“When I first saw you and told Rayen what we were, I mean we thought you were human at the time, and she told me I had two options. To either bring you into this world of magic and monsters or to leave you to live your life. But she promised, they all did, that no matter what I decided they would make sure nothing bad happened to you.” He shook his head. “I just wanted you to know that even if you refuse me, you still have allies here, and you will always have an ally in me.” I smiled kindly at him. 

“I don’t think you can say that just yet.” He shrugged. 

“But I did.” I laughed. 

“You really don’t like listening to me do you?” At that he grimaced and I turned, waiting patiently. 

“Your brother is here.” It took a moment to connect but then I smiled, brightly amused. 

“You didn’t listen to me did you?” He grimaced fuller and I almost choked on a laugh. “Is anybody dead?” I knew the answer, if they were I’d feel it, but he shook his head all the same, lips pursed. 

“But they all returned injured, some are still healing.” I chuckled. 

“And my brother?”

“He’s waiting in a room. He seems jubilant.” He sneered at the statement but I nodded smiling. 

“It’s not everyday that you get to fight werewolves.” He narrowed his eyes while sitting up to watch me. 

“Can you do what he did?” I shook my head, he waited but I wasn’t going any further. That was one card I was keeping. He bit his lip but nodded, accepting the secret. 

“Tristan says you killed thirteen vampires before he stepped in.” I hissed. 

“Yeah, they surprised me. How many were there in total?” He cocked a brow.

“Seventeen.” I tsked. If only I had been prepared. “If you ask me it’s a rather big accomplishment.” I gave him a look and he held up both hands in surrender, a smile on his face. 

“I almost died in case you forgot. And I’m not human, I’m a banshee, I should have been able to kill them all.” I huffed. “They're just vampires.” I spat the word like a curse. I really didn’t like vampires. 

“Do you know why they came after you?” Lupin inquired, I shrugged. 

“It could be nothing. Vampires are attracted to banshee’s.” He cocked his head and I nodded. A trade secret perhaps, but a card I was willing to give him. “If you look up banshees on google or wikipedia it classifies us as Undead. But we’re not, I was born, I grew up, and I’ll die at some point. Though… I wouldn’t really classify us as living either. Banshee’s have a foot in the threshold of Death, that's how we sense when a person is dying. Some banshee’s, who are strong enough to step into the Veil and not be sucked away, can commune with the dead. But while we are attracted to Death, the Undead are attracted to us. They seek us out involuntarily. And sometimes when they travel in a pack…” I shrugged. “It presents a problem.” His face was flat, I didn’t know what to make of it.

“But typically you would have beaten them?” He asked, his voice just as flat. I nodded, slightly confused.

“Yeah, I mean, if I had my sword, all would have been fine.” His brows raised but his face remained unreadable. 

“Your sword?” 

“Yeah, I typically have it with me but it’s kind of conspicuous to take it with me everywhere.” He nodded, face still emotionless. A moment passed and still nothing changed, I huffed exasperated. 

“Okay, what is happening?” I asked drawing a circle around his face in the air. He looked at me contemplating and then sighed. 

“I’m trying to figure out the best way to make sure this never happens again.” That's when I felt it, his despair and worry. I could still physically feel how relieved I was that he was unhurt and perfect. I couldn’t imagine what it would feel like if he had appeared to me, after days of resisting my instincts, broken and close to death. Even thinking about it hurts. 

I sat up, tucking my knees under me and taking his face in my hands. The touch was different, warmth flooded down my arms, licking at my veins like liquid electricity. I could tell he felt it too. He looked down at my hands, I pushed his chin up forcing him to meet my eyes. 

“Hey.” I hummed softly. And I saw his mask break, slowly crumbling down, letting me see. His eyes radiated the overwhelming worry and sadness. The fear that had been looming over him this entire time, that I was going to die. I sighed deeply, it was almost too much, this amount of compassion, and for me. “I’m fine, Lupin.” I whispered, reassuring him. He let out a shuddering breath. “I’m alright, I promise.” He nodded and seemed to relax, I could see it physically, as my words convinced him. I brushed my fingers through his hair, combing around his ear. “And I promise, this is not that regular of an occurrence.” He nodded again and fell against me. His forehead against my shoulder and wrapped his arms around my waist. I knew he needed this, to feel my presence, feel my aliveness. I needed it too, maybe not as much, but I wrapped my arms around his head. Feeling him, smelling him. He smelled of wolf; forest and pine and sandalwood. It was addicting, it was intoxicating. I groaned, nuzzling my face into his soft, dark hair. 

