The Beast's Possession
13: Skin the rabbits.

**Aife pov**

At some point, I fell asleep in the clearing. Clove remained as aware as ever, ensuring nothing signaled danger, so I slept like a baby.

I knew it was a little foolish, but I couldn't stop beaming, knowing she had my back even when I slept. I felt so comfortable, warm and safe.. Heaven.

Once I woke up, Clove urged me to strip and hide my tote in a tree. She was dying for a run and a chance to hunt since she had been watching rabbits hopping around for hours already.

Chuckling, I scanned the surroundings quickly and followed her demands. As soon as I hung the bag on a branch, Clove took over and ran off.

She truly was a magnificent, powerful creature. One of a kind. Somehow, she managed to shift so fast, I didn't get enough time to blink when the shift was already done and her speed was mind blowing. In no time, she had caught three rabbits and snagged the fourth one to devour it uncooked.

Honestly, I kind of cringed at that, but decided to keep my comments to myself. After all, she caught the food for me. As soon as we returned to the clearing, which she proudly called our camp now, Clove handed me the control to shift back. *"Listen, I think it's best if you let me control your body to skin and gut the rabbits. I have a feeling you wouldn't enjoy the process, so how does that sound?"* She offered.

I frowned as I pulled my pants to my waist. "Is that something you can do?"

I hadn't heard of this before. We, werewolves, shared our bodies for most part, but no one spoke about the soul using the other body. She had hers and I had mine, not the other way around.

*"Pretty sure everyone can do it. That's how I could hear the sounds while you slept and saw the rabbits - you were out and I used your body. Sounds wrong, right? Let's stick to the fact I didn't do anything illegal or nasty while you slept."*

Her words made me laugh. At this point, she might have robbed a bank and I would be the most unaware person ever.

"Okay. I really don't want to skin an animal," I agreed as relief flooded me.

I grew up eating meat, loads of it, but I never had to hunt to survive, so I didn't know what I was supposed to do. At least, I had Clove with me and she seemed very knowledgeable about the process.

My stomach made a sound and I cringed, wondering why would it, if Clove just stuffed it with a whole rabbit. As my thoughts traveled down there, in a place I didn't want to be, I failed to notice how silent Clove had become all of a sudden. After a while of looking at the dead animals and waiting for her to do something, control my body or whatever, I realized the silence had stretched out.

"Clove?" I called her name, a little louder than I intended.

*“Shh, listen. Can you hear that, Aife?"* Clove whispered.

I had no idea why she had to whisper as only I could hear her voice, but the tone she used set me off. Something was wrong, had to be.

Just as the veil of dread fell over me, my heart started hammering in my chest like a hoard of wild stallions, so loud the sound not only rang in my ears but also echoed in my mind.

I tried to notice anything out of place, but all Clove did was repeat the same word over and over again, *"listen."*

"Listen to what? All I hear is my heart because I'm seriously freaking out right here. Tell me what's wrong," I called out to her.

*"Just try to listen, nothing's wrong. Listen," she choked on a sob.

I didn't understand it at first, but Clove wasn't freaking out. Her tears were those of happiness and the sobs gave out how overwhelmed she was.

Sucking in a deep, calming breath, I closed my eyes and listened. At first, I heard the same thing - my heart, racing in my chest, but soon, I caught something more. It almost sounded like my heart had lost the rhythm and pace. But it wasn't that either.

It was another heartbeat. Not as loud or wild as mine, but just as strong.

Tears welled in my eyes as I placed my shaking hand on my belly, sucking in another breath. "Is that?" I whispered, never needing to finish the question for Clove to understand me.

*"Yes," she sobbed. *"The heartbeat of our pup is a strong one, we are carrying an extremely powerful future Alpha, Aife. I can feel it, our pup is meant for greatness."*

A sense of happiness filled me. A happiness I didn't know existed, far greater than anything I had felt before. I felt full, lacking nothing, as if I was right where I had to be.

Funny how I never thought about becoming a mother. So many girls in my old pack gushed about the day they would find their mates and have families, but I never shared the sentiment.

Now, standing in the middle of the forest while my life had crumbled down, burned to ashes, I found a new perspective on life. Everything happened for a reason. This baby was a gift from the above, a true blessing, a proof of undying love, not a misfortune.

*"We need to snap out of this. Need to skin the rabbits,"* Clove muttered, ruining the moment we just shared.

I couldn't help but laugh at her attempt to distract me. Just as easy as everything with her today, I closed my eyes and relaxed as she took over, pushing my consciousness to the back of my mind. Paying no attention to what she was doing, I focused my thoughts on the baby that was growing inside me. As surprising as the news came, I was happy. And I knew Bane would be happy too if he knew.

Sure, he was a little rough around the edges, but behind the hardened exterior was a calm, loving and very caring man. That side of him wasn't meant for everyone to see, it was special, hidden from the onlookers that wished him ill.

By the time Clove pushed me back on the surface, giving up the control, she had managed to set up a campfire and made me a comfortable spot to sit down while the meat was already cooking over the fire.

*"I couldn't find any good spices for this, so you'll have to live with what I can offer,"* she muttered as I sat down and reached out to turn the meat so it would cook fully, not burn from one side and remain raw on the other. "I don't mind. Thank you. You've already done more than I could ask for," I muttered, grinning like a fool.

*"Ah, don't mention it,"* she waved me off and all over again, we enjoyed the comfortable silence.

If this was the first look at how my life would be if we remained hidden in the woods, I didn't mind it. Sure, worse days might come with many storms and sun that wouldn't be nearly as bright as it was today, but we could build a little house and learn how to survive without any need for modern society.

Lone wolves weren't that uncommon and they didn't mind living out in the wild, just them and their wolves.

As I relaxed and slowly pondered the thought, Clove growled. The hair on my body stood upright as shivers ran down my spine. She was raising too many alarm bells in my mind. Okay, maybe life in the woods wouldn't be that great after all. *"A man. Stranger. Approaching us. Holding hands up in surrender, I think he's showing he is no harm to us, but just in case, hold onto that bag. We might have to shift and run, I wouldn't want you to lose the last set of clothes because we'll rip the ones you're wearing during the shift. Stay alert, Aife."*