Lucca-

Practically dragging Kale back to the room we’re staying at, I push him to what I guess is, now, his favorite armchair. I sit on the edge of the bed nearby and we sit in silence for a while, while I wring my hands together. I try to think of something to say, but I’m not really sure what to say to him, or if I should even say anything at all, or what.

Kale sighs and rests his cheek in his hand, elbow on the armrest. “So-”

I perk up and stop the back and forth of looking at my hands, then him, then my hands- and turn my full focus on him instead. “Yeah, dude?”

“-If Maxy is my soulmate then does that mean I’m gay…?”

He seems to be talking to himself instead of me since he mumbled that into his hand instead of looking up at me.

“You don’t have to be like, entirely gay, dude. You’ve been with a girl before, yeah?”

He doesn’t look at me but he does nod once so I guess he is somewhat all here and knows that I’m here, at least. I look out the window since I don’t feel like I’m being helpful in this situation.

“And I- Thanks a weird feeling.” He mumbles while sitting up in his seat. I feel it too. There’s like, this warm static in the air and a slight pull in my chest that makes my heart begin to race, almost as if I’m on the verge of a panic attack. Something feels off.

Kale and I look at each other and his eyes go wide just before the floor shakes. The windows rattle then crack.

“Maxy-” Kale whispers. And I feel it too. This instinctual pull to find my soulmate.

We both shoot up from where we’re sitting and bolt toward the door. I yank it open and guests and servants are running back and forth frantically in the hallway. Kale practically shoves me aside when he tries to step out into the hallway. I follow quickly behind him.

We run to the stairwell, following the bond that’s pulling us to Makksi but is stopped by a group of werecats standing at the base of the stairwell that goes up to the third floor. My instincts are telling me to fight them off to get past them, but I know that’s not the smartest thing to do at the moment.

I look over and Kale is also straining against one of the werecats, trying to get to the stairs but it seems he’s losing the battle over his instinctual self quicker than I almost had.

“Kale, stop dude,” I say while putting a hand on his shoulder

“Fucking. Let go of me, Lucca!” He growls while trying to shake my arm off of him.

Two of the werecats nudge us to the side of the stairwell and when I look up, there’re people walking down the stairs, arms over shoulders and around waists as groups help each other down; all completely covered in dust and debris.

“Maxy…” Kale whispers in panic, then he nearly yells as he’s held back still by the werecat in front of him, “Where’s Maxy?!”

I can’t smell him nearby like I should, since his room is only a few doors away from the top of the stairwell. I assume because of all the dust in the air, possibly masking everything.

I sneeze from all the dust and dirt, then shove the werecat that’s standing in front of me, off of me, and bolt up the stairs. Kale yells from behind, “Lucca! Wait! Fucking- Let go of me!”

I reach the top of the stairs and nearly slip on the dusty and slippery floor when I round the corner, before coming to a quick stop. I stare in horror as the hallway in front of me is nearly completely collapsed.

There’s barely enough room to crawl through the rubble and I find myself nearly screaming out Makksi’s name while trying to move brick and wooden beams out of the way. The process is slow and tiring but my adrenaline fuels me forward.

Some other werecats soon appear next to me and wordlessly begin to help me clear the debris, making a path down the collapsed hallway and cracked floor.

After what feels like forever, I finally clear enough debris to reach Makksi’s door. It won’t budge and the wood is cracked from the door frame settling under the weight of the disturbed hall and ceiling, at an odd angle; so I resort to ramming it with my shoulder.

The door finally splinters open after a few attempts and I stumble forward into Makksi’s bedroom, tripping over a crack in the floor’s marble.

“Makksi?” I say cautiously as I pull myself back up from my knees.