When I saw Aaron and Joshua walk off together, I didn't know why, but my chest tightened ever so slightly. As far as I knew, the two had barely interacted before. Maybe they'd grown close since they both lived at the packhouse? I wasn't sure. Still, I found it odd. Aaron's behavior around Joshua was odd too. I wasn't even sure how to describe it, but it almost felt like Aaron was holding something back when it came to his interactions with Joshua. At least, that's what it felt like from the few times I'd seen them together.

After some thought, I figured asking Joshua about it made the most sense. If I asked Aaron, I worried he'd keep something hidden from me; he tended to keep personal stuff away from us if he felt like it would burden us. Still, I didn't exactly know where the mate conclusion came from. Maybe it'd been in the back of my head the entire time and it finally made sense. I didn't know. But, asking Joshua that felt right. Like it clicked or something. And apparently I might've been on to something because Joshua's face quickly morphed into one of shock the moment I finished my question.

"What?"

Heat flooded my cheeks as I tried to explain myself. "Well, I mean, you two have been kind of awkward around each other, and it kind of makes sense, I guess. Aaron hasn't found his mate yet, and you both have plenty of time to be together at the packhouse to try and work stuff out. Am I wrong? Are you two not mates?"

Joshua opened his mouth to say something, but an arm was suddenly flung over my shoulder, pulling me away from Joshua. "Wren, Joshua, are y'all ready to go now?" Ryder asked excitedly.

I looked around and realized the others were back and ready to go hunting for dinner now. I guess mine and Joshua's conversation had to be cut short for now. Still, I wanted to figure this out. If they were mates, then maybe I could help them. Joshua had been trying to help me with my own mate issues, so why couldn't I do the same? Oddly enough, that thought didn't sit right with me.

"Yeah, we're ready," Joshua said, smiling.

He quickly stood up and Ryder and I followed. I could feel someone's stare on me and it made me aware of him again. I desperately tried to avoid looking back at him in fear of what could happen, and instead focused on Ryder's excited ramblings as he guided us away from the campfire. The others followed as we walked further into the forest. After stripping and shifting, we all stood in a group. We'd already decided to not stray far from the campsite and track any nearby animals large enough to feed all six of us. Within two hours, we had caught a nice-sized deer and brought it back to camp. It was nice being in a hunting group. I hadn't been in many before because of my wolf, but it was something fun to experience with my closest friends.

After we'd brought it back to camp to skin and prepare to cook, I'd decided to stay in wolf form for a bit. Even if we were small, my wolf and I liked to be in that form. It was compact and cozy, especially when Marie brought a blanket over and draped it over our body. I watched the others work, trying my best not to look at Erin for too long. He looked so handsome, even when he was doing something as simple as cooking meat. My eyes slowly began to slide shut, though, as the exhaustion of the hunt finally caught up with me. So warm.

"Hey, so what are we going to do about tent arrangements?" Marie's voice cut through the peaceful silence, and my eyes quickly peeked back open.

"Well, obviously, you and I are getting a tent together, Marie-bear," Ryder said with a wink, to which Marie hit him lightly on the arm.

"I told you not to call me that in front of others."

"But it's so cute! You're my lil' Marie-bear."

Ryder reached out from his seat on a log to pull her to him, since she was still standing. Even in the firelight, I could tell her cheeks were stained red with embarrassment. Still, from the smile she fought hard to hide, I could tell she enjoyed Ryder's antics anyway. I felt a small pang of jealousy shoot through me as I watched them. They looked so happy together. Ever since my conversation with Joshua, it seemed that mates have been on my mind. A small huff left my wolf as we kept our head on our paws. He'd pushed forward a bit more for some reason, probably because I was feeling such raw emotion while in wolf form; he was stronger when we were in this form anyway.

Aaron suddenly coughed, drawing everyone's attention again. "I'll be okay with sharing with Erin if that's all right with him," he offered, glancing over at his alpha.

Erin, who'd been staring off, snapped back to reality with a quiet, "huh?"

Aaron raised an eyebrow at his behavior, but said anyway, "We're deciding tent arrangements. I said I'd be cool with staying with you if you're okay with it."

"Oh," Erin replied, his eyes briefly flitting over to where I lay on the ground, but it was so quick I wondered if it was just the flicker of the flames reflecting on his face. "Yeah... sure."

"Great, so Joshua, Wren, are you two okay being paired off?" Marie asked, now seated next to Ryder, who had his arms wrapped around her waist as he rested his head on her shoulder.

Joshua smiled, nodding his head. "Yeah, I'm okay with that if Wren is."

