Will

Discovering his childhood friend wasn't actually dead hit like a slap to the face. When he felt the explosion years ago, he didn't want to believe it. At eleven or twelve, your best friend wasn't supposed to die. The worst that happens is a fight. Death? No pre-teen should have to deal with death. But he did. He'd had to come to terms with it. 

The day after the attack was hell. His parents told him the news, yet a part of Will couldn't understand the gravity of what happened.

Despite this, he still had to move on. And so, after the funeral in which they'd buried a tiny, empty casket, he'd slowly begun to rebuild. 

School had been hard. The kids around him whispered. If they were tough enough, they'd ask him straight up about Mathias. What it was like to lose him. For weeks afterward he'd been lost. Wandering from class to class, hitting baseballs by himself, and crying in his bed at night when he was sure no one listened. 

There were moments when he'd think of Harley. He couldn't imagine what it'd felt like to be the little girl who'd lost her whole family. When Mathias was around, he'd thought she was annoying--nothing but a little sister who always wanted to hang out with the big boys. And she called him Willie--who wanted to be called Willie?

It had taken years. That was the thing about death--it refused to go away. Instead hanging a weight over his life. As he'd made new friends, as he'd trained, he never forgot about Mathias and how it would be to have him by his side. 

Now, Mathias actually was by his side. His brain couldn't comprehend it, but there he was, staring up at him and Harley. 

Mathias Pierce wasn't dead. And Will had moved on without him. The guilt formed a rock in his gut. As the best friend he wasn't supposed to let go. Will was supposed to hold on to Mathias and make sure he wasn't actually dead. There'd been no body in that casket--his parents had told him that bombs erased all of a person--but his brain had been telling him not to believe it. 

But he did. 

He had let go of his best friend. 

"Will, don't do that."

Harley kneeled on the grass in the backyard, her hand rubbing at Mathias' furry side. Her eyes were pink from crying, but he didn't care. She'd discovered her late brother was alive, and if he wasn't so self-conscious about crying, he would have followed her lead. 

"Do what?"

"You're drifting off on me," she said, "don't do that."

"I'm not drifting off."

Mathias gave an animal-like sneeze and got up to rub his face on Will's cheek. He made himself laugh and nudged Mathias away. "You getting sentimental in your old age, 'thias?"

The wolf growled low at him. Right now, Mathias was present with them. So far it seemed to come in little spurts--human, wolf, human, wolf. They'd sat in the yard for almost 40 minutes and so far he'd hopped twice since Alpha Mark left. However, even as the wolf, Mathias hadn't done anything. He seemed...calm when Harley and Will were there. 

Mathias sat back on his haunches right in front of him and stared at him hard. Sorrow pierced his chest. "I'm sorry, Mathias."

Mathias whined and shook his head. Not your fault. 

"Why didn't you come to me? Why didn't you make me see?"

The wolf only looked at Harley and then back to him. He understood. If Mathias had come to Will, there was no guarantee he wouldn't've assumed him to be some random rogue and then tried to kill him. A rogue hunter had to be quick to draw most of the time--more often than not it was kill or be killed. 

Harley--he'd gone to Harley first. Harley, who'd gotten curious and needed to know more about the wolf. Harley, who always wanted to give other people chances. The kind, generous, keeps-to-herself, latent wolf. 

"Your sister saved your life," Will said, and argued with the Alpha to get you to stay, "she's tougher than she looks."

"Pff, yeah right. Says Mr. Macho." Harley grinned.

That grin pierced right through him. She was beautiful. And with the way the sun lit her dark hair...it was a picture he knew he wouldn't forget for a long time. 

Inside him, his beast curled in contentedness. When they'd faced Mathias, his wolf had been twitchy and anxious. However, his wolf settled quickly. It was that instant reaction that helped Will put the pieces together about Mathias. He couldn't remember anyone else who'd been able to calm the beast inside him--other than Harley, of course. 

