Page 57 of My Broken Mate (Healing Bonds #1)

Chapter forty-three

Whole Again

REMUS*

K ata and I pretty much have to share one batch of extra clothes now.

I expected bad weather, but not to have sex with her, and certainly not to shift.

Now she is clad in my shirt and a pair of my boxers, looking delicious in my clothes, while I am just wearing pants.

Thank Goddess we took our shoes off when we were sitting around the little fire, or we’d both need to climb down the mountain barefoot.

The world around me feels much more crisp all of a sudden, with Kata’s scent filling all my pores. I was able to feel the bond before, and I was able to take in her unique scent, but now it’s like all my sensations have tripled.

My wolf is finally with me. It still feels a bit awkward, but we will get there.

Atlas… I try to say his name in my mind, still feeling weird that I can link my wolf. I know I am overthinking it, and that I only need to follow my instincts now, but it’s hard to suddenly let go of old habits.

I am here, he murmurs. In my mind, I can suddenly see his majestic head. I thought I would never truly meet him. After realizing Kata is my mate, and even after having marked each other, I thought that was it. And I was ready to accept it, to be content with what I had.

But now he is here, and the emptiness I felt is suddenly filled by his presence.

Atlas’ dark eyes seem to be watching me. You are strong, he says. Thank you for being so strong and for capturing our mate.

I know you protected me, I say.

I tried to, he says. I had to close myself up to keep you safe. Sorry, it took me so long to finally be able to come forward. It had nothing to do with not wanting to meet you. I just needed the time.

I smile. I know… now, I reassure him.

You are a good human, he says, amusing me a little. It sounds like something I’d say to a pup. But somehow, it’s comforting to hear him utter these words. We are going to get stronger now, he promises.

He wasn’t able to stay in his wolf form for long, but I still feel beyond happy that I was able to shift at all. Now that I know he is there, I am so much more optimistic. I have been patient for so long, I don’t mind being patient a little longer until he gains his whole strength.

You are a pretty huge wolf, I comment.

At that, he seems to grow a little, with pride. That’s because our mother comes from a particularly strong lineage, he says. Our predecessors are said to come from the first shifters to have ever existed.

Really? I ask, stunned. That’s amazing. I feel my heart clench a little. I guess it was the reason the monster was so into our mom.

His expression grows sad. Probably. For a moment, he stays silent. The path to recovery is always a long one, he tells me. But we will make it. I am not going anywhere, Remus.

We get halfway down the mountain when the path becomes a little flatter. From here on, it will just be a leisurely, comfortable walk. Kata and I take a little break, sharing the last protein bar from the stash I took along, before continuing the path.

“Kata, I want to spend more time with you,” I admit, deciding to talk to her about something that has been lying on my mind for a while.

“Me, too,” she says. “Especially now that we have marked each other.”

“I have been thinking. Now that my wolf has finally connected with me, I need Sean to train me properly. He is the best person to do it. But I thought we could take turns, staying at each other’s places.

” I pause. “I… I will move out of the packhouse. We have a few small cottages for one or two people that are currently vacant. I am sure Sean and Gabriel won’t be against it.

I just can’t stay in the packhouse anymore.

Too many bad memories. I want a place to myself.

So, if you come to visit, we would have some privacy. ”

“Are you kidding me?” she blurts out. “I was having similar thoughts. Time to move out of my little bedroom. I will take one of the smaller apartments in the packhouse. Actually, when Joel became alpha, he offered one each to Eve and me, but at that time, we wanted to stay with him to have his back. But he is good now, his position is secure, and I think I am ready to move out.”

“We can alternate between packs,” I muse. “Until we know where we want to stay.”

“Yes, that way we wouldn’t need to make a decision immediately, and we could see who needs us the most or where we want to stay.”

“That’s the plan.” Relief fills me when I realize she not only isn’t against it but actually had similar plans on her own.

