Broken Bonds
The strange emotion.

Rey was never one to beg, but at that moment, she begged for someone to come and save her from this madness. She could start screaming, but even if there was a chance of someone hearing her, by the time they would replace them, it would already be too late.

She didn’t know what to do. She only felt this helpless once in her life and she swore she would never get into the same situation again.

Yet here she was. Caged under a crazy werewolf that wanted to bind their souls together. She couldn’t change anything years ago, but she had to do something now. Only if her brain wasn’t as empty as it was. She couldn’t pull a coherent thought out of it.

Bu then a memory popped out.

“Now that I successfully caught you, show me your best moves,” Talon chuckled at her. “I have to make sure, you haven’t forgotten everything, I taught you.”

After the harsh winter, Rey’s pack had to suffer through, the fresh smell of spring slowly taking over, was making her soul sing.

They hadn’t seen each other for months, the heavy snowfalls making it impossible for both of them to sneak out without raising suspicions. No one would willingly leave their home in that kind of weather.

Rey counted each day that had to pass for her to be able to see him again. It felt like she spent a lifetime waiting. And when the right time finally came, worry settled inside her.

What if he forgot all about her? What if their secret meetings would not be the same as before, now that this much time stood between them?

But every fear she had disappeared when they saw each other again. It was a bit awkward at first, but the icebergs slowly melted, and everything fell back into place.

Well, not completely everything.

There was a strange tension between them now. Rey could feel it when she couldn’t help but blush as his warm eyes stared into hers. There was something hidden in his stare. Something that wasn’t there before, and Rey had no idea how to name it.

Her feelings were a mess as well. Her heart rate spiked up whenever she caught herself too close to his body. And if the thought of leaving him before was hard, now it was harder.

Ten thousand times harder.

Even in that very moment when her body was pinned under his like hundreds of times before, her heart wanted to leap out of Rey’s chest.

Talon had to hear it too, but his face showed no sign of discomfort, only a silent question of what Rey was about to do.

“Well, I could always kick you in your man parts,” Rey smiled and teasingly rose her leg.

“You could, but that is the one place your enemy will always expect you to attack.”

“That makes sense,” Rey admitted. “Then how about this?”

With a still decent space between their bodies, Rey used it to her advantage and bent her knees. She then lifted her right arm and used her left one to catch his right hand in hers.

She lifted her left knee and pushed it against his stomach to prevent him from moving, while her other leg landed on his hip.

She put all her strength into the leg pressed against his hip to move away from him, at the same time as her hand squeezed his to force him to let go.

As she escaped his hold, she quickly sat up and smiled triumphantly.

Talon straightened himself up as well, whistled, and looked at her proudly: “I see winter has been kind to you.”

Rey answered with: “It was kinder to you.”

At first, she thought the change was caused by winter itself. His pack not having enough time or energy to fight. But it was their third meeting since winter ended and there were still no fresh cuts or bruises on Talon’s body.

Rey lived for this improvement.

But while she glowed, his forehead wrinkled, and he lost a bit of his lifelessness as he sighed: “I do what I have to do.”

Rey feared she knew the reason behind this sudden improvement, and his reaction confirmed it.

The hunted became the hunter.

It was no longer him that had to deal with opponents stronger than him. Instead, he was the one put against the weaker ones.

“Don’t be too sad about it,” Rey reached out her hand to caress his cheek, “You will have lots of opportunities to change things for better.”

In two weeks Talon would officially be eighteen years old. Being the alpha’s son meant he had to learn all the things needed to take over his father’s position one day, but the pack wouldn’t follow him until he would come of age.

And that day was coming.

He never as much as mentioned anything, but by the way his eyes flared up every time their conversation shifted to his father, it was obvious the takeover wouldn’t happen after his father’s death of old age.

Rey was terrified for him, but she trusted Talon to do the right thing for him and his future pack. And what kind of best friend would she be if she didn’t wholeheartedly believe that he would win.

“About that. Rey, I think we should stop seeing each other.”

Her hand stopped dead on his cheek and her heart broke into millions of pieces as all she managed to get out was: “Why?”

She let her hand fall, but he caught it into his and squeezed it before saying: “Not forever. Just until your birthday passes too. You know, so we could figure out if we aren’t ...”

“Mates?” Rey whispered.

“Yeah.”

While no one really knew how or when mating bonds were created, one thing was for sure. They would settle into a place only after both parties involved, would reach eighteen years of life. Which for Rey meant a week after Talon’s celebration.

She never paid much attention to the possibility of them being mates. A year ago she would be repulsed by the mere idea of it. But with her feeling all over the place? Would it be something she wanted?

It would make everything such a mess, but he already occupied such a big piece of Rey’s heart that maybe it would be right.

Unless ...

“Would you want us to be?” She asked, her voice filled with sudden insecurities.

“Rey, I ....” Something about the way he said her name, made her heartbeat quicker again. Was the emotion she couldn’t name love? “I have feelings for you.”

Rey’s mouth fell open: “What?”

“Yeah,” he smiled a shy smile, “and being your mate would make me the happiest man alive.”

“I - I don’t know what to say,” she got out.

She just admitted to herself, she might hold stronger feelings for the man in front of her than she thought, but she wasn’t ready to share the revelation with him just yet.

“Don’t say anything then. Just promise me, you will meet me here in three weeks,” he pleaded with her.

Rey didn’t have to think about her answer for a long time. No matter the outcome, there was no way she would let the opportunity to see him pass by: “I promise.”

The memory ended as abruptly as it began, and it gave Rey the answers she needed. If there wasn’t anyone who could save her, she was going to save herself.