All Lionel heard was that Kaleb had been shot. After those words, everything sort of blurred for the rest of the conversation. He wasn't sure where or why, only that he'd been attacked while he'd been out with Kaia. None of that mattered, he just had to see his best friend, his brother. 

He'd practically sprinted down the halls of the Mansion, his footsteps echoing. He bolted past people, not caring how strange he must have looked to them. They didn't know that their Alpha had been shot. No one but the higher-ups knew. Elias had been the one to tell him, dropping the news on him like the man was talking to a little, fragile kid. But even Elias hadn't known the details of the attack, he'd only heard it called in from Jaeda. 

Lionel arrived at the door sooner than he was ready. Jaeda was standing outside, looking shaken, as well as a couple of the others Elias had told, talking amongst themselves around the entrance to the ball room. "Where is he? Elias said that Kaleb was here," Lionel said, the words tumbling from him uncontrollably. Panic makes lips loose. 

"Lion," Jaeda said, standing up straighter. She looked stunned for a second. A second was too long to wait. 

"Jaeda, tell me where Kaleb is!" Lionel practically shouted. 

She blinked rapidly and spoke just as fast, "Not here. Well, he was. But they took him to Jaeger already, just now. But they said no one could go in other than medical personnel. But Kaia's here." 

"Kaia," Lionel said. He'd almost forgotten about her in his shock. She must have been so afraid; guilt washed over Lionel and he felt sick. He clutched his stomach. He'd practically just met her and her was already this loyal to her. 

"It'll be alright," Jaeda said, "He'll live."

"You don't know that," Lionel said, "You can't." 

He stared as her lips hinted at a calm, tiny smile. "I have faith, though," she said, "People who've got a lot to live for fight like hell."

Lionel softened a bit. He stared up at the ceiling and sent his wishes up into the air, hoping they'd get where they needed to go...wherever that was. 

"Where is Kaia?" Lionel asked, looking back down to Jaeda, "She probably needs someone."

"You're not going to try and bust into Kaleb's room?" Jaeda asked. 

Lionel shook his head and shoved his hands into his pockets, "And risk my best friend's life? No way." Lionel tried to smile but he fell short. He wasn't used to that. 

"You're good at hiding things most of the time, but I don't think even you could manage to hide something this big," Jaeda said. 

Lionel nodded slowly, "I want more than anything to go and see him, but if he's hurting and my presence will interrupt Jaeger...I just can't do that. I lost myself for a second, but I'm ok now." 

"Well, you will be. When he's recovered," Jaeda said. 

Lionel managed the smile this time. Jaeda had her moments. "I will be." 

And not a second after he said those words, the door Jaeda had been posted outside opened. Lionel practically fell to his knees, the smell was so close. How had he not sensed it through the door? No, he'd been distracted, worried about his best friend. But now...

Dread slammed into him. "Kaia, are you ok?" Lionel asked as the door shut behind her again. He wanted to make sure Kaia was alright, but he couldn't help but stare at the heavy wooden door. He knew what lay beyond it. He took a deep breath and ignored the tingling on his skin, turning his attention back to Kaia. She was covered in blood and her eyes were puffy. She looked like she could blow away any moment. 

Lionel practically ran towards her, looking her up and down. "Jesus, is any of this yours?" Probably not, but considering the amount of blood that was on her, that meant that Kaleb had lost a lot. 

Lionel felt like he was going to throw up. So much was happening. He felt guilty for it, but beneath his fear for his best friend--maybe even above it--was that same throbbing in his chest. He was being pulled farther into that room, but couldn't leave Kaia like this. 

"It's Kaleb's," she croaked out. She started crying again right then and there. Lionel's heart felt like it was being torn in two. The rebellious, selfish part of it was trying to drag him kicking and screaming into the ball room. The loyal part of it nailed his feet to the shiny floor beneath them and sent wave after wave of guilt coursing through his body. This part hurt; its whole world was falling apart and there was very little he could do to help his Luna in that moment.

Except offer her the only words he could. "He's a tough bastard, Kaia. He'll be alright." He walked forward, closing the distance between them. He took her face into his hand and met her eyes head on. "But for now, you've got to be strong. I'll ask Rosy to help get all of this blood off of you." 

He took her hand and brought her down the hall. Each step hurt him as he left the ball room behind. "How are you so calm?" Kaia asked. 