We are still young. We have our studies to finish, and we have time to plan our futures.

Our families are friends now, not just allies, and I don’t know what the future will bring for them.

Kata and I have time to figure things out.

“Thank you for having taken me along on this trip,” she suddenly says, taking my hand. “It means the world to me that you didn’t push me away.”

“I contemplated it for a moment,” I admit.

“I know, and I understand why. I am still glad you took the risk.”

“Me, too,” I admit. Had I not brought her along, I wouldn’t have shared everything so openly with her. Or maybe I would have, later, but it’s not the same. I was able to walk this path with her because she followed me, and because I let her.

“Goddess, I am so hungry,” she says all of a sudden, making me laugh.

“The protein bars weren’t enough,” I chuckle. “Let’s go straight for lunch when we are back at the rehab center.”

My plan doesn’t work out, though, because the moment we are in sight of the rehab center, I spot Gabriel. I recognize him instantly, now that my senses are sharper. I can see and take in his scent.

Gabriel waves like crazy before running back inside. A couple of minutes later, the others appear, too.

“You can’t be serious,” Kata sighs.

“Why are you surprised?” I chuckle. “You told the nurse you were convinced they would all pop up.”

“I know, but it’s still weird that they did. They can be so embarrassing.” Despite her words, she waves back at them enthusiastically.

They are obviously overjoyed to see us. I was expecting either Sean or Gabriel to be reproachful because I just took off without further notice. Well, I left a note, but it’s obviously not the same. But they don’t seem to mind.

“You are back, finally!” Joel exclaims as we run towards them. “I can’t believe you went hiking. Of all the things.”

“Yeah, we can’t believe it either,” Kata chuckles. “Sorry, I just took off. I had no time to notify you. You must have been worried.”

“Not at all,” Joel reassures her.

Sean snorts. “Yeah, right. I had to use my power and knowledge to stop them from driving here immediately,” he tells us.

“You didn’t tell them where we were?” Kata asks.

“No, you wanted to do this alone, and there was no reason not to let you,” he says.

“I knew you would understand where I was, and what I was doing,” I admit.

The others look rather chill, too. It looks like they used their trip to relax a bit as well, and they definitely all needed it. Both our packs have been swamped with work recently, and with quite some drama.

Sean’s eyes move over me first, a thoughtful expression on his face, then he looks at Kata. He furrows his brows before realization settles in. “She is marked,” he says.

“What?” Joel exclaims. “By the goddess, I didn’t even notice!”

“Really?” Gabriel stares at us, his eyes wide.

“Man, that must have been a good trip,” Joel mutters. “I am getting envious.”

Evander sends him a deathly glare, which he ignores, as usual.

While the others begin to congratulate us and voice their joy, Sean’s mind seems to wander further. “You marked her,” he says. “This means…”

Can you hear my voice? He links me.

It feels weird to suddenly have another foreign presence in my mind. I figure that for all other shifters, it comes naturally, but as usual, I am a few steps behind. I don’t mind, though, not anymore.

Loud and clear. Though, it’s still a bit weird to suddenly have all my senses heightened.

We will work on it, he assures me.

“I guess that meditative hike up the mountain was a success,” Gabriel mutters. “Maybe I should do that too, eventually.”

“Yeah, it was good,” Kata says, her voice dead serious. “But Remus and I decided that next time we would go paragliding.”

“What?” Evander blurts out.

“It’s too exhausting to walk,” she says.

“But paragliding… of all things?”

Joel grins but lets Kata have her fun.

Eventually, Sean puts a stop to it by suggesting what Kata and I had wanted since being halfway down the mountain. “Do you want to eat? Let’s go for lunch.”

I nod. “Awesome, we are starving.”

“The plan is for us to drive back later this afternoon, so that we will be home in the early hours,” Gabriel explains. “Are you coming with us or staying longer?”

“We have done everything we came here for,” I say, looking at Kata. She nods. “We will return home with you.”