Chapter 58 Chapter 58
Suki didn’t know what he was asking for, but before she could tap into their bond to get a better sense of what he was trying to say, Reynard moved in to answer.
“She’s got her wolf,” he said. “I could smell it on her; she has a wolf spirit, but it didn’t seem like she had any additional powers like you, if that’s what you’re concerned about.”
Taken aback, she hadn’t even thought to check; she was so wrapped up in her conversation with Katy. It reminded her how observant Rey was, how he was always paying attention to every detail of his surroundings. He truly was the perfect warrior.
His shoulders slumped in relief. “I’m glad she has her wolf, and not having these powers is a blessing too. She doesn’t need that burden on her shoulders, not after the shame I brought to my family.”
Rey added, “She’s still a youngling, though, and with how you developed the powers when you were 13–”
“Yeah, there’s still a chance she could develop them in a few years when she hits that age, I know,” Brendan finished for him and sighed.
“There’s something else.” Suki cleared her throat before continuing, “You should also know, she has this stuffed toy – a wolf, with black fur–”
“She kept it?” Brendan stepped back, shaking his head in complete shock. “I got her that a year before I was banished; she was so young, I thought it would become something meaningless to her. I thought my parents would throw it away.”
“She kept it,” Suki took his hand and smiled weakly, “and she named it after you.”
“What?” he choked on his own words.
Her eyes glazed with soft tears, but they didn’t fall. “She named the wolf ‘Bren’, after you.”
Brendan looked up, blinking. He turned his back to Suki and Reynard as he ran his fingers through his hair. Small puffs of his shadows emitted from his shoulders.
A soft hand grazed his shoulder. “I’m sorry,” Suki lamented, “I didn’t know if I should’ve said anything but–”
“No, no,” he sniffed, rubbing the heel of his hand against his eyes, “thank you for telling me. It’s nice to know that, even after all these years, my sister doesn’t see me as a monster like everyone else does.” He smiled faintly at Suki. The thought of his sister not hating him made the smoky wisps of his shadows on his shoulders vanish.
She held his shoulders. “We’ll fix all of this… We’ll prove your innocence, find out who was behind the attack on Rey and his parents and who is threatening the werewolf species.”
“How?” Brendan sighed.
“I don’t know, but I know my instincts aren’t wrong when I say that we were brought together for a reason, and fixing this must be it, but we have to do it together.” She took a deep breath. “What I was going to say before about your brother: when we talked, he was adamant about the mate bond being forced and not pure, as if the love couldn’t be true because it didn’t grow genuinely, and that we should have a choice in the matter. His mindset against it reminded me of the most important thing about the bonds.”
Rey leaned against her desk and crossed his arms, confused. “What’s that?”
Suki looked at him and smiled. “That we do have a choice. That’s why the bonds aren’t immediately sealed. It’s not forced upon us. We get final say if we want to experience this destiny or another. The Moon Goddess can guide us to be our best versions of ourselves, but ultimately, we have the choice on what path we want to follow.”
Brendan arched a brow. “How much coffee did you drink in the car ride home?”
She hit his arm. “I’m being serious! When I first experienced the bond with you, I freaked out. I didn’t want you, but over time, I felt that pull, not the pull of the bond, but the pull from you. My judgment of you was based on the opinions of everyone else, and after we bonded, I wanted to form my own opinion of you, so I chose to get to know you, and I fell for you the more I got to know you. You bring out this fire and confidence I never knew I had in me.”
His face softened as his gaze flickered between her eyes. “Love…”
“And you,” she turned to Reynard. “I know you’ve thought this whole time I was pushing you away or growing distant from you, but you were completely off.” She moved over to him and smiled, “I’ve cared for you since the day I met you. I grew a crush, and the mate bond confirmed my feelings even more, that we were always supposed to be together. You keep me calm and centred, and scare away all my anxieties.”
Rey smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear. “Ki…”
“I love you.”
Rey stilled, his eyes locked on her as his body refused to move.
“I love both of you,” she said and looked at Brendan, who also appeared shocked by her words. “I know what I’m asking for is a lot, and you both have the right to say no. Hell, it might not even work, but if you’re willing to try, if you’re willing to take this next step of what is probably going to be a crazy journey for the three of us, just know that I’m ready for it.” She swallowed. “But the choice is yours, both of yours.”
Silence struck the room once more for what felt like a century.
No words were spoken. All Suki could hear was her own heart pounding hard against her ribcage.
Regret consumed her as her mind festered into her anxious spiral. The deeper she fell into her overthinking, the more she realised she was about to lose the two most important men in her life.