Under The Cover of Darkness

-chapter 13-~reconstructing~

My head tilted in the direction of the howl. The melancholy sound had almost traveled straight to my own ears, ignoring the repercussions of each and every tree trunk between us.
I couldn't tear my eyes away from that direction. I couldn't see Brighton, but I could feel him somehow. At the time, I believed it to be simply a remanent of the brief connection our wolf spirits had shared in their stand off only moments ago.
But the connection wasn't enough to decipher why he was feeling these things, these strong feelings of regret and loss. Hell, what was coming through our connection had me wanting to pull my hair out. My wild side and I both were both bewildered and concerned.
I stood from my position on the forest floor, set on finding Brighton this instant, but before I took a step, I caught sight of Henry's sleeping face.
I sat right back down. I couldn't leave him. Not injured and defenseless, and definitely not in a forest which apparently had coma inducing wolves running around.
I took another look towards where Brighton's sad howl had sounded from before situating myself next to Henry. I wove our arms together and held one of his hands in my lap, curling up next to him.
At least Henry could see a familiar face when he woke up. I couldn't help my constant glancing off into the distance. Brighton would come back, right? He hadn't even said anything  before he left.
All of a sudden I shot pin straight. What if he didn't come back? What if Henry never woke up?
I squeezed Henry's hand in mine, effectively juicing out some well needed comfort at the situation, even though his lack of response slightly added to my anguish.
I got up to my feet once again.
Could I go after Brighton? I looked at Henry's wrapped forehead again and decided that was a very stupid idea. So I settled on a mind link, praying that Brighton's distance wasn't great enough to inhibit communication.
I closed my eyes and prayed for a moment that whatever distance he had traveled could be overcome by our connection as mates.
I imagined he was right next to me, and that I was speaking to him in my mind, "Brighton?"
There was just radio silence.
One second.
Two.
I tried again, "Brighton? Are you there?"
Nothing.
Nothing at all.
The silence in my mind was magnified by the white noise made up of chirping and rustling around me.
I took a deep breath, I couldn't give up, "Brighton..."
"Brighton, please..."
I sucked in a new breath. My eyes opened as if to imagine they'd meet something other than an empty forest. I felt my heart sink with no bounds.
Why did he leave? Why did he leave when Henry was still unconscious? He knows that I'm here, that I'm alone and that I'm scared out of my mind. And now he's so far away that he's out of the reach of my mind link?
Feeling betrayed, I turned on my heel and started towards Henry where he say against the large tree. Situating myself next to him, I grabbed his arm and hugged it close to me, interlacing our fingers together.
I squeezed his arm as I looked at his face, "You're gonna be okay." I whispered to him.
At first, I closed my eyes trying to relax myself, but quickly realized I could not calm myself down right now. How could Brighton leave me? Here, to be alone?
The laces on my black leather boots suddenly seemed to be the only thing to hold my attention. My eyes traveled over and under the holes with the laces. From a certain angle, you could imagine the rise and fall of them resemble the silhouettes of a mountain range.
Where even were we anyway? I imagined the map of the area in my mind from when Alpha Richmond had walked us through the objectives of the mission.
The forest would give way to the canyon, which would extend somewhat endlessly, at least for our purposes. Behind us was a day's journey through the woods in order to return to the pack. Mountains didn't rise up anywhere near us, only on the other side of the pack did they rise from the earth.
I glanced at Henry beside me, his face was pleasantly resting. I wondered if he was having a dream. Whatever it was, I only hoped it was a good one.
A jolt suddenly went through my hand. My eyes sought out the source of that shock of electricity like sensation but came up empty as all I saw in my hand was Henry's own one.
My eyebrows huddled together on my forehead.  What was that?, I thought. I adjusted the grip my hand had on Henry's. Just then, I felt it again. A tingling sensation in the palm of my hand like the sensation on your tongue when you eat pop rocks.
My eyes shot up to Henry's face only to be shocked once again when I met, not his eyelids, not the electric blue of his wolf spirit's eyes, and not the milky whites, but his calming green orbs.
