Lyle emerged from the water and she could hear him behind her. She didn't move though, not until his cold, wet hand touched her shoulder and made her to squirm. She didn't think she'll ever get used to the way contact with him made her feel.

"Do I make you uncomfortable?" She could feel his breath against her ear. It caused her to shiver as she turned to face him.

"You don't," she assured him, but he didn't seem to believe her. His eyes looked sad and he wasn't sporting his usual smile. "Lyle, you don't!" She said it a little more forcefully this time.

"You act squeamish around me and you mostly avoid my gaze like you cannot bear to look at me or something. I mean, I would totally understand if I made you feel uneasy. What was I thinking? I shouldn't have just told you I was your mate before giving you a chance to know me. I was just so excited and now, I have pushed you away. I'm sorry, I just –"

"Lyle!" She interrupted him. She was surprised by his sudden display of insecurity. He always looked so happy and so sure of himself. Did she really make him feel so vulnerable?"

"I apologize. We should be talking about resuming your training. That's the priority." He grinned at her and the sadness faded from his eyes as though she had just imagined it all. "Come on. Let's go get Doka!"

He let go of her shoulder and started to walk away. She couldn't allow it. Had he felt like that all along?

"Lyle, wait!" She called and he froze in his steps. "You don't make me uneasy," she said and he hummed in response. "Really, you don't."

Fauna caught up to him. He was wearing the usual jumpsuit the merfolks wore, but his was golden now, like his eyes. She thought it was pretty, but she loved the way the colour black was a perfect contrast to his pale skin.

"Look at me." He obeyed her. "You don't make me uncomfortable," she repeated and his lips widened into a toothy grin that made his eyes brighten and look as radiant and as intense and beautiful as the sun itself.

"I just don't want to put you in a situation where you feel you have to pretend or act a certain way simply because you think it's what I want," he admitted.

She knew he was talking about physical contact. He was a touchy person and he never wanted her to feel uncomfortable around him. Fauna let out a light chuckled as she wondered which dragon she had pleased for them to send her someone as perfect as Lyle.

"I don't have to pretend around you." She nodded to show that she meant it. "I most certainly do not feel pressured around you."

"How then do you feel?" He grinned widely and it made him look younger. Fauna smiled as she looked away. She didn't know what to say.

She had spent so much time either suffering at the hands of Ari or with the tigers and none of them were amazing teachers of affection. None of them seemed as cuddly as the human Jamie and their boyfriend, but a part of her wanted to have what they did, and perhaps she could... With Lyle.

"I don't know how to say," she admitted and Lyle cupped her face with both his palms and stepped even closer to her. His smile was infectious and Fauna couldn't help but smile shyly. She wanted to avert her gaze, but Lyle held her head so she had to look in his direction.

"I mean it. I don't know how to express my emotions."

"It's really not hard to do, you know. You just name your feelings and that's it." He grinned at her.

Fauna found it funny. She had training to get back to, she had to save her people. However, being in Lyle's arms made her feel so safe and secure, it was almost as if there was nothing in the world that could get to her.

"Fine then! Why don't you tell me how you feel about me?" She poked his shoulder and he chuckled lightly.

"That's an easy one. I'm obviously in love with you." Hearing him say the words made her heart skip a beat. He was? He had no reason to, did he? "I've been since we were young and losing you was the worst thing that ever happened to me... Well, losing my father was the worst thing to happen, but I'm sure you get the point."

He was still smiling. He just dropped that he lost his father and he was still smiling as though he was telling her about the options for lunch. How could a person be so cheerful?

She could feel the sadness though. He could smile as much as he wanted, but he couldn't hide his true feelings from her. Regardless, he allowed him continue.

"To be honest, I think the only thing that kept me going all the years was knowing you were alive."

Fauna frowned at him and shook her head. "How could you be so sure I was alive?" She was curious. He shrugged, then he took his hands off her face and placed them against his heart.

"I can feel you. I felt your every tear; I felt the powerlessness you did and it drove me insane. You were out there hurting and I couldn't help you. Selene made mates feel each other, but she didn't think to make us find each other. Not very smart if you ask me."

Fauna laughed. Only him could make a joke in a time like this.

She had gone through her pains feeling alone, but now that she knew he felt everything she did, she felt a little comforted. She was never alone. She had Lyle and she could always count on his love, affection, positivity. It was more than enough to fill her heart with warmth.

"The wolves have gone. You and Lyle should round up your discussion and join us," she heard Doka's voice in her head and she let out a groan of protest.

Fauna turned around and saw Doka and some other bears in the clearing. She found it amusing how they were. They didn't have scent, and apparently didn't make much noise. They were the perfect predators.

"Come on," Lyle gestured towards the bears. "You're not going to train yourself."

"I have a question. Why can't I feel you the way you can?"

Lyle scrunched his face. He rolled his tongue in his mouth as he thought of an answer for her. After moments that seemed like forever, he took a breath in.

"After the full moon, you will. It's better connected with your animal form and well, that's still developing. Right now, you're just like an upgraded human, but after you morph under the full moon, you're going to feel things you've never felt before. It's spectacular."

Fauna grinned. She didn't doubt him and she was eager to feel that. She could feel his emotions, but not the way he could feel hers. She had just always had the ability to sense and to an extent, manipulate the emotions of those around her. Lyle was different though. He could sense her from far away. She wanted that.