Lionel wanted to laugh but doing so felt completely wrong. Calm? This was probably the least calm he'd ever been...besides, of course, running through the woods with Albert in his arms. He felt like the pack was pulling him in one direction and his soul was pulling him in another, and he hated it. This was just the worst timing. 

Lionel shrunk into himself and looked at her. She seemed surprised. "I'm not. I'm just good at hiding it." Lionel didn't often show the truth to people, that he was empty, maybe a little bit broken around the edges. When he showed people, they were always shocked. Kaia looked like she wanted to ask a hundred questions, or, god forbid, give him a hug. He couldn't take that right then. 

He'd meant to go on with her, to take her all the way to Rosy, but he found himself handing her over to one of the guys that was usually on patrol with him. "Take her to Rosy," Lionel said. He didn't want to have to deal with the truth, not yet. He felt like he was betraying Kaia, that he should have stayed with her, but he also felt like his chest was hollowing out the longer he spent with her. He watched her go farther down the hallway, his hands in his pockets. She cast one last look back at him before she turned around the corner without a word, not protesting about being abandoned. That last look...Lionel felt, somehow, like she might have understood. 

Lionel took a deep breath and closed his eyes. His heart was beating fast now. It wasn't just fear that led Lionel to hand Kaia off; the farther he got, the more his heart began to ache. If he'd taken one more step away from that big, heavy wooden door, his heart might have burst. 

With every second, as Lionel drew closer to the door, he felt his whole body react more and more. At first it was just a slight tingle along the surface of his skin, a tug towards the door. But as he stepped up to the wood, rested his hand against it, the feeling grew deeper. The anticipation seeped down into the core of him, wrapping itself around his heart and squeezing over and over again, forcing his blood to pump double time. The very air around him turned a nervous orange color and buzzed with electricity. He felt the urge to tear the door off of its hinges and throw it aside, rush to the person that waited for him behind it. 

"Lion?" He blinked and looked at Jaeda. "What are you doing?" But he couldn't answer. He couldn't get his lips to move, to form words. He could smell cinnamon seeping through the cracks around the door, and it effectively muted him. 

"Um," Jaeda said, "I'll give you a second. I'm just going to get some water. I'll...be back...if you want to talk in a few minutes." With that, she left him there. He was grateful. He didn't know how he could explain this away, express to her what it felt like to be so close to your mate, so close for the first time. 

Lionel squeezed his eyes shut and tried to memorize the feelings he was experiencing. This moment would follow him through his entire life. He knew it was important. This was a vital memory, the kind that stays crisp even after years have passed. 

He pulled the door open before he knew he'd even done it. He stood there for a moment, shocked at himself, staring at his hand on the knob even as the door was resting adrift. It was like someone else had taken over his body for a moment. He slowly tore his eyes from the door and towards the center of the room. 

And there he was. Just there, like Lionel hadn't been searching for him his entire life. Like he wasn't now one of the most important people in the world. Like his life wasn't the most precious gift the universe had ever given Lionel. 

Lionel took a hesitant step towards him, but froze again almost immediately. The warm, fiery feeling he felt turned to ice when he really took in his mate's appearance. He was bent over on the ground, his hand pressed flat against the marble. His loose white shirt was covered in scarlet blood, and he was breathing hard, covered in sweat. His wild, curly brown hair fell over his face, his head bowed; Lionel couldn't make out his features. 

Lionel was in front of him in a flash, kneeling beside him, "What happened to you!? Are you hurt?" 

He stiffened, and, for a second, the world was still. Finally, he started lifting his head up, torturously slow. Lionel felt like this was intentional, like his mate was toying with him, hiding his face just because Lionel wanted to see it so badly. It was tantalizing. The face of the man Lionel would spend his entire life with...what did it look like? 

Even covered in blood and sweat, shaking slightly, he was the most beautiful person Lionel had ever laid his eyes on. Every aspect of his face was bold, stood out, beautiful on its own. There was nothing imperfect about him. His deep brown eyes, seemingly permanently narrowed to sexy slits, his perfectly shaped lips, the slight stubble along his sharp jaw...it hurt to look at him. Lionel found himself staring at his mate's cupid's bow, fighting the urge to press his lips to it softly, weave his fingers into those dark brown, magically untamed curls at the same time. 

Lionel watched as he slowly held up his hand in front of him, his eyebrows drawn together in concentration as he tried to steady his body. "I'm fine," he insisted gruffly. Lionel thought his determination was admirable. 

