Chapter 17 #2
Will leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees and his mouth on his knuckles.
She was so tired. Mentally, physically, and emotionally, she’d been through the wringer.
He’d had his share of difficulties, but he was surrounded by family and had the benefit of his shifter genes.
It felt wrong to lay any more at her feet, but there was one last part of his secret that he had to reveal.
“What is it?” she asked, eyeing him wearily. “You look like something’s on your mind.”
Did her connection to him attune her to his mind, whether she knew it or not? Either way, he had to tell her. “There’s something you need to know about people like me.”
“Is it the healing thing?” Her eyes traced across his chest and down his arm, where the wounds that Tony had inflicted were now almost invisible. “I understand well enough for now.”
“No. It’s not that.” He scooted a little further forward and took her hand.
“You see, we believe that there is one person who we’re meant to be with, our mate.
When we meet them, we can tell because our souls have been bonded together since before we were born.
It creates this pull from deep within us. The feeling is hard to explain.”
Her brows scrunched together. “Try.”
His fingers rubbed gently over hers. “It’s like something deep inside you has finally woken up, something you didn’t even know was there before.
It drives you wild and can make you do some really asinine things.
But that’s only because it knows that the two of you really do belong together, regardless of whether it’s practical. ”
“I see. And—” she paused as she cleared her throat uncertainly, “does this sort of connection only happen between two shifters?”
“No.” He was lost in her eyes now, the rest of the world easily falling out of focus.
Will had been doubtful in the past about a human and a bear working out, even if he’d seen it happen to others.
Only once it’d happened to him had he truly understood.
“It’s often that way, but not always. There’s Stacey and Dylan, for example. ”
Julie nodded. “Mmhm.”
“Carol and Rick, too. I mean, initially.” His breath was coming in short gasps.
Her mouth twisted as she bit the inside of her cheek. “Do you think when a human is involved, the human feels some of this, too?”
Will felt a spark of hope ignite in him. “You’d have to ask those who’ve been through it, but I believe so. As strong as it is in us, it only seems right that there’d be at least some sort of response from our mate, regardless of what she is.”
Julie bobbed her head in a slow nod. “Something that makes you do things you’d never do otherwise, maybe even risking your life? Like it controls you, in a way?”
“Yes.” She felt it, too! Julie had no bear in her to act as an instinctive GPS, but she still felt it. “You’re my mate, Julie. We belong together, and we always have.”
“This is wild.” She looked down at their entwined hands. “It’s like my mind is blown all over again. I’m sorry, but I just don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything.” Will rubbed his thumb in a slow circle on the back of her hand. “I don’t expect anything from you. I just wanted you to know.”
“You’re just full of secrets, aren’t you?” she asked with a tired laugh.
“You know all of them now. Well, except for the time I stole a stop sign from over by the police station when I was fourteen. Don’t tell my mom,” he warned jokingly.
“I’ll try not to let it slip.” Julie let go of his hand. “I think I need to take a hot shower and go to bed.”
“Of course.” He stood as well, noticing that things still felt unfinished between them.
Their time was running out, but he couldn’t push this.
Will had laid everything out for her, and he had to leave the next steps up to Julie.
“I should get outside. I’m sure the Malones want to talk about all their new equipment. ”
“Right. I hope everyone understands if I’m not there,” she said quietly.
“They will.” He moved toward the kitchen but stopped at the doorway and turned back. She’d only put her foot on the first step. “Julie.”
She paused, her hand on the railing. The garland they’d used was still wrapped around it, a reminder of that very first day they’d met.
It felt like a memory from the long-distant past now, as though he really had known Julie forever. “Christmas is coming in a couple of days, and I’m sure you’ll be heading home soon afterward. There’s just one question I want to make sure I ask before you go.”
“All right.” Her voice quivered on the last syllable as though she feared what that question might be.
“Do you think you can forgive me for the way I treated you?” He took a few steps toward her.
“I kept information from you, I put you in danger, and I lied to you about how I felt. You don’t owe me any forgiveness, so I guess I’m just looking for a miracle that you might be willing to forgive me anyway. ”
She considered him with heavy lids. Everything about her seemed to sag a little, actually, as though her stay there had completely worn her down. “Yes, Will. I forgive you.”
The tip of his tongue tingled with further questions, wanting to know if there could be more than that between them before they parted. But he’d already promised not to demand any decisions from her, and he’d keep that promise. Fate had brought them this far. “Thank you.”