📍📍📍📍 TRIGGER WARNING 📍📍📍📍
『 chapter xlv: KEEPING UP WITH THE QUILEUTES PT EP 2. 』
THE GIRL WONDERED IF THIS IS HOW CREED felt before every major fight in his career? Juniper had gotten the message that Jasper was going to be giving lessons to everyone that was participating in the fight. After her confessionals with Edward and Carlisle, all she wanted was to spend time with Jacob. Which is why she was wrapped around his warm body, on his bed, her chest on top of his as her strange heart mingled with the beating of his own healthy one. She could smell him on everything around her; from her skin to her hair to his bedsheets and the pillows. She wondered if it was possible to love someone so damn much that your head spins at the sight of them? It was like each neuron in her brain electrified itself when Jacob's face registered in her mind. Everything about him was parallel to a happy memory for her. Jacob was happiness. He was hers. For now, anyway. The thought of it made her heart break.
Juniper was only content to know that she'd be dead when Jacob would eventually find his new girl. His new girl was right in front of him but he wouldn't know that until his current girl was gone. It was such a painful experience to put herself through. To know she wouldn't be his forever, that she wouldn't be able to give it to him. But in a way, she's glad. He'll be the only love she'll have. And dying, while you were loved is the best way to go. Because Jacob knows who she is. Sometimes she'll catch him smiling at her while she reads and when she asks what? he'll just shake his head fondly and say, I can't believe you're mine. And June gets equally sad and happy.
"Remember that night in my room?" June suddenly spoke as she laid a hand on his chest. "When you come through my window and told me to think about the legends because Sam didn't let you."
"Yeah?" Jacob's eyes are amused.
June looks up at him, "You said to me when I offered to run away with you, eventually we'll leave. Did you mean it?" She asks lowly.
Jacob nods, "I did."
"Really though?"
"I said yes."
"Just like that?" June asks him, staring up at his eyes genuinely. "You'd leave your dad and your friends and your pack? You'd leave your whole life and hometown for me?"
"Juniper," Jacob says her full name only when she's being particularly ridiculous. He cups her cheek and smiles softly, "You're my whole life. And home isn't a place, home is wherever the person you love is, my mom told me. So if you wanna leave, we'll leave."
Juniper stares at him. April is going to be the luckiest girl alive ... "I wouldn't make you leave."
"Ocean eyes," Jacob frowns softly, kissing her lips with a gentle peck. "Sure I'll miss my dad but he knows what I have to do, it's just the way it goes. And no, before you go on—you're not just some girl I love, June, you're my imprint. You come before anything else."
Hearing that, right then, is when June decides. She wants to live. June wants to live long enough to give Jacob that forever. She wants to hear him say sweet things to her every morning and give her that impossibly breathtaking smile every time he kisses her. She wants to feel his strong arms wrap around her as they make love over and over and over, until she can't breathe. She wants that love to make some beautiful little flowers that will make a garden of life, kids named Bellamy and Augustus and Micah and Julian and a little girl named Laurel who wouldn't have to know the pain of the magic her mom had. But life isn't about what they want. Even if she desperately wants it. Sometimes by you won't Nd what you have to do isn't always the same and so, she doesn't think of it as more than just one distant memory.
"Did it ever ... bother you?" She asks suddenly.
Jacob frowns, "Did what bother me?"
"That you didn't have a choice when it came to imprinting on me," June says weakly. "That you were stuck with me?"
"Beautiful, I'm not stuck with you," He chuckles at her as if she's saying something cute. "No, it's not like that at all. When I phased for her first time, I wasn't just myself anymore — I was only half of something. There was someone out there who was going to complete me. You. No one else."
Don't say that. I've risked everything, upsetting the ancestors, throwing nature off balance just to ensure that you don't follow me when I'm gone. I need you to move on, to never think about me—
"You always did know what to say to me, you know that? Even when we were younger," June smiles at him brightly. "You never said the wrong thing. Ever."
"I got it from my mom," Jacob tells her.
"I wish she was here — I want to thank her for creating the best person to ever live," June says.
"She loved you, honestly. Said you were the prettiest little thing and that I shouldn't be scared of boys like Kellan or Frank or Brody from elementary when they tried to talk to you," Jacob says in a far off voice.
"Brody was an asshole."
"But you paid more attention to him."
"I was stupid."
"No, I was stupid for letting you be with them."
June smiles faintly, "I honestly didn't think you liked me when we were little, I liked you but I just thought you were super nice and you lowkey thought I was spoiled, which is why you didn't talk to me in school."