Lionel smiled and reached out without thinking, taking his mate's hand to help him keep it still. A surge washed through Lionel, his heart lifting. This was real. This was happening. He was holding his mate's hand and it felt like heaven. His palms were rough, like he used them a lot. Lionel wondered what they felt like on the rest of his body. 

"Are you sure?" Lionel asked, meeting his eyes. But the look there wasn't what Lionel had been expecting. He looked confused for a moment, staring at where their hands were joined. "You just...don't seem ok. You're covered in blood." Lionel's voice was genuine, full of concern. This was his mate after all. 

"I just got dizzy," he insisted, "It's been a long few days. I haven't slept much." They were still holding hands, and Lionel smiled a little to himself as he watched his mate staring at their connection. Lionel may have imagined it, but he could have sworn that his mate had tightened his grip. 

"Take it from someone who lies about this sort of thing a lot," Lionel said, "It doesn't really help to keep quiet. Tell someone, or you'll end up like me."

"End up like you?" he asked, looking up at Lionel from beneath his lashes. Lionel wanted to die and leap for joy at the same time. Everything he did, every little gesture, made Lionel want to jump him. He had no idea what was keeping him from doing so. Common decency? But what did that matter between mates? 

"No matter how close you get to people, there will always be a gap between you and the rest of the world," Lionel said, "If you hide the truth, all you're doing is hurting yourself and the people around you." 

The stranger--no, he wasn't really a stranger--parted his lips slightly as if to say something. They stayed like that for a moment, suspended, and then they pressed tightly together. "It might already be too late," he said, withdrawing his hand from Lionel's. Lionel's heart fell, but he still clung to hope. 

"Surely you don't feel that way now?" Lionel said, "I mean this is a beginning." 

The blank look Lionel received at those words meant more than he understood. In the next minutes, days, weeks, even months...that blank look was going to haunt him. Lionel would look back at it and see hopelessness, loss. He would see that no matter what he did, he would never be able to break down the wall between the two of them. They saw each other differently. At least, that's what the look meant to Lionel. Who knows if any of it was true. 

"No, this is an end," he said, standing up steadily. Lionel forced himself to his feet, confused. "My...my sister is-" He stopped short, clenching his hands into fists. "I don't belong here." 

Lionel watched, stunned, as his mate turned around to walk out of the room. Lurching forward clumsily, he grabbed his mate's arm. "What do you mean? What Pack do you belong to? And what about your sister?" Lionel wanted to know everything. 

"It doesn't matter," he said, wrenching his arm free. Lionel could still feel the tough muscles beneath his hand as he stared after his mate. 

"It does! Talk to me!" Lionel shouted after him. He stopped walking and turned around. 

He looked angry, "I don't even know you." 

"But we'll get to know each other," Lionel practically begged, "I'll start. I'm Lionel..." Cole gave him an unimpressed look. Lionel sighed, "Everything has to start somewhere. That somewhere is here, right now."

"I don't know what you're talking about," he growled. Lionel was going to have his hands full.

"Your sister," Lionel pushed, "Begin there. What happened?" Lionel should have known. Looking back, he should have. It was glaringly obvious. The absent look. The blood. Maybe he just refused to see it, because of all that it meant. Maybe he was lying to himself the same way he lied to the rest of the world. 

"She's out of my reach now. I don't know if I'll even see her again," he answered after a long silence, not meeting Lionel's eyes. His expression grew distant, "She's gone..." Suddenly, his brown eyes sharpened again. He looked at Lionel angrily, "I don't know why I'm telling you this." 

Lionel's skin burned a little bit. He pressed a hand to his stomach to settle the butterflies that coursed through him. His mate was a man not to be messed with, a spark plug with an unstoppable will of his own. Lionel wondered--even still--if he felt the same fire. Why wasn't this man slamming Lionel against a wall and kissing the breath out of him? He really wanted to know. The Lunar Ceremony was irrelevant if you weren't an Alpha and Luna--and Lionel definitely wasn't a Luna. 

"What do you mean? She's gone?" Lionel asked, walking towards him. 

"That's what I'm trying to tell you. I don't belong here, and she does," he answered, "You can probably put two and two together." 

"But you could belong here. I mean, you do," Lionel said, "It doesn't matter what Pack you belong to right now, we can-" 

"Pack? What?" he asked, "I'm not in a Pack." 