Harley would always calm his wolf, because his beast had decided to take Harley as his mate. Will didn't have the guts to tell her--he didn't want to scare her off. A while ago, right around the time Harley'd kissed him and he'd slept in her room overnight, his wolf had just woken up and...decided. 

He'd heard stories of people whose wolf accepted a mate before the human half. It was rare, but it happened. Will's wolf seemed to be one of them. And his human half wouldn't be too far behind. 

Actually, it was his human half that pulled the leash now. His wolf wanted to pull her close, mate with her, protect her, and never let her go. Will on the other hand, didn't want to push her. She'd been dealing with a lot over the last couple of weeks. Integrating into the pack, making friends, Ben being kidnapped, and now discovering Mathias was alive was a lot to handle. He wouldn't add to her plate. 

He would never push her. If one day Harley decided to move on, Will would let her. His wolf would be crushed, but he'd do so much more to keep her happy. The girl deserved the world and more after all that she'd been through. He refused to hold her back, even if it did rot his insides slowly.

A rumble started up the wolf's throat and suddenly, his wolf's link to the pack pulled a bit. Will's head shot up. "Mathias...is that you?"

The wolf growled low and the link pulled again. But then, something else...attached? "No way," Will breathed. 

"What is it? What's going on?"

His wolf howled low in happiness. "Mathias--he just linked up to me. Somehow."

Light entered Harley's expression. "Does that mean the pack will be able to feel him?"

Slowly, Will felt around that link and shook his head. "I don't think so. It feels like he's somehow made himself a separate line. I've never seen anyone do that before."

"What does that mean?"

He shrugged. "Could mean we will be connected. Could mean nothing. But..." He sent Mathias his emotions, balling them up and shoving them down that link. Mathias pulled back. "Looks like it works like the pack link."

"Can you feel anything from him? Can he communicate that way?"

He tried to ignore the hopefulness in Harley's tone. As a latent wolf, she wouldn't know much about a link. Except that it was there. He didn't want to tell her something that would turn out to be wrong. "If he wanted to, I think we could figure it out. But he has to send the message first." He tested it out a bit, throwing sentences Mathias' way.

No dice. 

"I think it's only emotions," Will said. "And it's not as strong as you think. I'm only getting little bits here and there." He grabbed at the emotions Mathias sent out and tried to decipher them. It was like trying to hold water, however he picked out the really strong ones. Happiness. Gratitude. Frustration?

"Okay. We can work with this though, right?"

"We will," he promised. Then, with sadness, told her, "but not right now. I have to go search for Ben."

He'd have to be blind to miss the dejected look that crossed her face. "You're right, you're right. Of course. Go, go find Ben." She waved him off. 

He stood, not wanting to leave. But Ben...he had to find Ben. "I'll come back, Harley. We'll work on it. I promise you."

"I know. Thank you, Will." 

He bent over and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. He wanted more. Wanted to gather her up and stay here and--

He made himself walk away.

"Will!"

He glanced back. 

"Be careful."

~
Harley

Two days passed. Will and the search party were still out. Combing the towns, territories, for Ben. She waited, all but twirling her thumbs, for Will to come back. With Ben. 

The pack had a weird weight over their heads. Everyone seemed in a somber mood--not quite right since Ben disappeared. When the sun rose, they all got up and went about their day, and when the sun slid over the horizon they went to bed or out for a run. Going through the motions of life. 

She didn't know an Omega could have so much effect on the pack. But he did. And for some reason that only made her feel worse about his disappearance. These people loved each and every wolf in the pack. They were family, through and through. 

Half of the pack had begun to mourn Ben, as if he wouldn't come back. She couldn't believe it. Refused to believe it. Because then everything would be her fault. She'd forever be the girl who got Ben killed. 

This morning Harley got up, had some cereal for breakfast, and decided it would be a good day to get out of the house. So she packed a water bottle and her current romance novel into a bag and went for a walk. 