Joshua looked down at me, silently questioning if I was okay with the arrangements. I figured it was better than spending an awkward night with Erin or something - goddess, I didn't know if my heart could've handled that quite yet - so I let out a yawn and closed my eyes in silent agreement.

"Now that that's settled," Marie started, smiling widely, "let's eat!"

They all started to pass around plates, piling on whatever meat they wanted, along with sides we'd brought along with us. I figured now would be a good time to shift back, so I quietly stood up and trotted off into the forest, grabbing my clothes in my mouth on the way there. When I was safely alone I shifted back, beginning to put my clothes back on.

As I was about to put a shirt on, I heard a faint rustling behind me. Whirling around quickly, I almost screamed when I saw a person's shadowy figure behind me. Before I could get a scream out, though, a hand quickly covered my mouth. The person stepped forward and I wanted to scream for a different reason now.

"Um, hey," Erin awkwardly greeted, glancing away. "I'm going to take my hand off now, so please don't freak out on me."

He removed his hand from my mouth, but all I could do was gape at him. Heat suddenly spread throughout my face as I realized I was half-naked in front of him, which I found odd since nudity wasn't that big of a deal in werewolf culture, and Erin had seen me naked plenty of times before, let alone without a shirt on. Still, I felt exposed for some reason, so I turned away to slip on my shirt. "Why are you here?" I asked quietly, still turned around.

I wasn't sure if I could face him now. For one, he'd caught me completely off-guard - I mean, who even sneaks up on someone while they're in the middle of changing like that? And it wasn't like I'd been too keen on having a chat with him just yet. I still felt so hesitant. But the fact that he came to me had to mean something, right?

"I... I wanted to apologize," Erin's answer made me turn around to face him again, slowly looking up into his face.

His eyes looked so tired, so pleading. My heart lurched painfully in my chest seeing him like this. "You hurt me. You made me feel like my emotions were invalid," I admitted, still looking at him.

He sighed, letting his head hang a bit. "I know, I know. But at the time, I was so certain that I had to let you go. I was doing it for both of us, you know?"

"Now I do, but I didn't before," I mumbled.

He winced, rubbing the back of his neck now. "Wren, you know I love you right?"

Even now, with all of my conflicting emotions, my heart still fluttered when I heard those words. "I..."

But why couldn't I say the words back?

Erin looked at me, his eyes as mesmerizing as usual. He took a step forward, and without another moment of hesitation, reached out and grabbed my hand, pulling me into a kiss. His soft lips moved against my still ones, his other arm moving to wrap around my waist to pull me even closer.

I was shocked by the sudden move, but what shocked me, even more, was how I felt kissing him. It wasn't warm and fuzzy or passion-igniting like other ones before. It was... dull. Like there was something between us. There was something between us.

"Don't give up on your happiness. Sure, you and Erin could mate and spend the rest of your life content, but is that what you want? To just be satisfied? Wouldn't it be worth all of this pain you feel now to be with your other half, your destined mate?"

Joshua's words filled my head and made me pull away, which Erin had obviously not been expecting. He let go of me, and I quickly took a step back. "Wren?" His voice was strained with confusion, stuck in a pleading whine I didn't think I'd ever heard from him before.

"I'm sorry, I have to go," I quickly said, pushing past him to run away before he could see the tears of humiliation trailing a burning path down my cheeks.

.

.

.

The moment I entered the campsite again, everyone's heads turned to face me. I ducked my own down, rushing past everyone and escaping to one of the tents, the one I shared with Joshua now. The moment I entered the relatively large tent, I collapsed to the ground, silent sobs wracking my body. I didn't know why, but I felt so... ashamed. My face felt hot and my lips felt tingly, but not in the usual good way. I wanted to rub away whatever remnants of Erin remained on me, and the sudden reaction scared me. Had this break really changed my feelings that much? What happened? Confusion, doubt, anger, fear; the plethora of emotions I felt at that moment seemed to overwhelm me.

I reached up to rub at my lips, a couple of tears falling onto my hand as I did so. Why? Why had that felt so wrong? Why couldn't I say I love you back to Erin? Why couldn't I forgive him? I continued to furiously rub away at my lips until they felt raw.

Silent tears kept pouring down my face as I tried to conceal my sniffles and sobs. No one needed to hear me. I didn't want anyone to hear me. If they did, how could I explain what happened? That I felt revolted by a kiss? One from someone I could easily kiss not even a full month ago? Hadn't this been what I wanted? For Erin to come to me and apologize, so we could go back to being a normal couple?

