The Secrets We Keep

Chapter 8

We pulled up to a drive in movie theater and I was impressed. I've never been to a drive in before. Mat broke our silence to ask me what snack I wanted then decided he wanted to guess instead. I looked at my phone and noticed I suddenly had a million texts and missed calls from Anthony. They were ignored on purpose so I decided shut my phone off instead of it going crazy the whole time we were trying to watch a movie. After about 15 minutes, I finally saw Mathias trying to make is way back to his truck in one piece with what looked liked a mountain of snacks. I jumped out and went help him giggling as I got closer to him.

"Mat what in the world are you doing?"

"I got one of everything." He started laughing as soon as he saw me trying to catch everything that was falling out of his arms.

"You are a goof ball."

"Yeah well this goof ball can't grab the door handle, can you umm.... no you know what go get in on your side." He sounded optimistic about whatever plan he had going in his head. He followed me around the truck and when I climbed in he told me to get whatever I wanted from his arms. Just to be a brat I went straight for the popcorn, drink and the biggest candy he held at the bottom of the mountain he carried.

"Erika wait! Dont pull those!" He whisper yelled so he didn't interrupt anyone else, But it was too late I pulled the three items and watched the avalanche of candy fall from his arms. I was laughing so hard at the scene that just unfolded I couldn't breath. He stared at me in disbelief of what I just did to him.

"Oh you think that was funny huh?" Mat asked trying to stifle his laughter.

"I'm sorry I had to!" I managed to say in the middle of my hysterics.

"Well then I'm afraid I have to do this." He said as he jumped me in the passenger seat of his truck, attacking me with tickles to my sides.

"Mat!!! Stoopp!!! Please!!!" I could hardly breath from how much I was laughing. "Agh!! I'm sorry!!"

Mat finally let up, hitting me with a smile.

"You better be." He got out and started to pick up the candy he dropped, I jumped down from his big truck to help. "Excuse me little lady you better get your butt back in there and enjoy the movie."

"No I'm going to help you. I'm the one who made you drop them." All of a sudden I was off the ground and pretty much thrown into the truck.

"Sit," he pointed at me, "watch." He then pointed at the screen.

"No!" He looked back at me. "Not until you're back in here watching it too." I said as I jumped down to help him again.

He smiled at me with appreciation. I helped him pick up the candy quickly and looked at him. I pointed to the truck and he nodded. He walked to the driver side and jumped in right after he made sure I was set in the passenger side.

"So Erika," he started, "how are you liking Round Mountain now?"

"Umm its..... different.... but I like it for the most part."

"You seem a little unsure about that." He was making more of a statement than asking a question. "So what's the reason you aren't 100% happy here?:

"Well, the last town I was in, I was happy. I had my brothers and sister, and I thought I had found the person I was supposed to end up with." I answered him.

"What happened?" There was a long pause.

"I left," I said quietly. "We move around a lot for my dad's job. So I left and he....... moved on." We sat there in silence as I looked in my hands. And for the first time in awhile I wasn't fighting back tears. So I looked at Mathias and smiled.

"I'm sorry...... how long were you and him dating?"

"2 years. It was stupid though." Suddenly I heard a song on the radio and I turned it up. It was one of my favorites and I started to sing along. It took me a second to realize he was staring at me. I felt my face burn from blushing.

"Dont," he started saying, "..... don't stop singing." He said, looking at me in amazement.

"I don't sing..... in front of people."

"You're telling me no one has ever heard you sing?"

"Other than my family? Just my ex." I said, regretting that Anthony ever knew anything about me.

"So he was special huh?"

"I thought he was. He knew everything about me, and I thought he would always keep me safe. Although now thinking back, I think he was keeping himself safe." I finally admitted. We talked more than we watched the movie, and I mentioned how Anthony told me about his "mate". Mathias slightly choked on the candy he had in his mouth all of a sudden. I patted his back and made sure he was okay.

Mathias

I heard the confusion in her voice when she said "....my ex found his mate.......... ha whatever that means." Her ex was a wolf and he told her. If his pack ever found out he told a human about us, they would have his head and probably hers too. I wasn't sure what she actually knew about us. I could hear Maddox growl in my head about the possibility of our kind being outed. The more I thought about everything she was saying, a sudden thought popped into my head that I really had no business being there. And Maddox started to wonder the same thing. I tried to focus on something else but it was too late.

"Ask her." Maddox insisted.

"No! It's not any of our business."

"Then let me." I fought inside my head for about 5 minutes. When I finally let it slip from how much Maddox was fighting for control.

"Are you a virgin?" It came out a little more aggressive than I meant for it to.

"Ha umm no..... I'm not." Her head hung low in shame and I felt awful.

"I'm sorry, that was none of my business, but if it makes you feel any better, neither am I."

"Really? I'm sure you got a lot of action, right?" Her words held venom, not that I blame her.

"Actually no. I thought I had found one and I was ready to give everything to her, then on my 17th birthday it changed."

