Camden could feel Clayton's despondency and she felt her own resolve beginning to waver. Everything he said was absolutely true and the thought made her want to cry. This time alone together had been short and filled with numerous ups and downs, but she had never felt closer to him or more in tune than she did now. She wanted to melt into a puddle and weep, but she'd promised herself that she wouldn't cry over this again and she was determined to keep that promise. "I want more of this," she said softly as she placed a delicate row of kisses over his chest. "More of you. More of us. Just more. I'll never get enough of this," she murmured, leaning into him. Gently, he rocked her from side to side, the movement soothing and comforting as they both grappled with their feelings for a long moment."I suppose you'd better get ready. We've been fucking around here for a lot longer than we should have," Clayton said with an air of defeat. "I'll be out shortly," he assured her as he kissed the
They were both quiet on the drive to the hospital. Clayton was trapped in his thoughts, wondering how things would be with Matt's imminent return and what the outcome of tomorrow's ritual might be. Camden, on the other hand, was beginning to feel the onset of morning sickness, a fact she hadn't shared with Clayton because she didn't want to jeopardize their plans for the day.After a prolonged silence in the car, Clayton finally snapped out of his reverie and voiced his concerns, "You alright? You've been quiet." But instead of answering, Camden deflected, "So have you." "Sorry. I've just been thinking about tomorrow," he admitted, but neglected to mention his concerns regarding Matt's homecoming. Camden's continued silence caught his attention and, looking over at her, he became aware of her queasy expression and the way she covered her mouth with her hand, a scene he was all too familiar with by now. "Do I need to stop?" he asked, his voice ringing with concern and urgency. She thou
"Anyway," Clayton went on, once again trying to change the subject and keep the conversation going, "Those were all boys' names. What about girls' names?" he asked smoothly. "I thought you were absolutely certain it was a boy?" Camden replied with a knowing smirk. "If it's twins there might be a boy and a girl," Clayton explained as if it were obvious. Camden chuckled and replied, "I don't really want an old name, like Elizabeth or Alice. Those feel kind of outdated and I'd like something more modern. But not too modern, like Nevaeh. I do like girls' names that double up as boys' names. So, like Charlie or Morgan. I feel like I'm a little more easy going on the girl names though," Camden explained with a shrug. "How about you? Do you have any ideas?" she asked curiously. "I've thought about it, but I haven't really been able to settle on anything," he replied. Camden scoffed. "So I see all the pressure is on me then?" she groaned as she rolled her eyes."Well, how about Boris?" Clayto
She and Clayton found their way into Matt's room. It was empty aside from two visitors' chairs, a small bedside table with a storage cupboard and a rolling table that was clearly used for meals. The bed was missing, obviously having been wheeled out with Matt still on it. Clayton left the backpack beside the bedside table and then made his way over to the window, looking out over the parking lot. "This is probably the best weather we've had since we've been here," Clayton considered, taking in the blue sky. Camden made herself comfortable on a chair near the door. "Is that a good or a bad thing?" she asked, wondering if it would have any effect on her surprise. "Definitely a good thing," he answered, smiling as he thought about his sneaky plans.They were chatting about the weather when two nurses suddenly appeared, wheeling Matt in as he babbled on about some crazy dream he had had that he was now trying to remember. "Cam!" he exclaimed as he saw her, his face lighting up in a bright
Camden stumbled into the nearby bathroom, her reflection in the mirror showing signs of the emotional turmoil she had just endured. She splashed her face with cold water, attempting to regain her composure, all the while scolding herself for allowing herself to slip into that kind of connection with Matt again. In front of Clayton, no less. She couldn't blame him if he was upset. If she were in his shoes she likely would have been livid. None of this would have happened if Matt hadn't been so damn handsy though. Clearly, he was suffering from the lingering after effects of the anesthesia, so she also couldn't blame him. As a result, she didn't want to be too harsh with him, but by giving him a pass, she had inadvertently put herself in a difficult position and, ultimately, only had herself to blame.Meanwhile, back in Matt's room, Clayton tried his very hardest to be mad at him, but it was almost impossible. "I missed you, dude! It was so boring here," Matt complained, looking at Clay
The nurse shuffled back over to Matt and gave him a big smile and a friendly pat on his good hand before making her way out of the room, giving Camden a curt nod on her way."Sorry," Camden apologized, looking at Clayton, "I shouldn't have done that," she continued, the guilt weighing on her. Clayton sighed and was about to respond when, to everyone's surprise, Matt piped up, "Shouldn't have done what?" He looked at Camden curiously, his brows furrowed as he waited for her answer. Camden looked between Matt and Clayton, uncertain as to what she should say. Telling Matt that she shouldn't have let herself slip into the bond they shared probably would be an exercise in futility. He appeared to have lost all sense of propriety and she was certain he wouldn't understand why it was a problem, but she also didn't know what else to say and she didn't want to minimize her liability in front of Clayton by brushing it off or lying about it."I... um... you..." she searched for the right words.
