Ayden was placed on our couch, and Kai, James and Clarissa are huddled in a corner, mourning over Wyatts death. I know I should be crying too, and I'm sad too. I really am, but everything that has happened over this week has been the only thing I could think about. My boyfriend, probably at deaths door, is all I can pay attention to in this room. In this one week, I got close to my boyfriend, then found my mate, then found out about his dramatic past that I now have to deal with, and met the witches that Stefans grandfather has gotten in trouble with in the past. To top it all off, Aydens grandma has betrayed him. She has even betrayed me.
When Stefan finally comes to, he says, "What happed?" But upon looking at all of our faces, and seeing his facial expression change, I know that he remembers everything.
"That psychotic bitch!" He immediately gets up from the couch, but Kai was already pushing him back down.
"You need to rest, the Splinters have cursed you," Kai tells him.
"With what?" Ayden asks.
"We don't know yet," I tell him. "But I promise, we are going to figure this out."
He lays back down, but I see that he is not relaxed. "We need to go after them," he tells us.
"First we need to identify what they have done to you. Obviously they somehow turned you into a wolf, but who knows what else," Stefan says.
It is quite for a moment, and soon Ayden says, "When I collapsed on the ground, I could feel myself changing inside. Not that I was aware of my new wolf. It was almost like something was trying to be let out inside me, but my spirit wouldn't allow it to take over. What if I am growing dark inside?"
I look to Kai and Stefan's guard, and Kai eventually says, "That could be an option. Good thinking. Now we should decipher the curse."
"They said I need to find my other, what does that mean?"
"Your mate," Stefan says.
"Screw my mate, I love Brooke, it's probably her."
I imediately walk over to him and take his hand in mine. We share a look, which is ruined when Kai said "Oh my god."
"What?" I ask.
"It can't be," Clarissa says. "It's just so rare, this shouldn't happen."
"What?" I ask again, more impatient this time.
"We think you have come into your ability early," Clairssa says.
"What makes you think that?"
"Think about it. Now it's a certainty that you both have mates and fated lovers for yourselves and you're still trying to be together," Kai tells us. I look over to Stefan, and see he is staring at Kai now with a look of realization on his face.
"Yeah, so?" I tell Kai, looking back at him.
Kai turns to Ayden and says, "When your friend died, did you ever give it a second thought? Have you even paid your respects to his family?"
"Well, no-" Ayden began.
"Exactly," Clarissa said. "Brooke has to have come into her ability early."
"Which is what, exactly?" he asks her.
"The power of persuasion," Kai says.
Everyone stares at me. I knew this before I even took a look around the room. It was quite for about a minute before Clarissa says, "Ayden, now that you have had a chance to sink this in, tell us. Do you still feel anything for Brooke?"
He takes a moment to think about it, then says softly, "No."
Everyone looks back at me, and Kai says, "This whole time you have been under her influence, which was obviously unintentional. It explains why you didn't feel anything for your friends death, why you were so eager to step away from your friends, and why you fight to be with her when you have an awakening wolf inside you, who is going to crave his own mate."
"It can't be real. I would never do this to someone," I say. But my voice grows small towards the end of my sentence, because deep down, I know that Kai is right.
Everyone stays for brunch, and we all eat our meal in silence around the dining room table. After what felt like years, everyone finally rises to leave.
Everyone but me follows Stefan and his guard to the lake, which surprisingly wasn't fake in James' Painting of the woods. Stefans guard, whose name I learned is Henry, took the leap into the lake first. As Stefan makes his way to the edge of the lake, he turns back to me.
"I really do love you," he tells me.
"I know."
"I promised you I wouldn't read your mind, so I don't know what you're thinking. It is your decision. If you still want me, then you know how to reach my castle." He takes my hand and kisses my palm, but before he turns around I decide to say my peace.
"I know what I told you before, and I understand now why I couldn't give myself to you fully. I'm deeply sorry for that, but I wasn't aware of my actions."
"I understand that, and I'm not mad," he says, looking deeply into my eyes. "I am not mad at you, love."
"I understand that I told you not to read my mind, and that it was an invasion of privacy, but I feel I want to start over. I don't want to hide anything from you, and I want to get the chance to know you, and be with you."
I see hope rise in his eyes and facial expression, which gives me the strength to continue. "I want you to read my mind now."
Right then, I feel a small nudging feeling in my head, and smile up at him as his lips come down to meet mine.