"How?" Her curiosity peaked.

"I don't know she changed. She threw a fit that night, and told me I was worthless."

"I'm sorry, that's awful."

"Yeah, it was Sylvie." I admitted to her.

"Thats right! Ha Danny told me about that!" She yelled, holding back a smile.

"You know her?"

" She's on the cheer team of course I do!"

"Well I didn't know you knew her knew her." We ended up talking and laughing the rest of the movie instead of actually paying attention to it. I got to know a lot about her, and it made my heart melt for her. She would frequently stop mid sentence to sing along to the country songs that were playing. During one of the songs, she turned to me and I couldn't stop myself. I was in awe of every bit of her. I leaned over and pulled her into a deep kiss. I heard her go breathless for a second. She didn't pull away, but she didn't really know what to do. So I wasn't sure if it was welcomed or not. When I released her from my embrace, her cheeks were lit up bright red. She stayed looking at me with her big bright green eyes, and I felt her hand cup my face. Her touch was gentle and full of warmth. Then something happened I didn't expect. Tears filled her eyes and fell.

"No. No. No, please don't cry, I'm sorry." My heart hurt when I saw her eyes glistening. She turned around and jumped out of my truck and ran. I jumped out and ran in the same direction to catch up to her.

"Erika wait!" I called, trying to catch her pace, but she was faster than I expected. "Erika stop! We can't be running out here!....... Erika the wolves!" And that's when we both heard the growl and she stopped. When I reached her, I shielded her from the direction of the sound.

"Mat." She grabbed my arm and noticed she was looking in a different direction. I saw a pair of glowing eyes and was hit hard by their foul smell.

"Erika," I cupped her face so she would look at me, "when I tell you to run, you run as fast as you can back to the drive in!"

"No, no, Mat, I'm not leaving you alone, are you crazy?" I heard the worry in her voice and kissed her again. This time she leaned into it.

"I'll be fine, but I need you safe." I kept her behind me, as we started slowly backing away in the direction we came from, but then she stopped. Her back was to mine as she stared a second one down. I took this opportunity to link with my guys who were on patrol, to get them to us so I didn't blow our secret.

"Mathias," I heard from her in a whisper, "there's more." Maddox was about to take over when three of my warriors came crashing the party. Instinctively, I grabbed her hand as I took off running, holding on to her so I didn't lose her.

"Erika keep going!" I yelled to her, not realizing how far we actually were from the drive-in, but she didn't. She stopped and let herself fall to her knees. I went back to her and picked her up.

"Come on Erika, I know you have more than this in you! Get up before more come, please."

"Mat stop! Did you not see what I just saw?" Her voice broke through her tears. "You need to go back to your truck and I need to go home."

"OK, and I'll take you, but you need to come back with me! Its not safe out here, didn't you just see those big ass wolves!? Or were you not paying attention?"

"Of course I saw them, Mathias! I'm not blind, but I don't want to do this. I want to go home!"

"Then get your ass to the truck." She stared at me in silence. "Damn it Erika just let me get you home safe! I'll leave you alone after that!" She sniffled and pushed her way past me. I was so confused as to why she reacted this way. As she was walking, I saw her pull out a bottle of what looked to be perfume, but when she sprayed it I didn't smell anything. Like absolutely nothing.

"It's a masking spray." Maddox said, surprised. I caught up to her and grabbed it out of her hand.

"What the hell Mat?" She yelled as I opened the bottle and tried to smell it.

"Where did you get this?"

"My ex got it for me one time and I liked it so he bought me another one before I moved." She wasn't lying or maybe she was. I didn't know her at all, so I didn't know if she was lying or not, but why would he give her a masking spray?

"You're lying to me." I looked into her eyes as I waited for her to try again. Instead, all I got from her was a look of anger that could kill. She turned on her heals and kept walking.

"Just tell me why you have this! You opened up to me all night and all of a sudden you shut down!" I stepped in front of her to try and stop her, but for being such a little thing she wasn't weak, she pushed me dead in the middle of the chest, knocking me to the ground.

"Mat I just told you! Now can you stop please? I.want.to.go.home." her voice cracking. I got to my feet and was able to catch up with her. And then it clicked.

"Erika, who is your ex?" I asked in a cold tone. I couldn't remember if she ever said his name or not, but at the time I didn't care. She turned to look at me, and I honestly expected her to walk up and slap me. She ended up doing the exact opposite, and kept making her way back.

"Its Anthony, right?" She stopped and whipped her head back in my direction.

"You know him?" I scoffed at her.

"He's a pig." I spit the harsh words about him in disgust.

"Excuse me?"

"He's a PIG!" I repeated to her. "I've known him since we were kids, he always talked about his girlfriend in his hometown." I saw a glimmer of hope come into her face.

"Right after he bragged about which girl he got laid by!" I saw the pain that crossed her face, but she needed to know how this guy really was.

"You're lying!"

