Emerald Kisses

Chapter 6

“October sixteenth, four years ago,” she closed the book still in her memories, “What a time.”

Lance looked at Yasmine for what seemed like a long time, “What time?” he asked with no explanation while leaning forward. His stare was intense, and it caught Yasmine off guard.

“What time did I get married?” she asked incredulously.

“Sorry,” he shook his head and thought about it for a second, “When you severed the connection was that on the same day you got married?”

“Yes,” Yasmine held her wedding album to her chest, she was brought back to that fateful day.

“Early in the morning, before the wedding?” Lance knew exactly what he was doing on October sixteenth four years ago. He had been at home, going over paperwork at the crack of dawn when he had gotten up for a glass of water before he continued working. He instinctively touched his chest. That day it felt like his heart was getting ripped out and he had a migraine that felt like someone shot him in the head. His beta had found him writhing on the floor in pain. He had thought someone had poisoned him, but Lance knew it was his mate's connection. It had been severed.

“Uh-huh.”

He wondered if it was simply a coincidence, although the goddess did not work in coincidence, “That was the day my mate severed her connection from me.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Sometime after six in the morning.”

“You remember the time?” Yasmine was shocked he would remember that.

“Of course, after six in the morning, on October sixteenth, four years ago,” this time he raised an eyebrow this time, waiting for Yasmine’s response.

“It’s crazy how-,” Yasmine dropped her wedding album and stared deeply into Lance’s eyes, “Amber and sandalwood,” she whispered quietly before backing up, “You’ve never worn that cologne have you?”

“No, I thought maybe you were a bit overwhelmed because the clothes you were smelling had no cologne on them, I’d worn them on the flight over here,” he pressed his lips together before coming out with the words he was going to say, “I think you’re my mate Yasmine.”

“I would have felt something,” it all had to be a coincidence, she thought. Her mate was dead, she was sure of it. Lance was just desperate to find his mate and he was grasping at straws. He was her husband’s brother; he couldn’t be her mate. If so, why didn’t she find him?

“You wouldn’t have Yasmine, you severed the connection,” Lance tried to sense something from Yasmine, but he couldn’t. She was a beautiful girl, but he caught no scent from her. She was standing in front of him, but he couldn’t sense her in the way he could sense other wolves. This was more than enough confirmation for him, he should be able to get some type of scent from her, but he didn’t.

Arin, Lance spoke to his wolf, hoping to rise him. Truthfully his wolf had been sleeping a lot, but he wasn’t hard to reach. It had many years of battle starting at a young age, he didn’t blame him for resting. His wolf came forward alert, as he was used to being brought forth in the heat of battle. It had been a long time since they had a casual conversation.

What is it, Lance? His wolf’s voice was like a warm breeze on a dark night. His voice sounded concerned as he was used to Lance not bothering while he was dormant lately.

I think I found our mate. I need you to stay at the forefront of my mind to recognize her.

“Hello! Lance?” Yasmine could see he had checked out, probably speaking to his wolf. They were not linked as he wasn’t officially a member of our pack. Soon that would change, but for now, she could only speak to him out loud.

“Sorry,” he blinked before giving Yasmine his full attention, “Bring your wolf forward Yasmine. She will be able to recognize mine.”

“If!” Yasmine yelled, “And it’s a very big if. If I am your mate, she will be able to recognize your wolf. I also am not sure if I can draw her out anymore,” truthfully Yasmine didn’t even want to try to draw her wolf out. Lance’s eyes were more gold than green, an indication that his wolf was looking as well and waiting for Yasmine to draw Saguna; her wolf out. She clenched her fists and let out a huff, “I’ll try,” her mind did not feel warm with a presence. It was just her as usual. Saguna was buried deep inside, most likely unaware of anything that was going on now.

Saguna, Yasmine called quietly while searching her mind for any presence of her wolf. Saguna! She yelled; she had gone through this routine before. Saguna only listens when she wants to. She can’t ignore when Yasmine is stressed for too long. Yasmine knew that for sure. Yasmine would need more time by herself to even sense her wolf. Right now was too stressful. Yasmine leaned on the countertop and sighed, “I can’t find her.”

Lance’s demeanor dropped, and his disappointment was apparent on his face. He heard an irritated grumble in the back of his mind. Aarin was growing impatient. He was desperate for his mate as well. Ask her what her wolf’ name is. The request was firm and clear in Lance’s mind.

“What is your wolf’s name?” Lance asked immediately knowing where Aarin was going with this.

“Saguna,” Yasmine muttered with her head hanging low. Her fingers were now gripping the counter in angst.

Lance’s wolf mumbled the name over and over in Lance’s, call her for me, Aarin asked Lance. For some reason Lance knew he didn’t need to yell, Saguna would come forth, “Saguna, can you come out?” he stepped forward, receiving a curious look from Yasmine whose head had popped up to look at him. Lance couldn’t be sure of anything else. It was true he was consumed with the idea of finding his mate and he may not be thinking the whole thing through. He was ready for her, even if she was his brother’s wife. The thought made him hesitate before closing the distance between him and Yasmine. He would have to speak to her wolf directly, “Saguna,” Lance whispered in Yasmine’s ear, his voice entangled with the type of gruffness that could only mean his wolf was out, “There’s someone who wants to meet you.”

