Finding True North {B×B}

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   Tammin wasn't quite sure what to think. His head had been spinning for days and he wasn't sure if it was the bond or the blood loss. He hadn't yet told Bella what had happened and Raijah hadn't stopped by for days.

    After days of no sleep, Tammin had learned to expect another night laying wide awake. He was anxious, giddy, afraid, everyrhing. It felt like his brain was at war with his heart, and he didn't know what to do about it. He sat up and rubbed his eyes sleepily. Tired. He was tired, but he couldn't sleep. His mind wouldn't shut off, wouldn't quiet down.

   He couldn't tame the wild tangle of thoughts that strangled his brain like bramble vines. Tammin sighed and climbed out of bed, sending his head spinning for a moment as the blood rushed to his head. He shook himself and waited for the dizziness to go away. His ears perked to listen for Bella's steady breathing.

   He sighed with relief when he heard the deep breaths that meant she was asleep. Slowly, trying not to make to muh noise, he crept through the front door and out into the frigid winter air. Even though the icy air prickled his lungs, it felt nice to be out of the stuffy air of the apothecary. He breathed in deep, savoring the crisp smells of winter.

    Tammin took a few hesitant steps through the snow, his tail grazing the powdery drift and leaving swirly patterns behind him. His bright teals eyes savored every color, from the silver snow under moonlight, to the black stripes against the stark white of the Birch trees.

   Lifting his nose and parting his lips slightly, he took in every smell he could. The way the end of winter was both crisp and full of new life fascinated Tammin. He wondered to himself if he could bounce back from his wound like spring came back after winter.

   He shook his head to clear the thoughts from his mind.

   A crow's caw caught him off-gaurd. He jumped, his insticts telling him to run before the rest of the murder showed their beaks. Tammin found himself starring at the bird perched on the bare branch of an Ash tree. Tammin tilted his head curiously and the little sliver of parchment clasped in the crow's beak.

   Slowly, Tammin went up to the base of the tree, just tall enough to barely reach the branch were the bird sat, patiently waiting for the faun to reach out to her.

   Little did Tammin know, the bird had been sent to deliver a note and watch the boy.

   Tammin hesitantly reached up towards the bird, who stretched out her head to meet his fingers. Tammin smile faintly, something he often did not do, given his past and current situation. The bird's feathers were smooth and soft against his fingertips. The crow clicked her beak gently, loosing the parchment from her grasp and letting it fall to the ground.

   Tammin knelt and picked up the message with cursive scrawled neatly over the paper.

    tօ ʍʏ ɖɛaʀɛst ʍatɛ,

ɨ ɦօքɛ tɦɨs ʟɛttɛʀ ʄɨռɖs ʏօʊ ɨռ ɮɛttɛʀ ɦɛaʟtɦ tɦaռ աɦɛռ աɛ ʟast ʍɛt. ɨ աas զʊɨtɛ sʊʀքʀɨsɛɖ tօ ʄɨռɖ tɦat ʏօʊ աօʊʟɖ ɮɛ tɦɛ օռɛ tօ stɛaʟ ʍʏ ɦɛaʀt.

   ɨ ċaռռօt աaɨt tօ քʀօքɛʀʟʏ ʍɛɛt ʏօʊ, aռɖ ʟɛaʀռ ʍօʀɛ aɮօʊt ʏօʊ.

  ʊռtɨʟ աɛ ʍɛɛt aɢaɨռ,
ʏօʊʀ ʍatɛ.

  
   Tammin's heart skipped, both in terror and unending joy. How had he known where to find him? When had they met when he was in bad shape? Confusion whirled in Tammin's mind while his heart founght to spread joy through his limbs.

   Tammin turned and pressed his back against the tree, sliding until his bottom was planted in the snow. He grasped the note to his chest, over where his heart was.

   He wanted to write back, had to write back. He looked up to the bird, still perched in the branches of the Ash. "I need you to stay, friend. Whoever sent you must trust you, so I will as well. Please stay so I can write back to them."

   The crow looked down at Tammin and made a motion almost like a nod. Tammin's heart soared as he leapt up and rushed back to the house, his face flushed from the cold and the unexpected message.

   When he reached the door, he slowed and tried steady his breathing and his heart, knowing that if Bella had woke while he was gone she'd hear his heartbeat and breathing before his hoofbeats. He prayed Bella would not be upset that he'd gone outside.

   As he opened the door and went inside he shrugged the cold off of his clothes and his exposed skin and fur. The fire had a fresh log on it and Bella was sitting at the table with a cup of steaming tea. The heat of the house engulfed him completely, giving him one less excuse to use.

   Bella looked up and then to the window where the moon hung just below the treeline. "Little early for a walk Tammin."

   Tammin's ears drooped and he scratched the back of his head. "I just needed a little air is all.." He mumbled, hiding the note behind his back, afraid of what she'd say if she saw it.

    "D-Do you have parchment and a quill?" Tammin asked nervously. Bella looked up and smiled. "There's some on the table. Who're you writing to?"

   Tammin shrugged and sat down, folding the note he had and setting it in front of him. "An old friend." He fibbed smoothly. He flinched inwardly at the lie. He shouldn't be lying to Bella after all she'd done for him.

   He looked at the paper and thought of what to write. The words seemed to flow, so he picked up the quill, and in his best handwritting, began his letter to his "old friend".

   ɦɨ tɦɛʀɛ,

  ʊʍ, ɨ ɖօռ't ʀɛaʟʟʏ ҡռօա ɦօա tօ staʀt tɦɨs. ɨ ɢʊɛss ɨ'ʟʟ ɨռtʀօɖʊċɛ ʍʏsɛʟʄ.

   ɨ'ʍ taʍʍɨռ, ɨ'ʍ 17 aռɖ ɨ tʊʀռ 18 ɨռ sքʀɨռɢ.

   ɨʄ աɛ tʀʊʟɛʏ aʀɛ ʍatɛs ɨ sʊքքօsɛ ɨ sɦօʊʟɖ ɮɛ ɦօռɛst աɨtɦ ʏօʊ.

   ɨ'ʍ a ɦaʟʄɮʀɛɛɖ.

  ɨ ɦօքɛ tɦɨs աօռ't ċɦaռɢɛ ʏօʊʀ օքɨռɨօռ օʄ ʍɛ.

  sɨռċɛʀɛʟʏ, ʏօʊʀ ʍatɛ,
  taʍʍɨռ

  
   Tammin checked over his neat writting, and folded the parchment to be a bit easier to carry for the bird still waiting outside. Tammin stood up and rushed to the door.

  "Tammin, wait!" Bella ran up to the taller being with a striped scarf and his cloak that she'd taken and mended while he healed. She looked doen at it and tears filled her eyes. "I mended your cloak while you slept the first day I brought you home. I didn't want you to get sick, when you left..." She clasped the cloak around his shoulders and then put the scarf around it. Bella put her hand on his cheek and starred up into his eyes. That was when Tammin finally understood.

   She knew.

  She knew he had a mate and had been dreading when he would leave.

   His ears drooped with regret. "Bella..." He pulled her into a tight hug. "I never planned to leave. Even though I've only known you a short time, you took me into your home, knowing full well what I was, and helped me regardless of the hate or danger I could've brought you. You are the first person I have come to trust for many years, and I will not forget that."

   As quiet as Tammin was, he had many words to speak. He had once been tought that there was a time and place to speak. Now was that time and place.