I Can Hear Your Voice

a m o m e n t

April 13th.
12:33 p.m.

[Luka's POV]

"Ah...so. I've already told you about being a werewolf." I nodded. "Well...we're also mates."

"What are mates?" I asked with a confused tilt of my head. This was something I still didn't know.

"Mates are like soulmates—no, exactly like a soulmate." he glanced at my expression and continued to explain. I leaned into him and tightened my hold on him, arms looped around his neck and legs crossed around his back. "Your mate is the other part of your soul, your perfect match. And not just in the romantic sense, literally too. They are literally the other half of your soul. No creature under the moon is completed without them, but for each race "mates" are different for each one. For werewolves, they are completely different from what you've probably read or heard about—" he grimaced as he pulled back and looked me over as if confirming something to himself. "Never mind that. You don't know anything about mates. Anyway, meeting your mate is like a discovery period for each other, a period where they get to know each. You haven't had the other half of your soul for 18 years, you know? Why would you want to fuck each other first sight?" he ignored my blush and continued. "Meeting your mate and everything afterward is like a bonding experience, emotionally and affectionately. The first instinct is to know them, and it's a feeling that even werewolves who know everything they can about mates are caught off guard with. But being mates doesn't magically make two people fall in love, it only encourages them by creating a bond between them," he paused and pointed at the middle of his chest before turning and poking mine. "We are tethered. We'll be tethered forever until one of us rejects the bond—" he was suddenly squeezed dry of any air when I fiercely hugged him and forced him even closer into an embrace, choking his words and hugging him possessively. He slowly started to rock our bodies side to side as he slowly slid a hand onto my back and rubbed comfortingly. "We'll always be tethered, and the farther away we are from each other, the more we can feel the bond. It's as if it's telling us "look, come here!" And over time the bond will grow stronger as the feelings will grow stronger. At one point, we'll only be able to sense if either of us is in pain or danger. Then we'll be able to feel our emotions, and then our thoughts..."

My gut clenched in fear.

I love you.

I love you; I love you. I love you, but...

I hope it never comes to that.

Because if it does, the mask will come falling and you'll hate me.

À̷͙͖̜͋̐̆͜ǹ̴̢̡̝̟̮̳̦̯̲͙͕ͅḍ̴͕̻͔͕̘͍͋̈̔̇͋̋̎͑͑͐ ̶̜͋̀Ḯ̷̢̙̼̞̲͇͍̜̪̲̠̳͚̰͒̐͂̅̽̍̄̈́͌͊̕̚̕͝ ̴͙̰̝̩̳̞̯́͌̐̈̈́́̾͒́͂͜w̷̱͇̙̱̬̾̿̉̂̿̈́̄̌̏͒̑͂̾̚͜i̸̱͕̦̱̼̞̫̫͇̤̘̻͊͋̅̎l̷̡̛̯͕̺̘̪͈̟͐̓́̽̈̌͊̐̉̃͐ļ̶̠̱̳̭͍͖͍͚͑̈́̎͜͝͝ ̷̡̟̞̻̻̦̝̼̔̂͊͋͗̈́̑̊̑͌͗̓̎̚͝ͅļ̷̢̭̠̼̹͉̜͈̳̾̈́͌̔͠͠ę̶̧̦͓̱͉̤̟̟̜̞̻̦͒̄̍͑͐͐̿̋̆̌͛͊̿͝ả̷̹͐̍̒̅̾͂͂v̷̧̧̥̰̫̻͎̫̼͕̬͔̜̑͗̈́̽̋͜͠e̸̡̢̧͔̟͙̲͗̾̅̈͆̋͗̐̈͜ͅ.̸̢͇̗͇̼͉͙̥͕̈