Night Flame

Ch. 18 - Night Watch - pt. 1

As promised: Part 1 of chapter 18. Hope you enjoy! Part 2 will probably be published on wednesday, or thursday seeing as I have to prepare an event for wednesday.

Chapter 18 – Night Watch

Adam of the Shadowwolves

I'm on watch tonight. Rue has just finished reading me another chapter of The little wolf. It has become her favourite story and I think she secretly knows the words by heart and isn't reading anymore. But I don't mind, as long as I get to hear her soft melodic voice at night, I'm fine with whatever she says to me.

She told me that she'd been patrolling more lately. She loves it and people are telling her she's really fast and good at what she does. More often than not she gets to take the lead, they all look up to her. It must be because of the Alpha blood running through her veins. Instinctively people look up to her because they sense her power, unconsciously they'll seek out her protection. I'm sure Rue hasn't noticed this yet, but I figure she will soon.

Tonight I'm on watch with two other people from my unit. There's no fire, no light. But since we're werewolves our bodies are capable of keeping us warm and our eyes are made for night vision. So there really is no need for either fire or light. We've been talking about our homes, our families and the people waiting for us.

"Adam, you come from Shadowwolves right?" The guy sitting across from me asks. I nod my head 'yes' and wait for him to continue. "Is it true that you took in a girl in the past couple of months?" Again I nod my head and my stomach turns in turmoil. Please don't be who I think you are. But of course fate once again doesn't show me mercy as his words sound through the silent night. I'm sure they're barely a whisper, but to me they sound like they've been yelled and enhanced by speakers.

"I'm the asshole that was supposed to be her mate."

I don't answer this time. What am I supposed to say to him? I can't very well lash out at him because we have to rely on one another. In this war he's my brother, the one who'll have my back and the one I will watch out for. Maybe it is fate telling me that I should make sure these lost souls find their way back to each other? Why else would I encounter both of them?

But I'm not sure if I'll be able to do what fate asks of me. After all Rue is the only thing holding me standing right now. My little flame in this dark, dark night.

"Have you heard what happened between us?" Of course I've heard, did he honestly think none of us would find out? But then I realise he may not know about her. He doesn't know about the beautiful girl that is waiting for me back home, doesn't know about the progress she's made. Should I tell him? The selfish part of me doesn't want him to know, the less selfish part recognizes him as her mate and he deserves to know that his mate is doing okay.

"I have. She told me." I say to let him know that I do have some kind of relationship with her. The guy nods his head. "You know she was in a really bad place when we found her." There is no need to sugar coat it for him. He has to know the pain he caused his mate. He needs to know how scared she was when we found her.

The guy hangs his head and I can see he's remorseful of his actions. This makes me feel a little bit better. At least he has the decency to feel bad about he has done. Makes me think he may be a little less of an asshole than he seems to be.

"Yeah, I feared my rejection had done that to her. It's just... I don't know why I did what I did. I guess I just panicked." His voice sounds broken and I feel kind of sorry for him. "I panicked because she was scared of me and I didn't know how to fix that. Also all of my friends already had their mates and they just seemed so happy. So when June came in the state she was in, I lost hope that I would ever have the same kind of relationship my friends have with their mates. It's no excuse really, but I felt pressured into having pups soon and all of that stuff. And then they told me June might never come to that stage."