Chapter 30 - Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good People? - Part 2.

Running, that's all I could do and I had no plans in stopping.

I didn't care how fast I was running, where I was gonna end up, I didn't care that my chest was burning like it was on fire or that my legs were turning to jelly, all I cared about was getting as far away from the packhouse as possible.

"Let me take over, Nat, you're gonna end up killing yourself"

I was in two minds about whether or not I should listen to my wolf or carry on running in my human form, one of the reasons why was because I was afraid that Lucky would head back to the packhouse and back to Cole which is something that I don't want to happen, I want to stay as far away from him as I possibly can.

"I won't go back, I promise Nattie just let me take over"

"No"

I growled as I continued to run until I felt a pain shoot through my whole body, I screamed in agony as I collapsed to the ground begging and pleading with Lucky to stop what she's doing.

"Lucky, stop"

My spine snapped quickly followed by my wrists, my ankles and the rest of my bones as they shifted and reformed.

"Lucky...Lucky, stop you're hurting me"

"AAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

"LUCKY!!"

"I'm sorry Natalia, it's for the best"

I let out one last blood-curdling scream as Lucky finally finished shifting me into my wolf, I felt so exhausted mentally and physically and I didn't think twice when Lucky told me to rest.

Lucky's P.O.V.

I felt bad, I really didn't want to do what I did because a forced shift is one of the most painful shifts next to the first shift but I had to do it because Natalia is too highly strung right now and she needs to calm down and relax.

For the past few months, Natalia has been really tensed all day every day, the only times that she's been able to fully relax and be calm and have no tension in her body is when she's either asleep or hanging out with Emily, the rest of the time she's like a wolf ready to pounce in case somebody tries to hurt her verbally or physically and I don't blame her, there's only a handful of people here who she trusts wholeheartedly and feels completely comfortable around whilst the rest of them are people she's always on the defence with because she doesn't know who's being genuine with her and who's being fake.

This is why she's being so flip-floppy with Cole because she wants to be with him, she wants to give him a chance and have that whole white picket fence ending with him but then something will happen or something will be said and she'll automatically go into defence mode and she'll put her barriers up so that she can protect us both as well as her heart, it's classic Nattie and I don't blame her for that.

I think it's easier for Natalia to believe a rogue who are known as the lying, sneaky snakes that they are in the supernatural world rather than believing Cole or even myself when we tell her that his feelings are real and genuine, she feels safer believing a lie then she does believing the truth if that makes any sense.

A Few Hours Later...

I don't know how long I was running for and I wasn't sure if we were still on the Dark Shadows territory but I didn't care, all I cared about right now was Nattie and keeping her safe and calm.

At some point during my run, I decided to stop and take a breather, I went to the nearest river to quench my thirst and it was during this that I realised where I was, I was at lovers peek which is a place on Coles territory where all of the teens and young adults come and either hang out, party or hook up.

A small part of me was annoyed that we were still on Coles territory but the rest of me didn't care because I love Cole and his wolf and it's not really me who is running away from him, it's Natalia, I'm just doing this to protect my human but on the other hand, I was relieved that we were still on his land and that we were safe because if we'd have trespassed onto someone elses territory then it would've been really bad, alphas don't take it lightly when wolves trespass on their property, I know alpha James was nice to us when we were on his land but we got lucky with him.

Despite where we were and my disgust at how much sexual activity has probably taken place here, I decided to rest here because the view from the mountain top is absolutely beautiful, the stunning sunset which is a mixture of reds, yellows, oranges, purples and pinks shined a glorious glaze over the mountains and ocean giving it a calm and relaxing feel.        

I laid down with a thump resting my head on my paws, I called out to Nattie to see if she's still resting which thankfully she is, I mentally smiled at her soft snores which I could hear along with the soft and steady rhythm of her heartbeat.

The past twelve years have been so hard for the both of us, mostly for Nattie but it was still pretty hard on me as well, imagine seeing someone you love and care for being abused in every way, being tortured, being bullied and called some pretty nasty and vulgar names but you can't do anything to stop it or to help them, you're just forced to stand by and watch as it all happens right in front of your eyes, that's what it was like for me having to spend every day of the past twelve years watching my Nattie pie, the girl I love so much being treated like scum and I couldn't do anything to help her.

I had hoped that once she hit eighteen and we found our mate that all of the torment would stop and we'd be able to live a happy, relaxing life with our mate but as you all know, that didn't happen and now my poor girl is being forced to deal with a lot more than any girl her age should have too.