Lance caught a flash in Yasmine’s eyes a sparkle of gold that illuminated her honey-brown eyes. There she was; Saguna. Before he could speak again, he felt Yasmine crash into him, her arms throwing themselves around his neck and a cry that made his heart stop. Mate! He heard that guttural growl that came straight from Yasmine’s chest. Yasmine’s wolf had completely taken over the forefront of Yasmine’s mind, something common in unstable wolves warring with themselves. Yasmine wasn’t kidding when she was talking about the problems with her wolf.

He couldn’t focus on that much longer, Yasmine was clinging onto him and crying. The connection wasn’t strong at all, but he could feel it. It was there. He held Yasmine back, struggling as his wolf Aarin wanted to take control of the situation. It is her, my mate. I recognize her completely.

How do you know? Lance could feel a heaviness in his chest and excitement that sparked when he looked at her, but again it was not strong and he had doubts about where it was coming from. He could conflate things in his mind. He didn’t want to make a mistake and Yasmine not be his mate.

Saguna is my mate. The connection is strong as she never accepted.

That was all Lance needed. Saguna did not accept the ritual in the first place, whatever that meant for now. He could feel how sure his wolf was, and even some of the connection he was feeling. He looked at Yasmine whose wolf was controlling the entire situation. At this moment Yasmine did not have a say in what was going on.

“You’ve found me,” Yasmine’s wolf cried out in her body. Her eyes glowed as bright as they could get before, she would fully shift. If she got any more excited she would shift involuntarily, “You don’t know how long we’ve been waiting for you,” she gripped Lance’s shirt, tears falling rapidly, “It’s been hell, please save us, save her,” that was all Saguna had before she retreated again. Yasmine went limp against Lance’s body. Fighting Saguna back made her weak. She hadn’t done mental gymnastics like that in a long time. The pain Saguna felt was still evident, and Yasmine did not stop crying now that Saguna was dormant. She too could finally let it out. She had hurt her wolf staying with Jason and the price was immense.

“What does she mean by that Yasmine?” Lance asked coolly as he held Yasmine close to him. His grip was strong, but he was still as if he was waiting for something.

Yasmine’s breath hitched and she started shaking thinking about telling Lance everything. A resounding no echoed in her mind, not from her wolf but from herself. She didn’t want to tell him. She couldn’t think about the last couple of years made her bones cold. She was shivering, Jason could be a nightmare sometimes.

“Jay, do you think you could take the trash with you to work? The boxes are building up and recycling isn’t coming this week,” Yasmine had come bounding down the stairs, she had a meeting to go to and was running behind. She would still be on time if she left now.

Jason was sitting on the couch his hands clutching his head. He had let out a loud sigh when he heard her and didn’t bother to look up.

“Are you okay?” Yasmine asked as she approached Jason, “You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” she approached him and placed her hand on his shoulder, “Do you nee-

“God, can you shut the f**k up?” he exploded while shrugging Yasmine’s hand off of him. He stood up and turned to face her. His face was contorted in a nasty sneer as he looked at her. Lyla’s birthday had passed and as the days grew on Yasmine continually reminded him that she just wasn’t Lyla, “Jay can you do this, can you do that?” He mocked her, causing Yasmine to place her hand on her chest, a shocked expression was apparent on her face. Jason didn’t ever talk to her like that.

“I don’t ask a lot,” Yasmine spoke back. She didn’t like the way Jason was talking to her, “You could have just said no. I can figure out the boxes myself. There’s no reason to act like this over a headache,” she had placed her hands over her hips, an attitude was forming as Jason continued to look at her.

All Jason could think about was Lyla wouldn’t say that to him. She would have apologized and kissed him, offered him something to eat. Yasmine just wanted to argue, he concluded. He missed Lyla immensely, staring at Yasmine’s face who had similar features, but they just weren’t quite right. It angered him, it just wasn’t fair, and Yasmine was making it hard for him to grieve, “You’re such a f*****g b***h,” his eyebrows furrowed in anger. His chest was heavy with disdain, and he was determined to make this Yasmine’s problem.

“W-what?” she looked at him confused as he walked over to her, “Y-you can’t talk to me like tha-

Jason had cut her off by gripping her chin with his hand and yanking her up, making her look up at him. His grip was tight which caused her eyes to water. Fear engulfed her chest, she didn’t know what was going on and why Jason was doing this. She grabbed his arm, but he had an iron grip. The pain from the tension made her head hurt; it was hard to concentrate, “I can’t breathe when you’re around. You are suffocating. My head hurts, I miss Lyla, and instead, I have you. I’m starting to realize you will never compare to being with her. You nag, you never shut up, and your voice is wrong. I can’t stand listening to it,” he let Yasmine go and she fell back. Her face was full of shock and reddened where he had grabbed her.

“Where is this coming from?” Yasmine stood up slowly, her mind already thinking about reapplying her makeup before work. She would surely be late now.

“It’s always been a problem. There’s just something f*****g wrong with you. You can’t clearly see that you won’t ever compare to Lyla.”

From there Yasmine couldn’t fathom that there was a problem. She had been through too much to let this start happening too. She couldn’t let it happen she wouldn’t let it happen. Her mind went to sleep in the forests hungry after her pack got raided. It was cold, she didn’t want to go back to that. her parents… it was just her and Saguna, that’s it. Saguna growled and Yasmine shushed her.

It’s okay you can go now, you don’t have to see this anymore. Yasmine told Saguna to go. Saguna had seen more than her fair share of gore, Yasmine would not put her through any more pain, “I see,” Yasmine went upstairs and reapplied her makeup. Then left for work.