52. He's coming to find you.

Eve woke up with her head hurting more than ever. She was sure the migraine attacked her at the worst possible moments. As Eve opened her eyes, she noticed Luna looking down at her, a warm, motherly smile on her lips.

"Evangeline, thank Goddess you're awake, I was getting worried," she sighed in relief, placing a palm over her heart.

"Was I asleep for a long time?" Eve tried to sit up, Luna helped her and put a couple of pillows behind her back.

"More than humans should, for sure. Here, I made you some chicken soup, it will make you feel better," Luna turned around and reached for a bowl of steaming soup. It smelled heavenly, nearly making Eve drool over the simple dish.

"Thank you," Eve smiled, and placed the bowl on her thighs, protecting her skin from getting burned with her bedsheets.

"What happened?" she asked, taking a spoon from Luna and rushing to taste the soup.
Luna shrugged her question away and suggested for Eve to eat first, afterward they would talk about previous events. The human didn't even question Luna, or her intentions anymore. Eve was way too hungry for daring and talking back when the food had been presented, and while she was still in the bed.
It didn't take her a long time to end up with an empty bowl, and herself feeling full. She thanked Luna and carefully got out of bed. The headache seemed to fade, her body wasn't tense, nor in pain at all.

"Let's go for a walk, I shall show you my most favourite places here, and we can talk," Luna suggested, handing Eve some clothes to change into. Eve simply nodded, grabbed the clothes, and ran into the bathroom, gladly changing her outfit and avoiding overthinking. She was unsure as to what had changed, but she felt safe, oddly comfortable around Luna. The human had no desire to run away from the woman or escape the unknown territory.

"Are you ready, my dear?" Luna knocked on the bathroom door.

"Nearly done, I'll be out in a second," Eve said as she checked herself in the mirror.
Something about her had changed. Her skin didn't have the natural glow, her eyes seemed darker, sadder than usual. Even her hair looked weird at this point. Her eyes scanned down to her exposed belly area, and she gasped, instantly covering her mouth with both palms. What the Hell?
The bathroom door flew open with a loud bang, Luna scanned the room, looking for any obvious danger or whatever what might have scared the human girl. Even if it were just a bug- Luna would kill it in an instant. Her eyes landed on Eve. First, she sighed in relief- seeing that the human was safe. Then, her eyes widened as she looked at the mirror reflection.

"That is one of the things we have to talk about. Try to be careful and avoid sudden movements; I'll make some coffee, grab paper cups, and we're heading to the lake. Take your time, for now, I'll be back in about three minutes," she smiled at the human sympathetically, rushing out of the bathroom. Eve stood frozen in place, she tried to blame Luna, at first, yet she couldn't. If the woman were to blame for that, she wouldn't be acting so kind and definitely wouldn't point it out as an issue. Again, Eve felt too safe around Luna to assume that she was to blame for whatever had happened to her. The time faded, it seemed as if just a second passed, when Luna, once again, stood in the doorway.

"Do you need help with that?" she asked, stepping a little closer to Eve.

"Yes, please, I can't stop staring," Eve bit her bottom lip, watching Luna approach her in the mirror reflection.

She helped Eve to slide on an enormous hoodie and took her hand.
"Let's go, I already made some coffee for us to drink by the lake," Luna winked at Eve, and both women left the cabin, hand in hand, giggling and joking on their way to the lake. When they finally approached the lake, Eve instantly understood why it was one of Luna's favourite places. The view was stunning; crystal clear water, trees, and blooming flower bushes surrounding it, making the whole place look like a little piece of paradise. Luna took off her coat and placed it on the log, suggesting for Eve to sit down. Eve sat on the very end of the log, making sure to leave space for Luna to sit. They shared a little more information about themselves and enjoyed the best coffee Eve had ever had. She felt as if time spent with the woman who first hated her, was a most magical time. Being next to Luna, speaking so openly about everything on her mind, made Eve feel at ease. She had never felt so free.

"Do you still want to talk about what happened? I'm not forcing the topic onto you, just making sure. It's completely okay if you don't feel ready, or don't hold any interest in past events," Luna took Eve’s hand in hers and squeezed it reassuringly.

"I would love to find out what happened if that wouldn't be too much. I'm not quite comfortable with losing my memory or having a black spot over a couple of hours of my life, which haven't been a part of childhood. I hope it's not too much," Eve bit into her lip nervously. Did she want to know? What if it was something huge, something so wrong- she would be better off without finding that out. Yet, the simple human curiosity kept fuelling her heart to beat faster to find out the truth.

