Broken Bonds

XXII. A little reunion

The atmosphere became awkward fairly quick. Rey could see her mother wanted to say more, but Rey's refusal to respond to her held her back.

As Rey got fed up with the tension in the room, she decided the best way to destroy it was to move her bones.

Her attempt was rewarded with her mother's eyes growing bigger and her yelling: "Are you crazy? Don't you dare move! We don't know what kind of shape you are in yet."

"Well, excuse you," Rey rolled her eyes, "but I definitely have more experiences to judge my health condition than you."

Talking about her healing experiences brought Rey's attention to one unmissable fact. Why wasn't there anyone Rey wanted to see here?

Brynn? Lia? S?

Did something really happen to them?

The rising panic in her veins resulted in an even more desperate attempt to make her body move. Her mother didn't appreciate her efforts a bit: "I swear if you won't stop moving, I am gonna do something you will regret."

Rey didn't get a chance to figure out what was hidden behind her threat, because the door behind her mother flew open and in walked Brynn.

Dark circles lined her eyes and if Rey were to guess, she lost some of her weight, but she was still as beautiful as Rey remembered.

Brynn was too busy balancing the bowl filled with water to notice Rey's intense stare and her wide smile. But as she successfully walked over the threshold and lifted her eyes, their stares met, and the bowl fell to the ground.

The water poured everywhere, but both of them could care less about the disaster at that moment.

And immense relief filled Rey when she saw that at least one-third of her family was alive and well. It didn't take long for Brynn to engulf her in one of her bone-crushing hugs.

The hug ended just as quickly as it started. Brynn jumped away from her and started her interrogation: "I didn't hurt you, did I? I really should not have done that."

She had an expression of a kicked puppy on her face and Rey could no longer keep her laughter to herself: "Just shut up and hug me!"

The older woman bit her bottom lip, contemplating the idea, but when Rey lifted her hands with considerable effort, the temptation was too strong to resist.

"Silly girl," Brynn whispered in her ear as they held each other close, "don't ever scare me like this again!"

Rey's birth mother left the room right after the water spilt. Probably to find something to eliminate the damages with. But with all the honesty, Rey could care less about her.

Something else was bothering her: "What about Lia and S? Are they okay?"

Brynn nodded and sat down on the no longer occupied chair. She made sure to have both her hands placed on some part of Rey's body. As if she feared Rey would disappear if she would let her go. "Yes, they are both perfectly fine. Lia is probably keeping S out of this room right now. It wasn't good for him to see you like this."

A weight was lifted off Rey's shoulders.

They were okay. They were all okay.

She felt like she could dance. Hell, she felt like she could fly.

Well, on the other hand, not so much. Her body was not 100% accustomed to the idea. A deep wrinkle settled on her forehead as a fresh wave of pain hit her and Rey huffed out.

Of course, it made Brynn's worries grow too: "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," Rey nodded, "it's just my body refuses to cooperate."

"Well, don't be too surprised about that. You were out cold for more than a month."

Her mother already insinuated something, but ...: "What?"

More than a month? How was that even possible?

"It was the worst month of my life, so trust me when I tell you I counted every second of it," Brynn said.

"But I ... That's not possible," Rey protested.

That night Rey didn't only lose her mate. She also lost her wolf.

It blamed itself for all the pain Rey went through so much it withered more and more every day. The last time Rey changed into her wolf was when she escaped the village. And after she found Brynn, it backed off completely.

She couldn't even feel their bond anymore. She practically became a human, and no human would be able to survive a month in her state.

"As it turned out, your wolf didn't give up completely. It kept you alive. But let me tell you, the way it did it, was scary as hell. You were practically dead, lying on this bed unmoving. But then suddenly opened your eyes. The first time you did that, I almost got a heart attack. I felt so much relief, except you weren't saying anything. You were barely even blinking and there was a distant look in your eyes. You were only ever awake long enough to get some food and water in your system. And you only woke up when we were almost sure, you were going to die from dehydration."

If it was anyone else but Brynn, Rey would think they went mad. But she believed every single word she said.

"Even if it did all that, I still can't feel it," Rey sighed.

She missed changing into a wolf. Maybe even more than she missed her old life.

"Give it some time," Brynn smile reassuringly, "the wound you suffered, was really bad. Maybe it needs some alone time to regenerate."

"Maybe," Rey agreed. But she couldn't chase away the feeling she would never get their connection back.

The door opened once more, and Rey expected to see her mother. But it wasn't her who came in.

"The crazy woman shoved some rags in my hands and told me I would know what do to with them. Can you explain to me what she ..."

Same as Brynn, she was so absorbed in whatever she was doing she didn't notice Rey right away. But once she did, her words died in her throat.

"Hi," Rey smiled at her.

It had to be a funny view. Rey lay on her bed, Brynn sat next to her, and Lia stood in the doorway, her mouth hanging open.

"I think this might be the first time something left her speechless," Rey whispered to Brynn, and Brynn nodded in agreement.

But as they soon found out, Lia was too angry to listen to their teasing. She strengthened her grip on one of the rags, Rey's mother gave her, walked closer to Rey, and started beating her all over.

"Hi?" Lia screeched. "You almost die on me and the first thing you say is hi?"

Rey tried her best to avoid Lia's attack, Brynn helping her to her best abilities, but Lia was too persistent: "I will give you a hi you will never forget!"

Soon the three women found themselves laughing their hearts out.