Fated Mate

Heading Home

The trip back to the Woodland Territory never felt the same after it had taken them away. Emily walked with more confidence, her shoulders were straighter and her steps surer. The pervasive dread that had haunted her for weeks had abated into a mere rattle in her ears.

Arthur walked beside her, their hands at times brushing, sharing tiny smiles that conveyed how intimate they were now. They had followed up that first kiss with three more days with Eleanor, and each day held fresh revelations - about Emily's power, about their feelings for one another, about the future they were starting to imagine.

"Nervous?" Arthur said as the trees of his land came into view.

Emily pondered on the question. "A little. But not like before. Before, I was afraid everyone would reject me. Now..." She stopped, looking for the right words. "Now I think I'd be okay if they did. Because I know who I am."

Arthur's smile was both tender and proud. "That's growth."

As they entered the territory proper, Emily saw wolves pausing in their tasks to look up as they neared. She thought to make herself small and hide away. But she's not going to be intimidated, and she's not going to lie with her head down or pretend to be afraid.

"They're back!" someone shouted, and the whole compound came to life as if on cue.

Victor was the first to greet them, his solemn face softening into a rare smile. "About time," said one. "We were starting to think the witch had turned you into toads."

Arthur laughed "Eleanor favors other sorts of more imaginative metamorphoses than that one."

"Emily." Victor looked at her, and there was sincere warmth in his face. "You look well. Different somehow."

"I feel different," Emily confessed.

Sara was running next, so excited she almost fell into Emily's arms. "You're back! Oh, how I've missed you! And you look-I don't know, you just look more... you."

Emily returned the young omega's embrace, moved by her exuberance. "I've missed you, too."

As more pack members arrived, Emily prepared herself to be met with the typical caution and subtle distance they'd always maintained.

But something had changed. She had people smile at her - real smiles, not fake politeness. They inquired about her trip, as if they were really curious about what she had to say.

"Did the witch really teach you magic?" one young wolf asked, his wide eyes full of curiosity.

Emily looked at Arthur, who gave her a reassuring nod. She took her hand out and focused, producing a little flame. It came up right away, hovering with perfect stability above her hand.

Gasps went through the crowd, but they were padded sounds of awe, not fear.

"That's amazing," someone breathed.

"Teach us?" asked another.

Emily blew out the flame, stunned by the positive response. "It's not everyone who can do that. My powers are... unique.

"But you could teach us to control it, couldn't you?" Sara asked. "I mean, you know how all of us wrestle with our wolves from time to time." And if you've learned how to control your power, then maybe you can help us learn how to control ours."

Emily wasn't expecting the proposal. The thought that maybe she had something to teach people, that what she had been through could be useful to them-well, it was almost more than she could take.

"I... I'd have to think about that," Emily said, but she was smiling.

Sarah from the kitchens elbowed her way through the crowd, with her usual expression of stern disapproval shaded by something that could best be described as approval.

"Dinner in an hour. I expect both of you there. The whole pack is going to want to hear about where you've been."

As the crowd began to thin out, Emily turned to Arthur with wide eyes. "Did that really just happen? They were... friendly. Actually Cordial."

"You've been gone a month," Arthur said gently. "During that time, they have had a chance to miss you and to realize what you bring to this pack. And news of the healing-you're healing, that young wolf you saved-he's been telling everybody how you gave him his life back."

"But I was so afraid they blamed me for the vampire attacks-"

"Some did, at first. But Victor and I were clear that Theodore Shawn is dangerous not just long before you came, That was always the case.

"And honestly?" Arthur's face sobered up. "After watching what you can do, how powerful you are with training, some of them consider you to be a good asset. Protection."

Emily wasn't sure how she felt about being valued for her power rather than for herself, but she supposed it was a start. Better than being feared or turned away.

That evening's dinner was nothing like anything Emily had had in the Woodland Territory before. She was not at all shy: she rose at Arthur's side at the high table – a place of honour that had not been explicitly offered before. The hall was packed, warm with firelight and talk, and somehow Emily was at the heart of things in a way that didn't make her want to run.

"Tell us about Eleanor's training," Victor prompted. "What was that like?"