Mathias trailed after her. Anytime she went outside now, Mathias was there. She'd been good about getting him water. The one time she went out to give him food, she'd seen him with a rabbit in his mouth, chewing away. After that, she figured he could go find and catch his own food and she wouldn't ask any questions. 

The humidity weighed on her skin and lungs. The sun shined high and bright today without any wind to combat the heat. She'd slathered on a layer of sunscreen with the hopes that it would be good enough. 

"I'm thinking we can go back by the creek," she told Mathias. Anxiety pricked at her skin at the thought of heading into the woods. But today the sun was out, she had Mathias, and the creek wasn't too far. 

Besides, those people would never get close to the pack house. 

The rock where she'd once hung out with Bailey was a perfect place to read. If Mathias wanted, he could catch little fish. It seemed like a win for both of them. Three chapters in, Mathias hopped up beside her and gathered close. On the fourth chapter, he'd fallen asleep. His heavy breathing made her laugh. Even wolves could snore.

Time passed in the same way it always did when she read--quickly. Barely a blink and her watch said three. Mathias got up, left for a bit, and came back looking very satisfied. She tried not to think about what small creature he'd eaten for lunch. 

"This is what it's been like for you," she said softly, "hunting when hungry, drinking when thirsty...seems like a decent life."

She rubbed at his ear. His eyes had gone vacant now--only wolf. He'd done that all day. If she wasn't paying attention, she wouldn't have noticed. But she did. And every time her heart broke more. 

The whole time his wolf had stayed calm. It was as if even his wolf knew she was family, was one to protect. 

"I'm sorry, Mathias. I know there's no way I could've known. No way for a child to have done anything significant but--I still feel guilty. I think that's something that might take time to go away."

Mathias' ears perked up. He stood, paws at the ready. 

"Mathias?"

Cam appeared through the trees. He looked surprised to find her there. "I thought that was you." He nodded to Mathias, who only watched him. 

"It's okay, Mathias. This is Cam. He's a friend."

"Will told me about him," Cam gestured with his chin to Mathias. "I think it's cool. You've gotten your brother back."

"We will get yours back too. We will," maybe if she said it often enough... "how are your parents holding up?"

"About as good as any parent missing a child. They're worried. I get out of the house when I can. It's too much sometimes. So I patrol."

Her gut soured. "Cam, if there's anything I can do..."

"I appreciate it, Harley. Right now, it seems we just wait."

"Has Will said anything?"

Cam shook his head. "No. He will when he finds something. I just wish he'd let me go with. Help out."

She picked out details. His leg hadn't stopped moving, he rocked side to side, and his dirty blond hair stuck up in different directions. The worry ate at him too. "It sucks to be left behind. Sometimes though, you're needed elsewhere. I think Will knew your parents needed you here. Just as we need you to help with patrols."

Cam sat on the other side of the creek, on the ground. He didn't want to get to close to Mathias, which was a good call. She wasn't sure her brother wolf would take too well to others. 

She set her book back in her bag. Unable to meet his eyes, she cleared her throat. "Cam, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what happened."

"What happened, happened. Don't blame yourself, Harley."

"If I wasn't such a complete idiot--"

"You're not a complete idiot," she caught his half smile, "maybe only half. No, Harley, if anyone is to blame, it's Ben. He knew not to go to the meadow. He knew it was off limits."

The meadow was off limits? "Why didn't anyone tell me that?" She tried not to sound too accusatory, but it came out that way. If she'd known--

"We didn't think you'd want to go back. Figured it was too much. And no one's been there in ages. Ben should've known that."

Mathias pushed his flank into her side. Trying to offer the comfort he could. "I pushed him. I asked him to go. I wanted...I thought maybe I could get some type of closure or something," she pressed the heels of her palms into her eyes. "But the whole thing was stupid."

"It's over now. Like you said, we're needed here. So you and me? We will wait. And when Ben comes back, we'll make sure it doesn't happen again."