Gypsy Moon

Chapter Twenty-four: Bryce

. . . . . . (early July)

"Well, fuck... welcome to the pack, I guess." Aiden laughed. Then he gave us the most predatory grin in history. "Anything else to report? Or can I go back to being irresponsible as long as I can get away with it?" Lilian snorted.

"Well, since we had SO much time," Sinah groaned at her and picked up a plate of pancakes from the cart. "Bryce was starting to teach me how to mind link and we were wondering if I could video call Kyle and we could try to use my mate bond to see if I can mind link him at this distance." Aiden laughed as he picked up the parts of his fallen sandwich.

"Talk about getting a crash course." He chuckled and then pretended to talk on the phone. "Hey honey, guess what I learned how to do?" Lilian giggled.

"What's that, dear?" Sinah responded playfully.

"I learned how to take everyone's lives and turn them into Crazy Frappes." Aiden hugged Lilian briefly and gave her a quick kiss. Sinah winced but smiled at them around a mouthful of pancakes. Lilian raised her hands to her mouth in shock.

"Alpha Aiden! Don't you dare do that again! I know full well you doing that hurts Sinah! I will ruin the next touching moment by kicking you in the family jewels, mister." She was grinning, but I felt like that was a threat she would follow through on. Aiden laughed and put his hands up in surrender.

"Go blow Kyle's mind. But try not to do it literally." She nodded.

"You may return to your previously scheduled irresponsible afternoon, now." I held the door open for Lilian and winked at Sinah before I followed her out. "Until the next crazy thing. Alpha. Luna." I closed the door on Sinah's giggle and followed Lilian down to the common room.

All of River Talon were doing their best to give Aiden and Sinah as much time alone as they could. Both previous Alpha's stepped up to the plate and things were running smoothly, their Lunas at their sides as if they had never stepped down. I admired how close his entire family was, no matter what trouble he caused, they still loved him and wanted him to be happy.

I smiled to myself, looking around at the wolves working on repairing the damage Aiden had caused the night before. Lilian made a weird noise and I looked at her curiously.

"They act differently now." I frowned at her.

"In what way, if you can tell?" She furrowed her brows and focused on a warrior near us.

"It's weird. It just looks like he's moving in slow motion, but not slow enough for it to be weird how slow he's going." I stared at the warrior, he appeared to be moving normally to me. I grinned down at her.

"Aw damn, all the crazies broke your brain. This is what we call 'calm', it's been missing for a while now." She laughed and we went to the library to call Kyle. The quiet should help Lilian focus. And Kyle. We sat together on a pair of leather armchairs pulled to face each other. Lilian took her phone out and called Kyle. He answered on the first ring, and she winced at the worry on his face.

"Two hours! What is going on, I feel like I'm losing my mind!"

"Kyle, calm down, we are going to explain!"

"We?" I took the phone from Lilian and smiled at the man on the screen.

"My name is Bryce, and don't be too concerned, we've been feeling like the world has gone mad as well. I am going to help her try to explain the situation to you, as quickly as your sanity will allow." He looked off screen nervously.

"Um... Okay..." Lilian took a deep breath and closed her eyes. I nodded and looked back at Kyle.

"I'm going to set the phone down so you can see Lilian, but I will guide you both through this, okay? All I can ask is that you keep an open mind, Kyle." He looked skeptical but nodded at me and I propped the phone against a cushion facing Lilian. "Sit comfortably and put your phone where you don't have to hold it, please." I watched as his screen jostled around a few minutes while he got settled. Lilian smiled at him when he looked at his phone for further instructions.

"Kyle, I want you to keep your focus on Lilian. We will start with her since she's had all of twenty minutes more practice than you."

"Practice?"

"Focus. Open mind."

"Okay..." I nodded to Lilian, and she smiled at Kyle on the screen. I kept my voice soft and closed my eyes, focusing on Mir.

/:This is not likely to work at this distance, you know.:/

/:They are both human, this SHOULDN'T work at all, but here we are.:/

"Lilian, focus on Kyle, feel yourself reach for him as if he were sitting next to you."

"Hey, man?"

"Focus Kyle. Think only of Lilian. Breathe deeply and slowly."

"How is this explai--WHATTHEFUCK?!" I opened my eyes to watch him jump out of the camera view and glanced at Lilian. She grinned at me.

/:Huh.:/

/:I agree.:/

"Very good, Lilian."

"Wha-what was that?" He was visibly shaken when he sat back in front of the camera. "I-I heard a voice..." Lilian smiled at him.

"That was me, Kyle. Sorry if I scared you."

"Y-you were in my head?" She nodded sheepishly.

"How?" I cleared my throat.

"It is something rather common amongst a certain type of person."

"Type of person?"

"Specifically, my type of person. I am actually a bit impressed about this myself."

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, I wasn't expecting to be successful so quickly. Let's try again." I nodded at Lilian, and she took a deep breath, closing her eyes. Kyle looked uneasy but nodded as well.

"So, she is going to talk to me, inside my mind."

"Yes. It gets more complicated, but that is the most basic function of a mind link."

"And this is normal?"

"In my life, yes. Your's, less so." Lilian opened her eyes and stared intensely at the phone. "Calm breathing, Kyle. Open mind, Lilian will initiate the link, think about her." I watched her eyes cloud over and turned towards the phone to watch Kyle squint at the screen.

"Hey... what's..." His eyes clouded over and grew huge.

"Excellent. Kyle, reach towards Lilian with your thoughts." His brows furrowed in concentration. "Calmly, as if you were just reaching across a table." His forehead smoothed and they were both sitting calmly, staring at their phones silently through clouded eyes. Lilian's lips curled into a smile while Kyle began frowning slightly.

"Huh." His eyes cleared and Lilian blinked at him expectantly. "Well, that's... Huh." He sat back from his phone and scrubbed a hand across his stubble. I looked at Lilian.

"What did you tell him?" She grinned.

"Everything."

"I believe Aiden did specify to not actually blow his mind, Lilian." She laughed.

"I think faster than I talk. What can I say?" Kyle cleared his throat and looked around himself before leaning towards the phone.

"So... werewolves." Lilian nodded to him.

"Among other things." He sat back again, focused on something at his side.

"Huh." Watching his face was amusing as he thought things over, his features were very expressive, shifting rapidly as he processed the mass of information. "And the... pack mark?" I opened my mouth, but Lilian beat me to it.

"It's like those matching shirts you get when you go to a family reunion." I coughed to cover my laugh. My explanation was definitely not as simple as hers, but she wasn't wrong. "Only you wear it all the time."

"And this mind link thing, works for the whole pack?"

"Yes, though at this distance it's hard to 'hear' each other unless it is our Alpha, or a pack member you have a strong bond with." Lilian blushed abruptly and grabbed her phone. "So yeah, this is where Bryce leaves and I explain one more thing to you, Kyle." I smirked at her.

"Indeed. If you have any questions, pass them through Lilian." I rose from the chair in a fluid motion and waved over my shoulder as I walked out.

/:That went... FAST.:/

/:She's good at explaining things and he seems equally bright, so that helps.:/

/:Immensely.:/

/:I vote we nap.:/

I grinned and made my way to the cupola. I shifted and stretched out on the west-facing ledge, the stone warm from the afternoon sun.

/:Poor Kyle, getting the mate talk after learning magic is real.:/

/:Lilian's Specialty- The Crazy Frappe.:/

Mir and I laughed together and let the sun warm our fur.

. . . . . .