Carlisle

　　I was beginning to get fed up with the constant walking by now. The sun was almost gone, and I could already see the moon in the sky.

　　I sighed, not for the first time, dragging my feet to take one step after another once more.

　　“How much longer is it?” I asked Nicholas, the man who had saved me only a few hours ago. He had taken the brunt of the tree falling on him, after all. However, now, I noticed that while he did look a bit weak in the beginning upon getting up from the forest floor, now he walked swiftly without hesitation, limping, or a need to rest.

　　I frowned at myself, wondering if I was becoming a bit too paranoid. Then again, it was not as if I had no reasons to be paranoid. A lot of things had happened to me within the span of merely weeks, that I was tired of it all, and done with trusting most people. Then why was I here, a voice in my head asked me. Why was I trusting this man who had barely said a word to me since he rescued me during the rainstorm from being crushed by a fallen tree.

　　I pushed my doubts creeping into my mind as much as I could, instead focusing on my need for shelter and warm food. I just had to be patient, I told myself, I would be resting soon.

　　It had not been hard to notice, however, that Nicholas had not answered my question. I wondered now if it was the perfect time to run, before I found out that my savior was a kidnapper or something. I did not want to go from one tight situation to another.

　　My thoughts of impending abduction suddenly stopped when we finally turned a corner, and I caught sight of our destination.

　　I gasped at the size of the house in front of me. My eyes widened in shock. This was not just any mere shelter, but was a large penthouse!

　　“Wow,” I mouthed silently, still following behind Nicholas as we walked up the stairs to the front door. Nicholas pressed the doorbell, and I could hear a beautiful chime ring through the entire house.

　　Within seconds, the door opened, and I could see a head of gray hair from my view. Soon, the door opened fully to reveal an old woman. She had on a nice blue sweater, and wore a pair of round metal-framed glasses on her face. I liked her instantly, despite my hesitation.

　　Nicholas went in first, murmuring something I could not catch to her, and I saw the old woman nod, before turning to me and giving me a warm and friendly smile, which I returned with enthusiasm. The inside of the house was large, giving off the feeling of warmth and luxury. I looked around myself, stunned and in awe, and barely heard when the woman called my name.

　　I turned to her, and she beckoned me over, mentioning something about me needing a good washing up and a hot meal. I crowed happily in my head, feeling like the woman had to have read my mind. I was led up the stairs, while Nicholas watched us go with his arms crossed. Following the woman’s lead, I entered a large bedroom.

　　The old woman showed me the bathroom, which I took a peek at and was awed at how large it was. My eyes spotted the marble bathtub and I fought myself so as not to let out a squeal. My excitement mounted up, and I anticipated taking that long and warm bath I wanted to have right then and there.

　　As soon as the woman exited the room with a promise to bring in a fresh set of clothes, I began to divest myself of my damp and dirt-caked clothes, before entering the large bathroom with the sparkling white tiles.

　　I began to run the bath almost immediately, and hopped in the shower to remove all the dirt still on my body before I would have my long-awaited soak.

　　I am not sure how much time passed before I emerged from the bathroom, body sparkling clean and pink from the heat. A warm fog accompanied me as I opened the door and re-entered the room. I saw the set of clothes laid out for me on the bed, and the dirty clothes from before were removed.

　　After quickly putting on the peach-coloured outfit and brushing out my hair, I left the room, walking down the same way I had come. As I did, I noticed the aroma of food in the air.

　　I used my senses to follow the aroma to the source, and entered a dining room with a large table and chairs all around it. The old woman was just finishing up with setting the table, and I could see two pots with steam rising from them. I gulped, my mouth suddenly watering without my control.

　　The old woman finally noticed me when my stomach made a loud noise, and she looked up, before smiling at me.

　　“You should sit and eat,” she said with a kind tone of voice.

　　I obliged, watching as she came over to my side of the table to dish out some of the contents of the pot she held onto the plate. The thick porridge looked absolutely filling, and I could barely wait to dig in.

　　The two of us began to eat, and a thought occurred to me suddenly. I paused in my eating of the warm and delicious meal, looking around with a question on my lips.

　　“Where is Nicholas?” the woman looked up from her plate questioningly at me, and I clarified, “The man that brought me in.”

　　“Oh, I see,” she murmured. “He left about thirty minutes ago.”

　　My eyes were wide and mouth open as I stared at her, shocked at her reply to me. “What?” my voice left my lips in a near-whisper, and it echoed through the dining hall.

　　“Yes. The young man that brought you here had mentioned he had other places to be. He said that it was an urgent matter and could not stay for long. He did not even have the time to sit for a meal. I wonder what he had to attend to so urgently,” the woman sounded a little annoyed and frustrated at her last sentence. I blinked at her, still in shock. “I did try to talk to him, but he was insistent on leaving at once,” the woman seemed to be reassuring me, probably because she saw the look on my face.

　　Nicholas had left, without telling me? I suddenly began to feel the weight of guilt eating me up. I had not even told him thank you once, not for saving me or bringing me here. I simply left him at the entrance without even a smile back at him. I bit my lip, recalling how he had been nothing but nice to me, and how I had responded to him with not a hint of gratitude. I had even thought he was abducting me, simply because the way to this house was too far and took us considerable time to arrive.

　　Now, I felt completely horrible about everything.

　　I needed to find him to apologize to him.

　　“When would he be back, then?” I asked her, still holding my spoon aloft, not eating. “I have to at least thank him for helping me earlier.”

