--- Beonnie ---

Dad.

No, not dad.

With my stuff.

Ouch. Pain.

I tried to sit up, but firm hands ushered me down again. I tried again to sit up, and again, I was forced down. Like a stubborn child, I persisted, and eventually, the hands, as in a silent agreement, placed me half-sitting, half-slouching against the big rock next to me. In a vain attempt to feel less like a stubborn child and more like a.. uhm.. woman of some kind, I fidgeted with my hair before looking up. His face was closer than expected and.. friendly. Blue eyes met blue eyes. I looked down again. I didn't know what to say.

"I.. uh... I.. ah.. eh.. thanks."

Wow. Great start. I really nailed that one. Probably should start giving lectures on conversing with strangers. As if I had no shame, I continued:

"I.. uhm.. bear."

And then, as if to increase the quality of the conversation, I pointed up towards the waterfall.

He did the worst thing that ever could happen to a lovestruck teenager. He laughed.

"Yes. Bear. And.. no worries. Glad to be of service."

I looked down at my legs and became acutely aware of the current state of my affairs. Someone had attempted to bandage me, as most of my legs were wrapped in scraps. They seemed to do their job well, but on my left leg, just beneath the knee, they were already soaked in blood. My shoulder seemed equally bad as blood seeped through the bandages there, too. I had a throbbing pain in my forehead, and my throat hurt when I spoke. I had to force the words out.

"I.. hurts."

He jerked his hand as if to take mine but composed himself before the thought became an action. He did look worried, though. Maybe I would die anyway. All this blood loss could not be good.

"I.. no wolf," I pointed to my chest. "No heal."

The blood taste in my mouth could not be bandaged away. I actually was going to die, wasn't I? A pressure built up in my chest, and I felt like I couldn't breathe. All this running, surviving, and longing, and it was all ending here in this unknown territory. A stray tear left my eye, and I sighed.

"No kiss."

This time, he took my hand. It felt warm, friendly, and comforting.

"You are not going to die. Tristan is on his way, and we will get you properly bandaged. You'll be out of here in no time," he said as if he could read my mind.

The words were soothing. I noticed we were alone. I cleared my throat, swallowed some blood, and forced another set of words out.

"Are you... hrn.. angry.. with.."

"With you? No. I mean, technically, you are trespassing our borders, and I should take you to the alpha."

I gasped.

"No. Monster."

He laughed again, but this time, it was a dry laugh. He sighed.

"He is not a monster."

He looked at me again.

"How do you know so much about us?"

Heh, even though I obviously was dying a lot, I blushed.

"I.. up there for over a week. Tristan and Dhalia.. talked a lot at first. Then kiss. A lot," I blushed again. The smooch details were unnecessary. But he laughed.

"You, Zac. You.. supposed to help them."

"Hey, hey. Hold your horses. I have not decided on anything yet."

He held up his hands, and I noticed he was still holding my leather pouch and a small envelope I hadn't seen before.

"What is.. that?"

He actually managed to look a bit guilty.

"Ah, this. This is your stuff; I had to look through your bag to ensure you weren't up to no good. It is all still there, though; don't worry."

"I haven't seen.. envelope before. What is.."

I felt weak and tired. Sleepy. I think he noticed me zoning out, as his voice was unusually cheerful when he answered.

"I think it is a birthday present for you. It would be cheating, but... I can open it for you if you want," he smiled. "See, it says to B and S on their 18th and 0th birthday. And I am pretty sure you are "B." As for 'S,' you probably have an idea."

S.

S must be my wolf. I knew that had she been with me, I would have been in a much better state. With the power of our wolf, werewolves healed much faster than humans. Unfortunately, S was not here yet, and since I obviously was about to die, I would never meet her. But birthday presents were birthday presents.

"Heh. Open," I managed to smile. I had never been the patient one. Maybe opening something almost a year before I should was a stretch, but what the.. let a girl have some fun—still dying, after all.

He opened the small envelope and dangled a silver chain before me. The amulet was similar to my father's but with an "S" instead of an "F."

I raised my hand towards it, but before I could take it, he unclasped the chain and motioned for me to lean my head towards him. I did, and he closed the chain behind my neck.

--- Zac ---

I leaned back to examine the results, but she tried to raise her hands to her chest with a sudden movement before I managed to. Something was wrong.

"I.. it hurts. Take off."

I heard a horrifying sizzling sound and saw how the amulet burned a mark on her skin, just between her breasts. For a second, she froze, and in amazement, I saw her eyes shifting from blue to black. If this was what I thought it was, it was very, very good. Not the sizzling sound, but the blackness in her eyes at least could mean one thing.

Wolf.

On the rare occasion when someone was around to see a wolf awakening, typically occurring on or around the 18th birthday and only for a few seconds, changing eye colour was witnessed to be a standard procedure. It would take some seconds, and then the eyes would return to their usual colour. This time, though, the black faded into silver and then clear white before it, as expected, shifted back to her blue.

She wouldn't be able to shift until the next full moon, but being connected with her wolf would help her heal a lot. Not as much as a shifted werewolf, but at least more than without it. And sure enough, her eyes were livelier, her head wound a bit smaller, and she even managed a full smile.

