Chapter 13

Luke

Kate is here. What else could I say that would better explain how I felt? Her presence explained everything, solved everything, erased everything that happened in the past year. My puzzle piece had been found again.

If only Kate would trust herself. I wanted her to touch me. It's almost as if she forgot how strong I was, how durable I was. It's almost as if I was built for her. My strength was made to match hers, my speed was made to match hers. We compliment each other. I never felt the need to kill her—how could I? She was Kate. Kate wasn't marked as being a vampire, she was marked as being my true love, my other half, my life.

I had never accepted it before, but that was because I hadn't seen her. The color, hardness of her skin and the color of her eyes means nothing to me. Her face is just as beautiful as I remember it. Anything she could ever look like would be beautiful in my eyes.

Kate

The sun was hidden behind the clouds and Luke and I walked in tandem towards the ocean. He wanted to talk to me, away from everyone else, without the watchful eyes of the other wolves. Luke had asked the other wolves to patrol around, to do their job, while he and I caught up and talked about things.

While we walked in silence, I could hear the crunch of the forest floor underneath his feet, something I wouldn't normally hear as a human. I wouldn't have been able to hear his breathing, his general movements, because he was stealth—he was a predator of his own, a protector.

I knew it bothered him somewhat that I didn't let him hold my hand again. The heat didn't bother me—it was stronger than when I had felt it as a human—but it made me uncomfortable to touch him when I could so easily harm him, as much as I longed to touch his smooth skin.

"So, I'm sure we understand each other's feelings about each other, correct?" Luke asked me.

"Correct," I affirmed.

Luke still loved me (although I didn't understand why), I still loved Luke. Luke was okay with everything that I had become, but I was not. We paused in a patch of soft grass. Luke remained where he stood, making a point not to move away from me. However, I retreated to lean against a tree with my hands hidden behind my back.

"So, you really eat animals?" he asked me, raising his eyebrows.

"You do too, remember?" I told him defensively.

Luke shrugged. "I remembered you being against hurting and killing animals. You loved them, you know?"

I looked down at me feet. "I had to adjust. I still love animals, but I eat them too."

Luke nodded. "And that's why I'm proud of you."

"Because I'm like you?"

"No, because you're not like them—other vampires."

"Oh." I kicked my foot into the dirt, my arms still folded behind my back.

"I still know who I am. This doesn't change me."

Luke smiled at me and I continued.

"And I wanted to be the same—for you, I mean—even though I never planned on seeing you again. I didn't want you to hate me for what I had become."

Luke took a step closer. "I could never hate you, Kate. It's not who I am."

"Even if I had preyed on humans?"

Luke paused. Even he wasn't sure about that. "But you don't, and that's all that matters."

I nodded, pursing my lips, and not quite believing him.

"So, Luke, where do we go from here?" I asked.

Luke shrugged. "I believe I have made it clear that I still want to be with you."

I nodded.

"And it is known among the wolves that you will be with me for a large amount of time. Most of that time inside La Push."

I nodded again.

"Do you agree with me?" Luke asked.

I met his curious eyes for a moment before nodding again one last time.

"Well then. If we are to be together, I need to get one thing straight with you," Luke declared. I glanced up at him curiously, for his voice had grown stern and a little impatient. I waited for him to go on.

"You need to stop this whole… guarded… façade." Luke took one large, pointed step towards me. "If you wanted to kill me, you would have done so already. If you had tried to kill me, I would have stopped you and you wouldn't have gotten a scratch on me." Luke's stern face turned smug.

"Is that so?" I raised my eyebrows.

"Yeah," he said, making another step towards me. "So quit the front, and relax a little."

I narrowed my eyes at him defiantly. He was six inches from my face, and he wasn't backing down, even though he knew he was confronting a vampire. He might have been strong, but he was only a match for me as a werewolf.

"Luke…"

"Kate. Quiet."

Without breaking his eye contact he reached out, his burning hands coming into contact with my arms, and pulled my hands from behind my back. He held my hands in between us.

"Kate, don't be afraid to touch me. I'm not as breakable as you think."

Luke maintained strict eye contact with me. His eyes burned into mine, searching for the thing that would break my reserve. I watched as his chocolate brown eyes darted between each of my eyes, and when I couldn't take it no more, I lowered my stare to our hands. He held my wrists in front of me, my palms facing downward. Slowly, I pulled my hands from his grasp and grasped onto his wrists. From the edge of my vision, I saw Luke give a satisfied smile for finally forcing me to give in.

I flashed him a grin and slowly felt my way up his bare, burning arms, until I reached his shoulders, then slid my hands down his arms again, my fingers taking care not to press to hard, or jerk in any way that would end up breaking his arm.

I was no longer trying to show him that I could do it, but marveling in the way that it felt to finally be able to touch Luke again, and feel his warm, comforting skin against my own as my fingers grazed his skin. I stood up straighter and came closer. Luke still towered over me as I stood next to him, but I was hardly paying attention to that at that point. With a timid smile, I moved my hands from his arms to his exposed chest, and felt the contours of his abs, his dark skin, and marveled in his softness. He wasn't as soft as a human, which made this easy, but he was Luke-soft, a sort of softness made just for me, yet strong enough for me to handle.

Luke let me explore his skin, but finally raised his arms and pulled me closer into a tight hug. This time, while I was beginning to understand my own will strength, I hugged him back, allowing Luke to let out a content sigh.

"That's what I've been looking for," Luke grinned.

I laughed.

"Thank you, Kate," he sighed, his breath rustling my hair. If my skin were able to raise goose bumps, they would have been there at that moment.

I laid my head against his chest and smiled. "Anytime."

"I sure hope so."