"No, no, I was just shy whoever I saw you and especially with everyone around you," Jacob elaborated with a shake of his head. "God forbid anyone who wasn't apart of your little posse like Star or Elodie came up to you."
"I was a horrible little girl."
"No you weren't. Star was worse, if that's any consolation. Everyone was scared of her. Maybe her daughter will be the same and she'll get karma?" Jake grins.
"That baby girl will be trouble regardless! She's Star and Jared's daughter, she's bound to have some sort of homicidal tendencies from her mom and the inability to take anything seriously from Jared."
"I heard from Jared that Star wants to eventually move away, too." Jacob informs her.
The news surprised her. She always thought that Star was content enough with raising a family on the Rez and nowhere else. But she wasn't the only one with wants she supposed. "Really? Wow, that's good I guess. Fresh start and all."
Jacob nods, "Jared didn't want to say but we heard clear; Star doesn't want her daughter to phase one day like Leah did. Or any of her kids for that matter," He says with a sigh. "She and Jared had a huge fight when it came up that one day their kids could turn too if a nomad passes or the Cullen's stay around forever ... Star wants to be far away from all this when her kids born."
Rightfully so. It's not some pride that Billy and Harry and Old Quil and Iris and all the Elders make it out to be. It's a curse and nothing more and Star's for every right to get her child far away from it—
"—of course, even though our kids will be changed regardless," Jacob says, breaking her trail of thought. The way he says our kids so sure of himself makes her sad. "That doesn't mean we have to stay here. They wouldn't have to phase if we lived elsewhere."
"As long as they're happy," June smiles as she presses a kiss to his lips. "But I promise we'll come visit every holiday and stuff like that. I don't want your dad to be lonely."
"Rachel will probably come back," Jacob says assuringly. "Since she's in college, close by. Rebecca's the one that's never gonna be able to come back. Plane tickets from Hawaii aren't exactly cheap."
At the sound of Hawaii, her eyes sparkle and she smiles widely. "Oooh, maybe we should move to Hawaii?"
Jacob smiles back, "Anywhere you want."
June and Jacob kiss then, her emotions steadying for the first time in a while and she wonders if that's because she's accepting what is? She's always gonna have a longing in her heart for wanting more, for wanting to be forever with Jacob, but the bigger part of her is telling her that she can't be selfish. She's already made a decision. There's a hidden marking on a pretty brunettes back waiting to be revealed when a teen spirit dies. She feels Jacob's hands lower until they're on the waistband of her shorts and she lets put a breath before she stops him.
June shakes her head, "No, we can't. We have to get ready — training against those baby vamps starts tomorrow and we have to round up the wolves for motivation."
Jacob groans, "I rather stay here in bed."
"Nah, you're the one who wanted to play the damn hero," She tapped his nose. "Yeah sex is cool but have you ever worked out until you're almost dead? No? Well, that's what you're gonna be doing today instead of me."
Her boyfriend gives her a flat look, "Not nice."
"Oh, babe," Jun mocks him and pouts. "I'm sugar and spice and everything not nice, didn't they tell you?" She laughs loudly and rolls out of the bed, clapping her hands together mockingly. "Chop, chop! Let's go!"
•—•—•—•—•
JUNIPER WAS PUMPED. SHE LISTENED TO A whole Beyoncé album to prepare for the kickass squad training that was going down later. She was ready. Like, ready. Also, she was a bit scared and her bruises were looking particularly gnarly today but that's another thing entirely. She felt good though. She guessed that was what counted? How she felt. Patrick Verona wagged his tail as he watched his owner jump up and down to the music that blasted from her speakers — June's giggles flooded the air of her room and the dog seemed to recognize the once bubbly girl who practiced throwing it back in front of her mirror. June was just a girl. She had forgotten what it meant to act normal and carefree for once. When she got a glimpse of herself in the mirror, no frown lines or signs of stress were visible in her eyes, it surprised her.
A knock at her door was left unheard by June's singing and dancing, Daphne cracking the door open to see her daughter with genuine joy on her face. Patrick Verona barked upon seeing her mom.
June turned, "Mom!" She grinned.
Daphne chuckled, shutting the door behind her and smiling widely, "What's got you all hyper?"
Lowering her music to a more of a hum, June shook her head. "Nothing, really. Just like felt dancing and singing — Patrick's a wonderful partner." June giggled and patted her dogs head. "What's up momma bear?"