Lionel felt like he'd been stabbed. Then, after the stabbing, his bleeding heart was wrenched from his chest. His mate didn't have a Pack? He was a rogue? Lionel didn't have great experience with rogues. The last one he'd been close to had been the whole reason he'd been running through the freezing forest with his little brother in his boyish arms. Lionel swallowed the lump in his throat. "You're a rogue," Lionel managed, but couldn't meet his mate's eyes properly. He stared at a stray curl instead. 

"I'm not a wolf." 

Lionel didn't know what to do with those words. He had no idea. What? Cry? Scream? Breathe a sigh of relief? His mate was human, an impossible situation...but at least he wasn't a rogue. Realization rushed in one after the other. If his mate was human, it made sense that he didn't know what was happening. Lionel felt weak; his own mate didn't even know that they were destined for each other. What does one even do in that situation? 

"You're..." Lionel mumbled as his mind whirled. Wolf. That word stung. He was a human, yet he seemed to know about the world of lycanthrope. Wolf. Only one thing made sense. There was only one reason why he would use the word wolf instead of lycanthrope. 

"Are you a Hunter?" Lionel practically gasped out. 

His mate turned away, tilting his head back with a deep, pained laugh. The sound made Lionel's throat close up a little bit and he bit his lip to stave of the beginnings of something uncontrollable. "A Hunter whose own sister is a Luna. Oh, and not just any Luna. The Luna of the Prowlers, literally the most important Pack in the whole wolfy world."

"You're Cole!?" Lionel shouted louder than he meant to. He was stunned. This couldn't be happening, could it? It was too much of a coincidence. His best friend's mate and his mate were siblings? And not only that, he was a Hunter? The most gorgeous Hunter in the entire world, but still a Hunter...

Cole turned around and stared at Lionel, "I'm guessing Kaia told you about me?" He was quiet for a brief moment, "Well, I guess she didn't tell you about the whole Hunter thing. She didn't even know until today." 

Lionel had no idea what was happening. The universe must have been playing tricks on him. 

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Cole asked, shoving his hands in his pockets. 

Lionel's mind was strangely blank. "Like what?"

Cole lowered his face, hiding his eyes behind the messy tangle of hair piled on top of his head. Lionel watched in awe as a hint of a blush showed itself behind the curtain of his hair. He averted his gorgeous eyes, "Like a little kid staring at the pile of presents under the Christmas tree." 

Lionel laughed. It just came bubbling out of him, a clear, happy sound the rung around the ballroom, bouncing off of the walls and the ceiling a hundred feet above them. He wasn't really sure why he was laughing, but it felt good. A weight was lifting off of his chest. 

"What are you-" Cole started. 

But Lionel cut him off, "I don't care!" 

Cole blinked and stared at him. "What?' 

"I don't care, I really don't. I can't. I don't have it in me," Lionel said. 

"I mean, that's kind of rude," Cole mumbled. 

Lionel blanched, "No, I do care about your pain. Actually, so much it hurts, but..." Lionel shook his head in determination, "That's not what I meant. What I mean is that..." 

Cole stared at him, confused. His face was scrunched up adorably with a thousand questions. Lionel stared at him for a second, wondering how he could best express himself. "Cole, have you ever felt so hopelessly lonely, like there's a hole in your heart? No matter what you do, you can't really fill it with anything?" 

So much hung on his answer. Lionel didn't really know the man standing in front of him. What could he expect from him? What had his life really been? All he knew were stories from Kaia, and were any of them really true to Cole? Lionel, more than anything, needed to know if Cole felt even a distant echo of what his own feelings. Even if it was tiny, Lionel would take it. Was there a piece of him that, despite being human, knew that it was missing its other half?

Cole's lips parted and there was a distant recognition in his eyes. His rich brown eyes focused on Lionel's face. Lionel let him look. "That's how I've felt my entire life," Lionel admitted, "Even surrounded by an ocean of love, there's this barren spot in my chest that is never happy enough. Maybe its greedy or selfish, but it's not like I can do anything about it. It's just-"

"A part of you," Cole finished. The energy, which had been buzzing and whirling about Lionel and Cole, stood still. It was like the slight noise, the heart pounding, was too loud for this moment. It might disturb it, and this was too important for that. 

"I can't do anything about it, but you can," Lionel said, forcing his words into the air with the weight of all that they meant. Sure, Cole didn't really know the truth. But this was enough of a start. Lionel had a feeling that if Cole heard the word 'mate' he'd react poorly. He had enough to deal with that very moment. 