"Siri."

She laughed.

--- Beonnie ---

At first, it stung like wildfire on my chest and felt like a white light rushed through my body. Yup, I was finally dying. Flashes danced before my eyes, and I was annoyed at how almost unfair it felt that I also had to experience burning pain in my chest before passing away. I mean, the dying was punishment enough. 

Then it stopped. 

Unexpectedly, it wasn't my heart that stopped, but the burning sensation.

Then... it felt like someone was blowing bubbles inside my chest. Life flowed through my veins, and I felt her.

"Siri."

The presence of Siri was reassuring. It made me.. happy.

I laughed.

I was not alone anymore. She was just a flicker, but our connection would get stronger and stronger as the full moon approached. I already felt better. I didn't think I would recover this fast; I knew werewolves healed a lot better than humans, but I had thought it only was after your first shift.

Looking down at my legs, I noticed that the wounds were looking better, but the one on my left leg was still seeping with blood. I couldn't feel the pain anymore, though. On the contrary, I felt almost high. I attributed all the peculiar feelings to me being more connected with my wolf. With Siri. High.

The subsided pain made me focus on the little things instead of just focusing on not dying. I looked up at my hero. Yes. He was gorgeous. Objectively, he was. Straight nose, stubble on the jaw, blond hair that was a bit unruly, blue eyes, highish cheekbones. Yup, your regular supermodel. My heart, the traitor, was not fluttering, though not even when he flashed a thousand-dollar smile.

"You feeling better, little B?"

Meh. Even if he wasn't the one, I was NOT a child and NOT little. I scoffed and got up on my legs. He followed my lead and also got up on his feet, and I realized I was wrong.

I was little in comparison. He towered me with ease.

"Hey, maybe you shouldn't get up so fast. You are still hurt," he said and indicated my left leg, where a crimson stain slowly formed from under the bandages.

"I'm fine. I don't feel it," I staggered a bit. He stepped forward to hold me up as I lost my balance.

"You don't feel the pain? Ok. Well, whatever, even if it doesn't hurt anymore, you still have lost a lot of blood and should probably sit down again."

Again, not a child.

"Don't patronize me," I snapped and shook his hands off me.

He immediately let go and stepped back, raising his hands to signal friendliness.

Surprised at my reaction, I sat down again, cheeks flushing at my ungrateful comment.

"Uhm.. sorry. I don't know where that came from."

"It's fine," he said warily, and I kicked myself mentally for being an idiot.

"My head is spinning," I blurted out. "It's exhausting. I'm exhausted," I leaned back towards the rock. "So exhausted."

He sat down next to me. Naked, tattooed chest all exposed. Still nothing, though, stupid heart.

"I didn't mean to snap at you. On the contrary, I am very grateful to you for saving me."

He turned towards me, extending his hand to me.

"I'm Zac."

I smiled and took his hand.

"I'm B."

"Oh, we are on a nickname basis with each other now, are we?"

We both grinned.

"You started it," I smiled. He was easy to like.

I was going to let go of his hand when I noticed a burn mark. It looked new.

"Did I cause this?"

He examined his palm.

"Uhm, no. I think I got it when I looked at the contents of your bag. One of the necklaces in the leather pouch stung me, just like that one did on you," he pointed towards my new necklace.

"Really? Hum.."

I picked up the leather pouch from his hand and carefully opened it. One of the silver necklaces was darker than I remembered it. I examined the ones I wore; they were darker than those in the pouch. I weighed them in my hand thoughtfully.

"You should keep it," I said and offered him the necklace from the pouch.

"Uh, why would I want a stinging necklace?"

"Well, what's the name of your wolf?"

"Frej. Why?"

"See, there is an F on it. It's perfect. I have an S, and you have an F. It's like we have 'friendship' necklaces."

"Oh, so now we are friends too? You are moving awfully quickly now, B. Don't scare me off," he flashed the pearly whites in a knee-bending smile, and I grinned back. Yes, we are, you big bear.

"Uhm, hullo? We are even friends with nicknames." My first.

His smile grew wider until it didn't, and his eyes zoned out. Mind-link - the werewolf way of texting someone without using a phone; you focus enough on someone and send them a message - rendering the receiver temporarily zoned out. I managed to sneak the necklace into his jeans pocket before he snapped back.

"Well, it was nice to meet you, B. Are you going to be alright now? Unfortunately, I need to leave. Pack business, and since I was here incognito in the first place, I don't have an excuse to.."

Oh. All formal and stuff.

"I'll be fine. I feel much better now, so I'll just grab my stuff and get out of your territory before someone less.." gorgeous "..friendly finds me."

The grin came back.

"Most of us are friendly, you know."

"Ah yes, so I've heard," I grinned back.

"Well, there is a pharmacy a couple of miles down the big road from the crossing to the south. There is a lady there, Berta; tell her I sent you, and she can help you if you need anything."

He got up, and I followed. A somewhat awkward hug later, but still nice and warm and cuddly, and he was gone. I gathered my stuff, left the clearing, and went for the border as fast as possible.