The Rise-Book II

Chapter 14: One Day

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Ethan 

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She is infuriating but I love her. 

God, I love her so damn much, it's almost equivalent to how pissed I am with her right now.

I was home only to get the ring before I tore off toward Tikanni. Seeing Char, well, seeing her while I was still worked up was not something I wanted to do. I needed to clear my head, especially after the fight.

That fight.

I can't believe she almost killed Emmett and had me on my ass; well, dammit, she actually got a piece of my damn ass. A literal piece of my ass.

I probably deserved it in some way.

Tearing.

That's how my heart felt. I didn't know how else to tell her that I was doing what I was doing to protect her, to keep her safe. I knew that I couldn't keep her safe from everything, but I could try.

I could try because every time I closed my eyes at night, for the last week or so, I started to see her. She was the one on her knees with a knife cutting her throat rather than my family's. Blood spilling on the ground, her life slipping away from her, from me.

I couldn't lose her.

I meant what I said to her, I wouldn't make it if I lost her.

It didn't help that she was so damn stubborn at times; that she took risks that in my mind were completely unnecessary. My beast hated it as much as I did; he wanted to keep her safe, but it was frustrating as hell to try when she would undermine those efforts.

Levi waved to me as I trotted up. I set the little pouch down with the ring before shifting to my skin.

Levi tossed me a pair of shorts before eying my form curiously. He smirked a little. "My girl got a good piece of you today."

A rumble vibrated over my chest as I pulled my shorts on. "That she did," I breathed out. Levi nodded while I walked to him. He gave me a quick hug before I placed the pouch in his hand. "I'm sorry uncle."

He sighed and opened it up, pulling the small ring I had seen on my Aunt Eve's right ring finger. Something flashed in his eyes while his beast seemed to whine; mine whined for him.

Levi let out a tense breath before putting the ring back safely in the pouch and closing it. "Thank you."

I dipped my head. "You're welcome."

"We need to talk Ethan," he said. "Come on."

I walked with him a ways through the forest. It was quiet tonight, the moon wasn't full, but it still gave us some light.

"You and my girl need to work your shit out Ethan," Levi said, gentle yet firm in his tone.

I let out a stressed breath and shook my head out of frustration. "I know, it's not like I am trying to make it worse."

Levi walked to a set of trees and leaned against one before looking back at me. "I know son, it's rough. Relationships are tough, hell, Eve and I fought like hell at times. I mean patches of fur missing; when we fought, we really fought. It wasn't some cute little love spat."

I smiled slightly at her memory. My Aunt Eve was a spitfire, always driving my dad up the wall. She knew how to push my dad's buttons and she knew how to push Levi's. She was tough; more than capable of reminding her son and daughter why she was the luna of the pack.