In the Alpha’s Arms

The Things in Between (cont’d)

Lita shook her head. She didn’t want to say. “Well, whatever it was, it hurt you enough to snap me out of sleep,” he smoothed her hair, pulling her tightly against him, “I hate to feel your pain. It’s like glass under my skin.“

Wha—7

“We’re linked now, if you’re hurting. I’m hurting. It’s easier for me because I’ve been in tune with my wolf for longer but you can feel my emotions too. Look,” he pulled their fingers entwined, “Focus on me. On my breathing. On trying to reach out to me, not with your hands but with your mind. The first time it’s like… searching for something familiar. Let your wolf help guide you.”

Lita focused for a moment, letting her nerves settle into the action. Her wolf nudged at her, pressed her nose against her. Slowly, she felt a foreign sensation permeating into her mind like smoke. Warm. Sure of itself. Clear. Cole. It was familiar, not like a scent exactly, but like a sensation that could only be his. Like the feel of his hands but in her mind. She knew him instinctually by contact and this was another form of it

“Does every wolf have this with their mate?” her body felt overwhelmed with sensation. Like his essence was pouring into her, distorting her sadness and guilt like color diluting in water until she relaxed. She relaxed because he was relaxed and Lita chose to let that emotion overrule hers.

“Yea, but not every wolf gets a mate, Lita. It’s not rare but it’s not rampant either.”

“It’s like destiny? Or magic? Or–? I don’t know, help me out here,” she sniffled.

“It’s not like we’ve got it all figured out either, babe. Just like humans, there are plenty of things about ourselves we don’t entirely understand. But it’s not magic and it’s not fate or some other abstract idea.”

He huffed, trying to find the right words to explain, “It’s like… chemistry? Proximity? Right time, right place, right people… like a mix of pheromones and the right timing. We haven’t pinned down the exact trigger for it but it’s certainly a mix of everything I just said all at once in one perfect, coincidence.”

can happen with a human? Because, I mean, if my wolf was suppressed, I

yea, it can happen with a human. It even happens across bloodlines. Like Alphas and Betas. But again, some people choose to ignore it and mark someone else. Someone they’ve chosen for themselves, not someone they’re drawn to. I was drawn to you

and painful because you were closed off, emotionally empty when I tried to tap into you. I could only get glimpses of what you were feeling. Like that day in the

reached her hand to bring his across her bare stomach. That sends a heat wave through my body, like a fever. I can’t stop it and I don’t want to, not now.

not some special thing gifted to us by the gods, it’s a very real, tangible bond we share with another soul. A soul that’s our compliment. And in a world with 7 billion people, the odds of

you

out there but once the band is sealed and marked, it’s the only one. Everything else falls away. That connection can’t be repeated again.” Lita’s heart

I dreamt of the crash… I dream of it a lot.

you it’s not your fault. That you didn’t kill your brother, it was an accident. I can tell you that if Erica wasn’t dead, you would be and I’m glad every single day that you’re here instead. I can tell you that the guilt isn’t real, it’s just

left my original pack. I’m here with you though. You have me, lean on me when you need to. The memories are hard. Harder than anything

1/2

Things in

is here with

didn’t be heal, Cole?” Lita shivered, “I was there, you know, I saw him and his eyes. Lifeless, limp, cold. If wolves heal

and we can’t survive…major trauma. An injury

last second. It should have been