Everyone knows that all wolves have soulmates, but some don't know that nymphs are blessed with mates as well. When a nymph meets its mate, its wings sprout for the first time; it's the tell-tale sign for all nymphs.
Except Clarestonia.
Clare's wi...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Toni!" I shout as she flies off. "Fuck. Toni, wait!"
I push my hands down and use the motion to try and lift myself off the ground, manipulating the air around me in an attempt to follow her. She's so fucking fast, though, and no matter how much I try, I can't get that far off the ground.
"Toni, please come back!" I push harder, but my weight is too much. I stumble and fall to the ground, landing directly in a bush. My eyes watch as her tiny, distant figure fades from view. And I have no idea where she's going.
I fucked up. I fucked up royally.
I raise my hand to my cheek absentmindedly, trying to feel the mark that is inevitably there. She was focused on my cheek, too, and not for no reason. I can't feel anything, but I know it's there. I can tell by how miserable I feel right now.
I notice Wyatt and Narissa walking towards the field. They look happy before looking around and realizing that Toni is nowhere to be found. Once Wyatt notices I'm near tears, he actually lets his mate go and runs over to me.
He looks me over once and must immediately know what's wrong. He looks angry and confused.
"Oh good gods," he mutters. He grabs my face and forces me to look at him. "A mark?" I almost growl at him. He's the one that told me there would be no marking. Part of me wants to be angry at him.
I can't blame him, though, as much as I want to. Mark or no mark, I said stupid shit that I didn't mean because I was angry. That's not Wyatt's fault.
"You told me there wasn't a mark," I say, though my voice isn't accusatory, it's just fucking sad. I feel pitiful. This is exactly why I never wanted a mate. I've hurt a girl's feelings before, but it's never made me feel like this. I feel pathetic.
"Now that I think about it," Wyatt chuckles nervously, "I think that's the question I got wrong on the assessment..." I roll my eyes at him but drop the subject. I have more important things to focus on. Like where Toni went and how I'm going to fix this.
Or if I even want to fix this.
I shake the thought from my head immediately. That's a coward's thought. My parents taught me to take what life throws at me and make the best of it. I never wanted a mate, but I have one. Tough shit. She's fucking amazing so far and I hardly know her. I should be grateful.
Gods she deserves so much better than me.
"Okay, what the hell happened? Where is Clare?" Narissa asks, looking between me and Wyatt carefully. She notices the mark on my cheek and it's as if everything makes sense to her. "Fuck, I knew it! That stubborn little shit!" Narissa starts mumbling random nonsense before her eyes settle on me. "What did you do?"
I want to get defensive and ask why she assumes it was me that did something, but she's fucking right. I fucked everything up.
"I didn't know kissing her would mark us, okay!" I shout loudly. With that, every ounce of composure I have seems to dissolve. Tears pour out of my eyes and I collapse to the ground. I shouted in her face that I didn't want her when it couldn't be farther from the truth. She's my mate and I'm so undeniably in love with her already. It's all so overwhelming, I don't know what to do about it. The look on her face before she turned away will haunt my nightmares. She looked so heartbroken and angry; it looked irreparable. I can't believe that's true though. I have to be able to fix it. Whether I like it or not, I can't live without her.