"Only, if you promise that you'll try to take it calmly. I don't want to hurt you mentally and physically, yet what I'm about to say might hurt you," Luna let go of her hand and looked away from Eve. Her eyes were focused on one point, somewhere far away. Eve grew more nervous; at this point, unsure if this was really what she wanted. Maybe, just maybe, she would be better off without knowing all of the details.

"I can't promise that I'm sorry. But I'm a hundred percent, if not more, sure that I want, no I need to find out what happened to me. The last thing I remember is pain, a lot of it, then my vision became blurry, and suddenly everything was pitch black. What happened?" Eve knew that there was a possibility of Luna lying or making up something completely crazy. Despite her thoughts and fears, she decided to hear the woman out, almost certain that she could tell the truth from the lie. They were stuck on puma's territory together, anyway.

"The pain was because of your mate bond with Eros becoming stronger. If he does something he shouldn't do, you will feel it, going through one of the worst physical pain you could ever feel. I'm sure it's worse than giving birth. At least that's the scenario I went through- for me it was worse," Luna spoke quietly, averting her gaze, so her eyes wouldn’t meet Eves.

"What do you mean? I'm not sure that I got this right... He does something he shouldn't do and as a result, I'm the one, who's in pain? What exactly does he have to do for me to feel such agonizing pain and end up passing out? It does sound weird, but I'd like to find out a little more," Eve kept pressuring Luna, the small piece of information didn't help her understand what had happened at all. She needed to find out more; all Eve wanted was to understand what Eros did, for her to end up suffering.

"One thing at the time, Evangeline. It's a painful topic for me, so explaining how things work in the shifter community might take some time. Do you have any idea where those hickeys, which are covering your stomach, came from? Have you ever heard of such a thing happening?" Now Luna was the one to ask questions. Eve thought about what answer she could give. Of course, she had never been involved in any shifter business so that she wouldn't know. Despite choosing her next words, she couldn't stop thinking about why Luna answered her questions with another set of questions.

"No. I don't have any idea, never heard about magic hickeys, nor do I know everything about shifters. This whole thing is pretty new for me, I had to learn about laws in school, but they refused to tell us more. I'm human, remember?"

"How could I forget that? Not that I have a problem with it, those days are over. Those hickeys are not magic, those are marks which usually appear after your soulmate cheats." Finally, Luna looked straight into Eve's eyes, to prove to her that her words were the truth. She could easily see how Eve's heart broke into tiny pieces, her eyes becoming watery, any moment now- the human girl might break down crying.

"Promise me that you're not lying. Promise me, that you're talking the truth now," Eve looked down to her feet, doing her best to fight the tears from escaping.

"I wish I could say that I lied. But I can't. I've been in your situation a couple of times. For the last twenty years, my mate had broken the record in cheating. Trust me, I never thought it was possible, especially for soul mates, yet here we are- you're covered in bruises from your mate's choices, I'm covered in those from my mate's fists. Of course, now our situations are not alike. If you would have seen me a month ago, you'd understand what I'm talking about. That was one of the worst times," Luna decided to tell Eve the truth. Both of them had to face betrayal from their mates, but she was sure that Eve, just like herself, wouldn't reject the man whose soul has been made for her. Rejecting a once in a lifetime chance would be the most stupid decision ever.

"So, that's why I fainted?" Eve raised her eyebrow, wiping the escaping tears off her cheeks.

"Yes. He cheated, you felt it, and then the pain was too much for your body, so it shut down. The bruises will stay there for about a week. By that time, mates usually rethink their decisions and beg for forgiveness. Whether you forgive or not, well, that's for you to decide."

"You know, for a moment there, I doubted your words. Now, when I think about everything, what happened, I remember. You called someone names and added the cheating part before I passed out. I bet you were the one to get me to the bed, and you made that delicious soup for me. You took care of me, so I'm pretty sure that I have no reason to doubt your words. Thank you, for telling me, for being honest, and for making sure that I'm alright," Eve wrapped her arms around Luna's neck and hugged her tightly, holding her close for a couple of minutes. At first, Luna sat frozen, yet after a moment she hugged Eve back. Both women ended up crying on each other's shoulders. Eve felt as if she had found someone to share her pain with, and she would give the same support to Luna, no matter what everyone else says or thinks.
When they finally let go of each other, they both smiled and wiped each other's tears. Out of nowhere, Luna's eyes clouded, she straightened her body, and her breath hitched.

"He's coming to find you."