I was flinging my arms around his neck before I gave it a thought, "Henry!" was all I could exclaim.
My muscles retracted almost violently. Each square inch of contact that my skin made to his, on my cheek, on my bicep, on my neck, and on my hands, was pleasantly electrocuted. My breathing jump started and I caught his equally as surprised gaze on my own.
"Danny?" He questioned with uncertainty and low volume.
As I looked down at my hands, still somehow trying to piece together what had contributed to the shocks we were each apparently feeling, another pleasant sensation overtook me.
My lungs expanded on their own, attempting to take in as much of the scent as possible. Only it wasn't about the scent of the pine sap that was enticing, but rather the person that it was attached to.
As I searched around me for the known source, my brain vaguely registered another enticing scent along with the organic pine sap. This one was calming, serene. Within the swirling sensation of pine was the kind of scent you come across after a thunderstorm. A clean, fresh scent.
From my seated position on the floor of the forest, I frowned in confusion. First Henry's skin exhilarates me to the touch, and next I am confronted with a new enticing smell as well? Where was the scent coming from?
Secondly, I knew Brighton was near now. Just that thought alone slowed the beating of my heart and lifted some burden from my shoulders.
A newly familiar sensation on my hand gathered my attention back to Henry. I smiled at him.
"Danny?" He asked. His eyes were wide and focused.
"Yes it's me." I said. My hand slightly retracted from his touch. It was calming and unsettling all at once, touching him.
He frowned at my movement. "You- you can feel this, can't you?" He asked. His voice had suddenly decreased in volume and he was suddenly whispering.
My eyes trained on his finger tips, outstretched towards me but not advancing. "The shocks?"
He nodded slightly. "What does it mean?"
He had voiced what I had been thinking, so why was I nervous to look for an answer?
A voice from behind me triggered my body to jump, before that particular voice was registered to accompany the scent of pine sap. "You know what it means," he said.
My head angrily whipped around to face my mate, completely momentarily forgetting about the injured man before me. "Oh, well welcome back, Brighton." I seethed sarcastically. "Where did you so urgently run off to, huh?"
I was on my feet and I hadn't noticed climbing to them. "Don't mind us, I guess. Where the hell did you go?!" I was shouting and i felt like i didn't have control over my hands when they shoved Brighton's chest. I guess all of this build up of energy was somehow looking for an outlet, and Brighton's apparent betrayal seemed to fit the ticket.
His eyes looked back at mine, Intense but closed off as if he couldn't be bothered with this interaction at all. That hit me some type of way. I shook my head in disbelief. "I should've known you hadn't changed." I laughed cynically, "Why even go to all of that trouble to tell me that you had?" I forced my mouth closed, but it flew open again, "All you're good at is lying, you know that? Why did you lie again? If you cared about me you wouldn't have left when I needed you!"
If i had been watching Brighton's eyes I would've seen the sequence of messages transcribed in them; from hurt to frustration, to anger. It seemed like the heightening of my emotions was inviting his to join in this show down.
It was like watching myself from a viewing window as my hands raised once again to make contact with Brighton's chest which stood at my eye level.
They were intercepted, however, before they could force him backward another inch. Even I was immobile, shackled now by my wrists being held in Brighton's hands.
I looked at my wrists incredulously, my skin betraying me as it told me how pleasant this interaction was for them, the tingles emitting from Brighton's hands sending pleasant feelings to my brain. It was almost enough to assuage my anger, but not quite.
My eyes challenged his, my fingers curled into fists but he didn't seem to plan to let me go.
My eyes, somewhat blinded by rage could not detect the messages being conveyed through his eyes, but I heard his next words well enough, just as I could see the outline of bright blue emerging from behind his irises, indicating that his emotions had triggered his wild side. "Do not- " he struggled out, his voice sounding foreign as his wolf spirit said, "shove me." He closed his eyes violently and reopened them again to no change.
I looked at him again, he stared back, still seething in anger. I didn't feel afraid of him. Not at all. But when my anger drained away, frighteningly quickly, all I was left with was hurt. Somewhat thankfully, I'd already cried enough that day. The new tears that asked for exit through my tear ducts were easily denied. But still, my bottom lip puckered anyways.
