In This Life And The Next ✔️

Chapter 23: Stay

ARI

I narrowed my eyes at Nathan but Alex listened to his advice. He guided me back to the couch and we both sat down our full attention on his Dad.

Nathan led all of the people that were inside, to the outside. A few of them whined but eventually left.

Matt wouldn't stop staring until Nathan pulled him to the side whispering to him. "I know you're happy as I am to see her but give her time Matt. She doesn't remember you, hell she doesn't even remember herself. Give her time."

The guy Matt nodded, gave me one last lingering look, then left. Nathan pulled up a chair and sat across from us, folding his hands in his lap.

Hearing over and over again how I "came back" from somewhere was starting to piss me off. Why would I remember something that never happened to me!

What a bunch of bullshit liars. I was so happy to know that there are other people out there that are like me and they pull this shit on me.

"It all started with a man named Rodrick Gray and ended with the death of a very dear friend." Nathan said, telling me Jennifer Gray's story.

A trickle of fear crawled up my back at the mention of that name.

"Roderick was the stepfather of our beloved pack member, Jen. He murdered her and her mate, Shawn, twenty years ago."

Shawn. He said Shawn. He said the name Shawn, the same name I've been dreaming of since I was a little girl.

I've called Alex by that name in my dreams. Could they be telling the truth?

I looked at Alex to see his forehead furrowed like he was thinking about something.

I closed my eyes and tried to calm my jumping heartbeat. This is crazy!

But is it really?

I mean I transform into a wolf, something that others would deem impossible.

I forced myself to ignore the fact that he said Shawn and asked him a different question that I've been wanting to know and since he said it, I might as well ask him. "What is a mate?"

Alex looked at me, tracing my face with his eyes but he looked away when his father cleared his throat.

"A mate is just another word for soulmate. Your mate is the one person in the entire world who was made with you. Your other half."

I peeked a look at Alex through my peripherals but he had his eyes closed tight.

"You recognize your mate at the age of 18."

"Wait." I stopped him. "Is this a werewolf thing because I've never heard of this from my family, I mean my human family?"

"Yes it is I believe. Human's do have soulmates, the only difference is that it sometimes takes them a while to find their other half."

"Why 18?" I asked him. I was turning 18 in another month and I wanted to know if I had a soulmate out there.

"I don't know, no one knows why we change at the age of 13 and why we find our other half at the age of 18. Maybe it has something to do with our bodies and our minds maturing."

"Why only werewolves though? And what happens if one soulmate is 18 but the other one isn't yet? Would the 18 year old know?" His answer scared me for some reason. What if my mate was half way across the world?

"I feel like finding our soulmates has something to do with our heightened senses which is why it's easier for us to find them. When I turned 18, I didn't know who my mate was because she hadn't turned 18 yet. She lived in the same house as me but I never really noticed her until a couple of weeks before her birthday. I felt a sort of heat between us and then when she turned 18, we both knew we were each others soul mates."