"Are you sure you're up for this?" Joshua asked me for the third time since we'd left my house. "You really don't have to confront this yet."

"No, I do. And if I don't do it now, then when?" I answered.

He sighed, reaching out to grab my hand as we walked up the pathway to the packhouse. I locked my car before we entered, glancing wistfully at it. If only I could grab Joshua and drive away. I was sure he'd support that decision, but like I told him, I couldn't push this off. Whatever was going on needed to be confronted. I couldn't wuss out forever. Not that it hadn't been long since Aaron and Alpha James told me about my...specialness.

It didn't feel like it'd been a day since my parents told me about my past. If I was being honest, it felt like everything happening had been stretched out over a few weeks. Each day seemed to lengthen to the point where I was not quite sure if what was happening was even real.

We entered the packhouse and immediately saw Aaron chatting with Ryder. They both looked over when we came inside. "Hey, Wren, Joshua. How are you guys?" Ryder greeted with a large smile, offering a wave to motion us over.

"We're doing okay. Um, is it alright if we borrow Aaron, actually?" I answered.

"Oh, yeah. I gotta' meet Marie anyway. See you later!"

He quickly left after that, leaving the three of us to stand around in awkward silence before Aaron decided to break it. "I assume you talked to your parents?"

"I did," I confirm with a small nod of my head.

"Let's go talk in Alpha's James' office," Aaron suggested, turning to head upstairs.

We followed behind him, Joshua keeping his firm grip on my hand the entire time. I was glad he was here for this discussion. If there was information about me, he deserved to know it, too. He was my mate after all. We soon stopped in front of the office, its doors shut. Aaron knocked briefly and Alpha James answered a moment later. "Aaron," he greeted first before noticing Joshua and me. "Oh. Are we ready to continue that discussion?"

"Yes," I said.

He nodded, opening the door wider. "Come in."

We settled ourselves into the loveseat we'd used before and Alpha James and Aaron sat on the couch opposite of us. "Alright, so your parents told you about your...condition, correct?"

"They did. They told me they tried to get rid of whatever made me special, but they couldn't."

Alpha James nodded. "Right, yes. They made such a tough decision, but they had your best interests at heart."

"I'm not here to discuss whether they made the right decision or not," I explain boldly. "I'm here to get answers from both of you."

"Of course," the alpha confirmed, rubbing his chin. "Is there anything, in particular, you have a question about right now?"

"Why does no one else know about these kind of...abilities? Why did my dad know about it but not my mom?"

Alpha James decided to answer this one. "Not many know about it. As a top-ranking warrior, he was briefed on this sort of stuff. Most people in a position of power are aware of people possessing these strange abilities. Outside of them, not many others know. It's safer for everyone that way."

I could accept that. It was better that people weren't hunted down because of their abilities or anything like that. "Okay. Are there other people in our pack who are special?" I asked out of pure curiosity.

"I don't think it is wise to reveal anything just yet," Alpha James stated carefully. "But you're not alone."

"Well, obviously. Aaron has an ability, right?" I said, looking to my friend.

He nodded. "Yeah, I do."

"What is it?"

"To put it simply, I can see fated bonds. All of them," he answered, crossing his arms.

"Wait, so you knew about Wren and me before anyone else because of that?" Joshua spoke up, leaning forward.

"Yeah, though you were also extremely obvious. But, it helped that I could see your mate ties connecting to each other."

"That's so cool," my mate whispered in awe, leaning back into the couch.

"I guess. I can see everyone's except my own, but that's not so horrible. It leaves an element of mystery for me to uncover just like everyone else," Aaron said almost wistfully, looking down at his hand.

I was a little - no scratch that, very - shocked that Aaron knew about us so soon. He could see fated bonds? What did that even mean? And why was Joshua taking this so well? I was the one like Aaron and I still didn't fully believe what was going on. A quick glance over at the man and noticed that he still had that awe-struck look on his face. Oh boy.

"So, you can see bonds. Cool. And I don't know what I can do. How can we find out?" I asked, trying to steer this conversation somewhere else.

I still needed more answers. Why now? We figured that Joshua and I mating triggered the reappearance of my ability, but what else? What made me special? What did that mean for me? For Joshua, everyone else?

"The best way would be to just keep a close eye on you. Make sure to tell us about anything strange or out of the ordinary," Alpha James answered.