Emily shared a glance with Arthur, and then proceeded. "Frustrating at first. I wanted results immediately, to learn how to control right now. But Eleanor made me begin at the beginning - meditation, breathing, being still."

"That sounds like a bit of dull work," remarked one warrior.

"Not so," Emily agreed with a small laugh. "But it was necessary. My emotions are tied into my power. Before I was able to master the power I had to learn how to manage my feelings and how to deal with the pain that I have been hiding.

The room fell silent, with all ears tuned in.

"Eleanor made me confront things I'd been running from my entire life," Emily went on. "Reminders of rejection, of being told I was cursed. It was the most difficult thing I've ever done." She felt Arthur's hand take hers beneath the table, silently reassuring. "But the moment I stopped fighting those feelings, stopped trying to deny them, everything shifted. The power didn't seem wild anymore. It was... like... like it was just a part of me."

"And the fire?" Sara asked eagerly. "Can you just summon it whenever you want now?"

Emily nodded. "With focus, yes. It's not perfect - I've still got a lot to learn. But now I can call it forward on purpose-not just when I'm scared."

"That's incredible," said the healer, Margaret, thoughtfully. "To go from splintery uncontrolled manifestations to working with one in such a conscious fashion in just a month. You must have worked very hard."

"Eleanor was a strict teacher," Emily said with a small smile. "But she knew exactly what I needed."

From li there, the conversation popped and frothed easily among the pack as brothers and sisters shared their own tales of gaining control rather than it grappling with them, getting lost during their first shifts. Emily found herself laughing at their tales, sharing her own insights, and all the while feeling more and more like she was among someone rather than the rest of us.

At one point, a young mother, who had a small child in her arms, came up to their table. "Emily? I just wanted to thank you. My son-he's the one you healed Thomas after his injury. He hasn't stopped talking about it. About how you assisted somebody that was hurt." The woman's eyes were sincere. "You gave him a hero to look up to."

Emily's throat tightened with emotion. "I'm not a hero. I did all I could."

"That's what heroes do," the woman said simply, before turning back to her seat.

Arthur leaned in close, his breath warm in her ear. "See? You belong here."

-

Later that same night, when the celebrations had died down and the majority of the pack had gone to rest, on the verandah of Arthur's lodge Emily was gazing across the moonlighted lands. Arthur joined her, draping a blanket about her.

"Thank you," Emily said softly.

"For what?"

"For bringing me here. For not forfeiting me when I tried to leave. For noticing something in me I couldn't see in myself." She turned to face him. "For giving me a home."

Arthur drew her close, his arms locked on her. "You made a home for yourself. You made the conscious decision to remain, to struggle, to develop. The only thing I did was the enable things to happen for you."

Emily laid her head on his chest and listened to his heart beat evenly. A month ago, she'd been standing on the edge of this territory, about to run because she couldn't fathom finding a place for herself anywhere. Now she was surrounded by the closeness of a pack lying down for the night, cradled by a man who loved her, when Jake could let her know what home felt like.

"I want to help them," she said out of the blue.

"Sara was right. Maybe if I can figure out how to control my own power, I can help other people who are dealing with their power, their own wolves. "Especially the younger ones. The ones who feel like they don't belong."

Arthur smiled against her hair. "I think that's a great idea. You have a talent for making the experience of being an outsider seem understandable. You might be able to connect with wolves that otherwise are out of reach."

"It scares me," Emily acknowledged. "The responsibility of teaching, of maybe being a role model."

"Good. I'd be worried about your sanity if you weren't." Arthur looked up at her again. "But you don't have to do it alone. You have me, Victor, and the rest of the pack. We'll support you. "

Emily stretched up to kiss him, soft and sweet. "Have I told you I love you?"

"Not in the last hour," Arthur said, taunting. "I was starting to wonder."

She laughed, the noise airy and unconstrained. "I love you so much, Arthur Neville. Thank you for being patient with me."

"I love you too, Emily." He kissed her forehead, her cheeks, her lips. "And I promise you, whatever comes next-whatever challenges we face-we'll face them as one."

Standing side by side under the stars, Emily experienced something she had never really felt before: utter calm. Not because her life had magically straightened out or all her problems had been resolved.

But because she'd found her place in the world. She found what had been lost, healed what hurt.

And now for the first time in her life, that was enough.