“It’s insane that this feeling isn’t real. That it’s all just magic.” Even I could hear the huskiness of my voice, though, thankfully, only I could feel the longing between my legs and heaviness in my core. I felt him laugh under me and obliged as he slowly pulled out of my arms. 

“Fable, the mating Bond is as real as any other magic.” I blinked, twice. 

“Huh, I never thought about it that way.” He smiled, picking up a lock of my hair and twisting it between his fingers.

“Well for wolves we all have a mate, born with our other half somewhere in the world and we only have one. We mate with one person our entire lives and no one else.” It took a moment for me to process that. I pulled back a little, to fully look at him, the strand of hair falling out of his fingers. 

“You mean you’ve never been with anyone else? Ever?” He shook his head, I gaped. “At all?” He laughed and reached up, brushing my hair behind my ear. 

“I have been with no girl, or guy for that matter, in my entire life. I have waited, like all wolves do, for my mate.” He shrugged. “For you.” I nodded slowly. I needed a moment to process this, or two. He chuckled silently and placed his fingers under my chin, the sensation running down my neck. He lifted my face up to meet his. 

“I am aware you are not a wolf, Fable. And I would not judge you if you have been with… someone.” I shook my head, still processing. 

“No, that’s- that's not... It's just, well, all my life I had believed werewolves to be insatiable horn dogs.” I chuckled darkly. “Now I feel like I’ve been lied to my entire life.” He laughed.

“Well we are. We just have beliefs and rules, and like sticking with them.” He shrugged and I nodded again. I couldn’t imagine what my face looked like, I just couldn’t get over it. For the majority of their lives, werewolves, werewolves, were virgins. It was… it was a revelation if ever I’d experienced one. 

“Have you?” I looked up at him, his question knocking me out of my thoughts. 

“Huh?” I asked and he smiled softly.

“Have you ever been with someone?” I really looked at him then. What he said had been true, if I had been with someone he wouldn’t hold that against me but he did care. He wanted to know. I sighed and smiled at him. 

“No. No, my sister was right. My love life is nonexistent.” Though he tried as hard as he could to hide his delight, he still smiled. “Banshee’s have difficulty loving someone, as I said earlier, it’s our weakness, one of the few. And unfortunately for you, I have an even harder time than most banshee’s.” He raised his brows, silently imploring. I said nothing. 

“Why?” He asked, wanting an answer. I shook my head and he sighed. 

“You apparently have a lot of…  cards.” I smiled and nodded. He sighed again pulling away and slipping out of bed. “I’ll get Rayen to bring you a change of clothes and then I’ll take you to your brother.” I nodded but as he moved away I felt it again and knew he had to feel it too. The shearing of our skin and ripping of our flesh. Like our bones had been fused together and resented the idea of being torn apart. So they tried to stay, like magnets, uncaring and unaware of the skin that encased them. And for as agonizing as it felt, nothing physically happened. I stared at him as he looked at me, the same pain reflected in our eyes.

“Is that normal? For mated wolves?” He shook his head. 

“No. No, I'm beginning to believe that nothing about us is normal.” I smiled and nodded, agreeing. And as he left the tearing intensified. He was out the door and gone for moments and still the pain grew. I gritted my teeth refusing to scream and just when I thought I was going to break down in sobs, it stopped. The pain subsiding. He had gotten far enough away. Though how he had managed to move through that pain I would never understand. It seemed Fate wanted us to be together, desperately. 

I sighed, the emptiness inside my core hollowed out. His absence was stark and despairing. The urge to cry consumed me again. Rationally I knew he was only a few moments away, but my bond or whatever didn’t care. I had to be with him, because while the pain of us separating was horrible this emptiness, consistent and never ending, was true torture. 

The door opened and Rayen walked in, a pile of clothes in her arms. She looked at me and rushed over, throwing the clothes on the bed. She wrapped her arm around me and held my hands tight.

“Don’t worry, it will pass.” She assured, her gentle tinkling voice calming and firm. And I sobbed, clinging to her as if she were my life support. The emptiness grew into a hollowness I couldn’t escape, like my insides were rotting away. I was being eaten from the inside out. Softly Rayen soothed me, rocking my shaking body back and forth, smoothing down my hair. She hummed a soft song, her singing voice prettier than her regular angelic one. 

