23.I am not a werewolf. I'm something else..

**Eve**

Fear made Eve’s heart pound at ridiculous speed, her sides burning from the pain of intensive running. The tree branch snagged her long silver hair, nearly jerking her off her feet, but Eve didn't give up- she grabbed onto her hair and pulled it violently away from the branch. She stumbled but kept running, almost sure that he would follow her. There's no way Eve could ever outrun a shifter, so she had to use her imaginary advantage of a head start. Tears on her cheeks dried up, leaving nothing but ugly marks from where they steamed down just minutes ago. A twig snapped to her left, and Eve dreaded the thought that he might have found her. Instead of having the instinct to survive and keep running- Eve stood frozen on the spot. Her body paralyzed in fear.

"Who's there?" she called out, only now understanding the danger she had gotten herself into. Eve was alone, running God knows where, lost in the woods. The evening was cold, iced breeze dancing on her skin, making her shiver. Looking up, Eve could almost see the stars, resembling tiny crystals shimmering in the dark sky.

"Calm down; I won't hurt you." Out of the shadows came a voice.

"W-who are y-you?" Eve trembled, her hands forming in fists.

"A friend," the woman replied. Eve wasn't sure as to how to react to current events. She might have ended up somewhere, out of the shifter territory- somewhere more dangerous than Eve could imagine.

"Are you a puma?" The thought invaded her mind, just a bit later than the question had left her lips. Eve face-palmed herself mentally, scolding the bluntness of her words.

"No, child, I am not," the woman spoke calmly. She was still nowhere to be seen, yet her voice was comforting, making Eve relax.

"Where are you?"

"Calm down, and I'll come out of the shadows, child. I promise, I am no threat to you," the mysterious woman spoke rather quietly, trying her best to gain Eve's trust. It worked, Eve felt how the tension left her body, and a feeling of complete peace overtook her. She inhaled and exhaled deeply, closing her eyes, letting all thoughts of fear leave her mind.

"Okay, I'm calm now," Eve whispered, eager to find out who this 'friend' of hers was. More twigs snapped under the mysterious woman's feet, and soon both women faced each other. Eve opened her eyes, seeing a gentle-looking woman, smiling at her rather friendly. She dropped to her knees, placing her forehead against the rough forest soil.

"My apologies," Eve nearly sobbed, dreading the thought of the consequences that might come because of her careless nature. How could she not recognize that voice?

"Get back on your feet; I'm a friend, not royalty, please," the woman tapped on Eve's shoulder, encouraging her to stand up. Eve did as she was told, looking down at her feet, avoiding their eyes meeting.

"I'm sorry, really," Eve whispered, nibbling on her nails nervously.

"Child, I am not here to keep talking in formalities. I am here to be your friend and help you avoid the worst decision you could ever make. Sometimes, your life among packs could seem like a living Hell- there's an entire world out there you do not know about. The danger you'd put yourself into, after crossing the border right now, could cost your life." The woman extended her hand, offering Eve to hold onto it.

"I understand, I'm just a little confused. Not sure I was even thinking of crossing the borders," Eve admitted. Even now, she had no idea where she was running and where she could end up.

"It happens to the best of us, dear," the woman smiled, flashing a bright smile at Eve.
"Even shifters have hard times, bad days, or events in life, which leave them confused for a while. Trust me, when I say that you're not the first one I've met wandering in the woods. As the packs' Luna, I do look upon my responsibilities seriously- no matter shifter or human, I must protect everyone," Eve was unsure how sincerely Luna spoke. Hand in hand, they walked further away from the place where Eve came from.

"Where are we going?" she asked, trying to sound calm.

"I'm helping you to leave the territory without any danger. Remember, I told you- I'm your friend."

"But why? Luna, you must know that a shifter has chosen me, and now, technically, I'm committing a crime by running away. Why are you helping me, instead of punishing?" Suspicion in Eve rose, she started questioning Luna's behaviour, especially when she caught a human red-handed.

