The Imprinted Maiden (18+)

Chapter Forty-Six

I was surprised to find trays of warm food sitting on the table when I and my brother woke up. We ate in a nervous silence, unsure of what to say to each other because of the situation. There was no word from Nathaniel and we were told by a guard to stay inside until further notice. I hated it, but I didn't have a choice.

Matthew and I took our time wandering and peeking around in his house to occupy ourselves, and eventually found a bookshelf with many, many books. Matthew looked excited and started pulling a few from the shelf to read.

I snorted and said, "Matthew, you'll never finish them by the time we leave here."

He made a goofy face at me before opening the first book. "Watch me, sister. I'll be finished with this book within a few hours and remember everything."

I snorted and giggled, looking through the books to find anything interesting. I came across a history book on werewolves after going through the second shelf, pulling it down and opening it up. "Huh..." I wondered if there was anything on the war Xau had mentioned before.

"Blue water... Spirit...Oh!" I had found it and read through it, recalling everything he had told me. Everything was in much more detail, and it was terrifying to think of how many lives were lost. The war was so bad that it was the reason my race had almost gone extinct. I frowned, wondering if I should look into my own race more.

But I had more pressing things to think about. Now that I thought about it, ever since that night and a few times after, Xau and Cliff had gone silent on me. I realized it and an uncomfortable wave of uncertainty hit me.

I huffed, sitting down on the couch as I started at the pages.

I still didn't understand wolf spirits all that much, or the effect they had on a mate. I went back to the index and found the number for the chapter "Souls and Soulmates". Aside from interbreeding being a rare happening, everything else was what I was already told.

One of the last few pages of the chapter looked deep into bonds however, and I found that if a wolf is whole enough, the human and wolf halves become one working mind. It made sense in a way; acceptance, willingness to listen to your own self, and instinct play a huge part in what makes a werewolf.

All of which the brothers were lacking.

At least, I thought they were lacking it. If I couldn't wear Xau or Cliff anymore, then does that mean they bonded already? "In such a small amount of time," I muttered, feeling surprised. I turned the page and further read that mates can heal each other over time with enough love and trust in each other.

That did explain a lot, but to even fathom that Xau and Cliff were bonded to their opposite was incredibly rare. But possible

I finally closed the book and leaned back, sighing heavily. Even the reading sent me straight back to thinking about Xain and Connor. How much longer did I need to stay away from them?

"Something on your mind?"

I jumped from hearing my brother's voice, looking at Matthew before sighing again. "Yeah, there is. I'm just thinking about them."

Matthew nodded, closing the book he was reading before sitting beside me. We didn't say anything to each other for a minute before Matthew asked, "So...husbands?"

I blushed, playing with the ends of my shirt. "Something like that, but there's no ring yet."

"Yet," he repeated, as if trying to understand. "Okay then. And there's two of them."

I nodded, glancing at him before looking away. He seemed a bit flustered as well. "Uh...okay. Uh, h-how did you meet?"

I blushed furiously and quickly said, "In the woods."