And now she was gone. Gone with her temper, gone with her navy blue hair. Gone the silence in his mind. 

***

I hugged my pillow close to my body as I hid underneath the soft covers of my bed. My own bed. The climate was the same as in Sapientiae here. Rainy, cloudy, cold. It was as if the weather was adapting to my mood, which was gloomy. Had been, for the past two days.

I hadn't waited longer than a few minutes before packing my bags, walking up to Beta Daniel and demanding that he would drive me to the Sapientiae Airport to get me home. Wordlessly, he had complied. In silence he drove me to the airport and booked me on a flight. In silence I had entered the plane. Without speaking I flew to the Fortis Pack.

I only opened my mouth after I knocked on the door and fell into my mothers arms, finally breaking down. She had hugged me, listened, and softly petted my back.

She sweetly brought me tea, and then ushered me to bed. That's where I had been ever since, only leaving to go to the bathroom.

Even if it was my choice leaving Vir, his absence was still a large blow. I was a wreck. It hurt to hear how he thought so low of me, how he basically called me stupid, useless, dumb. Yet I still missed him deeply. His soft, low voice. His nervous antics. His sweet, shy smile. His messy hair. His oddly mismatched clothes. Even in the confinements of my own small room, everything reminded me of my soulmate. The soulmate that didn't want me.

"Get out of bed, Livia. Now." I looked up to see the girl that had made my miserable days alright, my good days amazing.

"Ally," I sighed. "Hey."

"You heard me," she commanded with a strict voice. "You have been cooped up in this room for way too long. Back for over two days in the Fortis Pack, and you haven't even bothered to visit me? I'm deeply hurt." She walked over to my bed and pulled the comforter off me.

"Hey! Stop that!" I complained loudly, my fists gripping the fabric, trying to stop her from completely tugging it away from me.

"Get. Out. Of. Bed." Allison's voice made clear she wasn't to be messed with now. "Don't bother showering, but brush your teeth. We are going for a run. You need physical activity, right away."

I groaned and rolled out of bed lazily. "I don't want to."

"I don't care, it will make you feel better. Now chopchop, hurry. I don't have all day."

***

She was right, that run did make me feel better. The sparring session we had afterwards even more so. "You have grown weak, Livia," Allison teased. "You punch like a woman."

"I am a woman."

"Really? You wouldn't say so, seeing I just found you in bed, feeling as sad for yourself as a man with a cold."

I gasped and ducked away from her right hook, almost offended by her remark. Trying to kick her knees and throw her on the floor, I lifted one foot up. She countered immediately by swiping her foot in such a way that I was thrown on the floor instead. Instantly she straddled my legs, making me unable to move. I struggled to get free, punching her in her stomach.

She groaned loudly and winced, but leant forward to grab my wrists and push them on the ground harshly. Now her face was directly above mine, her breath fanning my face, her hair falling on my cheeks. "See?" she said, taunting. "You've grown weak. You used to be able to beat me almost as easily as I eat a chocolate bar. Now I could throw you down like you were one of those scrawny nerd we beat at the intelligence competition."

I tried freeing myself one more time, but it was no use. Allison had won, fair and square. "Fine." I grumbled. "You win."

She stood up, sticking her hand out to help me up. "Never thought this would happen," I mumbled. Allison heard. "I know right! This Military School I go to did manage to teach me something. I'm now able to kick Sapientiae ass," she cheered.

I sighed in defeat. "I'm afraid you just kicked Fortis ass, Ally. I'm not going back to Sapientiae any time soon."

Allison smiled and shook her head, before throwing an arm around my shoulder. "I know, your mom told me. It's just I don't think you'll manage to be away from each other longer than a couple days. It's the mating bond, it requires you to be close to each other at all time."

"Well, tell that to my mate. He'll have to come get me before I'll go there again," I huffed, before my eyes went wide. "Wait..." I eyed her suspiciously. "How would you know?"

She smiled shyly and blushed. Twirling her blond hair around her finger, she looked away innocently.

Oh. My. God. Allison never blushed. Ever.

"Ally, tell me right now. What the hell?"

"First you shower, then we talk. You stink, Livia. Really, gross." She smiled again, showing teeth. "See you in your living room. Bring me some chocolate, I've been craving that."

***

"He is a teacher at Military School actually," Allison told me. We sit at the kitchen table, a mug of damping hot tea in our hands, a plate with chocolate chip cookies between us. "I met him during my first week there, about a month ago. His name is Archer, he is twenty-seven, and a complete teddy bear. I mean, he has so many muscles he is like a bear, but he would never hurt me, so he's my teddy bear." She rambled dreamily, I could see in her eyes that she really liked him. "He is my teacher in archery. Funny right? How his name is Archer, and he teaches archery?"

I grinned, genuinely happy for her.

"Even my dad likes him, which says something." She smiled. "He is amazing, really, you'll meet him next time you're in the Fortis Pack. If I'd known you'd be here now, I would have asked him to come with me. He has to teach every day this week, and at night he sometimes volunteers to guard the watch towers up north."

"That's okay," I said, blowing the water of my tea before taking a sip.

"Now, you tell me all about your mate," Allison wiggles her eyebrows. "How's Mr. Alpha Nerd?"

I almost spit out all the tea on the table. "How- wait- but- huh?"

She laughs out loud, a lovely, clear sound. "I'm your best friend, and I'm not stupid. It was obvious that your mate was someone high up – why else wouldn't he want anyone to know his name – and from your descriptions I could figure out easily that your mate must be Vir Cervantes, the Alpha of Sapientiae. Now, tell me what he did wrong."

"He called me stupid, he thinks I'm dumb, and that I could never ever be of any help to him, so I'm useless as well." I lay my head on my arms as I drown in self-pity.

"Livia Devoe! Don't you ever think that that is true!" she reprimands me.

"I don't think I am, actually. In fact, I have learned more the past few months than that I had learned in my whole life! Vir just doesn't appreciate that. Sure he is stressed, I can see that something is eating at him, but he won't tell me what it is. How could I ever help him if he doesn't want to see me?"

Allison listens intently, then motions for me to go on as she stuffs another chocolate chip cookie in her mouth.

"It's as if he is afraid of me, afraid of what the mate bond might do to him. I can feel he is stressed, he is scared, and that he calms when he sees me. Yet he won't hug me, won't show any affection. I know he needs it as much as I do, but he avoids me as much as he can."

Allison sighs and takes a deep breath. "Okay, I'm going to play the wise one now. I'm going to pretend to be an actual adult and give you advice, alright?"

I nod. "Do your thing, Obi-Wan."

She looks at me questioningly, and then shakes her head. "Never mind, that must have been a nerd-reference that I'm too Fortis too understand." Putting on a serious face, she starts. "Okay, so as I've heard, I can conclude that you both definitely feel the mate bond, feel the attraction you have for each other, yes?"

I nod again. "Then you just got to pull through. From what you told me over the past few months, you have been slowly changing into a true Sapientiae pack member right? Well, don't. Be you. Stay you. You two have been paired up for a reason, maybe he needs your fire, maybe you need his... I don't even know. Responsibility? Just... know that this will all blow over. In the end, you need him, and he needs you. I'm not saying that you have to go back right away – I'm all for letting him sweat it out for a bit – but please be open if he asks you to come back."

I nod silently. "You have spoken, it's good advice. Thanks."

"Anytime," she says, smiling. "Oh, by the way, your mom told me this morning to tell you to look at your phone, because some guy called Daniel called you about fifteen times the past few days."

***

Damn that was a looooong chapter! I wanted to fit in so much, that it was like 50% larger than normally hahaha!