Her mother smiled a bit more before she cleared her throat. She tucks a dark strand of hair that fell from her loose bun behind her ear and looks at her daughter, "Dad told me that you know the news now." She says with a nervous look. "He said you took it really well?"
June nods then, remembering the conversation that she had with her dad the days prior, "Oh yeah, yeah. It's amazing mom, really, I'm super excited, maybe it'll be a girl this time—"
"Juniper," Daphne's voice is soft, barely audible as she looks at her. "I didn't plan this. I swear to you—"
"It'd make me happier if you did."
"How? Willie was planned, unexpected, but planned nevertheless. Before when you gave me hope and you were just so happy with Jacob, I had hope but no matter what, I still see you distant." Daphne says.
"Mom, it's OK. I want you to have as many kiddos as you want. I know I wasn't supposed to be the only child left, you left dad because you were afraid of having more, having another kid who's as cursed as me," June got up and held her moms hands and smiles. "But you won't have to worry about that ever again. No more bad things will come after me. Everyone's gonna live, be happy, you and dad and Willie and this new one and Jacob, too—"
"Juniper, he's following you to death, you know that." Daphne says sadly. "Your his imprint, his soulmate, he can't live in a world without you in it, sweetheart you know this."
Oh yeah. The truth. Nothing but it. How can you confess that you e done something so terribly heartbreaking that every time you think about it, you break whatever remains of your heart? How? June knows. But she doesn't have anything left in her empty space of a once vivid organ pumping blood anymore.
June smiles, "I've made sure he will."
Daphne looks at her seriously, "What?"
"Jacob will live long and happy," June declares, shes spent so much making it happen. "He'll live on after I die and he'll be happy."
"Juniper, you can't be this naive, you must know how strongly Jacob feels about you—"
"That's why I said, mom," June nods. "I've made sure Jacob lives even after me. I haven't bonded with him, thank the spirits, so there's still a choice as to whether he lives or dies. And he's gonna live. The only other reason he'd die is if he ... if he takes his life from grief." She shakes her head at the thought of that. "Which is why I've guaranteed that he won't be sad forever."
Daphne seems to understand right then and there what her daughter is saying; horrifyingly slow, she raises her eye to see if the markings of the imprint still were on June's skin. To her relief, they were. But Daphne blinked and she saw they were faded, like a tattoo that's been on a body for centuries, they were no longer the color of black ink but a soft bruising grey that lay just below the epidermis and looked like it could be cleaned with a wipe. Daphne meets her daughters eyes and sees the truth in what Juniper will never have the strength to say.
"Oh, Juniper ..." Daphne breathes out.
"He's gonna be OK, mom."
"June, honey, tell me you're not gonna—"
She raises her eyes, "It's already done."
Daphne shuts her eyes with a sigh. "June."
Juniper had to look away for a moment. She couldn't meet the accusing eyes of her mother; Daphne knew her far too well to know that she found a way to make sure the love of her life would stay alive no matter if June died. Because June's mother knew what June knows — even if Jacob survived, there was no way he'd live, no when he was still connected to the Mender in such a spiritually binding way. No, something would have to give. She'd have to give him up completely. She'd die not being his anymore. Until her last breath, that's when the spirits would permanently take away the last remaining ink of her mate markings that matched Jacob's and put them on an unknowing brunette who's gonna make June's true love learn to love again.
"I know what I'm doing," June says softly, wiping a tear from her cheek as she smiles, nodding to herself. "I did some searching, tons and tons of reading. Did you know imprint transfers were frowned upon but not impossible? It was only used in extreme cases like when the mother was dying in childbirth and didn't want leave he child an orphan. It's gonna take everything I got, but when the time comes, it'll be the right thing."
"Imprint transfer," Daphne echoes.
June nods, looking down. "It's my last gift to him; a thank you of some sorts. He saved my life before did you know that? Jake made me want to live. I'd be selfish to not pay him back." She says reasonably and more sadly, she continues. "April's great — she's smart and pretty and she reminds me of me ... the old me. The one Jacob fell in love with. She was really a godsend."
Daphne stays quite for a moment, "I love you, Juniper. I think you're the bravest person I've ever met, in so proud you're my daughter."
She embraces Juniper for a lengthy hug. When they finally pull away, June just realizes how truly hard it's going to be to let go. But she can't delay. She has to be ready; she has to be ready to let go. No matter the pain; because the consequences, the nightmares, they've been warnings of what's to come if she makes a mistake. If she chooses her own selfish pursuits rather than the moral thing. She can't let anyone pay for her mistake — no, it's time people saw that she wasn't Melanie Capote at all.
