Cecilia let out a soft huff of air though her nose, lifting her head off her paws. She was laying in a patch of grass, high up in the mountains, watching the sun set. She had spent the rest of her day running up the mountains until she had decided to go to a spot she loved to just lay in the sun for a while.

Franny and Oscar had both tried to reach out to her, but she had told them she wanted to be alone to think before closing off her mind link. She didn’t want to shut them out, but Franny would just want to talk through everything, trying to sooth and calm her, while Oscar, Cecilia’s oldest and closest friend would just watch her silently.

Cecilia still wasn’t sure what she was going to do. Her first instinct was to ignore the pull of the mate bond, but she also knew how badly that could turn out, not just for her but for her mate as well.

She had seen the effects of a rejected bond once before. The rejected partner became increasing ill, enduring days of crippling pain and even vomiting blood before slowly, tortuously dying. The wolf who had rejected them lost all humanity, staying in wolf for and turning feral. They both died, painfully.

She may not know him that well but it she whined at the thought of anything hurting Sampson.

She stood up slowly, stretching out her back and legs. She must have been laying there for longer than she realized.

Cecilia started the slow journey home. She took a different path than she had coming up her, hoping to avoid the other wolves she knew would be out patrolling the borders of the territory claimed for the town.

As she jogged lightly through the forest on the outer edge of where the town was, her ears twitched, she stopped, listening she could hear the sounds of a guitar.

She knew there were a few houses out here, spread out in the mountain forest, a far distance from the town and very secluded from each other.

She followed the sound of the guitar and came to a clearing in the forest. She stayed in the tree line and looked at the simple single-story home in the clearing. It was slightly modern, painted a light grey. On the large front patio, sitting in a classic wooden rocking chair sat Hammer.

He was shirtless in a pair of loose grey sweatpants. Cecilia could see that his hair was slightly damp, he must recently have showered.

He was rocking slowly playing an old acoustic guitar. Cecilia laid down, resting her head on her paws again, her ears perked forward, watching, curious and intrigued.

He shocked her even more when he started to sing, his voice a smooth and soft baritone that she felt she could listen to for hours. She closed her eyes, she let the song flow over her.

So this is it

I say goodbye

To this chapter of my ever-changing life

And there's mistakes

The path is long

And I'm sure I'll answer for them when I'm gone

So when the day comes in

The sun won't touch my face

Tell the ones who cared enough

That I finally left this place

Its been so cold

Look at my face

All the stories it will tell I can't erase

The road is long

Just one more song

A little something to remind you when I'm gone

When I'm gone

The road to hell

Along the way

Is paved with good intentions so they say

And some believe

That no good deed

That go unpunished in the end or so it seems

So when the day comes

And the sun won't touch my face

Tell the ones who cared enough

That I've finally left this place

That's been so cold

Look at my face

All the stories it will tell I can't erase

The road is long

Just one more song

A little something to remind you when I'm gone

When I'm gone

So this is it

I say goodbye

To this chapter of my ever-changing life

And there's mistakes

The path was long

And I'm sure I'll answer for them when I'm gone

When I'm gone

She was entranced. His voice was so full of emotion and feeling. She whined soft, shuffling forward slightly. She ached to go up to him and comfort him. She didn’t want to scare him and depending on what kind of Fae he was, a large oversized wolf coming onto his lands might upset him.

He started to play again as soon as he finished, and she continued to lay there listening to him.