It was a horrible experience, I was half sure I was dead. Rayan’s presence helped, and she was right, it ebbed. Slowly the emptiness settled. Like waves it had crashed and slammed against the rocks until I was eroded away, nothing but sand and dust.  

I pulled away from her and whispered my thanks, my voice a rasp, like I had been screaming for days. She smiled at me and nodded. 

“The Lack will lessen if you accept the bond, or, you know, if you don’t, time will lessen the… force of it.” I looked up at her, brows raised, in the process of wiping away my tears. She realized my confusion as she slid away from me. “Oh, um, the Lack, it’s what we wolves call it. The absence of our mate, the emptiness in our soul that only they can fill. You know,” She shrugged. “The Lack.” She did her best to explain, I smiled at her awkwardness and nodded understanding. She smiled sweetly back at me, she truly was beautiful, like sunshine embodied. 

“Sorry I didn’t like you.” She smiled brighter and brushed it off with a wave of her hand. 

“It’s fine, really, I completely understand. Honestly, if someone had stood that close to Tristan in our early days, I would have gutted her. I mean, I wouldn’t even fault you if you punched me in the face right now.” I grimaced. 

“Don’t tempt me, part of me still really wants to rip out your throat.” She laughed, completely unthreatened. 

“That urge will lessen too. However, whether you accept it or not, it will take time.” I smiled at her. 

“Wonderful, I would so love to look at you and not wish you were dead.” That time the statement stuck, her smile faltered for only an instant. It’s something about banshees and death, the threat always hits home. She twisted at her waist and picked up the pile of clothes behind her.

“Here, for you.” She said, holding the pile out to me. “I think we should be relatively the same size.” I smiled and thanked her. I inspected the clothes, black jeans and a white button up blouse. I must have made a face.

“Something wrong?” I looked up at her. 

“Oh, no. It’s just that I don’t wear white. I’m a painter and it just tends to get messy.” She waved it off again. 

“Werewolf.” She said pointing to herself. “You can do what ever you want with it, I don’t wear white either.” I chuckled and kicked off the bed making my way to the bathroom to change. When I came out she was still on the bed. The clothes fit well enough. Nothing needed to be tucked or rolled desperately. The shirt ended a little high on me but luckily the jeans were high waisted, so my belly was only in view if I lifted both arms up real high. I would just have to avoid roller coasters for the day. 

I stopped in front of Rayen and smiled. She looked at me with apprehension on her face and a question in her eyes. I cocked my head. 

“Go ahead and ask.” She bit her lip but nodded. 

“Are you going to accept Lupin as your Mate?” I heaved a long sigh. She stood up to face me on the same level. 

“Look, Lupin’s my cousin, so I’m biased. But he’s a really good person. He did not want to be Alpha, but he was given the job, and he does it wonderfully well. I realize you don’t know him all that well-”

“And that's exactly it, Rayen. I don’t know him and I don’t love him, not yet. It’s not the same as it was for you, you’ve known your mate your entire life. I’ve only known he’s existed for a little over a week.” She pursed her lips trying not to smile. I raised a brow at her, imploring. She shrugged.

“Well, I didn’t exactly accept Tristan right away.” I tsked at her, smiling. “He was my best friend, I didn’t want to ruin that.” She defended. 

“Oh so you’re biased and a hypocrite.” I teased, she rolled her eyes and sighed. 

“All I’m saying is that you should give him a chance. Lupin deserves happiness.” I looked away, down at the floor smiling soberly and then back up at her. 

“You know, both my mother and my sister said the same thing to me. That I should give him a chance and that I deserve happiness.” She brightened, stepping closer.

“Then why don’t you accept?” 

“Because,” I shrugged. “I don’t agree.” She scoffed and licked her lips. 

“You know he said the same thing to me. When I told him that he deserved happiness, that he deserved love. He said I was wrong.” There was so much anger in her voice and so much sadness. The love she had for her cousin breaking her words. And it was her words I thought on, because they confounded me. 

Even with my own protesting and resisting, now I had met Lupin and I… I liked him. Despite myself, I truly did like who he was. He was kind and strong and undisputedly loveable. Perhaps not by me, but it was definitely possible to love him, dare I say, easy.  

But I didn’t say any of that, I just looked at her and nodded.