Cole's brows drew together and his expression darkened, "I was in the woods." 

Lionel's breath suspended. Whatever Cole was about to say was going to determine their future. "I got this...feeling." Lionel's heart beat faster. "It was like a pull." Lionel clenched his fists. "Something was drawing me into the forest." Me! Lionel wanted to scream. But he managed to stay silent. "So I went back." The thought of Cole leaning against a tree, waiting for Lionel...he almost started crying. "Time and time again, I went back. But nothing ever happened." 

Cole met Lionel's eyes head on with a fierce, angry gaze. "Nothing ever happened, and my sister was abducted because I wasn't there to help her." 

A cruel, frigid layer of icy dread spread along the surface of Lionel's soul. A thick, oozing self-hatred seeped into his veins. If Lionel had known, if only he'd known... "It wasn't-" 

"I don't know who you are, Lionel. But I do know one thing," Cole said, his voice harsh, "That won't happen again." 

Lionel swallowed, a lump in his throat. Desperation beat against his chest. "Your sister is safe, Cole. She's-"

"Not safe at all! She's mated to a wolf! She's a human. She doesn't know anything, and every day, every minute for her now is full of danger!" 

"We'll protect her. She's our Luna, there's no way-" 

"That's my job!" Cole shouted. Lionel felt the sting of tears behind his eyes. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. He was supposed to find his mate and leap into his arms, feel warmth surround him and spread slowly into the core of his being. But Lionel felt cold and strangely sweaty, like he'd just gone for a run in the middle of winter. 

"I don't know what it is that you want from me," Cole continued, quieter now, almost remorseful. Why was his voice suddenly so soft? "I don't know what I want other than to protect Kaia." The room was silent for a moment, suddenly feeling so huge around Lionel, like he'd shrunk to a little kid again. 

"Please," Cole's voice broke a little, "Just leave me alone." 

Lionel pressed his palms to his eyes to suppress his tears. Sorrow left his palms wet. But the more he saw only darkness, the angrier he got. This wasn't fair. This wasn't how it was supposed to happen. This wasn't the end. He started to burn and ripped his hands away to see that Cole had already turned to leave. Lionel watched his mate leave, his heart tearing to pieces. 

"I won't!" 

Cole froze, but didn't turn around. "I won't leave you alone!" Lionel shouted angrily, "I won't, because I owe it to you not to. Whether you like it or not, I saw the look in your eyes...you're missing something, and that something is me!" 

Cole whirled around, an expression of anger on his face. He opened his mouth to protest, but Lionel stopped that from happening. He charged up to Cole and shoved him, hard. Cole stumbled backwards, shocked. "I don't care what nasty words you spew at me, I don't care how much you try to ignore it, how much the world tries to stop it, I know the truth. And I'll stand by it, because I can't bear to see you in pain and because I can't take another day of mine!" 

Cole took a shaky breath, his face red and his curls shaking slightly. "I..." Cole started, but then, in a flash, he was running. Literally, running away. 

"Cole!" Lionel shouted after him, starting to run after him. But damn, he was fast. It didn't matter, though, not right now. Lionel would catch up to Cole eventually, even if he didn't follow him today or tomorrow or even the day after that. It hurt Lionel that he wouldn't have his mate right away. But, like he said, he didn't care. That blank look he'd seen hurt Lionel still, but he closed his eyes and saw the look of pain in Cole's expression. Cole was lonely, too. And Lionel wanted more than anything to fix that. 

Mixed in with the pain and loneliness, interwoven between the threads of hurt, Lionel may even have seen longing, unfettered want. He just had to remember that. Right now, it wasn't for Lionel, but for a warm place in his heart that had been missing his whole life. But Lionel knew he could change that. Lionel knew that he was that warm place for Cole, or that he would be. 

Even if Cole didn't know it, they belonged together. Lionel was strong enough to fight for that, even if it hurt. What is it that they say? The best things in life never come easily?

Lionel was resolved, and that was all that he needed. 

Wow, so that was freakishly long. Anyway, I hope you guys liked the beginning of Cole and Lionel's relationship. More to come! Next chapter, you'll get to see what was going through Cole's head. 

Thanks for waiting so long! Love you all. Leave me a comment and a star if you're feeling it. If not, I'm just glad you've gotten this far. :)