Wolf under an oak tree.

Once I reached home safely, the man gave me my car keys and ran towards the forest before transforming into a werewolf in midair. “Iris, is that you?” I heard my mom yell from inside the house, so I quickly made my way inside. “Iris, what happened to you?” mom asked me before she examined my hands and legs, trying to find more injuries.

“Mom, I slipped on the pavement and hit my head yesterday, that is the reason I couldn't come home.” I consoled her, but she kept hovering over me. And that is when Ada came to the foyer with a spatula.

“Wow, Iris, I think every time you go outside, you come home with some sort of an injury,” Ada exclaimed, and I glared at herm before I gently pushed my mom away from me.

“Mom, I am fine, Jace took me to the hospital, and they said that it's just a small wound and it will heal over time,” I said, and she looked at me with a worry etched on her face, but I think she relaxed a bit when she heard that Jace was there with me.

“That boy is really something, Iris.” Mom said, and she guided me towards the stairs, when I was halfway upstairs, I turned around to see that the house was eerily quiet.

“Ada, where are Beatrice and dad?”

“Your dad took Beatrice to town. Don't worry, they will be back by dinner,” she said, but I still felt this uneasy feeling within me. But, I pushed that thought to the back of my mind and climbed the stairs and went to my room with my mom right behind me.

“You take some rest, dear, I will wake you up for dinner.” mom said and pulled the blankets over me and placed a kiss on my forehead, and when she was about to leave the room, I caught her wrist, which made her turn around.

“Mom, could you wake me up in two hours since I need to go to the construction site to see how everything is going,” I asked her, and she raised her eyebrow and scrunched her nose, thinking about whether to let me out of the house again.

“Darling, every time you leave this house, you come back with some sort of a wound.”

“Mom, please!” I begged her.

“Fine, you can go but please make sure you come back home in one piece,” she warned in a stern voice, and my lips stretched so wide into a smile before I hugged her. I know that I am a grown woman, so why should I still ask permission from my parents, right? The thing is, after the physical and mental trauma that I faced two years back, my mom has been overprotective over me since I may or may not have contemplated ending my life. And seeing fresh wounds on me after all these years, I think she just doesn't believe that I was in an accident.

“Good night, darling,” she said before she left my room, I closed my eyes, and the last thought that was on my mind was a pair of chocolate brown eyes that takes my breath away every time I look into them.

“Sweetheart, wake up.” someone was gently shaking my shoulders which made me stir in my sleep, and I slowly opened my eyes to see my mom’s face. And I smiled at her before I turned around and buried my face in the pillow, and I stayed that way for a few more minutes before I got up from the bed and made my way to the bathroom to freshen up.

Once I washed my face and redid my makeup, I left my room and went to meet Ada and my mom, who were both in the kitchen preparing dinner. “Bye guys, I will be home for dinner,” I yelled at them both, before, I left the place. The construction site was only a ten-minute drive from Ada’s home and when I reached it, I parked the car a few meters away from the house and I started walking. The Victorian stone house that I bought was now attached to a lot of metal and wood and there were a lot of men on ladders and some on the ground fixing the outer surface of the house. The ground that surrounds the house was scattered with wood, paint tin, nails, and a lot of other building materials that I don't know the name of.

“Miss. Hendrix, nice to have you here.” the lead contractor who was walking toward me greeted me, and I smiled at him before I nodded my head.

“How is the work going on?”

“So far we have completed the second floor with new wooden flooring, and we have remodeled the walls too.”

“That's great, so with the rate that you are working, I guess you will be able to finish this work in two weeks?”

“Yes, ma'am, since we have a lot of manpower, we will be able to complete it. So would you like to see it?”

“I will come inside in a while, but first, I would like to see how the work is going on in the waterfall area,” I said, and he nodded his head before he guided me towards the forest where the waterfall is. I asked Jace to build a small cabin near the waterfall so that whenever I come here I can go there and relax.

We walked for about a few more minutes before we reached the waterfall, there were large logs placed haphazardly on the floor, but there was no man in sight.

“Why haven't you started the work here?

“Mr.Emerson wanted to supervise the work here ma'am, that is the reason this is kept unattended.”

“Alright, I will come to see the house in a while, and you can leave, I know that you must be having a lot of work still pending,” I said, and he looked relieved before he bowed a little and then left and that is when I realized something, that he was a werewolf too.

Nevertheless, I went towards the waterfall and took a seat near the edge, and stared at my reflection in the water. I didn't know how long I was seated there, but something shiny caught my eye, and when I looked up, I saw that something kept shining from under the water a few feet into the water.

Hmm, should I go and check that out or not?

Well, I am an archeologist, and my curiosity level is quite high, so against my better judgment, I got up from the place and went to grab a few tools to dig.