf so no one would recognise her face from the posters in town, but the more despondent she grew, the less he believed it.
"You're not staying a wolf because no one will recognise you like this, are you? You know I'll let you hide here for as long as you need to. I'll keep you safe," he promised.
Arwen shot him a glare and shook her head. Then she closed her eyes, scrunched her body up and...nothing. Again. The heartbreak in her eyes when they opened again and she was still a wolf...
"Come on, let's go outside and play. Maybe even catch a rabbit for tea.
It's a pity we don't get otters in this stream, or we could go fishing for one.
They don't taste as good as rabbit, but after yesterday, I have a hankering for one...
" Tate shifted back into his own wolf form, pushed open the door, and bounded outside.
For a moment, she nipped at his heels, before she swerved for the tarn.
She surveyed the water suspiciously for a long moment, before she dunked her whole head in the freezing flow.
She stayed submerged for what felt like an eternity, before she jerked her head up, a silvery trout clenched between her teeth.
She devoured it in two bites, then stuck her head back in the stream – to wash the fish down with a drink of water, not to catch another, Tate realised with relief.
Until he remembered that the water was probably contaminated with something that had made them go mad. Was rabies waterborne? For the life of him, he couldn't remember.
But if he was immune to it, then surely his mate was, too. Even if she was trapped in her wolf form, she was still a shifter.
He should stop worrying and play, like he was supposed to.
She dunked her head in the water again and then shook, showering him in icy rain, before darting away.
Tate grinned and gave chase.