He looked towards the crowd where Doka was waiting for them, his hands on his shoulders. Doka wanted them to hurry, but he was also patient. He trusted Lyle to not hold up Fauna for too long.

"Lyle?" Fauna called and he turned his attention back to her, his brows quirked in response. "Can you kiss me?"

The smile on his face was the most incredible thing she had ever seen. She thought she had seen him happy, but she was wrong. This smile was different. He grinned widely, showing all his pearly white and perfectly shaped teeth. The sides of his eyes crinkled and his eyes shown bright. His cheeks flushed with colour and even the light hanging above his head seemed to glow.

She could sense him also. He was so excited; it was a huge wave of energy that rushed through her and made her giggle and toy with her hair. He cupped her face gently with one hand while the other snaked around her waist and pulled her closer to him.

"I thought you'd never ask," he whispered and his breath fanned against her face, causing her to smile brightly at him.

She was the most incredible person he had ever met and he just when he thought he couldn't love her any more, she proved him wrong.

His lips met hers and Fauna thought she had died because this had to be Heaven. She had died and was being rewarded by Selene. That had to be it because there was no way this was real. There was no way Lyle was real.

Her arms found their way around his neck and she pulled even closer to him so she was flushed against him. She didn't know this merman all that much, but she couldn't deny what she felt. She needed him. She needed him like she needed oxygen to survive. She needed his voice, his touch, his love.

"Any moment now?"

She jumped and broke away from the kiss at Doka's voice and he must have spoken to Lyle too because the merman blushed red as he looked towards the werebear who was smiling knowingly at him.

Shaking his head, Lyle threw an arm around Fauna's shoulder and together, they made their way to the clearing that had changed form once more.

There were various rocks around and they all seemed to come in different shapes and sizes. Some were as huge as Doka himself, while some were small. Saber was over in the corner lifting and throwing rocks around like they weighed nothing. Not so far from him was Zara who upon sensing Fauna stopped punching a tiger-sized rock and waved at Fauna.

There were other bears around also and they all seemed super busy with the rocks. It looked so intense and painful; Fauna tensed up immediately. There was no way Doka expected her to punch a solid rock. She broke fingers when she punched Bone and she was sure his body was softer.

"Hey! You got this!" Lyle assured her as he let go of her hand. He stretched his arm towards a Doka-sized rock and it moved towards them, stopping right before him.

Fauna stepped back and watched as her mate smiled at the rock before jumping and delivering a high kick that knocked the head clean off the rock. Zara who was watching ran over to them squealing excitedly.

"My dragons! That was the coolest thing in the history of mother nature!" She gushed and Fauna just watched, her eyes wide. Sure, Lyle told her he could fight, but she didn't exactly believe him. He looks way too delicate for that.

"Lyle is the best fighter the merfolks have," Honey walked over to explain. Honey had the mass of hair on her head braided and Fauna frowned before she realized all the bears did. It made sense. Perhaps they didn't want their hair getting in the way of their training.

"I have to be if I hope to lead my people and defend our home." Lyle smiled as though it was nothing, which to him, it probably was. One of the many good things about him. He was so modest.

"Enough fawning over Lyle. Everyone, back to your positions." Doka sounded stern and Zara whined and grumbled under her breath as she dragged herself back to where she was punching rocks. Lyle winked at Fauna before heading over to where a couple of merfolks were practicing.

The bears didn't discriminate. The women were practicing to fight freely with the men and they weren't upset. In the tiger clan, it was different. They didn't like women hunting or fighting. As much as she loved her people, she knew they could learn a thing or two.

Honey waved at Fauna before leaving to join her sister. That left Fauna all alone with the towering Doka who stared down at her with his lips drawn in a straight line and his eyes intense. It made her feel queasy.

"Strength is everything! People will challenge you. They will fight you and if you are not strong enough, they will defy you." Doka started. He had his hands behind his back and he started to circle Fauna.

"When you morph, your bones will break and realign as your whole body structure changes completely to fit that of a new animal and let me tell you, it is going to hurt. A lot!"

She swallowed hard, but she said nothing. The pain was expected. She knew that.

"If you are not strong enough, you will die, because whether you like it or not, in about four days, you will turn into a wolf or you will die trying. In the meanwhile, you will lift rocks, you will punch them, you will run, you will fight dummies made of rock and magic. They are unrelenting and feel no pain so they will not stop until the merfolks take pity on you and stop them."

Fauna looked at the headless Doka-sized rock and her throat ran dry. They were going to make something like that come to life and attack her? And she thought Bone was brutal!

"We will work you out and you will cry and beg us to stop, but we won't, except when it's time to have fun because we bears and merfolks take our fun time really serious..." He trailed off as he furrowed his brows, then he waved it off. "The point is you will learn something before this full moon. You have to."

Fauna glanced in the direction of Lyle. He was teaching a bunch of younger merfolks to fight and it was just wholesome the way they looked up to him. They really loved and respected him. How couldn't they? He was just so amazing.

She thought about the brief kiss they just shared. What was she thinking? Perhaps she wasn't thinking at all. She couldn't say she regretted it, but the way his lips brushed against hers was all she could think about. It was so delicate, like the gentle caress of a feather, but it conveyed so much.

It was magic!

"Are you listening to me?" Doka snapped and a startled Fauna jumped as she blinked rapidly to bring herself back to reality.

'This is going to be impossible!' She thought to herself.

~~~

A double update for yall. and a cute moment between Lyle and Fauna. Awwww

If you enjoyed this, please drop a comment. Love yall