•—•—•—•—•
IN A MATTER OF HOURS, THE PACK EACH HAD gotten a group text, ironically it wasn't the pack telepathy, which would've been more efficient in June's opinion, but anyway, the text had specific details to meet at Jared's parents house with requests of bringing food and drinks and other things and to dress nicely. Confused, but relenting, Jacob and June got dressed and drove over to the Cameron residence. Once there, they noticed the other vehicles of other pack members. Sam and Emily were hand in hand, smiling at them as they walked towards the entrance where Jared's mother, Alyssa, was by the door with her husband Hank Cameron, waving the guests in. Another car pulled up and out stepped Troy Sandoval, opening the door for Leah Clearwater who was in the passenger seat, immediately reaching her hand out for her imprint as they neared each other. Troy's younger sister, Maya, had a skip in her step as she saw Seth who rode with Embry and Lyanna, smiling widely as the young wolf brightened at Maya's pretty face.
"You think this is a baby shower?" Jacob asked lowly, near her ear.
Grabbing her attention, June shrugged, fixing the end of her dress. "Dunno? Star didn't tell me anything and she knows how much I love planning." She frowned.
"Maybe it's just a gathering then? Star and Jared being generous?" Jacob supplies, a smile on his face.
They both laugh.
Before June can reply, Star appear from the house and waves her best friend over. "June! Thank god you're here! OK, come quick I need your help with the flowers, don't give me that look, just hurry—"
"Go," Jacob pats her behind, making her widen her eyes at him. He winks. "I'll be with the guys, I can smell the meat burning, it's probably Jared cooking."
June follows Star inside the house and notices how pretty Star looks just then. She always had this traditional beauty about her, high cheekbones and a heart shaped face with big brown eyes, but now, she just glowed. She guessed it had to do with being pregnant maybe? Star wore a long ivory colored dress with yellow flowers in her hair — maybe some small carnations — and her lips were a bright red against the copper tone of her skin. She was beautiful. She would be a great mother, not because of her beauty, but because June's seen in it in her dreams. She's seen Star holding a daughter with the mischievous eyes of Jared, and two other little kids running around them.
"Oh, by the way, you look very pretty, June." Star's voice comes out, already having a maternal tinge. She cups June's young face and smiles. "What's wrong?"
Caught in a daydream, June shakes her head as she focuses on the flowers in front of her. "Nothing, I just ... you look beautiful, Star. Honestly." She says.
Surprise fills Star's face, "Really?" She asks witha hint of nervousness. "I feel like a thousand pounds. But Jared kept saying I looked good — he has to, I'll kill him if he says otherwise." She says casually. "But thank you. Coming from you I know it's the truth."
Joy fills June's heart. Leah comes in through the door and her pretty face is brightened at the two other women in the room, "Hey, sweethearts," She greets cheerily. "How you feeling momma bear? How's the wolf kid doing?"
Star clutched her stomach, "This girls gonna be the next soccer captain — she doesn't stop kicking. Maybe I'll put her in karate so she can whip the asses of all the other boys on the Rez if they mess with her," She laughs but June knows she's serious. "But overall, were good."
Leah nods in satisfaction, she turns to June. "How're you doing miss wolf princess? I feel like I haven't seen spoken to you in forever," She says sadly.
"I'm peachy keen," June tells her. "And you've been occupied with your other half, understandably, I've been there."
The older girl smiles knowingly, "Yeah. Troy's great, more than great, really. He's gonna take Seth to a baseball game in Seattle soon," Her smiles fades. "That's if all goes well—"
"Nothings gonna go bad," June tells her seriously. She smiles assuringly. "We're gonna kick the asses of those baby vamps and Seth's gonna go to that game and you're gonna not worry and everything is gonna be OK."
Leah seems to take Junipers words above anyone else's and so she nods in assurance. Behind them, Star suddenly gasps, "I swear these flowers are multiplying by the second!" She says with wide eyes, she gestures to the flowers on the table that have buds growing on them.
June laughed, "It's all you."
Star frowns, "What?"
Leah joins in laughing, "Oh yeah, my mom told me about that," She nods. "It's the spirit magic in you, momma wolf."
Star points at herself, "Me? I don't have any spirit magic, though." She gestures to June. "I thought you were messing with me and making my damn kitchen into a garden."
"Nope," June shakes her head, smiling. "The spirits live in the earth of our land. They sense that another spirit warrior had carried on the bloodline — side effects include flowers growing at the touch of a pregnant woman carrying a spirit child. Basically saying that you're nurturing a life inside you."
