In Her Eyes

26

**Ashley's POV**

Knowing that I was the reason Stefan was finally starting to realize that he was loved and happy made me speechless. There was nothing more I could ask for than for him to continue realizing that I really did love him. Not just as my mate, but as a person in whole.

"You know what makes you even more amazing?" he gazed at me in adoration.

"What's that?"

"We're connected in more ways than one. Your transformation with your eyes makes you even more unique, not for the reason of... well you know," he scratched the back of his neck.

I had to give him credit for trying to act like everything was okay for him. I had no idea what he was really thinking about this whole situation he was in. For all I knew he could be on the verge of a major breakdown.

"Thanks," I smiled reassuringly and kissed his jaw. "So I know it's not ideal to go to my house because of... This. But, did you want to do anything tonight? I really wanted to run off some steam."

"I understand, I can go with you. Not sure I'll be able to keep up," he blushed and tried to cover his face.

My heart lurched at how cute he was. If only he would just stop beating himself up internally!

"You can get on my back," I watched as he grew alarmed then curious.

"You sure?"

"Why not? Girls are strong too, specially wolf ones," I winked and helped him up as we went outside.

"Okay, if you insist," he waited until I was on all fours and furry before sliding onto my back.

I shuffled his body to where he was grabbing my fur with his legs and hands as I began walking. He needed to get used to it first before I went running.

"I can do this," he whispered quietly as I tried not to chuckle. It was cute seeing him nervous.

"Okay, I'm ready," he murmured and I smiled wide with my canines as I took off.

He gripped me tighter as I leaped over some branches and continued gaining speed. Although I had no idea where I was going, it didn't matter. Having Stefan on my back made me think this was like a motorcycle ride or horseback to him and I chuckled again.

Slowing down, I saw I was getting closer to the edge of our territory. Normally it wouldn't bother me but with the things were going it wasn't the best idea to stray too far.

Stefan hopped off and I stood up, glad that I had some biking shorts and a tanktop with me.

"Where are we?"

"Near the edge of my territory, I didn't realize I was this close to the border."

"We can start walking back if that helps any?"

"It's not a big deal because there's always wolfs on patrol. Just need to be careful specially for you being with me."

Stefan remained silent as we crossed through some trees to put some distance between us and the invisible line.

"So this Saxon girl that everyone talks about, what's so special about her? Besides her being the... Beta?"

"She's the leader of an all female pack."

"That's a lot of PMSing," he teased as I rolled my eyes. Men.

"Yes, but they have some males for awhile then leave. I've never heard of any other pack doing it, so it's not a usual thing."

Stefan seemed lost in thought as we continued walking. I stopped when I smelled another wolf close by that wasn't of my pack.

"What?"

I shushed him quietly and looked around. My eyes didn't catch a glimmer of anything that was out of place but that didn't mean they weren't there.

"We need to go," I whispered and dropped down as Stefan hopped on my back.

Right as I took off back towards the estate, howling broke out and there were growls and yelps coming from where the estate was. Shit!

I started gaining speed and stopped suddenly when the same wolf stepped in my way, preventing me from getitng to my pack.

'Looks like I'll be able to finish my job this time,' he snarled as I bared my teeth and shook Stefan off gently.

I barked at Stefan to run as he backed up to a tree and watched in fear. This is exactly what I was trying to avoid.

'You're not getting anywhere near him,' I growled back.

'Who said I wanted anything to do with him? Remember, I'm just after you,' his gold eyes gleamed as he lunged towards me with a snarl.

**Cliff hanger!!! Yikes! This story won't go on much longer but there's still a few chapters left! As always, comments are appreciated.**