"And don't be afraid to try and do a little searching yourself. Find a trigger of sorts," Aaron suggested. "I know that my ability allowed me to realize it quite quickly. It's a lot more physical than others out there. You might have more trouble with it."

"Wonderful," I grumbled.

Joshua seemed to notice my sudden mood shift because he offered a smile towards Alpha James and Aaron. "Thank you for telling us about this. We'll be sure to update you on anything that happens."

"Of course. And if you have any further questions, don't hesitate to ask one of us, so long as we keep this private. Wren's ability must remain a secret for his safety and anyone else's who is special," Alpha James said, standing up.

We all followed suit and Joshua wrapped an arm around my waist to guide us out of the office. "Hey, wait," Aaron called after us once we were outside of Alpha James' office. 

"What is it?" I asked him, crossing my arms. 

"I hope you aren't angry with me. I'm glad I'm finally able to tell one of my friends about what I am. It's a huge relief, you know? And I wish I could've told you about what I knew sooner so you two could avoid all the pain, but I couldn't out myself like that," Aaron explained, and I was surprised to see such a vulnerable side of him.

Aaron was always so calm and commanding. You listened to him or faced the consequences. He was rarely so open with us, even after so many years of knowing him. It came as a bit of shock to me, but I didn't hate it. I liked seeing that he had some emotion. Sometimes I wondered if he was just a robot with a human skinsuit on. And at least now I knew he hadn't been trying to hide my mate bond for any malicious reason, not that I suspected he had in the first place. Like he said, he couldn't be found out. I understood that.

"I'm not mad at you," I admitted. "Just this situation. It's extremely confusing and exhausting to keep up with."

"I understand. It's tough coming to terms with the fact that you're different. You're lucky you don't have to go through this alone," Aaron said, offering a small smile. 

He waved goodbye and quickly walked off, leaving us behind. "So, now we know."

I looked up at Joshua when he said that, humming in response. "I guess. But, what do we do now?"

.

.

.

"Boss, are you okay?"

I looked up at Farah from where I was hunched over a ball of dough. "What? I'm perfectly fine," I said, wondering why she was asking.

"You look flushed. Your cheeks are all red. Maybe it's too hot in here. You should work the counter for a bit," the young girl suggested.

Huh? I reached up to touch my cheek, finding that it was extremely hot. Maybe she was right. I nodded to her and left the kitchen after washing my hands, deciding to man the cash register as I often do. Even once I was away from the kitchen - I'd been doing a lot of baking, so maybe the room had gotten stuffy without me realizing it - I still felt hot. Now that Farah had pointed it out to me, I couldn't' seem to ignore it anymore. It weighed in the back of my mind, a constant reminder of how abnormally hot I felt.

A few customers later, I suddenly felt very faint. I put a hand to my temple to try and soothe the ache, but all it did was make it worse. 

"Wren?"

I offered a weak smile when I saw my mate in front of the register. It'd been a week since everything started happening and after returning to work, Joshua decided to stick around in the cafe since he had nothing better to do. I'd been really glad to have his company, especially since the week had been so...uneventful.

It was odd. After all the craziness of before, this week had been mundane and dull. Not that I was complaining, I just found it a bit strange. But now there was a chance I might have a cold or something. "I think I might be sick," I decided to tell my mate.

"What?" Joshua asked in concern.

He reached over, placing the back of his hand on my forehead. The moment he did, however, a wave of cold relief swept over me. The faintness went away and I was cooled from my excessive heat. When he tried to pull his hand away, my own shot up to keep his where it was. "No, that feels better," I explained, closing my eyes in relief.

"Really?" I heard him ask, but I didn't pay much attention.

"Mhm."

Joshua kept his hand there for a few seconds before I heard him sigh. "Wren, I think you should sit down or something. Maybe we can get you in front of a fan and drinking some water," he offered.

"No, it's gone now," I protested.

"What? But that doesn't make any sense."

I opened my eyes again, realizing that he was right; it didn't make sense. Why was it all gone so suddenly? The moment he touched me it was like everything vanished into thin air and I felt refreshed. I slowly let go of his hand and it dropped from my forehead. At first, nothing happened, but then the heat came back. This time, however, the heat and faintness were mixed with a sudden pain in my lower abdomen. I winced, reaching down to wrap my arms around myself and hunch over a bit in pain. 

"Wren!"

Joshua was by my side a moment later, holding me to him. Again, the moment he touched me, the heat went away, but the mystery pains persisted. "Joshua, what's going on? It hurts," I asked, but my voice was strained from the amount of pain I was in.