"Lucky"

"Yes Nattie"

She was silent for a few minutes and I could sense that she was overthinking, something which I wish she wouldn't do because whatever she's thinking about always winds up escalating into something it's not and most of the time it leaves her feeling insecure.

When Natalia eventually did speak, I felt my big wolfy heart break for her, I really wish I could give this girl a hug.

"What's wrong with me, Lucky?....what is so bad about me that nobody, not even my own biological family wanted to save me from all of the abuse and torture?.....why didn't they save me? why?....why did they prefer to write it all down and leave me to suffer instead of helping me? what did I ever do to receive so much hate and disdain from everyone?"

"There's nothing wrong with you Natalia, you're a beautiful, smart and incredibly strong young woman who has had to deal with a lot more than a girl your age should have too"

"But why?"

I sighed.

"Because sometimes....sometimes bad things happen to good people"

I know it's a crappy excuse and some could say that it's cliche but I don't care, what the hell else am I supposed to tell her when I don't have answers to any of her questions.

"What about Cole, Lucky?"

"What about him?"

"Does...does he really love me? I mean genuinely, h..he's not....he's not just u..using me because I'm a royal, is he?"

"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me, Nat, you're so hell-bent on believing that Cole is the anti-christ that you refuse to see or believe that there's any good in him"

"Do you blame me after everything he's put me through?"

"No....but everyone deserves a second chance Natalia, when are you gonna give Cole his?"

"When he proves to me that he really loves me for me and not for the benefits that'll he'll reap from being with me"

We were silent after that and never spoke a single word as we watched the sun go down, when it was completely dark and we felt the chill of the cool night's air, we decided to go back home much to Natalias dismay.

We arrived back at our mansion...

"Cole's mansion, Lucky....it's his mansion not mine"

Natalia Interrupted me with a growl.

Anyway, we arrived back at the mansion and Natalia wasted no time in shifting back into her human form, she then started walking towards the mansion and was angered when she saw Cole anxiously pacing outside on the patio, I felt her anger rise and all I could think off was, this is not gonna end well and I just hoped that she didn't do anything stupid out of anger.

Natalia's P.O.V.

"Natalia, thank the moon goddess you're alright, where the hell have you been? we've all been worried sick about you?"

"Why? I think it's safe to say that I can take care of myself with or without a weapon in my hand"

"I know babe, we were just...we were just really worried about you"

"Well I'm fine, you can call the search party off now"

I head upstairs to my room and groaned in annoyance when I realised that I was being followed by Cole, can't this boy leave me alone.

"He loves you, Natalia"

"Whatever you say, Lucky"

"Nat, what are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing, Cole? I'm packing"

"I can see that but why? where are you going?"

"I don't know but anywhere is better than here with you and your pack"

"Natalia please stop, please don't leave me"

Cole tried to stop me from packing by taking what I'd already packed out of my suitcase and throwing it on the floor.

"Cole stop it, I wanna leave"

"Why?"

He grabbed me by my shoulders and turned me to face him.

"Why are you so desperate to leave me, Natalia? I told you everything that bastard said was a lie and yet you choose to believe him over me....why?...why can't you believe me and my words?"

"BECAUSE YOU'RE YOU, COLE!!....BECAUSE YOU HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING TO PROVE TO ME THAT YOU'VE CHANGED OR THAT YOU LOVE ME!!"

Cole looked taken aback by my words, actually, he looked hurt but I didn't care, he deserves it.

"Please leave, I wanna be alone"

I started to pack my things again but Cole being a jackass stopped me and threw my suitcase on the floor.

"No, I'm not leaving you Natalia and you're not leaving me either"

"You can't tell me what to do, Cole"

"Actually, Natalia, I can because I'm your mate and your alpha"

"Actually, Cole, you're not, you're my EX-mate and my EX-alpha, you're nothing to me anymore, all you are is a major pain in my ass who wants me for goddess knows what reasons..."

"I want you because I love you and because you're mine"

"Yer, yer, yer, whatever Cole, keep singing that song like a broken record and I might just believe you"

"It's the truth Natalia"

"So you keep saying, tell me, Cole, what changed?"

"What?"

"You heard me....what changed? what changed in the three months that we were apart that you all of a sudden decided you wanted a mate and realised you were in love with me?....are you sure you didn't know who my real family were? is that why Aubrey has been MIA since I came back? because you didn't want anyone or anything to get in your way of mating with the king's daughter"

"NO!!, NONE OF THAT IS TRUE!!"

