"Mum, what does it feel like to make a bond with a mate?" twelve-year-old Louis asked, running his fingers along the silk at the hem of her duvet.
His mother looked up from sewing a hole in his jumper for the third time that week.
"Why sweetie?" she replied, patting the empty spot next to her.
Louis climbed on the bed and tried to snuggle into.her side, but his mother lightly shoved him away, waving the needle in front of his face to warn him that it was sharp.
"I um..." Louis shrugged, sinking against the cushions. "What did it feel like for you and dad ?"
Louis' mother stopped to think, and she smiled for the first time in a while, her eyes glazing over from a memory Louis assumed was a nice one.
"When you find your mate, you'll think you're prepared for the emotions, but you're not. Loving someone who shares your soul compares to no other feeling. Do you hear me, Loubear? It's the most wonderful thing any wolf can live through. A mate fills a hole you never knew was there. No werewolf is complete without someone to love more than their own wolf. When that day comes for you my son, you'll be able to answer me your question. I'll look forward to hearing all about it"
Louis' mother patted his leg, then told him to go and play with Zayn because dinner wouldn't be ready for another hour.
Young Louis left his house, running through the woods towards the Malik's cabin, wanting to ask Zayn if his parents had talked about their bond.
Excitement filled him, satisfying his heart at the thought of having a best friend for life, a mate.
Now, eighteen-year-old Louis stared into the eyes of Harry , a human who was taking his soul and replacing it with his. Louis's mother was right; he couldn't compare it to the emotions that were so familiar to him.
For twenty years he has loved Harry or thought he did. He now knew for sure that the love he felt was just a tiny fragment of the love he embraced while the bond connected, and they sat together on the bed.
It took less than thirty seconds after Harry heard Louis' voice in his thoughts for the Beta wolf to hear the human's too. For Louis, it was normal to hear someone else's voice occasionally. For the human, it was alien and very unusual.
"What is happening?" Harry whispered, unable to blink or force his gaze from Louis' eyes. He could almost hear Athena's voice saying the eyes were the gateway to the soul. He never really understood what she meant, until now.
Louis' eyes were no longer blue; they were beautiful shades of blue. Sapphire, Cyan, dark blue, light blue, turquoise, and teal. They were aquariums of their own, filled with life and wonder.
He could see every emotion Louis has ever felt and the intensity of those feelings. Most of all, he could see the love, and realised that it has always been there, he just chose not to acknowledge it, or maybe he didn't want to recognise the emotion that belonged to him.
"After all this time" Louis whispered, reaching forwards to touch Harry's cheek with the back of his fingers. "It wasn't me who had to prove themselves as a worthy mate. It was you."
The tightness in Harry's chest mellowed, but the way he viewed Louis didn't. The Beta wolf stood out against the other people in the room, seeming much brighter and drawing in his attention like a magpie to something shiny.
"W-What happened?" the human asked again, too afraid to say his conclusion out loud.
"You connected a bond," Liam said, watching their auras change to the same colour and blend.
