*Bryson*
"Don't joke around about that," I said, then, hearing how harsh I sounded, added a, "Please."
Ada had just made a joke about giving us medicine to make us feel like mates, without realizing that we already were mates.
"We need to tell her," my wolf said quietly in my mind, and for the first time in a while, I agreed with him.
But nerves garbled my throat. How was I supposed to tell her that we were mates? When she didn't have a wolf to confirm it for herself. Would she believe me?
Then again, I was pretty sure that she had just told me her deepest, darkest secrets, and that couldn't have been easy for her either.
"I'm sorry," Ada said again. "But…can I ask…what about the joke upset you? I mean, just so I know for the future."
She looked at me with her sharp, intelligent eyes, and I felt guilty again for her feeling like she did something wrong. It wasn't her fault that she didn't know what we were.
"Ada…" I began. "I g
*Bryson*I was staring at Ada in anticipation and it was taking everything in me to keep my calm and composed mask in place. Because inside I was a raging mess of excitement, anticipation, and nerves.I was taking Ada to Grandmoon. Finally. And it didn't matter if she said it was for professional reasons, my heart couldn't help but leap at the idea of staying with her. A smile broke through my mask, showing my joy."I promise to re-enter the village under your protection and gather my things," she finally said, unable to smile herself. "Is that satisfactory for you?""Very," I said, a correlating grin growing larger.This was it. It was decided. Ada gripped my hand tighter and turned towards the direction of her home."Then what are we waiting for? Let's get going," she said as she pulled me along. "You said you needed to leave immediately, right?""Right," I said as I kept pace beside her.Neither of us spoke the rest of the w
*Bryson*I watched as the Alpha left, running towards saving his pack."Let's get her home to rest," Ada's mother suddenly said, drawing my attention back to her and Ada. "She seems to have run out of energy, and with all the chaos I think it best to get her somewhere safe from the fire and chaos.""I agree," I said, rushing forward to pick her up.It appeared that her mother was right. Ada's body had finally gone still, and had quit spasming. In fact, if I didn't know better, it looked like she had passed out from exhaustion. At least with her calmness came a calmness in my mind as well. No stabbing pain."I got you, Ada," I said comfortingly in her ear as I bent down and picked her up.I had no idea if she could actually hear me or not, but I had to give her some sign of support after everything I had to just sit through and watch. It selfishly made me feel better. Almost as if I had been comforting her the entire time.I adjusted h
*Bryson*My eyes flashed back and forth between Ada's mom and dad.Had I just heard them right? Had they said something about my mom? Did they know her? Were they aware of what actually happened to her? And what of my father? And what had she said? Something about a cursed Luna?My mind was so full of questions that I struggled to form coherent words."What? You--I--my mom?""It's not important," her father said with a wave of his hand. "It should not be I who tells you the truth, it is something that you need to discover for yourself.""Then why would you even bring it up?" I asked in irritation, finally finding my words. "Tell me what you know about my mother.""No," he insisted. "I thought you already knew, but there must be something else in motion. All I need from you is to swear to the moon goddess that if we let you take Ada to Grandmoon Pack, you will never fail her. That you will protect her at all costs, even if it puts you
*Ada*I couldn't wake up, no matter how hard I tried.It was like my conscience had been pushed to the back of my brain and I was fighting through every bit of muscle and tissue to get back to the front. But I was sure I was asleep. I had begun to recognize the signs of my visions…but that didn't make them any better.For instance, the panic was still gripping me as I found myself in a sea of fire. Even though I couldn't feel the burning, the pain, and even though I knew better, I couldn't control the fear.Bryson. Where was Bryson? He would be able to help me. He always made it to help me.Yet I didn't see him now.I opened my mouth to scream, but no sound came out. There was nobody to hear me anyway.Except then there was.Wolves surrounded me now, and I couldn't control my hands as they struck out at anyone within striking distance. I looked down and saw my hands, wait no, my paws, covered in blood.As a healer, I was
*Ada*With a huge gasp, I sat bolt upright in bed.There was shouting and chaos all around me and I could hear people scrambling around. My eyes were open, but I wasn't taking any of it in. It was just shapes and voices. But then there was one voice in particular that I focused on."Ada!" Bryson whispered my name, but it felt like a shout.I turned, my eyes finally finding him. The residual fear from the dream was still pounding in my heart, but this time I was able to clearly differentiate between the person in the dream and Bryson.They were not the same person. They could never be the same person.Bryson seemed to notice the fear in my eyes though, he rushed forward."What is it? Are you hurt? What's wrong?" he asked in a worried tone, pushing my hair back from my face and feeling my forehead as if checking for fever.Yep, there was no similarity at all in him and the evil mate in my dream. Bryson cared about me. Even if he
*Ada*Mates? Bryson and I? No, we couldn't be…Could we?I looked at Bryson again, really focusing on him and it felt as if a lightbulb went off, a fire lighting deep inside me.I thought of how I felt so drawn to him. I thought of how my feelings had grown so quickly, and how I hated to be apart from him. Everything I had done seemed destined by the gods, and I realized that it was true.Bryson was my mate.Without my wolf I hadn't realized, but it was clear now. My heart swelled as it continued to pound. There was a faint feeling of deja vu, as if part of me already realized or had discovered that he was my mate.The surprise was still so profound that I couldn't say anything, even as Cole continued to look between the two of us. My gaze went back to Bryson, but he was avoiding me.Had he already realized we were mates as well? If so, why hadn't he told me? His wolf was weaker, but I was sure that he should have figured it ou
*Ada*'Ada-bug,I am so happy to hear that you are almost back up to full strength! It appears that it was a good thing for your father and I to suck up our pride and send you off to Grandmoon Pack.You are sure to recover much quicker there, where they have access to more medical supplies. Though I am happy to report that there still haven't been any more rogue attacks. Woo!The rebuilding is going well, the reason why is not important.I love getting your letters…please keep me posted and I look forward to your next letter.Love, MomP.S. I haven’t heard much about Bryson lately…is everything alright?'The letter hung in my hand, and I sighed in disappointment. Once again, my mother hadn't answered any of the questions I had asked, while simultaneously asking ones that I didn't want to answer either.In the first letter from my mom, she had told me that her and dad were working hard and had almost completely rebuilt th
*Cole*The beautiful girl in front of me swung toward me at the sound of my voice. She seemed to move too quickly though, and her body kept moving to the side without her feet.I reached forward and gripped her arm surely as she fell to the side, righting her and pulling her back upright and closer to me.She let out a gasp and her eyes were squeezed tightly shut, making her nose crinkle in the cutest way."Easy there," I said with a little laugh. "Usually, it takes a little longer for me to knock a girl off her feet.""C-C-Cole," she stuttered out, opening her eyes and pressing her hand to her chest as I was sure her heart was beating fast.It takes her humorously long to look at me, register my hand on her arm, and have the blush creep up her face.Has she always been that cute? Maybe it was just being up so close to her now, or maybe it was with the color in her cheeks, but she was even better looking than I remembered."Tha