"Boss? What's going on?" I heard Farah ask.

She walked over to my other side, a look of concern on her face. "What happened?"

"I-I don't know, but I think I need to go home. Can you close up shop?" I told her.

"Sure thing. Take care."

Joshua quickly guided us out of the cafe, settling me into the passenger seat of my car. He let go for a moment and the heat returned yet again, but with a vengeance. I felt sweat begin to trickle down from my hairline as I tried to get comfortable in my seat. "What in the world is going on?" I groaned.

"Hold on, baby, we're almost home," Joshua said as we left the cafe and sped down the road.

A few minutes later, we were walking up to my driveway. I'd made sure to latch onto my mate so I could avoid the heat, but I still felt uncomfortable and in pain. Joshua unlocked the front door for us and quickly took me upstairs to the bed, gently laying me down.

"You're burning up," Joshua commented observantly, scanning me for anything else. "Where does it hurt?" 

I gestured to my entire lower abdominal area, wincing when a sharp stab went through me. "It happened so suddenly and right after you let go the first time."

"You said that when I touched you, you felt better, right?" Joshua asked.

I looked up at him and nodded my head. His cheeks suddenly flushed and he brought a hand up to cover the lower half of his face, including his nose. "Joshua?" I asked, confused by his sudden reaction.

"Your scent..."

I didn't get what he meant until I happened to glance down and notice the subtle tent in his pants. Oh. And suddenly, it clicked. "Joshua, I think I'm in heat."

"Heat?" He asked, his voice muffled by his hand still over his face. "That would explain why your scent is so strong."

I knew that if I wasn't already overheated, my cheeks would've been flushed by now. Heat? Now? Had the Goddess heard my thoughts about how uneventful this week had been and decided to throw this in? Was She that cruel? Uneventful is good! I wasn't asking for something to happen!

I groaned, resting my head against my pillow and closing my eyes. Now that I started my heat - the more I thought about it, the more it made sense - I'd have to worry about it happening every month. Just the thought of going through something like this again made me wanna curl up into a ball. Maybe suppressants weren't such a bad thing, at least until Joshua and I decided it was time to...settle down.

"What can I do?" Joshua whispered.

I felt him sit down beside me and rest his hand in my hair. I sighed in relief, glad for the small relief in comparison to the ever-intensifying pain. "I don't know."

That was a lie and we both knew it. We learned about heats in school. We knew that the best way to alleviate it was to mate again. That or Joshua would have to be attached to me the entire duration of the heat, but even then it wasn't total relief. It wasn't like I didn't want to mate with Joshua again - it had been so amazing the first time - but I just worried about what might happen. Even if we used protection, what if something went wrong? 

Ugh. Another stab at my abdomen quickly made up my mind. "Please," I whispered.

"Are you sure?" Joshua asked, barely hiding his eagerness.

"Mhm," I hummed in response, offering a small smile. 

Joshua's lips quickly attached to mine and I felt a wonderful combination of sparks and instant relief. Oddly enough, it made my blood boil despite the cold feeling. I reached up to pull his head closer and he moved to hover over me. 

"Wren," Joshua whispered against my lips, one of his hands propping himself up and the other tracing down my body to grip the hem of my shirt. 

"I love you."

I paused when the words registered. I pulled away to stare at him in shock. "What?"

"I love you. Or at least, I'm falling in love with you, Wren," Joshua repeated, a large smile on his red and slightly puffy lips. "You don't have to say anything back. I know you at least care about me."

Goddess, he looked so hot. I reached up to gently grab his hair, pulling him back down so our lips could mold together again. "I love you too," I mumbled.

I could feel the smile on his lips as we continued to kiss, soon becoming lost in the passion of our declarations. 

~~~

Quite a bit longer than past chapters, huh? And ahhh! They finally said the I love you! I'm so proud of my babies. I worried it was too soon but I think it's okay? What do y'all think?

And what about Aaron's ability? Pretty cool right? It'll be explained further at a later date. 

I made an outline and I think we have about 3 or so chapters left. I have 2 more at the moment, but I'm not sure if a 3rd - or at least some sort of epilogue - will be required or not.

I'll be sad to leave these two behind, but I'm also SUPER excited for the next book. I already have some of the basic plot outlined and I'm so ready for y'all to read it XD

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

Thank you so much for reading <3

Don't forget to like, share, and comment!

The updated schedule will be every Wednesday and Friday until the book ends.