After the meeting, Alpha James let us go. I could tell we were all still processing the information given. We barely said anything and parted ways. Joshua and I got back into my car after dropping off Aaron's stuff and drove to my house. The ride there was filled with tense silence. Joshua's hand in mine was a comfort I didn't know what I would've done without. And by the tight grip, I could tell he felt the same.

My mind felt almost numb. I'd thought my pack was being attacked but like this? Killing innocent people and defacing their bodies for the whole world to see? The fact that the rogues left such a chilling note behind set us all on edge. I felt bad for Joshua; he didn't have to be around to see all this. He could've been happy back in Whitewater, blissfully unaware of the horrors here. Still, I doubted he regretted meeting me in the process. I didn't regret meeting him.

When we arrived at my house, we both sat still in our seats as I turned the engine off. I couldn't look at my mate because of the tears threatening to spill from my eyes. Warm arms pulled me as close as possible given our positions, tucking my head into Joshua's neck. I could feel the slight tremble in his strong body and the dam finally broke. A strained sob escaped me as I let out my fear and sorrow.

Joshua let me mourn for those innocent people and express my fears as best as I could. After a few minutes, I was able to stop crying, but I, too, started to tremble ever so slightly. "Joshua, I'm so..."

"I know."

.

.

.

After some time to gather ourselves and exit the car, we entered my house. The cozy home made me feel a bit more at ease. Joshua looked around, dropping his bags by the stairs. My house was small, but mine. The stairs led up to a loft bedroom and downstairs held everything else. Joshua walked over to a wall, looking at all the pictures I had up. A lot of them were with my family, but some of them were with my friends, too. He smiled lightly, reaching up to brush his finger over a picture of me graduating high school. "You're so young."

I walked over, looking at the picture as well. "Yeah."

Beside me, Erin had his arm over my shoulder while Ryder and Aaron were shot mid-laugh. I remember they'd been teasing me over how I actually managed to graduate. Just because they were older didn't mean they had to pick on me about it. Marie wasn't in the picture since she hadn't met Ryder yet. She turned eighteen the next year, which is the age when our mate senses fully awaken.

I remember when I turned eighteen. All around me, people were counting down the days until they finally turned that magical age. A lot of my classmates quickly found their mates after that, but not everyone. Some weren't eighteen yet, or couldn't find their mates in the pack. Still, everyone had been so excited. But I remember dreading the day I turned eighteen. I didn't want to face such a lonely reality. I'd been so convinced that I'd never meet my mate and Erin and I hadn't started dating yet. I'd felt so hopeless.

I didn't now, though.

I looked up at Joshua as he turned to face me. "I'm tired," I admitted, but he knew I didn't mean just physically tired.

It was barely entering the evening time. The sun hadn't even started setting yet. Joshua nodded his head, leaning down slightly to kiss my temple. "Let's eat and do something to unwind. I think we need to clear our heads."

I felt warmth flow through my body at how gentle he was. It was nice to feel these new sensations. I'd never thought I'd get to experience such bliss. I leaned up, intending to give a quick peck to his lips, but Joshua caught me around the waist and deepened the kiss. He made sure to keep it slow and sweet, though. I relaxed against his body, enjoying the simple moment. As we pulled away, I noticed how bright his eyes were. "You have really pretty eyes," I mumbled.

Joshua smiled widely at that. "Why thank you. I think you're really pretty, too," he returned.

I laughed a bit, hiding my face in his neck so he wouldn't see how flustered I was. "Goddess, you're so cheesy," I groaned.

"You enjoy it, though. I know you do," he laughed.

We quieted down and stayed like that, with Joshua holding me close as I inhaled his scent, even if it was extremely faint. It wasn't so much a scent that a mate would give off, but it was one nonetheless. It seemed our mating allowed me such a small blessing, no matter how insignificant it seemed in the grand scheme of things. I couldn't quite tell what his scent was like, but it was nice either way. Calming.

I felt my eyes start to get heavy as Joshua began to sway us a bit. We were in our own little world - probably still enamored with the fact that we were recently mated - when a grumble from one of our stomachs broke the silence. I straightened up to look at him before we both chuckled. "Okay, I think we should move this party to the kitchen," Joshua suggested.

"Yeah, maybe."

As we walked to the kitchen, I couldn't help but feel like this was suddenly so normal. It felt like Joshua and I had been living together for months now. Everything was progressing so quickly and I felt both overwhelmed and impatient. I wanted to keep blazing forward, and I felt like Joshua wanted to as well, but I couldn't help but wonder if we were going too fast. Was this how other mated couples were?

When Marie and Ryder found each other, they mated fairly quickly. Within a week, they were inseparable. They're still that way even after a few years of being together. Maybe it was normal to feel like your mate was slowly consuming your every thought. I mean, I wasn't complaining. I couldn't thank the Goddess enough for this blessing.

"Wren?"

I looked up at Joshua, who had a small smile on his face. "What are you in the mood for?"

I walked over, raising an eyebrow in surprise. "You can cook?"

Joshua shrugged, running a hand through his hair. "I'm probably not nearly as good as you, but I can cook a few things."

I shrugged. "I don't really care. I just want to eat."

"Well, why don't I make pancakes?"

"Pancakes? But this is for dinner," I protested, scrunching up my nose.