　　The woman’s brows furrowed and I could see the gears in her head turn. “I don’t know,” she responded slowly, after seconds had passed. “To my knowledge, he only came here with regards to your stay here.”

　　My stay here?

　　I was now even more confused than ever. Why had he done this for me? Not to say that I was ungrateful or anything like that, but if he was going to all this trouble on my behalf, there had to be a reason.

　　I shook my head, brushing away those thoughts. Carlisle, get a hold of yourself, I thought. You need to have more faith in people sometimes.

　　Maybe he had done this for his own reasons, but I had to still believe there were good people like this in the world.

　　I resumed my eating now, having made up my mind to thank Nicholas whenever I would get the chance to meet him again.

　　…

　　Damon

　　I had barely moved from my spot in the past four hours.

　　Ever since I gave Nicholas the orders, I had been laying on the floor, staring at the intricate designs on the ceiling of my suite, and trying not to berate myself for how I had royally messed things up again.

　　I tried, but could not help it.

　　My thoughts were all about my mate. I could never stop lingering on thoughts of her, especially not now. I remembered the way she had screamed at me and cried. I grit my teeth again, sure that if I continued, my teeth would be nothing but stubs soon enough. I was so angry at myself for everything. I was angry at myself for going to the club and getting drunk. I was angry at myself for letting the redhead girl sit at my table and engage me in conversation. I was beyond angry at myself for even accepting the flirtatious comments.

　　Drunk or not, that was unacceptable. And I was furious at myself for sleeping with the girl. Even more so, I was furious at how I could not hold Carlisle in place and beg her; how I could not explain to her that what had happened was a mistake and a lapse in judgment that never should have occurred in the first place.

　　Instead of doing all of that, all I had now were regrets. I regretted ever getting drunk in the club. I regretted ever laying eyes on the redhead, and flirting with her, kissing her, and forgetting that I had a mate. I regretted ever thinking of taking her to a private room in the club, for sleeping with her. Above all, I regretted the tears I had made Carlisle cry. I regretted ever being the one to cause the look on her face.

　　My regrets were too numerous to count.

　　I clenched my hands into fists once more, shutting my eyes and trying to keep myself calm. What mattered now, was finding Carlisle and keeping her safe. Then, and only then, would I ever have the chance to beg for her forgiveness, to plead with her to give me another chance to make it up to her and get her to trust me once again.

　　It was a long shot, but it was a chance I wanted to take. I would make sure not to mess this up anymore.

　　It had been four hours since I gave Nicholas the orders to find Carlisle and arrange for her to stay in the penthouse on the other side of the forest.

　　I had impressed upon him the urgency and importance of the mission.

　　Nicholas was a loyal man to me, and though he was always busy running one errand or another outside on my behalf, he always came through for me. That was why I entrusted this task to him.

　　The second reason I gave him and no one else the mission, was how nondescript and unrecognizable to Carlisle he would be. Having been on constant missions in and out of the pack for the past five years, Nicholas had not been seen by Carlisle ever since she arrived. This meant that he would have the advantage of gaining her trust quickly, unlike if she knew he was a member of my pack.

　　I hated to admit it, but she would not trust anyone if she was sure the person had come on my orders. That was also why I told Nicholas to specifically not reveal to her that he was a werewolf, or that he was a member of my pack.

　　He had assured me he would take care of it, and had since been gone. Now the sky was darkened and I had no patience left.

　　Where was he?

　　The door of my room opened and I turned to find my mother walking in. She had a calm aura around her, though I knew better, and could see her brows furrow with concern.

　　“Damon,” she called me, catching my eyes in hers as I slowly sat up. She was giving me a disapproving look, and gestured to me to get up at once.

　　I obliged her and stood, feeling my muscles tense and relaxed subsequently. Her eyes were trained on me, and with a sigh, she began to speak again.

　　“You are worried for Carlisle, aren’t you?” she asked me, giving me a knowing look.

　　I sighed, trying to brush off her concerns, but she took a step closer to me, and I felt the weight of her gaze on me.

　　“I messed up,” I finally say. “I need to find a way to fix it.”

　　“And you will fix it,” she told me. “But you have to be strong. She will return to you. I am sure of it.”

　　Her words gave me encouragement, though I did not feel as encouraged as I should have.

　　A knock on the door let us both turn, and I called out, “Enter.”

　　Nicholas came in, giving both myself and the Emerald Queen respectful neck bows before he turned to me. He looked tired and weary, but I did not care.

　　Impatient, I cut him off before he could speak, “Report.”

　　He nodded, “Alpha, I have located your mate and brought her to the penthouse. She was on her way to freshen up when I left.”

　　I instantly felt a tinge of relief, and relaxed. Good. She was safe and sound.

　　“Were there any difficulties?” I asked him, voice a bit less tense.

　　“Yes. At first, she did not trust me, but due to the fact that I saved her from a falling tree during a rainstorm, I got her to follow me.” At this, he paused as if hesitating. At my look, he continued. “I do think she was suspicious of my identity, however… She kept giving me strange looks throughout. And I did not give her any hint that I was a werewolf or sent by you.”

　　“Good,” I nodded to him. “You have done well Nicholas.”

　　“Thank you, Nicholas,” my mother said to him, and he gave her another small bow with a hint of a smile.

　　I looked at my mother, and the smile she gives me fills me with hope once more.

　　Whenever I can, I must strive to make things up to Carlisle. I would do anything to win her trust, and perhaps, when all was said and done, she would not hesitate in accepting me as her mate.