"Then why?....why Cole?"

Cole ran his hands through his hair and roughly tugged on it.

"What changed Cole? how did you go from hating me to loving me?....it doesn't make any sense"

"IT'S BECAUSE I'M IN LOVE WITH YOU, NATALIA!!....I'm in love with you and I have been ever since we were kids"

"What?"

Cole closed his eyes as he took several deep breaths.

"I've been in love with you ever since I can remember, Nat, at first...I didn't know that it was love, I just put it down to brotherly love"

He said whilst looking disgusted.

"But as I got older...I started to feel possessive of you, I always wanted you near me and I was always jealous of Angelo because you two were really tight, you were always together, always laughing and joking and I always felt this urge to wanna hurt him whenever I saw you both together, I also had this strong urge to kiss you and make you mine but I couldn't because as far as I was aware you were my sister and it was wrong to feel the way that I did for you but I couldn't help myself, I even started fantasising about you whenever I would masturbate or have sex....you were all that I thought about Natalia"

"Why didn't you say anything?"

Cole looks at me like I've just asked a really dumb question which I probably did but I didn't care.

"You were my sister Natalia, I know you don't believe what I say but I'm telling you the truth, ok, I didn't find out about you being adopted until you ran away...before that, you were my sister and I was confused that the moon goddess had made us mates because incest is a sin...even for werewolves"

"So erm..."

I crossed my arms over my chest.

"If you're telling the truth about being in love with me from a young age then when....when did you find out, I mean...when did you realise you were in love with me?"

"I realised I was in love with you on my eighteenth birthday"

"When you realised I was your mate?"

He shook his head no.

"I didn't find out you were my mate until your birthday, I swear"

"Then...what made you realise you were in love with me if it wasn't that?"

Cole smiled as if enjoying the memory.

"It was at school, I was coming back to my locker after practice when I passed one of the classrooms...I had no intentions of stopping but then I saw you...you were sitting at one of the desks with your hair tied up in a bun, you were wearing a white sundress and no make-up, you looked absolutely stunning...I stood in the doorway watching you as you stressed over your homework, you were talking to yourself and didn't know how you were gonna get all your work done in two days"

"I remember that...I had to do a project on King Henry the 8th, it was a big project and I had to do it alone because nobody wanted to be my partner"

Cole growled.

"But you got it done though"

He said through clenched teeth.

"Yer, how did you know?"

"Well to use your own words babe, because you're you, you threw yourself into things like homework to distract yourself from everyday life that's why you're so smart which is one of the many qualities that I love about you"

Cole whispered the last bit whilst looking deep into my eyes.

"You looked so adorable that day and I couldn't take my eyes off you"

Cole came closer to me and stroked a piece of my hair out of my face.

"You've always consumed my thoughts, Natalia, I didn't want to admit that I had feelings for you because I didn't want to be seen as the freakshow who was in love with his own sister...but I couldn't help it"

I closed my eyes as Cole gently brushed my cheek with his knuckles.

"I was madly in love with you but I couldn't do anything about it except ignore it, do you know how painful that was for me?"

"Actually, yer I do"

Shit, did I really just say that?.

I could tell Cole was thinking about what I said so I quickly diverted him back to our conversation.

"Why didn't you tell me when you found out I was your mate? why did you reject me?"

Cole let out a sigh.

"Like I said babe, I couldn't...I thought we were siblings and I didn't wanna commit a sin by accepting the bond and revealing my feelings for you...even if our bond was created by the moon goddess herself, as for rejecting you...it was the biggest mistake of my life, one that I wish I could take back but I can't"

"And Aubrey?"

"What about her?"

He sneered and I gave him my don't bullshit me look.

"You guys dated, you had sex, how do I know that you two aren't still together? how do I know that you're not using me until she comes back and then you can mark her and make her your Luna?"

"Don't be stupid Nat, I'd never make that psycho whore my Luna"

"Really? well, I don't believe you"

I moved away from him and went over to pick my suitcase up before going back to packing.

"And I don't plan on sticking around in this house being a third wheel whilst you two are all over each other playing alpha and Luna to this pack"

"I already told you, Nat, this house is ours, nobody and I mean nobody is allowed to stay here except us and our kids"

I scoffed.

"Yer ok"

"I'm being serious Natalia, I built this place for my mate and my kids, I designed it and started work on it long before I even found out that we were mates, I swear, you're the only woman I've had in this house"

"Mm-hmm"

"I swear to you Natalia, I'm telling the truth, work on the house only wrapped a couple of months ago and I haven't seen Aubrey since after you left"

Huh, what does he mean?.

