"You're my mate, Wren."

Joshua's words seemed to echo in the silence of our tent, ringing in my ears. The atmosphere that had been buzzing before suddenly dropped, and I felt so cold I shivered slightly.

"What?" I asked in a whisper, utterly shocked.

"You're my mate, Wren. Not Aaron, not anyone else. You," Joshua repeated, solidifying the truth.

My body froze, my entire being seemingly stuck in one place. Joshua was my mate? I was his mate? All this time and he decided to tell me now? Things finally began to make sense. The constant looks, the awkwardness, the conversations that always seemed to lead into my emotions or the topic of mates.

"Wren, I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner," Joshua spoke up.

"You should be," I whispered, a sudden spike of anger going through me. "How could you keep this from me? What made you think I would want to be lied to like this for weeks on end?! We're mates! I... I hurt you and I didn't even know it. Why? Why would you keep this from me?"

He had so many chances to tell me and he didn't. Instead, he watched me suffer and wonder if I could ever be happy. He gave me hope in finding my mate. I felt like I had been blindsided. My wolf didn't make things any better. He was feeling immense joy over finally finding his other half. He didn't even care that Joshua had lied to us for weeks on end. The happiness mixed with my own emotions and it served to make me even more frustrated. Of course, I was also happy that I'd found my mate and kissed him too, but the circumstances that it happened were less than pleasant.

"I'm sorry," Joshua repeated, his voice sounding defeated. "I was scared. I was scared you'd reject me, then I was scared you'd be too hurt over it all. I kept pushing off telling you because I was terrified of what would happen," he explained slowly.

"When were you going to tell me, then?"

"Soon, very soon," Joshua answered with a weak and very awkward chuckle. "I had planned to tell you when I got to the tent but decided against it because of the whole... Erin thing."

We went silent after that, but it wasn't nice. It felt like it was pressing down on me, suffocating me. I wrapped my arms around myself to fight off the sudden cold, refusing to look at Joshua even if I couldn't see him fully in the dark. "I wish you told me sooner. It would've saved us both a lot of pain," I finally mumbled.

Joshua laughed again, but it sounded a lot sadder this time. "I know. I was being a coward. I really am sorry," he said seriously, and I heard the sound of the tent material scratching as he scooted closer.

It didn't feel real, sitting there with my mate after we'd kissed. It still felt like I'd stolen a kiss from a taken man. But he wasn't taken... well, he was taken by me now, apparently. Was I crazy? I felt crazy. Maybe I was dreaming. It all happened so quickly. One moment, I'm crying over Erin and a kiss I didn't want, and the next, I'm realizing Joshua is really attractive and I'm kissing him. Had that attraction always been there and I was just too focused on my issues with Erin to realize it?

"Wren?"

I found myself looking up now, my eyes straining to look at Joshua's face. "So... we're really mates?"

"Yeah, we are."

.

.

.

After that, we talked for a very long time. We talked about as much as we could: Joshua's sickness, my disability, both of our feelings. It was extremely draining, especially after the day I'd already had, but it was necessary. We needed to talk, to explain ourselves.

And after hearing Joshua out, I realized how right he was to feel scared. It didn't mean I wasn't still mad that I had to find out this way, but I at least understood where he came from. He feared rejection just as much as I had, and he tried his best to take my feelings into consideration. How was he supposed to know that I'd be angry that he didn't drop the bomb earlier?

By the time we decided it was time to sleep, the sun was already starting to rise in the sky, but we laid down for a bit anyway. It was weird knowing my mate was right there next to me, sleeping soundly. So close, yet so far.

I didn't think I'd be able to sleep, but I quickly found my eyelids closing as sleep claimed me. And I dreamt. I dreamt of Joshua, of Erin, and everything in between.

"Rise and shine, sleepyheads! Breakfast!" Ryder's annoying voice cut through my dreams.

I blinked my eyes open, only to find Joshua sitting up, running a hand through his hair tiredly. I found myself suddenly blushing, even though his actions were completely innocent. "Good morning," I whispered, slightly surprising Joshua.

A light laugh escaped me as he jumped a bit before he also joined in with a chuckle of his own. "Good morning. Did you sleep well?"

I nodded, looking down at my lap for a moment. "As well as I could, I guess."

We went silent after that, but it wasn't stifling like before. I'd like to think we cleared the air a bit with our chat a few hours ago. It wasn't like we planned on rejecting each other or anything, and I was already starting - and may I stress starting - to forgive Joshua for keeping this from me, so maybe this was a start to our new relationship as mates. The thought made my stomach flutter excitedly. Maybe my brain was finally catching up after sleeping. I have a mate!

"So... wanna' head out now?" Joshua asked me and I nodded my head.

We both exited the tent, finding the others also slowly going about their morning business. Marie walked by, yawning with a hand over her mouth. She paused when she saw me, offering me a gentle smile. "Morning, Wren," she greeted.

"Hey, Marie," I offered, feeling a bit embarrassed now.

I was sure she and the others, aside from Joshua and Erin, were wondering about how I was doing. Maybe they already knew what happened from Erin. That just made things more awkward.

"So, how are you doing? Feeling better?" She asked.

They definitely knew. With a nod, I said, "Yeah, I'm doing better. A lot better actually."

I couldn't help but glance over at Joshua, who had walked off to give me some privacy. He was by Ryder and Aaron, who were looking at what we'd packed for breakfast. I quickly turned back to Marie before she could ask about it, offering a smile. "How was your night?"

"Good. Camping is so relaxing, you know?"

I couldn't say I agreed.

We both joined the three boys rummaging through our supplies, and Marie immediately went to Ryder to stop him from eating anything raw. "Stop it, Ryder. We're going to cook a proper breakfast, so slow your hungry butt down."

