Love Thy Shadow, Satan (LTSS) [#Wattys2018]

Chapter 10 - Family Reunion

Jared's POV

We were meant to stay together... always.

As twins, we were always seen as one being trapped in two separate bodies. As children, never had we been separated for longer than a few hours – which itself was enough to make us feel anxious, with an overpowering need to meet the other.

We did everything together... we were inseparable.

The only times we were NOT joint by the hip was during the moments I took time out to play with my friends, whilst she used her time to converse with the Elders of our pack.

Even when we were young, I easily came to understand WHY she felt uncomfortable around others. Whether confused on how to treat her due to obvious disability, or due to her being the twin of the Crown Alpha... they treated her like an outcast.

Her sensitivity towards others caused her discomfort during those times, since she smelt their awkwardness, estrangement and, at times... fear. She could always feel the emotions of others, to the point that she tended to clearly understand a persons' true nature. It scared others... when she did what they wanted without them having to voice their thoughts. She'd walk away from me with different excuses whenever I tried to help her befriend a person, maybe because she felt there rejection without them saying.

Kids are cruel, but with knowledge they mature. I'm sure they missed her presence, no matter how small it was for them at the time.

of her disappearance. I'm sure they'll treat her better, now that they have grown to understand her more... now that they understand that it's normal to be unique.

Uniqueness is a normality.

She has always been stronger than me. Physically, she could defeat grown warriors in battle – but mentally, she was very unstable. She was always more fragile at heart. Whenever negative feelings overpowered her mind, I'd always feel her insecurity. I would always find her when she needed me.

I was her safety valve – her twin – her big brother who she'd always run to for support. Every sorrowful time in her life, I was there for her. I comforted her.

Yet she had left us and ran. She had abandoned us.

I'm sure I needed her just as much as she needed me that day... so why did she not wait for me? Why did she not give me time to reach her? Did she not understand what her disappearance would do to me?

We were meant to complete each other... to live as equivalents, complimentary to one another in a way no one else could be – not even a mate. How did she expect me to live well without her? With only half a soul?

What had I done wrong for her to leave me in such a way?

I remember the day of the ambush as if it only occurred yesterday.

Back then, Liam and I had felt the Pack Shift from Moonlight to Blood Moon whilst guarding those in the Safe House. We had rushed back to find survivors as soon as we knew the war was over, only to find a freshly dug garden. I tried countless times to Mind Link her but our connection had been blocked by the Wolfsbane that was still poisoning her system. I'm sure if Matt had not been there for me during that time, I would not have been able to handle the heartbreak.

Till this day, we're still unsure of WHEN she had left our turf ... I'm STILL not sure if I even had a chance to stop her from leaving.

After feeling a ripple of power surge through my veins, I felt my wolf (Beri) stir for the first time in years... he had barely revealed his presence since the time we found her gone. And for once, he seemed positively delirious.