Joshua dramatically gasped, putting a hand to his heart. "Pancakes are for any occasion, dear Wren. And because of your hurtful comment, you're going to help me now."

I couldn't stop the small laugh from escaping me at his antics. So dumb. Dumb, but cute. I sighed, walking over to the kitchen sink. "Fine, I'll help."

After we both washed our hands and gathered what we needed, we quickly started. It didn't take long for me to find out that Joshua was an absolute mess in the kitchen. "Joshua, look out!"

I watched as his arm brushed the hot stove while he was passing by, which cause him to flinch and drop the carton of eggs he was carrying. The eggs hit the ground with a resounding splat, followed by the insides spilling from the carton and pooling at his feet. "Oops."

All I could do was stare at him in shock before I was doubling over in laughter. Joshua huffed, crossing his arms as he tried to play off just how embarrassed he was. "That could've happened to anyone. It's not that funny," he tried to point out.

I gasped, still laughing. "How did you not pay attention to the stove? That was completely on you," I barely got out with how hard I was laughing.

After a minute, I was finally able to stop laughing. When I looked up, Joshua had an adorable pout on his face. "I'm so glad that I amuse you."

I grinned, stepping forward to peck his cheek. "I'm sorry. Let's finish these pancakes before you burn my house down," I said with a teasing laugh.

As I was making plain pancakes, I heard Joshua shuffling around behind me. I craned my head to get a look at what he was doing with another batch of batter. "Are those blueberries?" I asked.

Joshua looked up from what he was doing and nodded his head with a wide smile. He'd changed his clothes real quick because his pants had been egged, and now he had on a muscle tee and some sweats. I wasn't ashamed to say that my eyes wandered a few times. "Yeah. I like blueberries," he answered my previous question, his cheeks reddening slightly.

I raised an eyebrow at that. "What's with the blush?"

Joshua glanced away, laughing nervously. "Well, they remind me of you, remember?"

Oh. Now it was my turn to blush. I forgot that he mentioned what I smell like to him. I quickly turned back around before I burned the pancakes, flipping the set that was ready.

In no time, we had plenty of pancakes for us to feast on while we watched something. We took our pancakes to the living room and Joshua sat down on the couch, getting comfy. I set my plate down and grabbed a blanket, sitting down beside him and throwing the blanket over us both. I leaned my head on Joshua's shoulder and grabbed my plate again, along with the remote. "What kind of stuff do you like to watch?" I asked him.

"Mm, it depends, really. I'm into all sorts of stuff. What about you?"

"I probably lean more towards the comedic side of things," I admitted, scrolling through our options. "Oh, why don't we watch this?"

Joshua nodded his head and I pressed play on the movie. As we ate and laugh, I slowly felt the tension ebb away from my body. The sparks that traveled up and down the side I had pressed against Joshua were extremely comforting. Despite everything that had happened in the last few days, I felt safe and happy. I felt better sitting here eating pancakes with my mate than I did in a very long time. A soft sigh left my lips as I snuggled closer to Joshua, my plate already placed on the coffee table so I could bury my arms under the blanket. My hand moved down to Joshua's stomach, my fingers tracing patterns idly into his thinly-covered skin.

My eyes began to grow heavy and my hand slowly came to a stop, simply resting on his toned stomach. Joshua shifted a bit, but I barely felt it. His hand reached out to bury itself in my hair and I sighed again, relaxing even further as he played with my hair. I could feel how happy my wolf was at the moment. He then began to claw at the back of my mind, wanting to be pet by his mate. I slowly sat up, looking at Joshua as he pulled his hand away. "Is something wrong?" He asked, noticing the slightly annoyed look on my face.

"No, not really. My wolf just keeps bugging me. He wants to come out"

Joshua smiled lightly. "Then let him come out for a bit. It's not a big deal."

I nodded, standing up. I didn't hide my body as I removed my clothes - it wasn't like he hadn't already seen it before - and quickly shifted. My wolf shook out his fur the moment we were done, and walked right up to Joshu and rested his head on our mate's knee. Joshua smiled, reaching out to rub our ear and pat our head.

My wolf then backtracked a bit so he could hop onto the couch, positioning himself so he was over Joshua's lap. The poor guy grunted as a giant animal was dropped onto him, but he accepted it nonetheless and began to run his hand through our fur. "You're so beautiful in wolf form," Joshua complimented softly.

Our tail started to wag happily at that and Joshua laughed lightly. I didn't even realize when my wolf's eyes began to close, nor did I notice when Joshua's hand slowly stopped its calming motions. The noise from the movie faded away into silence as sleep quickly claimed us.

If only that sleep had been peaceful.

~~~

Cuuuuute. I was so glad I could finally do something cute for these two goofs. I love them so much lol

Anyway, a nice little break from the action, huh? Well, it'll pick right back up next chapter!  I can't believe we're already at 20 chapters. This is so crazy to me lol. But that also means we'll be slowly making our way to the end and setting up for the second book.

Y'all I already made a cover for the second book and it's been in my head for the past like two weeks. I cannot wait for you guys to read it! Nor can I wait to write it.

It's going to be...very different from this book's dynamic. A little darker, and more mature. I might need to make it rated mature just for what I have in mind but we'll see! Would y'all be alright with that? 

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

Thank you so much for reading <3

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