I look up at him confused.

"What do you mean? she's your girlfriend, how can you not have seen her in such a long time?"

"First of all Natalia, she's not my girlfriend never has been and never will be, secondly, she was just my f**k buddy, someone to screw whenever I was bored or horny"

"Nice"

I scrunched my face up in disgust.

"I know, I know, it's not something I'm proud of"

"Whatever"

"Look Natalia, I can't change my past, as much as I'd like too, I can't"

He looks down at my hand which is resting on the suitcase, he slowly places his hand on mine and tightly grips it, it wasn't enough to cause me any pain but enough to keep me near him in case I tried to get away from him again.

"The last time I saw Aubrey was a couple of weeks after you left, she was angry with me and left the pack to go and stay with some family members in New York"

"Why was she angry with you?"

"Because I refused to mark her and make her my Luna and because I told her that I never would"

"Why not? you were planning on it before I left, what changed?"

"Actually I wasn't, Aubrey just assumed that because we were "dating" that I was gonna make her my Luna but every time I tried to tell her otherwise, she would always cut me off or find a way to distract me...besides, you're the only woman who I plan on making my Luna"

"Why?"

I whispered as I looked down at our hands which Cole had entwined.

"Because you're mine"

Cole cupped the side of my face and I closed my eyes enjoying his touch, urgh!!, I hate this shit, why can't I just accept his stupid rejection and break our bond for good then all of this will be over.

"Please don't"

I opened my eyes and looked up at Cole when I heard his voice which sounded like he was begging me, he placed his forehead onto mine and closed his eyes.

"Please don't accept my rejection Nattie, please...I..I love you, I swear I do"

He begged sounding broken, he even had tears in his eyes.

"I wanna believe you, Cole but I can't"

"Why not?"

He said whilst trying not to growl but did anyway.

"Well, what if somewhere down the line you change your mind? what if nobody can accept us because we grew up together as siblings? what if Aubrey comes back and you realise that you really want her and not me? what if...mmm"

Cole cut me off by slamming his lips onto mine, I tried to push him away from me but gave up in the end, I'm tired of fighting him and as much as I hate to admit it, I was craving him and I have been for a very long time now.

The kiss was passionate but it wasn't rough like I was expecting, Cole's lips felt really soft and so freaking good against mine, I didn't want it to end but unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, Cole kissed my lips twice before once again placing his forehead against mine.

"You overthink too much, do you know that?"

I chuckled slightly remembering how Lucky always scolded me for overthinking.

"Well, you do"

"You should smile more often babe, you look absolutely beautiful when you do"

I looked up at Cole who was looking at me with so much love.

"I need something to smile about first"

Cole sighed as he caressed my face with his thumbs.

"Give me a chance, Natalia and I promise I won't let you down"

"But..."

"No...no buts Natalia, I mean it, if you give me a chance and I mean a proper chance, a chance to wine and dine you, a chance to show you how much I've changed...a chance to show you how much I love you then I promise you...you won't regret it"

Oh goddess, what do I do?.

I feel so torn right now because I want to give him a chance but I also don't wanna take the risk in case I get hurt again.

"Use your powers, Nat"

"Huh, what do you mean?"

"Use your empath power, if he's being deceitful with you then you'll be able to feel it"

"O..ok"

I close my eyes and concentrated on Cole allowing myself to feel everything that he's feeling, the good and the bad, little did I know that by doing this that I was opening up a door that I would never ever be able to close.

I felt an array of different emotions coming from Cole and to my shock, I didn't feel any hate or deceit coming from him, damn.

"Nat...Nat, please answer me"

I opened my eyes and looked deep into Cole's eyes, I hope that what I'm about to say doesn't come back to bite me in the ass.

"I'll give you a chance Cole but only if you can prove to me that you really do love me, if you can't then....then I'll have no other choice but to accept the rejection and leave you forever"

"YES!!"

Cole shouted with excitement whilst fist-pumping the air and I chuckled.

Cole then wrapped his arms around my shoulders hugging me as I wrapped mine around his waist and placed my head on his rock hard chest, I could hear his heart beating so fast that I thought it was gonna burst out with excitement.

"I promise you, babe, you're not going to regret this"

He said whilst running his hand through my hair and kissing my forehead.

All I could think off was that I really hope I don't end up regretting this.