Chapter 7 The Echo Between Us

Andrew's POV

I stepped back before the moon had fully emerged from the trees.

The air was chilly on my bare skin, but the flame inside me made it irrelevant. Blood continued to trickle from my side, although I barely noticed. My attention was elsewhere-on the boy kneeling in front of me, panting as if the world had opened wide.

Jamie.

His hands were pinned to the earth as though grounding himself. His body trembled, not in fear, but in... transformation. I knew the signs. The way the energy trembled beneath his skin, the glint in his eyes, the distant pull of instinct.

His wolf was close. Waking.

"Jamie," I whispered, crawling down, still naked, not caring. I didn't want to scare him. "What did you feel?"

He looked up at me, wide-eyed, pupils dilated. "Everything," he whispered. "I felt you."

The bond hummed between us, almost palpable. A silver thread tying our fates, tighter now. Stronger.

That frightened me.

"You shouldn't be feeling this yet," I whispered. "Not fully. Your wolf shouldn't be waking. Not until-"

"Until what?" he growled, voice harsh. "Until I'm ready? You always say that, Andrew. But what if I'll never be ready the way you need me to be? What if this-" He shoved his chest. "What if this is all I've got?"

My jaw tightened.

Because inwardly, I knew that he was right.

The Moon Goddess did not inquire if we were ready. She chose. And when the mating was complete, it could not be unwound. Only suffered through.

Jamie stood up slowly, unsteady in his balance, yet taller somehow. More potent. His presence had changed, as though the woods could sense it too. The air was still, deferential.

I moved to him automatically. Simply to ground him. To ground myself.

His hand found mine.

The bond ignited-like lightning down my spine.

His eyes widened. I saw it then. Not fear or awe.

Recognition.

His wolf had scented mine. And accepted it.

My heart raced.

"You've felt this before," he said slowly, breath catching. "In your dreams. Haven't you?"

I didn't answer. Couldn't.

But the silence was enough.

Jamie moved in closer. "Then why are you still pushing me away?"

Because I have to. Because if I don't, you'll burn.

But I couldn't say that to him. Not yet.

So instead, I took a shaking breath. "Because there's a storm coming, Jamie. One I've been trying to protect you from the second I scented you."

"What storm?"

I hesitated.

And then the wind shifted-and my head snapped toward the tree line.

Not the rogue. Not now.

This scent was colder. Sharper. Intentional.

I grabbed Jamie's arm. "We need to go."

"Another rogue?" he asked, heart rate jumping.

I shook my head. "Worse."

We moved fast through the trees, the blood on my side drying cold. But my mind wasn't on the pain. It was on them. Whoever was out there watching us from beyond the woods.

The Elders wouldn't wait much longer. A male omega waking up to a bond he hadn't chosen-especially not to me-was the kind of scandal that could tear our fragile order apart.

We broke through the trees along the riverbank. Safe-for the moment.

Jamie doubled over with his hands on his knees, catching his breath. "You're hurt," he said, eyeing the slash on my side. "You have to shift again. Let it heal."

I grinned grimly. "You remember that part now?"

He nodded, breathing hard. "I don't know what I remember. But... I want to understand."

And gods curse me-I wanted to show him.

I sat on the river rocks, moonlight silvering the water. Jamie sat down beside me and said nothing.

For a time, we just sat, the water singing between us.

And then in a gentle voice, he asked, "What happens to us now?"

I turned to him.

And for the first time, I had no answer.