No longer blinded by anger and aggression, my eyes searched the face of my mate.
His jaw looked painfully clenched. His nostrils flared outwards with each forced breath he took. His hair looked like he hadn't given it any thought in a whole week, not that it looked bad. It never looked bad, I couldn't help to admit. His eyebrows were shoved down as if you shield his eyes from the elements. Finally settling on his eyes, which were in turn settled on my face, I took in his gaze.
The intensity of it was hard to decipher. I had known he was feeling regret of something. Remorse, too. And even mourning. All of that had been communicated through our connection immediately after he had taken off. After that, however, any communication had been sniffed out by our equal heightening of emotions which had blinded me from feeling within.
Focusing on the connection was hard, the intensity of it was like a fire that warded off unwanted onlookers.
My eyes traced the line of his jaw. He seemed unable to speak, appearing to wrestle with his wild nature. So, I attempted to delve into the feelings we shared.
First, I was blasted by anger. My fists tightened so that my nails broke the skin in my palms. I released a labored breath, steadying myself before continuing. I looked at the smooth skin of his cheeks, the ones that would be pierced by dimples when he smiled. Once the anger could be pushed out of the way, I felt his frustration. It felt like being trapped despite your best efforts, being misunderstood.
I caught his eyes which seemed to have begun to watch me more calmly while I wasn't looking. He felt misunderstood? Well, I guess I had just unleashed my best attack on him.
I decided that only he could explain his emotions.
I began by releasing the grip my fingers had on my own hands. I uncurled my fingers to rest them against Brighton's t shirt covered chest. The excitement of a new interaction briefly flashed through the forefront of my mind, but was chased away by the reminder of the situation. I was afraid to make any sudden noise. The atmosphere felt so fragile, so I opted for a soft tone of voice, "Why- why did you leave us?" I asked him.
There was a brief silence and I didn't think he would respond. I focused on the curve of his lips, just one distraction from how my mate didn't want to talk to me, but it only took one moment more.
He surprised me by loosening the firm grip he had on my wrists and placing them over top my hands instead. The warmth from my hands, which were sandwiched between his chest and palms, was enough to warm up my whole body.
"I didn't stay because I couldn't watch." He whispered. I barely caught it.
I shook my head, not understanding, "Watch what?"
His eyes flickered to something behind me and I mentally remembered that Henry had been sitting front row to the whole show. Brighton breathed deeply as if he didn't want to utter his next statement, "The way you helped Henry, the touch of his skin, hell, I bet even his scent is attractive to you now."
A crawling fear made itself startlingly known in the back of my throat. How did he know about the strange new scent? Was it really Henry who now smelled like a thunderstorm? So fresh, clean and calming? I shook my head, trying to deny it, "I don't-"
He cut me off, "I know you do. Only wolves extremely fond of each other can communicate through spirits alone. That's why Mates can communicate so well, because their souls are intermingled already. But by waking up Henry's soul," he glanced behind me once more, before bringing his attention back to me, "You've allowed your souls to mingle as well."
His hands released my own and he was out of my reach before I could comprehend it.
I took this space as a time to acknowledge Henry's presence against We locked eyes uneasily. "So, what?" I asked, both annoyed and scared that I had no idea what kind of bomb she'll was coming. By the tone of Brighton's voice, it wasn't pleasant.
He had turned his back on me and I watched him run his fingers through the tops of his hair. "So what? Danny, you feel shocks when you touch him. You are excited by his scent. Isn't it obvious? Don't I do those things to you?"
I felt like a child who was being denied a toy at the store.
He took my silence as a sign to continue. "Henry is as much your mate now as I am."

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phew that was a long one. Hello to my readers! I think there's like 2 or 3 of you but heyyyy, hows it going? I'd love to hear what you've liked about this story so far.
I'd love to get to know you guys so please comment your favorite part so far and also, the name of your alter ego!
Mine is Periwinkle Place, when I write, but Cookie Monster when i'm hungry!
Okay, I agree, that's enough.
Until next time,
Periwinkle Place.