Hope's Heart

Chapter 4 Part 1

The guys found Wulf sitting in a chair with his head in his hands. When he looked up at them, his eyes were glowing silver, and his skin had a silver sheen. Kole approached him and said, “Wulf, what the hell? Your eyes and skin look like you’re changing.”

Wulf swore, “What the hell is happening to me?”

Mal touched Wulf’s shoulder, “Deep breaths, son………. That’s it. Take deep breaths. Now tell us what is going on.”

“I don’t know what is going on with me today. I have this overwhelming need to protect her, and when she feels any pain, I swear I feel it, too. I can sense when she’s scared, hurt, or sad. I can feel all her emotions and her physical responses to everything. I feel everything she does, mentally, emotionally, or physically. I have felt every time she has gotten hurt because of Riley today. That’s why Dad and I came over this morning. I could feel how afraid she was. I could feel her crying, and something told me I had to get to her. She is like a sister to me, or at least she was. Ever since her sixteenth birthday, every time I look at her, I feel something stir deep in my heart and soul, primitive and almost possessive. I swear I hear a voice saying mine whenever I look at her. I always felt I had to protect, but now that feeling is so strong I can’t think straight. Just the thought of someone wanting to hurt her makes me see red, I mean literally see red.” Wulf looked up to see her sitting on the couch, talking to Sally, “Hell, even right now, as I look at her in there, I am fighting the urge to be by her side. Fighting the urge to pull her into my arms and keep everyone and everything away from her.”

They heard Steve and Art both say, “Well, shit.”Art looked at Steve and said. “Sit down, boys. We need to talk.”

Kole looked at his dad, “Dad, just now Inara said Wulf was her companach anam.”

“Her soulmate, well, that explains a lot,” Steve sat next to his son, “When Inara blacked out just before we got here, she said she saw the same figure again. He said he was Janthair, taking the form of her soul mate to lead her to him. What she could remember reminded me of Wulf as she described him.”

“OK, boys, how much do you know about how our race works regarding their mates?”Art looked at each of them and got the same response. They all just kind of shrugged and shook their heads. “OK, when the gods create one of us, they break us into two parts, two halves to make one whole. They chose two souls that complement each other in their strengths and weaknesses. The male is best suited to protect the female, and the female is best suited to temper the beast in each male. When both souls have gone through their awakening, or one has gone through theirs and the other has begun, those souls are drawn to one another. These two souls, in some cases, have been together for lifetimes. Since our people believe in reincarnation, some souls are new to our world, but some have been around for countless lifetimes. Wulf went through his awakening ten years ago, and now that Inara’s is beginning, their dragons are trying to join one another and become whole again. The fact that it is so strong shows that their bond is stronger than most. We should have prepared you for this. So, in part, this one is on us.”They all sat in silence for a moment.

“Okay, so if I understand all this right, because Inara has come of age, their dragons are getting, shall we say, a little randy?” Kole was standing there looking at his father with an evil little grin.

“No, they are just downright Horney.” Mal gave them all a huge grin and wiggled his eyebrows, which earned him a smack to the back of the head from Art.

“Watch it, jackass, that’s my daughter.”Art tried to give him a stern look but failed and smiled slightly.

Art just chuckled, and Wulf looked up and glared at Kole and Mal, saying, "You guys are enjoying this, aren’t you?

“Damned right we are, it’s not often we see you squirm.”Kole gave Wulf a boyish grin.

Wulf just shook his head and then looked at Paxen. “Is this how it was for you and Sajah?”

“To a degree, I guess so, but we both just thought we were in love. It wasn’t until one of my visits home when Dad explained the whole mate bond thing to me that I realized it was more. We now know, without a doubt, that we are in love, and it was that fact that was causing us to hate being apart. I mean, Saj isn’t even dragonkin. But Dad said it isn’t unusual for mates to be of different races.”

The men sat and talked briefly, then realized how late it was getting. Art looked at his watch. “I guess I should get the grill going for dinner.” Then he got up and started prepping the grill.

