Savored Poison

Tears Of Joy

I knew I had to move him before we got spotted or Maliki caught up to us. So I dragged his body into the thicket of the woods. 

"Shanik," I said. " Shanik please wake up."

He didn't answer. I was anxious to just hear his voice again, to have him whisper to me that everything was going to be okay. 

I wasn't able to drag him for long, my legs were already weakened from the days journey. So I worked with what I had. Finding a spot hidden among the brush, I placed him in my lap, breathing a sigh of relief, brushing his hair out of his face.

He was right here, safe in my arms. Tears fell down my cheeks, I whimpered, covering my mouth with my hands.

I couldn't do this here, not now, but I just couldn't stop. All happiness had made its way into my arms, it was unbelievable. I didn't want any of it taken away from me. 

Suddenly I felt a hand on my face, looking down I noticed that Shanik had wiped some of my tears away, "Why are you crying? I don't want to see you cry the first time I see you. " 

I forced a laugh, "I missed you."

That's when I noticed the way he was looking at me, the intensity of his gaze. He made me feel like a fragile piece of glass about to break. 

"I love you," He murmured. "I know this isn't exactly the perfect time to admit that but..." 

"It's perfect," I said. Pulling him by the collar of his shirt, I waited until his lips finally met mine. It was a passionate affection, I felt myself melt into him, my mind a part of him. My cheeks burned, heart raced. I wanted to just be pulled into this world for eternity. I wanted to die knowing that he was right here with me and in total bliss. 

I felt him sigh, as if the world was so much less of a burden. Grabbing my hand he started to pull back and kiss my knuckles, skimming over my scars, his touch gave me shivers. 

"What are you doing?" I asked, breathless. 

"I'm making sure that we both don't get so wrapped up in the moment that we lose each other again," He looked up at me, "You have no idea how long I've been wanting to do that."

I smiled, "Why didn't you before?" 

This time he looked down, "I thought you didn't feel the same way, I never thought you'd ever feel that way for me before. It was all a dream to me." 

I noticed how his eyes seemed to clear, as if noticing it wasn't a dream anymore. "Well your three years late on figuring it out."

Standing up I grabbed his arm, helping him stand. 

He looked around, scouting out our surroundings for a second before turning back to me, "I wasn't though. It's... I didn't know that you'd be my Sadoni back then."

 I knew he had told me all this before, but that was forever ago. I could barely keep track of what had happened in these last few days. "I forget..."

He put a hand through his hair, looking down on the floor. " Your my soulmate Alex. My one and only. The person I want to spend the rest of my life with, the one I'd protect till my last breath. The only human being that I care about more than my own pack, more than myself." 

I couldn't move, couldn't see straight. 

"You...and me? Soulmates? How?"

He stared right into the depths of my eyes, "When my kind turn sixteen, the men, we... we find them. It's like a game of sorts, a..... rite of passage. During the whole day were able to find our Sadoni and that's it. One day is all we get until our next birthday. It's the chase that our inner beasts love. It makes them go into a frenzy, exitemnet courses through our veins and we finally feel...whole is how I'll put it." 

I felt overwhelmed, "So...wait. I didn't see you on your birthday, that was seven months ago."

He hesitated, "At least you don't think you did. I was out all day, of course I didn't go to school. I looked all over town and passed by neighborhoods to see if I could feel a pull and I didn't. It took me all night, I went everywhere I could think of... it was getting close to midnight and I'd finally decided to make my way back in case I missed anyone. 

That's when I crossed your house. I'd thought that it wasn't someone I already knew so I hadn't checked your neighborhood yet. But... I finally got to you. I could feel it. I got so exited that I went into your room, just watching you sleep. I didn't mean to  but it just happened. I saw you and.. it just felt like everything fell into place. I decided not to tell you until I figured things out with Maliki, but that never happened. So... every night from that day I went to see you, I felt the need to protect you, when you had bad dreams I went to hold you and even entered some of your thoughts, watching what you were thinking about. You just... you were so fragile compared to my kind. It made me more and more worried. I know that, that's too much and I'm sorry..."

I interrupted him, "You idiot. You did all that for me?"

His eyes widened, "Of course I did. Your everything to me Alex" 

Never had I been so happy in my life until I'd heard those words.