"Because I know the pain of being forced, I know how it feels to live in a cage, imprisoned for a lifetime. No woman deserves such punishment. If you let me help, I will keep quiet that I saw you here."
Eve noticed red flags tied to a few tree branches- they were nearing the border. Luna was helping her to escape. Eve kept quiet, unsure as to what she should say. At this point, she was as confused as ever. The whole situation didn't make any sense. Eve needed distance from Eros, yet she hadn't decided if she wanted to leave the pack for good. ”If I go back, he will kill me, he will make me pay for everything,” Eve thought. It had been wrong for her to burst into his office, it was illegal to run away, but she had no choice anymore. One reckless decision and her life was about to change. Maybe this was the beginning of something new and beautiful, at least Eve could be free.

"We're here," Luna announced, letting go of Eve's hand, her eyes fixated on something outside their territory.

"Are you sure that this is one hundred percent safe?"
By the look on Luna's face, Eve instantly understood that she's being put in danger, purposely. For a while, Luna's eyes didn't leave that one spot- she kept staring at it like a maniac. Whatever, or whoever, was out there, lurking, and waiting for Eve to step over that border- was dangerous and would cost her life.

"I'm sure," Luna suddenly said, her voice sounding ice-cold. Eve shivered, cold tingles traveled down her backbone.

"You must go, he will come and look for you in no time," Luna was rushing Eve.

"How do you know that he will look for me? I mean, I did tell you about being chosen by a shifter and running away, yet I didn't mention anything about him possibly chasing me," Eve stepped back, increasing the distance between herself and Luna.

"I'm a shifter, dear; I know he will. It's in our nature. No creature is like us; no creature is as possessive over their properties as shifters are." Luna didn't bother to face Eve. Her main task was to make the human feel as if she were just a toy in her son's hands, without giving out too much information.

"I see," Eve whispered, her voice barely audible. By now, she had dropped the idea of escaping and would instead go back to face the consequences.

"Come on, we have no time left to waste." Luna approached Eve, grabbing onto her elbow, dragging the weak human closer to the border. A sinister smile grew on Luna's lips as she threw a last glance at the thing hidden in the shadows. Everything happened too fast for Eve to register. One moment she was being dragged by Luna, the next her body was being thrown onto the ground like a puppet. Only a small part of her hand ended up on the other side of their territory. Eve looked up, noticing that Luna was nowhere to be seen. She had left Eve alone, at the mercy of her destiny. She didn't want to move anymore, because of her intensive running and walking around the woods, she was too weak to move. Suddenly, her hand was grabbed by a pitch-black, human-alike hand. The most significant differences were skin color and ridiculously long, sharp nails. Eve screamed in surprise, the creature grabbed onto her hand, trying to drag her over the border. The creature let go of her, Eve looked up and saw Eros holding the animal by its throat. He held the body far enough away from Eve to not find out how it looks. Eros threw the creature against the nearest tree and growled. When he was sure that it had left, Eros faced Eve and sighed rather profoundly.

"Do you have any idea how big of a danger you just put yourself in?" He became aggressive. Hurt and annoyed by her reckless behaviour, Eros massaged his temples to get rid of the disappointment filling him.

"What?" Eve tried to stand up- tried being the keyword. Eros helped her to get back on her feet; she kept looking up at the enormous male.

"I don't understand, aren't werewolves supposed to stay in their territories, at all costs?" Eve felt lost in her thoughts. She ran into Luna, got thrown over the border and now... Now Eros was around, watching her without getting tired of it.

"I am not a werewolf, Eve... I'm... I'm something else, okay? Not a part of the pack, technically." Eros groaned. "That thing, which you just noticed was someone you'd never want to end up around, that was a bleeder." Eros covered his face with both palms, trying to calm himself down before he did something he would regret.

"Bleeder?" Eve asked him, almost sure that the creature was a lot worse than shifters. To top it all off, Luna tried to frame her.

"Isn't this a sight to see. I'm sure both of you will get crowned for being the worst mates in the whole history." Out of nowhere, another voice- full of sickening amusement, sounded from their right.