Broken Bonds
I spy with my little eye.

“So, how soon can we leave? I am going to accept anything from right now to tomorrow morning.”

The rest of the day went away quickly, and Rey found herself enjoying dinner with Lia and Brynn in a solitude of the house, they were temporarily given. None of them said anything through the first half of their meal, exhausted from the day’s work of patching people up. But as Lia gained a bit of her strength back, her mouth was unable to stay quiet any longer.

“I am going to need at least a handful of days. Some humans are injured very badly,” Brynn answered.

Rey wasn’t surprised to hear that. It was a regular occurrence. Rey guessed it was a tax humans had to pay for accepting werewolves in their lives.

Just like two peas in the pod, every werewolf was born with a mate. Some werewolves spend their entire lives searching, some were lucky enough to know who they were since their younger years. The even luckiest ones were paired to another one of their kind. The not so lucky were paired with humans.

There was, of course, nothing wrong with having a human mate. At least not anymore. It was just harder. A lot harder.

Hundred years ago, a werewolf mated to a human, would probably have a very slim chance, the human would accept the bond between them, and he would spend his entire life mateless. In Rey’s era of time, that problem significantly shrank but didn’t disappear completely.

What was maybe even worse than not being accepted, was the fact, that it was impossible to change a human into a werewolf.

There was a 99,9% chance that a human woman impregnated by a werewolf would give birth to a child with a werewolf gene inside him, but you were either born as one or would never be one. That’s why whenever there was an attack on one of the packs, it was almost always humans that suffered the most.

“Fine then. Worst-case scenario, we stay for five more days. But not even a day longer!” Lia concluded and stood up. She left her plate of unfinished food on the table and said: “I am going to replace S and drag his little ass here. I swear that boy hasn’t eaten anything since this morning.”

Rey watched as Lia shut the door behind her and turned to Brynn: “Be honest with me. How long are you really going to need before we can leave?”

Brynn chewed on her bottom lip: “I wish I had a definite answer. But some of my patients, haven’t even woken up yet. And there is no way for me to know what kind of shape, they are going to be in once they do wake up.”

“I see," Rey nodded, “maybe you don’t need to hear this, but don’t worry about me, okay? Whatever the outcome will be, our top priority is them right now.”

“Darling, that’s very sweet of you to say, but all I do ever since we came here is worry about you.”

Rey’s cheeks heated up hearing the sudden confession, and she barely managed a thank you. It was still hard for her to comprehend that someone, who wasn’t biologically related to her, cared for her this much. Especially after the betrayal of those who were.

Brynn nodded, but a wrinkle settled on her forehead shortly after: “On the more serious note, though. I managed to convince Lia and S not the ask any questions about the whole mess that happened. At least for a short while. But I am not sure how long they are going to last. It’s your decision to make, but ....”

“I know,” Rey sighed, “I am going to have to tell them.”

Her resolution not to tell Lia or S what was the reason why she left her home, lasted not even a full day in this godforsaken place. After Rey’s reaction yesterday and the new alpha’s loss of control, they both knew there was a bigger story here.

“The thing is, I am afraid.”

“Rey,” Brynn said her name like a mother would say the name of her child, “you have to know by now, they will accept you no matter the baggage you are carrying on your shoulders.”

“I know. That’s not exactly the problem here. It’s just, ever since we agreed to come here, I knew deep down that I would have to tell them. But I hoped, it would wait until we leave this place. You know how hot-headed Lia can be. S as well. I am scared what their reaction will be.”

“Oh,” Brynn chuckled, “you are afraid they are going to turn this place upside down.”

Rey nodded and Brynn would probably say some words of wisdom, had the front door didn’t open and S marched inside in that exact moment.

He didn’t even spare a glance in the direction where his own plate full of food waited for him and he spat out: “Something happened just now. Something huge and awesome. Well, at least, I think it is awesome. Knowing you, you will probably think, it is a tragedy, but ....”

His whole body trembled with excitement.

“What is it?” Rey asked.

He took a deep breath, opened his mouth and changed the course of Rey’s world once again: “Lia stumbled upon this guy when she came to scold me for being late for dinner. I can’t really tell you how old is he because everyone looks old to me, but he could be Lia’s age, which is good. It is really good because her eyes sparkled as she looked at him.”