Do You Love Me

"Babe, it hurts!! It hurts so much babe, please make it stop, please" She pleaded in tears as her bones kept cracking and reshaping make sickening sounds.

"You have to be strong, Anna. You have to be strong for me and everyone. I'm here for you, right beside you, baby. Do not fret. Just let it flow. Let it happen." He said moving closer to her, rubbing his snout against her hair, trying to pacify her.

Ray's heart bled at the sight of his mate. His vixen. Of all the times and moments they've shared he has never seen her look so vulnerable..so weak. He fought hard against Ritchie so that he could take back control and make all this stop.

'She mustn't transform, Ritchie. It hurts a lot. Can't you feel it?'

"Of course I feel it, Raymond. But what kind of mates would we be if we let her die without knowing who she really is, without giving her a chance to decide. We controlled her life for 3 years Richard. We can't do that anymore. We just have to help her and be here for her.'

Ray wanted to argue further but he knew deep down that his wolf was right. But how was he supposed to muster enough courage to stand by and let this happen.

'Just cooperate with me, Raymond. We have to be strong for here. Leaving her is not an option.'

He stood beside her saying sweet words to her through the mind link, using his snout and front right paw to rub her as she transformed.

'You can do this, babe. I believe in you.'

*'**'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'

ANNABETH SMITH

She was tired, really exhausted and fed up with her current situation at the moment.

She had this gut feeling that she deserved more....

her heart and mind kept tugging at her to seek more.

Honestly she wanted to do something positive about it, but she didn't know where to start, how to start, when to start ..it never really felt like the right time to her..

As assertive as she has always prided herself to be, she found herself failing at this moment

she felt stuck and limited by her environment

She had to do something

"Leave!!" Her mind kept whispering to her

" Where exactly are we headed " She pressed. I've spent my entire life here. How can I just up and leave without knowing where we're going or what to expect?"

But deeply she knew she had to leave to fend for herself and most especially her family as the meager $410 her mother earned weekly as a waitress at Duke's Tavern no longer covered the bills .

It indeed was a pressing need she needed to deal with..she had to do something fast before her family suffers more than it had already..

*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

**********Annabeth************

"Brrrriiiinnnnggggg" My annoying alarm clock blared loudly indicating it was 8am already and that I had slept for more than 8 hours. Arggghh.. I had just slept for fucks sake..surely doesn't feel like I had slept for up to two hours.

But I know deep inside me that the longer I stay in this bed the lower my chances of getting to have breakfast gets.

I skipped out of bed, put on my worn hello kitty flip flops and stomped to the kitchen.. ready to kill anyone who tried to touch my breakfast; I know it's gonna be little but that doesn't mean I have to starve duhh

I'm the best elder sister..I know :)

I greeted Mom giving her a short half hug and going to the opposite side of the table to peck Nate and Eva as they greeted me.