In Our Blood

Chapter Twenty-One

Absence

The ceiling was a stained white. The floor was wooden planks of a dark oak. The walls were beige. The bed was black. The covers were dark blue. The comforter was light blue. The pillows were grey.

Beca knew these things, and she knew them very well. She also knew that her bedside table matched her black bed frame and so did her dresser. She didn't even have to open her eyes to summon up a replica of the wolf drawing hanging above her bed because she had memorized it completely. In fact, she didn't have to even look at any of these things to tell you what they looked like.

The reason for such things being that for the past five months, her free time had been spent in this very room of white ceilings and beige walls, blue covers and black furniture. It had been spent under her covers. During the days when she was free of school, she slept. During the nights she lay awake and stared at the moon as it coursed through its cycles, now working on its sixth.

Sometimes she would sneak outside in the nights. Something told her that everyone in the Smith household knew this, considering that when she did, she would transform and let out long, low howls on the moors. 

When she did sleep at night, she always had this dream. She was chasing a wolf, slightly bigger than her own with a much lighter coat. It was her mind's image of Rhydian when he transformed, but she couldn't honestly remember if he actually looked like that anymore. Sometimes he would chase her, but it was all in good fun. She always woke up panting and smiling.

That wouldn't last, though, as she would soon be hit with the realization that their pack-mate was still gone.

Beca opened her eyes and turned over, tired of laying in that position. Her eyes settled on the half-moon that illuminated her bedroom. Everyone else in the house was asleep. They usually were.

At least, that's what she thought, until she heard footsteps outside of her room. She turned towards the door and relaxed when she smelled Emma on the other side. The doorknob to her room turned and the woman walked in, dressed in her nightclothes and hair tousled as if she had just woken up.

"Mam?" Beca asked, trying to act like she just woke up.

Emma shook her head, walking in and perching herself on the edge of Beca's bed, resting a hand on the legs that were hidden under the comforter. "I know you've been up, pup. I can hear you shifting around." She looked at Beca with tired eyes and turned towards her more. "What's wrong?"

Beca sighed and let her gaze drop to her hands, pulling her legs up and leaning up against the headboard. "I can't sleep," she said. It was true.

"You've been like this for months, pup. I don't know what to do to help you if you don't tell me what's wrong."

The worry in Emma's voice pulled at Beca's chest, causing her to take in a deep breath. She felt a warm hand on her own and looked up to meet her mother's eyes, full of a want to help.

"I don't know," she started. "I don't like sleeping at night. I always have this dream," she admitted, shifting in her spot.

Emma nodded. "Well, what's the dream?"

"It's not the dream that's the problem, though," Beca said, avoiding the question. "I don't like waking up from it. It's just..."

"Better than what's really happening?" Emma asked, receiving a nod from her adopted daughter. She released a sigh. "I was afraid of that."

Beca raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Emma waved her off. "So what is the dream?"

"Well, I'm running in the woods. And I'm running after someone, or with, or from, sometimes. But it's not a chase. It's a game. It's fun."

"And you're both wolves when this is happening?"

Beca nodded.

"Who is it?"

Beca bit her lip and thought about lying for a moment, but she knew Emma would be able to tell. "I think it's Rhydian."

A deep sigh left her mother. "I think it's time Daniel and I tell you girls about mates."

The next morning, Maddy sat at the kitchen table to the left of Beca whilst their parents stood in front of them, talking in hushed voices as if the young Wolfbloods couldn't hear them.

Maddy and Beca had been growing farther and father apart lately, but so had the rest of Beca's friends and her. She had recently cut off most communications with them. She didn't hang out with them, didn't jump to be partnered with them in class, didn't talk to them when she got the chance. She didn't even hang out in the dark room during free time. No one really knew what she went off to do.

It wasn't hard for anyone who had been just slightly close to the girl six months ago to tell she was depressed. She didn't eat unless forced to, she didn't sleep when she was supposed, she didn't pay attention in class, and she would rather stare at a wall than hang out with her friends.

"Girls," Daniel started as he and Emma split from their huddle and sat across from them. "There's something we've been waiting to tell you about Wolfbloods, mostly because it's a hard concept to grasp."

If Beca were acting normally, she would have said something like, "another thing you kept from us. Awesome," with sarcasm laced between her words.

"We're still trying to get used to it," Emma offered when neither of their daughters reacted.

Daniel sighed. "It's called mates. Kind of like a soulmate, but it's not really as set in stone as some packs like to think it is." That made Beca perk up, confusion covering her face. Maddy was already invested.

"Well, not set in stone until after the process is agreed upon by both Wolfbloods. Wolves mate for life, so after that..." Emma trailed off, sending a smile Daniel's way.

"Wait," Maddy said, glancing between her parents. "Are you two?"

"Mates?" Emma asked. Daniel nodded, grabbing her hand.

"Since we were young," he said joyfully, before looking back to the two in front of them. "It's kind of like being married, but more. It's the wolf part of you that really choses who your mate will be, based on what it deems best for you."

"So, it's not a choice," Maddy tried to make sense of it.

Emma shook her head. "No, Maddy, it is. You can always refuse the pull, and there's always a chance of someone else coming along. But it's rare that you'll ever find more than one person who is perfect for you."

Beca shrugged. "I don't see what this has to do with me," she muttered, playing with her fingers.

Emma glanced at Daniel before grabbing Beca's hand, making her meet her parents' eyes. "Beca, we think Rhydian might be your mate."