Jean's POV

"Tried to" is the most appropriate term, because according to her, they didn’t touch her. She was handling it just fine when I got there."


"Then what happened? Why has she passed out? Jean, she looks pale as death."

"I know. I know." I said in frustration and ran my hand through my hair. Every moment since Ember passed out made me feel as though my life span had been shortened. I'm not playing here, " it's the moon pendant she's wearing. I believe it has something to do with it though."

"Could it?" Axel wondered, and rubbed at his temple, "I'm aware she had to get it because her wolf had been dormant and needed a boost. But how does that affect her now? Enough to make her this way?"


"She doesn't have bruises, Axel. So I know she didn’t get hurt. But as I said, she was handling it when I got there, which leaves me to believe that there's a fat chance that she had to pull so much from the pendant. So much more than her body could take at a time, and it was all too overwhelming for her."

It was a theory, but I knew a bit of divination enough to believe in the theory.


"alright. Now that we understand why she is this way, how the hell do we get her out of it?"

"Now that is an answer I am unable to give. I don’t know how to reverse this mess. " I said in frustration, and without a word, Axel turned around and walked back to his sister's room, and I followed him,

"Well, is it me, or does she seem to be getting her color back?" Axel said, and I noticed it too,

"yes. I think you're right. She does seem less pale." I said, taking in her full measure, and Axel turned to me like he had thought of something,

"Jean, you’re her mate."

"ex-mate. She rejected me." I said, but he shook his head,

"you two still have a bond, that much is clear to see. It explains why you were with her at a time like this."

"Perhaps, or maybe I'm simply just obsessed with her."

"Well, there's that. But I still say you're her mate. "

"I won't try to fight you on that. So what exactly do you have in mind?"

"body to body contact?"

My mouth dropped open involuntarily, as I stared at him with some confusion, "what did you just say?"

"hear me out. Hear me out. Sometimes, preemie human babies have a higher chance of survival when they are brought close to their mother's bare skin. Skin for skin." he said, demonstrating my carrying a non-existent baby close to his chest.

"Ember isn’t a preemie," I stated,

"no. but wolves function better when they are with the one their wolves recognize, holding her close will provide her with the warmth she just might need to heal."

"or perhaps holding her close might cause her to slit my throat right open. Do you know what you are asking me for? That's a level of intimacy we haven't reached."

"Congratulations, you get to get there before the set time."

Ember had rejected me, the truth was, I didn’t see it happening at any given point in time.

"So, will you try?"

Anything was worth trying if it truly was going to help Ember. So I nodded yes, and hoped Ember would wake up and not hold this against me. I was simply trying to wake her up.

I slowly took off the tunic I wore and Axel turned to give us some privacy.

"It's not enough to turn away, you might actually need to step outside. It might take all night."

Axel exhaled and turned to look at Ember, before finally looking at me, "please take care of her." he said, before walking to his sister. He bent over her, placed a chaste kiss on her cheek, and then straightened, and without another word, he walked out of the room.

I walked toward Ember and helped tug off her shirt, before moving for her jeans. So that she was left with her underthings on. Didn't bother with those, it would have been too much. Since I met Ember, I had hoped that when it was time to take off her clothes, she would be awake and consenting and I would get to peel off every layer.

Nevertheless, I was going to have to make do with being a hero, if not a lover.

I kept my trousers on and got into bed with her.

"Alright, Ember. I promise you that my reason and my motives are pure and ordered. If I ever get the chance to take off your clothes for real though, I'd be a very blessed man." I said and drew her close, hoping that the warmth my body offered would serve her for real.

Sleep took me minutes, regardless of my worry, and somewhere between being awake and falling into sleep, I thought I felt her hand wrapping around me.

EMBER's POV

I wasn't dead. I know I wasn't dead. It was more like I was trapped.

Trapped in my own body? Trapped in my mind? Honestly, I didn’t know which. Perhaps there was no difference between the two at this point.

I was in a field, arrayed with different flowers, and I felt at peace. I didn't carry the weight of every heartache I had ever owned and it felt blissful. I felt blissful.

I was walking to a stream when from a distance I spotted a white animal, and as it got closer, I noticed that it was a big dog.

No, not a big dog, but rather a wolf. I took an involuntary step backward when it got closer. But rather than be forceful about getting close, it stood where it was and bowed its head, as though in submission, and waited.

And then it clicked,

"Are you... My wolf?" the wolf nodded once, and lifted its regal head,

"took you long enough to acknowledge me."

A starstruck laugh escaped my lips, "Oh my. I don't know what's going on."

"oh, I see fear. But you don't have to be. At the moment, you are somewhere between what was, and what could be."

"Excuse me?"

"That pendant you wear, in order to strengthen me, is a very powerful pendant. In trying to give you strength, it drew for all of yours, and left you weak after it had served the purpose."

"defeating those men," I confirmed,

"It's the first time such a thing is happening. And I suppose it was too much for you."

"and then that sent me here. Why?"

"two things and only you can decide which it is to either heal you, so you can go back to the life you know. Or take you on."

"on? Where is it?"

My wolf gave something close to a smile, "on. The afterlife, as the humans call it. Some call it heaven."

"and on, would it rid me of all the pain I don't feel like holding on to anymore? Am I correct?"

My Wolf bowed its regal head, "You are very much correct. There will be no pain, no more suffering, no more heartache. You will be happier."

"here? With you?"

My wolf nodded, and I looked around, "but I don't see Axel's wolf, or even Jean's or Ashley's."

"Oh, they come from time to time. But right now, they are with their owners. Perhaps later, when they needed to rejuvenate."

"ah. I see." I said and kept taking in the place, "May all that is abandoned in our lives be brought back in love and hope. Mercy upon mercy."

"grace upon grace." I finished and this time around found an oncoming silver wolf,

"That is Jean's wolf, isn't it?" I asked, but I didn't have to ask. I knew it was his wolf,

"oui. He has come to find you." I would reply and I turned to face once more,

"Is it that bad?"

"it was enough to render you out cold, and bring you here, I guess." my wolf said and I made a face and shook my head,

"what if I don't want to go back?" I asked honestly,

"Then I stay here too. Where you, I go. But is that really what you want?"

"What I want is to be free of pain."

"I understand that. But all of that pain, and all those broken moments, are what remind you that your heart is beating, and what make the happy moment all the more sweet. You wouldn't be you without them, and you're one hell of a woman, Ember."

"you're just saying that."

"I am not. I mean it." my wolf said with so much truth, that I was forced to believe it.

The truth was, I was tired of aching, but she was right, about the aches, being what reminded me that I was alive. About making the good times even sweeter. And it was for that reason that I chose not to go on. It was for that reason that I decided that I would go back.

"Should I choose to return, how do I go about it?"

"You close your eyes, just now, and when you do," she said and her voice became distant as I began to drift, "you will be home soon," she said, and I opened my eyes to find myself in the arms of the man whose wolf had come to save me.

"Jean."