Star smiles, "Oh, OK, that's nice." She chirps, pride in her eyes. She wiggles her brows and turns, "I've gotta finish setting up outside with Jared's mom and sisters. Be back." Then she's off.
It's just Leah and June in the room, tying the last bit of bouquets to be set on the tables of the guests and they don't speak but hum together to the song that's playing on the radio. June's dancing again and it makes Leah chuckle.
"So ... when were you gonna tell me?" Leah suddenly said.
June frowns, looking at her friend. "Huh?"
Leah smirks, "Don't act dumb. It's not cute."
"I'm not?" June laughs out. "Tell you what?"
Leah sighs dramatically. She grabs a set of roses that aren't in bloom yet and brings them over to June, both of them watching as the rose blooms and other buds start forming around the vine. June watches in horror at they do, the realization of what that means causing dread to fill her entire body. Leah tests it by putting the flowers on herself and the flowers stop blooming, going back to buds, but when they're near June, the bloom like flowers in the summer.
"You're pregnant, aren't you?" Leah states.
June can't speak. She can't think. She can't—
"Woah, hey, it's okay," Leah suddenly says, concerned by the sheer surprise on her friend's face. "June? It's OK, you can tell me, I can keep a secret. My kinda stronger than the others guys, Jacob won't hear it from my thoughts, though I don't know why you don't want to tell him—"
June doesn't listen. She shuts all the doors around her and the windows. She turns the stove on and lets the gas from it mask the scent of what she's about to do. She suddenly bounds into action. She rushes over to the sink and grabs a small kitchen knife, she rips off some of the petals of the roses and sets them in the sink bowl. Leah watches confused, alarmed as June cuts her finger, dropping blood over the red rose petals.
Don't turn white, don't turn white, please don't turn white — please, please, don't turn white, don't turn white–please, I can't be, I'm going to die, I can't be a mother, I'm gonna want to live but the consequences of it are too high I can't be, I can't be, I can't I can't
The horror is so real as the she feels her heart break as she sees the red rose petals turn white at the drop of her blood. It's an old test. What the Mender's of the past used to see if women were pregnant. White, your child is bright. Red, sorry for your dread. Dread for the non-carrying women and bright for the expecting. June can't control the sob that escapes her throat. Why? Why? Why? Her grandmother told her she couldn't have children. It was why she had no caution when she and Jacob were intimate. She let him, over and over, and she did it without worry because she can't be a mother. She can't deal with the tragedy, she has to act, she has to be fast, she can't delay— she looks up finally to see Leah staring down at her with knowing concern.
"Juniper?" Leah kneels down, softly saying her name as she meets her eyes. "What's wrong?" Silence. But Leah knows. She's too smart. It's more than just a teenage girl scared of being pregnant. "June ... you can tell me."
June starts crying then, "I can't keep it, Leah."
Her friend takes on solemn eyes, "Juniper—hey, it happens OK? Your parents aren't gonna be angry, maybe, at first, but your mom knows what you and Jacob are to each other. Your dad will get over it, I'm sure. I know how much you hate disappointing people but think of all the good—"
"Leah," June says with a strained voiced. "I won't live long enough to even see the second trimester."
Leah looks at her confused, "What are you saying?"
"If I tell you, you have to swear to me, that you won't let a crack in your pack telepathy break." June says with such severity, it scared her friend. "This is life and death, Leah. If you let the pack hear this — Star's daughter will die. Any child you have will die. Lyanna, too. Maya, eventually. Emily, even. Anytime any of the pack phases, it's gonna be harder to turn back, and when you're human, it won't be the same. You'll want to stay a wolf forever. These are just some of the consequences that'll happen if you let anything I'm about to tell you, slip."
"I won't slip up." Leah vows.
And so June tells her. She tells her best friend the prophecy of her death; short and to the point. She erases any hope of her living because there isn't any. She tells her her death is essential to everyone else's survival. June doesn't miss a beat. She doesn't cry anymore. Sh can't feel anything. Leah listens. She just sits there and listens and when they finally finish, Leah helps June stand and she hugs her like she'll never see her again. June feels Leah's tears hit her shoulder, and she hugs her tighter. Don't cry, sweetheart, June tells her softly. Thank you. Leah pulls away with red eyes but manages to pull herself together before anyone comes in. Leah's good at that. Acting like everything's OK. She's used to it; she did it when dealing with the Sam drama. When dealing with turning into a wolf. When dealing with losing her own father. She can deal with it when hearing her pregnant best friend tell her she's going to die for their sakes without getting the chance to see that life that's barely beginning to live in her.
