Word Count: 1770

~Rosie

Three months later.

"I thought we could do something today."

Resting my head back against the shower wall, I listen to Time's persistent talking beyond the door. Eyeing where a lock should be, I turn the shower off, reaching for a towel to wrap around my body. I'm not anxious Time will walk in and see me naked...well, maybe I am slightly. He's never seen me indecent, and I'm not about to let him after how things have been recently.

It's not that I'm still holding a grudge against him; I'm actually quite happy as an immortal now. But things have been awkward between us, and completely platonic. He hasn't even kissed me, since I demanded he hunt down my brothers and bring them to me.

So far, he hasn't succeeded. Not for a lack of trying, though, which I appreciate. He's been out almost everyday, trying to find my brothers who are proving to be very hard to find, all while concealing ourselves from Sinful.

We are officially back in current time, and he's a real threat.

"Like what?" I ask through the door, toweling myself off quickly. I've decided that as my mate, I don't want to keep turning Time away. But initiating something when everything has been relatively frosty between us is not something I'm about to do without the proper situation. And Time doesn't seem to be interested in being intimate with some, even leaving touch to a minimum, and it's bothering me more than I would like to admit.

I think he's taking his role very seriously in finding my brothers and ensuring Sinful doesn't find us. It's gotten to the point where I'm wondering if he's already over me, that the fun of the matter has passed him by. I doubt that though, considering how hard he's working to bring my family back together.

But the though still probes at the back of my mind.

"I'm not sure. I feel like you've been holed up here for long enough. Maybe we could go on a walk or something," he offers. Pulling clothes over my body, I think that through. As much as that sounds delightful, I have to think of how dangerous that is. Even if Time isn't right now.

"Isn't that dangerous? I'm getting the feeling Sinful is getting close," I say once all my clothes are on my body. A sundress, for today, I've decided. It's a warmer climate where we have established a home, right in the middle of the forest for no one to stumble upon.

I can hear Time lean against the door. "Maybe. I just don't want you to get the feeling that I'm abandoning you...leaving you here alone everyday."

Starting at myself in the mirror, I sigh. If only he had any idea...if only I was going to tell him. At least my stress has reduced with our move here. It shows in the brightness of my skin, my eyes, once a dull, sullen blue, have lit up in contrast to my dark hair. I look pretty, and despite Time's lack of interest for his own reasons, I'm not going to deny that. I feel good being this healthy.

Opening the door, Time nearly stumbles back into me from where he had been leaning against the wooden surface. Flustered, he stands up, before his eyes linger down to the pretty dress I wear, that fights me beautifully. Time gifted it to me, among other clothing, a long time ago, when we first moved here. I doubt he ever expected I would put it on.

"You look beautiful. Red is a great colour on you" he murmurs, his brilliant smile reaching those sparkling golden eyes. "But it's your choice of what you want to do today.

I don't let my disappointment touch my eyes. Not even a spark of interest from him suggesting he might want to kiss me. Fine, I do have an idea, and it's one that he might not like.

"Why don't you invite your brother over for dinner?"

He blinks in surprise, looking dumbfounded at the fact that I brought this up now, after little mention of Thought over the past few months. It's not my fault that Time is still prickly toward his brother, his face turning stormy every time he's mentioned. But we can't ignore the fact that he helped us. He came all the way into the past to save our lives countless times, and is yet to tell us why he decided to be so selfless.

He turns around, walking down the hallways where the living room area and kitchen is. "Why would you bring this up suddenly? You know how I feel about Thought."

I follow him, rolling my eyes at his back. "He literally saved our lives...multiple times. We can't ignore that. Plus, if we are mates, I want to get to know your brother."

Time only stops walking when he get to the kitchen.

"Exactly. You're my mate. The last thing I want is for him to come in here and take you away from me, like he has done to everyone I ever loved. He's done all these nice things to make you like him, to gain your trust. That's how he lures you in in the first place," Time explains. My mouth finds a grim line, as I watch him pull a jug of lemonade from the refrigerator.