About half an hour or so later, Sara and Beth came out with two trays of hamburger patties. “Sally just got back with the stuff for the burgers. Art, have you fired up the gr……….” Sara’s voice trailed off when she saw the men’s faces. “You have got to be kidding me. Another issue to tackle today? As if we don’t have enough to deal with. The gods must throw this at us, too. Haven’t they thrown enough at our little girl today? Which one is it?”

Wulf cleared his throat, “That would be me, ma’am, but I’m not sure how or why Inara hates me.”

“Well, this explains that little scene in my living room a bit ago. It explains why I have seen you two show more tenderness to each other today than I have in the last five years.”

Beth set her tray on the table, walked over, and sat beside her son. “Tell me if I am right, about five to six months before her sixteenth birthday, you started feeling more and more protective of her. Did you start seeing her as a woman rather than a little sister? And because of that, you started keeping your distance and staying away, which meant not coming and visiting as much when you and Kole were home on leave?”Beth paused momentarily, and Wulf just nodded, “Then each year, about the same time, those feelings got stronger and stronger until they reached the point today you can no longer control or ignore them, which is why you told your dad this morning that you needed to come to check on her. You felt everything she was feeling and going through this morning, didn’t you, sweetie?”Wulf just nodded and looked at his mother.

Beth hugged her son, “Oh, honey, I wish we had prepared you for this, but never in our wildest, well maybe our wildest dreams, did we imagine you and her were meant to be together. Inara doesn’t hate you. Reach out and touch her mind. See how she feels about you.”

“Mom, I haven’t used that skill since I was eleven, and we left home.”Like a lost little boy, Wulf suddenly sounded tired and unsure.

“Honey, our people, never lose that skill, and if this is what it looks like, you and Inara will have a powerful bond, even stronger than she has with Riley.”

Art thought momentarily, then said, “Once you’ve figured out how she feels, have her sleep for a bit so she doesn’t make herself sick, and Riley can’t hurt her anymore today.”

Wulf took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and gently reached into Inara’s mind. At first, he only found fear, pain, and confusion, so he pushed deeper. He heard her whisper his name like she was waiting for him. “Wulf? Are you ok?”

“Yes, mo fear beag, I am fine. I am just concerned about you.”

“Wulf, I will be ok. I promise there is nothing to worry about.”

“Fear beag, can I ask you a question.”

“Yes, of course you can.”

“Fear beag, why do you hate me?”

“Hate you, Wulf, I have never hated you. You annoy me, but you are my big brother’s best friend. It’s your job to annoy me. And even that has lessened over the last few years.”Inara could feel his laughter, and Wulf could feel her smile.

“You are arrogant and obnoxious, but I do not hate you, Wulf; I have never hated you and never could. Sometimes, I think of you and daydream about what life could be like with you. I have found myself seeing your face in my mind. Today, as I tried to recall the details of Janthair’s face, no matter what, your face was always the one I saw; I look at you today, and my heart and soul cry out for you. I always thought you hated me. Your tenderness and protectiveness today have been unexpected, to say the least.”

“No, fear beag, I could never hate you. Never. Until just now, I never truly knew how I felt about you. I loved you but always thought it was like a little sister. But hearing you say you feel the same fills my heart and soul with hope and peace.”Wulf felt her smile again and could feel her hand rest gently on his cheek.

“What a pair we are.”He felt her gentle kiss on his lips and smiled.

“Rest now, fear beag.”Inara felt his lips gently brush her forehead as if he were standing before her. Warmth radiated throughout her body, and she felt loved and protected. She looked around in confusion, her eyes locked with Wulf’s through the sliding glass door. Suddenly, her eyelids felt heavy, and she drifted off to sleep. Wulf walked closer to the sliding glass door. He stood there, watching her as she slept. “Does she know I was in her mind?”

“No, she doesn’t. You’re connected to the part of her that is not fully awake. It is awakening slowly.”Steve stood next to his son, “Once we get her home, her true self will awaken, and at that point, her bond to you will awaken as well. But once it does, we will have to move fast. Aridynk can sense it; he can destroy that bond if we don’t seal you two together. However, if we are not careful, he could still destroy that bond after you are joined. If he does that, she will be lost to the darkness forever.”