I couldn't help but wonder where Erin was. And now that I thought about him, I'd have to tell him I found my mate now, right? Of course, I didn't want to string him along, but he'd probably be hurt either way. And to think, he was saying he loved me not even a day ago. One thing was for certain, though: I wasn't looking forward to that conversation.

Before Ryder could eat anything, we all pitched in and cooked some bacon and eggs and brought out a container of fruit we could all pick from. When Joshua sat down next to me on a log, I couldn't help but blush again. Goddess, since when had I become such a crushing schoolgirl? I wasn't like this when I first started dating Erin - at least, I didn't remember it - so why was now different? Maybe it was because Joshua's my mate. He's my other half, my destined partner. It made me giddy and a little shocked to think that this was it: no more hopelessness, no more doubt, no more tears. I could be happy. I would be happy.

"Blueberries," Joshua suddenly said, making me turn to look at him with a puzzled expression.

"Huh?"

"You have blueberries on your plate," Joshua pointed out with a grin that made him look a little insane.

"Yeah... I do... why's that important?"

Joshua suddenly blushed, shocking me. I didn't think I'd seen him blush many times before. "Your scent... it smells like blueberries and something perfectly you," he admitted.

"Oh."

Now I was the one blushing... again. "I wish I knew what you smelled like," I mumbled, looking at his plate absentmindedly.

"I'm sure you're not missing out on much," Joshua said lightly in an effort to cheer me up.

"Maybe," I said with a small shrug, looking up at his face.

It was bright and handsome, just as it always had been. But I felt like I couldn't look away now. After recognizing my attraction to him, and our bond, it was like I suddenly couldn't get enough of him. Was this why Marie and Ryder were always all over each other? I finally understood now. I never wanted to stray too far from Joshua, and I was sure he'd felt the same way for a long time now.

And Joshua made his attraction to me obvious as well because he was staring right back at me, his eyes never leaving mine. Goddess, his gaze was so mesmerizing. If I thought Erin was hard to look away from, Joshua's eyes were something I never wanted to look away from. His smile morphed into a goofy grin, and I'm sure I mirrored it by now.

"Wren? Joshua?" Ryder's confused voice suddenly broke the trance we were both in. "You two okay? You were staring at each other and smiling for like a minute straight. It was kind of scary."

We turned to look at the others now, faced with varying expressions. Ryder looked confused, but he also looked very innocently unaware of what was going on. Marie looked confused as well, but I could tell that her brain was scrambling to come up with something. The one that surprised me the most was Aaron. He was smirking lightly, arms crossed casually as if he knew something we all didn't.

"You two had a nice night then?" Aaron piped up.

"We did," I answered slowly, wondering what he was getting at.

"Have anything you need to tell us?"

I glanced over at Joshua, wondering if he wanted to tell the news. I mean, it was good news wasn't it? Amazing news, actually, so we didn't have to hide anything, right? They'd all be happy about it.

Joshua saw the silent question in my eyes and smiled, nodding a bit. He then surprised me - he's been full of surprises lately, it seems - and reached down to take my free hand, shocking the others.

"Wren?" Marie asked slowly, her voice hitching on something I couldn't quite identify yet.

"Joshua and I are mates."

"What?!"

Everyone's attention was suddenly drawn to the owner of the shocked voice. Erin's face was ashen, his eyes wide as he tried to process the information he just overhead. Dread pooled in my stomach. He wasn't supposed to find out like this. I'd wanted to talk to him about it privately so we could properly break up and end on good terms, but that wouldn't happen now. He obviously looked hurt now, as he brought a hand up to his temple to massage it.

"Erin, I-"

"Hold on, I-I need a moment, please," he interrupted me, before turning to walk away, just like I had done when he kissed me last night.

"Wait, Erin!" I cried out, about to stand, but Joshua pulled my hand.

I looked at him, and he shook his head. "I don't think he'd want to talk to either of us right now," he said quietly, looking guilty.

Why? Why did we both have to feel guilty for something that wasn't in our control? I shut my eyes tightly, trying to think rationally.

"I'll go talk to him," Aaron suddenly piped up.

I opened my eyes again to watch as he stood up, walking over to Joshua and me. He smiled lightly, patting both of our shoulders. "I'm glad he told you before I had to step in. Now, leave Erin to me, please."

We all watched as Aaron walked off in search of his Alpha, hands in his pockets as if he was taking a leisurely stroll. The next thing I knew, I was brought into a tight hug from someone smaller than me. "I'm so happy for you, Wren," Marie whispered, squeezing me.

I laughed lightly, unable to hug her back with my plate and Joshua's hand still in mine.

"Yeah, congrats, man. Now Marie-bear and I aren't the only mates around now," Ryder said with a small smile.

I could tell he wanted to follow Aaron and comfort their alpha, but he stayed behind anyway. He trusted Aaron, just like we all did. Aaron was going to be Erin's beta; they had to trust and confide in each other if they intended on running the pack with Ryder.

"It's only the morning, but things are already getting crazy," Marie commented, having let go of me and walked back to her mate.

"Yeah, they really are," I agreed with a sigh.

"But it'll get better," Joshua said, squeezing my hand with an optimistic smile.

I couldn't help but smile back. He was bright even now, and I admired that about him. How could I not feel hopeful around such a positive person? "Yeah, it'll get better."

~~~

Soo... oopsie. Erin knows :/

What'll happen next? Any ideas? One subplot has come to a close and now we delve into more. I hope y'all are ready XD

Stay tuned for more insanity lol and please stay healthy and safe!

Thank you so much for reading <3

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