Pulling myself onto a stool at the counter, I loosen a breath. "I don't think he did those things to be purely malicious. Clearly he had some other motive. And there's no way he can take a mate from a mate. I want to be with you, not him."

"But you don't know until you're in his trap. He's mysterious, new and dangerous. He uses that to get what he wants, and he wants to ruin me," Time tells me, sliding a glass at me filled with yellow liquid.

"Please. Invite him over. I know it's a risk with Sinful and all, but I want to speak to him. To thank him for saving us. Please?" I offer.

Time doesn't respond for a moment.

Getting out of my seat, I round the counter. He doesn't react, as I wrap my arms around his waist, looking up at him innocently. His eyes read an unknown emotion, but I know he won't say no to me. Not after everything he has done over these past few months. We will sit down and have dinner with his brother, and I will try my hardest to mend their very fragile relationship.

"If I assume, even for a moment, that he is acting out of turn with you, he's out of here, and out of your life forever," Time tells me slowly.

I smile. At least that's something.

•••

Thought arrived as the sun slipped below the horizon.

He didn't arrive by the door to knock, nor did he signal his arrival in anyway. He simply appeared in our kitchen, bringing with him the scent of magic and a faint cloud of fog that immediately vanished the moment he arrived, giving me little time to admire it. And then he was there, standing in a black tunic and pants to match, sleeves pushed up over his eyebrows, hair swept back and silvery eyes glinting menacingly.

I forgot the power that fills the room with immortals. With Time, I'm used to it by now, but it still catches me off guard at times.

Time stands in the corner of the kitchen, hardly stunned by his brothers arrival, his expression passive for my sake. My mate is dressed beautifully too, if not more than his brother. He wears a dark jacket and pants, his hair reaching his eye lashes, as if he plans to hide his distasteful expressions from his brother for the rest of the night.

"Rosie. So good to see you," Thought says smoothly, coming around the counter to where I sit at the dining table. He's not going on for an embrace...at least he better not. Time watches keenly from the kitchen, not acknowledging his brother at all.

"I'm glad you could make it," I say, motioning for him to sit at the table. Thankfully he does so, sitting opposite on the table from me.

Tipping his head back, he glances toward the kitchen. "You going to join us, brother?"

Time's jaw clenches, moving stiffly to sit beside me at the table. As much as this might not seem like the best idea, with the tension so prevalent, I want to yell something between them to disrupt it. They are two brothers, with a rough past, who won't be easy to sway into forgiving each other. But I'm going to try, and hope I come out the other end with my head still on my shoulders.

"I...we wanted to invite you here to thank you for coming to our rescue all those times. We can't thank you enough," I say gently, hoping maybe Time will come in and join me, but he remains still and quiet. Thought doesn't seem to be bothered. In fact, he doesn't once take his eyes off me.

"Anything for you, Rosie. I would use all my power to save you," he says. He doesn't mean it, of course. He's trying to get under Time's skin, to tease him into rebuttal. Thankfully, my mate has some composure, and remains still, although I can feel the anger emanating from him.

Despite knowing his words aren't focused on me, I still feel myself blush. "Seriously though, we both appreciate it. Me and my mate."

I ensure to enunciate the word mate, so Thought gets the hint.

"Well I appreciate you, Rosie. When I came that day to free you from old Time'e grasp, I knew then I had to do everything to ensure it never happened again. When we kissed, all that was confirmed," Thought says deviously.

A cold settles over the room. Of course it's a lie, but as I glance at Time, I know it's too late to explain.

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Hey guys! If you're enjoying the story, you can head over to Radish and read Time ahead of Wattpad!

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I'm officially rewriting Alpha Jasper's story now on Radiah! It will be following the same storyline with the same characters, but with revised scenes and some new ones!

I love Jasper's story so much that I wanted to go back and rewrite it. I hope you guys will enjoy it, you can find it now on Radish (:

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~Midika 💜🐼