"Am I? Or do you just not want to believe he lied to you?" I asked her bitterly. "He's with Danny, right?" She looked at me like I had just ripped a band aid off a wound she tried to conceal. I knew she didn't deserve the hurt that came with this information, but I didn't know what happened. We were fine one second and then it was like a switch went off in her head and he found a way back into her mind. I couldn't stomach the thought of them together and I don't understand why I felt this strongly about it.

Erika

It felt like hours before we finally made it to his truck. The drive-in was empty at this point.

"Take.me.home!" I was able to say in between the sobs. I thought about what he said about Anthony. It hurt thinking about what Mat said, but I knew it probably wasn't a lie. I knew Anthony was too good to be true. There was no way I was the only girl in his life before he found Danny.

"Gladly," I heard from Mathias. His response hurt, but I deserved it. I could tell he was angry, but it wasn't all at me. "Can I have my perfume back now?"

"No."

"Mat seriously?" I want that bottle back, I knew I wouldn't be able to get another one because I wasn't sure where Anthony bought it from and I genuinely liked it.

"Erika, this doesn't even smell like anything!"

"Maybe to you!" I yelled back at him. "Why does it even matter to you?"

"Because Erika, I care about you!" I heard the defeat in his voice.

"Why?!"

"I don't know!..... I dont know, okay?" Silence crushed my heart, knowing I was being unreasonable to an unneccessary extent.

"Look Mat, I didn't mean to be rude, but I don't think....." he cut me off before I even had a chance to say what I thought was the best answer to whatever this was.

"No."

"No?"

"Yeah, no!" He yelled as his jaw clenched.

"No what?"

"No you aren't allowed to push me away, before you even get a chance to let yourself fall in love with me!" He said, looking surprised at his own words.

"Mat I promise you don't want to love me," I said quietly, "there's a lot you don't....... cant know about me." He pulled over suddenly and turned to me.

"Do you think I care about what you are hiding?" He asked, trying to catch my gaze. "Erika, give me a chance to prove to you that I'm not Anthony!"

I looked at him and, for the first time all night, I didn't fight his hand touching my face. He pulled me to him and caught my lips with his. I felt my heart skip as he pulled me over to his lap, his hands moved from my face and down to my hips. I felt him getting just as into this kiss as I was, but he suddenly broke our kiss, leaving me disappointed and wanting more.

"I don't care about whatever it is you're afraid of telling me, and I'm willing to be here for you if you ever decide to tell me. I want you to know I can make you happy. Happier than you have ever been." I knew he was being honest, but it was a similar song I've heard before.

"You can't promise that, Mat. I've heard it before and it was a lie."

"I know Erika, but I am not him. Please please trust me." I could see the sincerity in his eyes. Everything in me was screaming to run, but I wanted him, so I fought it and I stayed. After we were wrapped in another kiss, I didn't want to let go of him. Everything about it felt perfect, he started pulling off his jacket and then mine. I reached for him and started pulling up his shirt but before I could, he pulled me off of him. It hurt my feelings and he could tell. I dropped my head but then he lifted up my chin and put his forehead to mine.

"I don't want to start this with you in that way. I want our relationship to mean something. I want to be able to appreciate every part of you from the top," then kissed my forehead, "to bottom." He kissed my lips and held my hands. "Trust me, I want every single part of you. Just not on a night where we are almost mauled by wolves or you are upset about your ex."

He kissed me one more time, then put me back in the passenger seat and made our way to my house. He held my hand and periodically kissed the top of it softly. I smiled after each gentle kiss he planted.After we got to my house, I went to open the car door but he was there before I even blinked. He helped me down and he handed me my bottle of perfume. I looked up at him as his head hung low and he apologized.

"I'm sorry I took this." I could tell he meant it.

"Its okay Mat."

"No it's not, it was rude and I shouldn't have done it." He walked me to the front door and kissed my forehead. I smiled and looked up at him, only for the moment to be ruined by my twin.

"Mathias, why are you still here?"

"Well, I was bringing her to the front door and telling her good night, but then, well, here you are." He said, matching my brother's attitude.

"Zeric I'll be right in, stop." I laughed at him. Mathias didn't think Zeric was funny though. They both stood about the same height and build, looking like they were about to tear into one another. Mathias smirked.

" You got a problem with me Zeric?" My brother just glared and didn't say a word. Mathias turned back to me.

"Good night beautiful," he kissed me gently, "I will see you Monday." He made his way back to his truck and I felt sadness sink into my heart from him walking away, but then he turned back and flashed a smile back at me. Just like that, it was gone. I don't know what this feeling was, but I liked it, and I decided then and there, I was going to run with it. I smiled back at him and I ran to him.

I reached him and crashed into an unexpected kiss that was perfect beyond all imagination. We broke our kiss and caught our breath, I had never expected something or someone to be so perfect for me in my life. But here he was in front of me, going through hoops to get me to give him a chance. I knew I had to let it happen, I had to let my heart want what it wanted, and that's Mathias.