Surreptitious

Chapter 8: Twin Flame

A/N #1 – Please do yourself a favor and listen to "Keep the streets empty for me" by Fever Ray for this chapter. DO IT FIRST!

A/N #2 – If you are not familiar with the concept of Twin Flames (as opposed to Soul Mates), please look it up! You can do that after reading this chapter.

(…)

Once they were finally alone, Hope's wolf calmed down immediately and turned to face Josie. Josie wanted to be mad at Hope. She wanted to scold her, and she wanted to walk away from her.

She couldn't.

The wolf sat down and watched Josie closely with glowing orbs of gold. Those attentive eyes followed every single move Josie made, every twitch of every nerve, every stretch of every muscle, every breath, every beat of her heart. Josie could not look away. The magnetism was too strong and she found herself locked into the wolf's gaze, mesmerized. She slowly sunk down to her knees in the soft grass, never breaking contact with the animal.

Hope, in return, pulled back her ears and lowered her head, before lowering the front of her body down into a bowing motion before Josie. It was as if the wolf was honoring her, Josie thought. She instinctively mirrored the motions of the wolf, slowly reaching forward to place her palms on the grass before her and lowering her upper body somewhat, arms straight, essentially bowing in return. She honestly wasn't sure whether she was even moving willingly anymore. There was an indescribable force within her that felt like it was taking over, a subconscious drive that was guiding her thoughts, her actions, even her emotions.

As Josie remained in her bowed position, Hope moved closer tentatively, but with purpose. The beautiful creature crawled between Josie's outstretched arms in order to not tower over the girl. It was clear that the wolf did not want to startle Josie in any way or make her feel unsafe or threatened in the slightest. The waves of gentle affection emanating from the wolf washed over the young witch and she sighed deeply as the astounding animal pressed its forehead to hers softly.

Their eyes drifted shut…

In that moment a connection was made. A bond was created that seemed to transcend time and space and all of existence in one mere instance. Josie swore she could feel her soul reaching towards Hope and entwining with hers in the most beautiful metaphysical moment that the universe could create. It felt as if their souls stepped together in a dance, twisted in a tryst, and then melded together into one being. Josie realized then, as if she had somehow known her whole life, that it wasn't that their souls had always been seeking one another. It was that they had shared one soul that was trying to become whole.

Hope was literally the other half of Josie. They were not soul mates, they were twin flames. They were so much more than simple friends could ever be. They were more than either of them could ever be with anyone else, as they were absolutely meant to be as one.

And it took Hope's wolf to make the puzzle pieces fit. Hope's wolf was the deepest part of Hope, her instincts, her desires, her very own subconscious. And with Hope's subconscious unleashed within Josie's, it was inevitable that they would discover their unity.

Josie understood then what had to happen. The connection, though already solidified, had to be manifested in a visceral way. Josie knew Hope had to mark her. She could also feel the tension and anxiety within Hope's wolf to do so. The animal had an instinctive drive to claim what was hers and to make sure that everyone would be able to recognize their bond as being undeniable and unbreakable.

It wasn't sexual. It wasn't even romantic. It was pure destiny.

Josie slowly reached towards Hope with one hand, letting her fingers glide through the silken snowy mane of the creature, while her other hand reached back to her own hair and swept it out of her neck and to one side. She then bowed her head and lowered herself further, allowing Hope access to the smooth stretch of the back of Josie's neck. When Hope bit her, it was firm but not at all painful. There was no blood and no bruise. Instead, though the pattern seemed like a typical canine bite, the spots where Hope's teeth had imprinted upon Josie's skin glowed in a soft blue hue.

Soon after Hope gently licked over the spot and pulled back, allowing Josie to ease her body into an upright position once more. Their eyes met again; stormy brown sunk into brilliant gold, then gold became stormy and brown started glowing, to the point that there was no difference.

They were one.

Finally the wolf brushed up against Josie affectionately and she wrapped her arms around the animal, hugging her around the neck and burying her face in the silken fur. The wolf then pulled away and started trotting off further into the woods. Josie instinctively knew it wanted her to follow. They travelled silently for a mile or two, Josie drifting along with a full and burning heart just behind her wolf companion.

Hope.

Hope was hers. And she was Hope's.

Josie had no need to verbalize any emotion in the moments between them. Every feeling was simply intuitively understood.

Finally they reached a set of stone ruins. It was a small circle with what was left of beautiful stained glass at the back of a concrete slab that could best be described as some sort of altar. There were the remains of corridors leading outward, the walls broken down to no taller than Josie herself. She slowly moved from one end to the other, observing her surroundings carefully as she let her fingertips run along the cool stone.

Then she saw her.

Finally.

Hope!

She was stunning even in statue form and Josie could not help but drift closer to her, hypnotized by the small smile etched into the smooth stone lips. She could imagine those deep pools of blue staring into her soul and she longed so desperately for them to do so. She stepped before the statue and tentatively lifted her hand to place her palm gently against the stone cheek of the girl.

The stone shattered; the statue crumbled to dust at Josie's feet.

Her heart stopped.