My appetite had been ruined, and I didn't think I could face the others - especially Erin - at the moment. So, I opted for curling up on the tent floor, since I hadn't brought my bag in. Tears continued to burn in my eyes, but a wave of exhaustion overpowered any other emotions I felt. I was tired, mentally and physically. I didn't think I'd question my entire belief on mates, nor my feelings towards Erin, all in one day. Before I realized it, my eyes had drifted closed, as I was pulled away from my pain.

Joshua

When Wren practically ran by us, his head down, I knew something was wrong. Not even a minute later, Erin walked out of the forest from the same direction as Wren.

Oh.

I felt a hot bolt of anger surge through me. Whatever happened had upset Wren. I had to press my nails into the palms of my hands to stop myself from doing something I knew I'd regret. Erin was an alpha, and I was just a beta. I couldn't do anything without getting myself seriously hurt, and I didn't plan on doing that anytime soon. Still, I couldn't help the slight narrowing of my eyes as I watched Erin sit back down with the rest of the group.

"What happened? Wren just ran by," Marie asked curiously, looking at Erin.

"I kissed Wren. I tried to apologize and I-I kissed him," Erin admitted, his eyes unfocused as they looked into the fire. "I thought it would be okay, but it wasn't. He pushed me away."

The anger I felt flared up for a brief moment before it suddenly disappeared. Wren had pushed him away? It was wrong of me to feel so happy over that - Wren was obviously shaken up now - but I still felt a bit relieved that Wren had pushed him away. Now, I had to go and comfort my mate. A nudge on my left made me turn to look at Aaron. He glanced over briefly in the direction Wren went, silently telling me to go.

I nodded, feeling something build up in the pit of my stomach. I wasn't sure what it was, but it felt kind of exciting. Maybe this could be a breakthrough. Once I comforted Wren, then maybe we could finally have that conversation. I didn't think there would ever be a good time to tell Wren that we're mates. He'd be hurt no matter what I did, I just knew it.

But then again, Wren was hurt right now. What right did I have to add to his troubles? My first duty was to comfort and support him. How would dropping a bomb like this help him? It would only make things worse. Sure, there wasn't the right time to tell him, but now was even worse.

Still, I needed to go. So, I quietly slipped away, though I really didn't think the others, aside from Aaron, really noticed. Erin looked completely out of it - and the confused slump of his shoulders did make me feel bad for the guy - and Marie and Ryder had started to talk quietly, huddled close.

And as I neared the tent Wren and I would be staying, both of our bags on my shoulders, my heart began to beat furiously in my chest. I had to silently thank Aaron for helping me this much even if he just offered it. Who knew things would progress so quickly? I constantly worried I'd slip up and hurt Wren, and today hadn't been any different. When I stood outside of the tent, my heart broke when I heard my mate's soft sniffles.

Opening the flap, I peered into the darkness in search of Wren. What I hadn't expected was to see him curled up on the floor, his body rising and falling slowly in sleep. I walked in quietly, closing the flap behind me as I set the bags by the entrance. Slowly, I kneeled next to Wren's head, looking down. I couldn't quite see his face, but I could make out his inky black hair splayed out around him, some of the strands laid out on his cheeks. The sniffles I'd heard continued from his sleeping form, and they continued to break my heart. He'd been crying.

"I'm so sorry, Wren," I whispered, reaching out with a hesitant hand, hovering over what I hoped was his cheek.

Slowly, I brushed a strand of hair from his face, letting my thumb brush against his soft skin. The sparks that traveled along my arm sent a shiver of delight down my spine, but I ignored it as I paid attention to my sad mate. I leaned down, letting my lips kiss his hair, allowing me to briefly inhale his scent. "I'll make it up to you, I swear."

~~~

So this chapter was super long, but the next chapter was too important to fit any of this in there. I felt like it worked better this way.

Also, y'all this is happening. Things are about to pick up and I'm so excited XD. We're a good chunk of the way into the story, too, so that's exciting.

I feel like I could keep writing Wren and Joshua's story for forever, but I know it's slowly winding down. At least, this particular arc is ;) There's still so much for I want to explore, like:

-Erin's story after Wren (cuz we all know Wren and Josh are endgame lol)

-Wren's disability

-The rest of the crew, like Farah, Marie and Ryder, and even Aaron

-And, of course, the development of Wren and Joshua's relationship

Hopefully, I can do them all justice (I already plan on making a second book so... XD)

And as usual...

Thank you so much for reading <3 I really am so very grateful for every reader, the silent and not-so-silent. Y'all motivate me and make me want to write this story to completion!

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