Camden wasn't sure what to do about this situation when Clayton piped up, "You know Matt, I just wanted to take this opportunity to remind you... The megalodon is extinct," stating it as an absolute fact. Matt looked confused but replied, "Bullshit. I told you, they found a coelacanth in 1938. That fish supposedly went extinct 80 million years ago, but they found one... just swimming around, chilling off the coast of Southern Africa. If they could find a coelacanth, they could find a megalodon," Matt replied with certainty. Clayton scoffed. "You know, not everything that goes extinct turns up millions of years later. You're basing your entire argument on a fluke. A one in a million chance. Maybe even one in a billion!" Clayton continued, trying to get Matt worked up. It seemed to be working. Matt sat up, his earlier serene and peaceful expression long forgotten as he got caught up in the throws of his passionate argument with Clayton."I'm not basing my entire a
"Did you bring my stuff?" Matt suddenly asked, as if just remembering. "Yeah. Clayton? Where did you put the backpack?" she queried, surveying the room in an attempt to find it. Clayton bent over and picked it up, placing it on the bed beside Matt. "Did you by any chance bring my charger?" he asked hopefully. "Of course!" Camden assured him, reaching over for the pack and fishing out the charger. Matt smiled gratefully. "Thank you. My phone died just after I messaged you this morning," he revealed with an exasperated smile. "Where is it? I'll plug it in for you," Camden offered, heading over to the other side of the bed where the plug point was. She retrieved his phone from the drawer and plugged it in, allowing it to charge while they waited for Matt's discharge.The trio made idle chit-chat and Camden tried to guess what her surprise was, but Clayton assured her that he wouldn't tell her, even if she guessed right. Eventually, at around 1pm, Matt was finally discharged and he was de
Matt let out a sigh, wanting to be done with the conversation now. "Just make sure you keep your end of the deal. I'm doing this for Cam... and for what we used to have," he said, his gaze drifting off momentarily as if lost in memories. "You know, I considered going with you, but I know how threatened you feel by me," Matt teased, trying to keep a straight face but unable to do so. Clayton scoffed and chuckled. "I might actually miss you, Matt. Not the part where you trailed after Cam like a lost puppy, or the way you'd watch her move, or the way your hands lingered on her a little too long..." Clayton went on, leaving Matt with a sheepish expression on his face. "But I'll miss you.""God, Clayton, I'm not going to die! Well, actually, I might if they ever find out that I knew about this and never said anything... But let's hope that doesn't happen. Just figure this shit out, okay? If I can help the two of you in any way, let me know, but something tells me this journey doesn't involv
Instead of leading him to the lounge, as Clayton had anticipated, he led him back to the kitchen. The change in setting made the conversation seem more serious. More threatening.Matt took a seat, followed shortly by Clayton, who sat directly opposite him. Matt didn't beat around the bush. "You know I know," he stated. It wasn't a question. Clayton shrugged, seemingly unfazed. Matt sighed before continuing, "Where are you guys going?" he asked, his tone firm and serious. "We don't know yet. We still need to decide. I only just found out about all of this," Clayton replied, feeling a bit annoyed. It was pretty unreasonable of Matt to expect them to already have a plan when he had literally only found out all this life-changing stuff a few minutes ago. He felt like he needed a minute to reflect and to think it all through."Clayton, I'm not fucking around when I say this... If you hurt her, I will fucking end you. We might not be mates anymore, but I still feel responsible for her and p
Camden couldn't help the tiny sob that escaped her lips. To think that Clayton had wondered his whole life whether his parents had loved him broke her heart. Her pregnancy hormones were kicking into overdrive and she could feel that she would start to spiral soon if she didn't regain her focus, so she pressed on, hoping to lighten the situation with a little levity. "Also," she went on, wiping a tear from her eye, "I figured while I was getting the inside scoop on your family history, I'd ask about your real name," she explained. Clayton perked up, very interested to hear what she was about to reveal. "Well, I didn't ask about your first name. I don't know... I felt weird about it. I felt like too much would change if I had to start calling you something else now on top of all this other stuff and I know you as Clayton and it—" she was rambling on when Clayton cut her off. "What is it?" he asked, unable to disguise his curiosity. "Wolfe," she revealed with the tiniest hint of a smile.