Leah covers for June when she says she's going to make a trip to her grandmothers house; she's going to miss out on the surprise wedding Jared and Star are having but it won't be the first thing her circumstances have caused her to miss.
"Promise me another thing?" June quietly asks as she gets into Leah's car, which she's let her use. "Can you do something for me?"
"Anything, June," Leah says with watery eyes and a hoarse voice. "I will do anything for you."
"I don't know how I'm gonna ..." June trails off. She sniffles a bit. "When I do, if you're there, promise me you'll watch Jacob? Make sure he doesn't do anything irrational."
"I can do that," Leah swears.
June looks at her, a soft smile on her lips. "Tell everyone I'm sorry for missing out," She says. "Just tell them that my grandma needed me and I wasn't feeling too well anyway, tell them it's my magic again. And don't let Jacob come over. Please. I won't be able to look him in the eye after I —" she sighs. "I know you'll do it."
"Drive safe," Leah tells her. She hugs her friend again. "I think you're so strong, June. All this time you've kept that to you ... I never would've thought you were hurting ... I'm so so so sorry this has to happen to you." She cries a bit.
"Hey," June says softly. "I would anything for all of you."
"When do you get to happy, though? How does this end good for you?" Leah asks helplessly.
"When it's all done and you all are alive." June says simply.
June kisses Leah's cheek and gets into the car. She drives out and she doesn't look in the rearview mirror as she drives off. She afraid of seeing Jacob. Of seeing anyone. She cries the entire way to Iris's. When she finally pulls up, Iris is waiting for her granddaughter on the porch. June all by jumps out of the car. June stands there, her face crumbling into anguish. Iris opens her arms as June runs into them. June cries and cries and cries and Iris can only hold her granddaughter sad she finally loses it. She loses everything she's been holding, all the sadness, she just cries because she hasn't cried in a lifetime. Just when she thinks she's had it all figured out, another storm ruins her sunny day and tosses another cloud over her. She's tired. She's so very tired.
"Let it all out, sweet child," Iris says in her ear as she holds her in the similar way she held Daphne when she came to her with her own pregnancy news almost seventeen years ago. "There, there, let it out. You deserve to."
"W-Why does this keep happening to me?" Cries June in a helpless voice. "What have I ever done to the spirits? Why do they hate me ... I've been good! I've gone all they asked ... I'm willing to die and they curse me with a baby I won't ever get to live long enough to feel kick ... why, grandma, why me? Why me? Why ..."
"Shhhhh, child, oh my sweet girl," Iris cries with her granddaughter. She smoothed down her blonde hair, kissing her head. "I don't know why the spirits must be so cruel. Nothing's changed ... I don't know, I don't know anything."
June barely consolable enough to walk into Iris's house. She lays on the couch while Iris gets to work on the only solution there is. There's no other choice. Nothing. Nothing.
•—•—•—•—•
MEANWHILE, a pregnant young woman holds the hands of her wolf as they say vows in front of their close friends. There's one missing, which makes the young woman exchanging vows terribly forlorn, but she smiles when she sees the true love in the eyes of the father of her child. She bares his markings. He bares her love. She holds his scent. He relishes hers. The child thriving in her stomach kicks during the exchanging of vows and it makes her gasp in delighted way, the father resting a hand on the swollen stomach of his new bride, smiling wider than she's ever seen him. The baby calms at the touch of its father.
Towards the seating area, the mate of the missing Mender watches the genuine joy of the two in front of them and the excitement of him having the same thing in years to come is almost too much affection for his heart to handle.
Several seats down, there's a she wolf watching the reaction of the young mate of the Mender and her heart unconsciously clenches.
"... until death do us, part." Star and Jared say simultaneously.
They kiss.
•—•—•—•—•
THE TRAGIC GIRL kisses only the rim of the cool bottle that has the breath of death inside it. The taste is sweet, too sweet. She can smell the black cohosh from the bottle. The taste of mugwort and tansy leave a film on her tongue. A terrible pain overtakes her for a moment before her grandmother leads her to the bathroom. June lays in the tub filled with warm water as her grandmother washes her hair. The water turns red and the pain comes again. The bath ends and June is numb, in so much pain that she's unable to feel anything. Iris offers her another bottle. This Then, all she feels is floating. There's no pain. There's nothing.
"I'm sorry ..." June utters out to one person in her mind before she falls to sleep.
a/n: it ok i hate myself too