I closed the door and held a hand up to my lips. I just… I let out a breath, unable to hold back the smile rising onto my face as I stepped down and away from her door, leaving to go back to my room.

To think that the second I saw that picture, despite the happiness of the memory, there’d still be that lingering doubt and bitterness at the single word that popped into my mind.

Hero.

I had been her ‘hero’ then. Somehow, I was still that now.

Though, I supposed, I didn’t exactly know her definition of hero. Maybe I’d done something so small that I even couldn’t recall, but it had stuck with her all this time. Maybe it was some kind of small impact like that which continued to make me into her personal flying hero, minus the cape, of course.

Her eyes had been practically flaming as she turned around and turned my words around, telling me that I didn’t get to choose if I was heroic or not in her eyes. She’d come so close to tell me that, completely unaware of either of our physical spaces.

But that act, that closeness, that fire in her eyes that dared for me to challenge her… my heart was still racing. I wasn’t sure she could ever look at me like that. It – it was actually nice to see. I didn’t hate it at all. She’d suddenly turned into a beautiful and fierce warrior, some kind of goddess like a mix between Athena and Aphrodite. Maybe Persephone too… waltzing into a so-called dangerous space just because, and staying, just because she liked it.

She’d come so close, I hadn’t thought, I’d just acted.  My hands somehow ended up on her waist, almost as if to keep her at bay, to keep her from getting even closer. When I felt how warm she was through the fabric my hands touched, I’d been brought back to my senses. I tried to convince myself that I needed to leave. I needed to push my own desires away, that it was right for her.

I tried to leave.

But when she told me I had her permission… it was overwhelming. I’d really not expected it at all.

The surprise she’d given was the last straw. And it just happened. It wasn’t drawn out, languid. I wasn’t able to savor it so much, but it was enough. It was enough for me, for now.

As I strode back down the hall to my room, I heard her voice and stopped in my tracks.

Oh my gosh. What just happened?!

I turned around to find nothing and nobody there.

It was too loud for her to not have been right behind me. Because as good as my senses were, I wouldn’t be able to hear her at this distance unless she was really loud. But still, it wouldn’t be as loud as it was right now.

Confused, I kept walking back to my room, taking a few more glances around me as I did, but no other words filled my mind. That is…

Not until I closed my door behind me.

Fallyn actually… oh my gosh.

At this point, it was clear that I was hearing the real Elizabeth, my Elizabeth, however, the question remained as to how I was hearing her. It was as if I were hearing her thoughts, as she was thinking them, through some kind of telepathy.

And she didn’t know how to shut it off…

I didn’t mind.

After I got ready for bed, I listened to the new voice in my head, feeling warm and fuzzy inside as I did.

She was too precious.

Fallyn’s still here at the castle. He’s like… like a two-minute walk away…

I chuckled to myself as I flopped back onto the bed.

It really wasn’t so bad hearing her voice like this, even if she was freaking out a bit. I grabbed my phone and typed a quick message to someone and sent it. Maybe they’d know something about this…

Is he thinking about me? Like… right now?

Yes. Yes, I am, Elizabeth.

I didn’t need a mirror to know I was smiling like a fool.

Deep down, part of me wondered if I’d gone too far by actually kissing her. The only thing it seemed to cause was a flood of her thoughts in my mind. The tone of her voice told me it was alright.

It was like she was pleasantly stunned.

I sat up in bed.

Wait a second.

Did that kiss actually cause this? Me being allowed into her thoughts?

Does… does it work both ways? Can she hear my thoughts too? But no… she would’ve said something – rather, thought something – about that by now, right?

Unless…

Ding!

I picked up my phone, reading the message silently.

“Huh. So it’s not just us.”

I reread the message, just as another one came in. A second immediately followed.

Oh dear. No. Nope.

I was not about to answer that.

In summary, the messages were along the lines of this: ‘Certain pairs of true mates gain the ability to communicate telepathically due to their ancestors. Why? Where’d you hear about it?’ ‘Fallyn?’ ‘Did you find your true mate?!’

Ding!

The phone was now going on silent. Off of vibrate too.

Out of sheer curiosity, I looked at the screen.

Nope.

Bad choice.

‘FALLYN!? YOU WERE HEADED UP TO THE NORTHERN PACK, RIGHT?! IS IT LIZZIE?!’

The screen lit up with another message and before I had the good sense to toss my phone onto the dresser, my eyes read words.

‘You kissed Lizzie, didn’t you? That’s the trigger, you know.’

Letting out a sigh, I typed a message back. I didn’t need everyone knowing about this, when it wasn’t even clear where we were headed, or even if we would make a good match.

I flipped it over so the screen faced down, and set it up on the dresser before falling back onto the sheets to stare up at the ceiling. I’d already shut the lights off, but now, it almost seemed too quiet.

She’d been quiet for quite a while.

Maybe she fell asleep, I thought sleepily, a yawn taking over my body.

Oh my gosh… I just ate all of the cookies.

I laughed at her horrified voice, the words that followed them only made it worse.

I’m gonna get fat! But… my metabolism still is working hard, so maybe not?

She wasn’t asleep yet.

Definitely not.

I listened to her internal monologue for a time, her voice lulling me into a happier sleep than I’d known for a while.