Clayton couldn't help the smile that spread across his features. Despite everything Camden was telling him, he couldn't help but feel joy in this one, singular moment.Camden was also wearing a small smile, happy to see his happiness, but simultaneously worried about what the future held for them all."I knew it was a boy," Clayton whispered softly, gazing into Camden's eyes which looked back at him with uncertainty. She nodded. "She said we'll have a girl too. But the girl won't have this... gene, or whatever you call it," Camden replied, sounding a little relieved. Clayton's smile grew even wider and Camden's heart all but burst as she saw his eyes twinkle with excitement at the prospect. "How lucky are we?" he asked, his voice low but filled with anticipation and love. "Well, that has yet to be determined because there are so many things we need to take into consideration here, Clayton," Camden replied, grounding Clayton back in reality. "Like what?" he asked, the momentary high be
Camden followed, trailing behind him as he settled back down at the kitchen table once more. His anger and frustration were all but palpable and Camden felt guilty for having brushed him off and ignored him just now. "How much did you hear?" she asked as she settled back down in her seat. "It doesn't matter. Start from the beginning," he instructed, taking a deep breath as he tried to relax. Camden figured there was no point in trying to sugarcoat things or beat around the bush. It was his truth and he deserved to know. "I told you, I had an... experience. I don't know if it was a vision, or if it was a dream, or if it was something that really happened, just on a different plane of existence. To be honest, I don't want to get too philosophical about it, because it makes me uncomfortable. But I know it happened, and I know it was real because Matt just proved it," Camden explained, fiddling with the sleeve of her wet hoodie. Clayton said nothing, only watching her, waiting for her t
"Sorry... I'm sorry," Clayton immediately apologized, seeing how his reaction had startled Camden. He quickly got up and went to the sink, grabbing a cloth to stop the beer from dripping down onto her lap. "I'm so sorry, babe," he continued to apologize as he soaked up the spilled beer from the table, "I was frustrated. You guys aren't telling me what's going on," he tried to explain, but he knew it was a poor excuse."I need to make a call," Matt announced as he headed out of the kitchen. Light lightening, Camden was up, chasing after him desperately while she left Clayton to mop up his spilled beer and mope as he continued to be ignored."Stop!" she cried, tugging at Matt's arm as she caught up with him in the lounge. "Camden, please... this is hard enough as it is..." he said in a small voice. It was then that she noticed that his eyes were glistening as if he were on the verge of tears. Her anger and panic began to dissipate as he stood in front of her, unmoving."Please..." Camde
"So, when are we leaving?" Matt asked as he stripped off his soaked sweater and pulled a beer out of the fridge. "Want one?" he offered Clayton. "It's not even 6am!" Clayton exclaimed in disbelief. "It's been a rough night," Matt replied with a shrug as he snapped the can open. Clayton regarded him for a moment then relented. "Okay, fine," he agreed, gesturing for a beer from the fridge. Matt smiled and handed him one before taking a long drink of his own.All the while, Camden sat at the kitchen table, fiddling with a pamphlet about the Standing Stones. "You alright?" Clayton asked, resting his hand on her shoulder as he stood behind her. "I dunno..." she admitted, continuing to toy with the pamphlet. "You're soaked, why don't you go take a shower or at least get changed into some dry clothes?" Clayton suggested, brushing a drenched lock of hair behind her ear.She sighed, but made no effort to move, still pressing and folding the paper in front of her. "Baby?" Clayton murmured, brus
"Matt?" Camden whispered, shaking him lightly. He groaned and furrowed his brow, as if annoyed by the intrusion. "Matt?" she whispered again, but suddenly she heard Clayton's voice ringing through the air. "Camden?"She looked up, searching the perimeter of the circle for Clayton. Spotting him, her heart skipped a beat. He stood beside the circle, torn between rushing in and waiting for some kind of confirmation that the ritual was over.Camden wasted no time; she rushed to him as fast as her legs could carry her. Leaping over the salt circle, she jumped into his arms. He caught her eagerly, but his face suddenly fell as he exclaimed, "Babe! The circle!" worry etching his features. "It's fine," she said. "She broke it. There," Camden pointed behind them to a clear break in the salt before smothering him in kisses."I was so worried about you," Clayton murmured, holding her cheeks and looking into her eyes before pulling her to him in a fierce hug. "I'm here. I'm fine," she assured him
Camden sat quietly, contemplating everything she had just learned about her mate and what the implications were for her. She drained her glass of wine with a series of long, deep gulps, only to find that it had been refilled as soon as she moved her hand away from her lips. She let out a small incredulous laugh. "Okay, so quick recap here. Clayton is from a bloodline that dates back to the beginning days of werewolves, he can shift into a werewolf, in the traditional half-man, half-wolf sense, my son will also have this ability, and the whole world will want to kill them for this? Did I miss anything?" she asked, pursing her lips as she waited for Selene's response."Yes. The bloodline cannot die. The end of the Lupi Noctis bloodline will be the beginning of the end for all werewolves," Selene added gravely, her gaze piercing through the dim light of the stone circle. "Their existence is intricately tied to the balance of the natural and supernatural world. Without them, the balance w