Leaving Daphne and the nymphs was harder than Rayne ever thought it would be.

Hugging their sobbings bodies and wrapping her arms around a soothing Daphne's tree trunk nearly pushed her to tears herself. They were a found family to her in certain ways, and the thought of leaving them for a length of time made her more than upset. Especially because she didn't know if she'd see any of them again after the war was over. If they all survived, then they'd go back to their day-to-day, anyway. Rayne will rule over the pack someday, Jarrah over the Fae with his new wife, and Daphne could go back to where she belonged if she gets unfrozen from her tree-like state. It would be like these different clans never came together for a single night, when none of that mattered. When being different brought them together rather than the opposite.

And to top it all off, Rayne was . . . confused.

Well, confused didn't even cover half of what she was feeling, but it was the closest word she could think of. After waking up to the closeness of Jarrah, it took her a while to convince herself to leave his arms and get ready for the rest of their journey. But the thought of him going back to another woman forced her to come back down to earth. She couldn't be with a man who was promised to someone else.

And how would it all work, anyway? She was to marry someone in her pack, eventually; hell it could even be Ronan, as disturbing as that sounded. And he was to be with another Fae. It was the way of things, and who were they to mess that up?

They just had a moment. That was all it was. And there would be no more.

So Rayne sucked up her sadness and followed Jarrah out of Daphne's Garden with the brokenhearted nymphs waving goodbye. She and Jarrah were closer to the elixir now, and in a few day's time, they would arrive. And Jarrah's small glances towards her would mean nothing.

Right?

Right.

Walking beside Jarrah after the morning they had together was terribly quiet and uneventful. Their small talk for the following few hours was borderline unbearable, but she knew part of that was her fault. She was creating a barrier that didn't need to be there, and it was up to her to get them civil again. But how could she? Knowing how close they got the previous night and the morning after?

How could Rayne look at him any other way now? With her eyes wide with wonder, her cheeks grinning, and her heart pounding resltessly in her chest? She didn't completely understand what was going on, but she knew she couldn't control the emotions in her body. She needed to get a grip on herself and fast.

"We're not far now," Rayne said, finally deciding on something safe to point out. It didn't require the most effort and could lead them down a safe path to being civil once again.

Jarrah glanced over at her, and cleared his throat somewhat awkwardly. "Uh, yeah. I think only a few days time now."

A few days time.

In a few days, the would be facing what could possibly be their doom. Or their victory. Would that be a temporary victory? Rayne didn't know. If their doom, who would finally kill that bastard of a vampire? She didn't know that either. The trip didn't feel like it was a very long one, but she already didn't want it to end, even if they had to return to their people.

"Jarrah I—"

"Look, Rayne—"

They both paused, then smiled at each other in union despite the interruption. Jarrah motioned for her to go first, and though Rayne was more interested in what he had to say, she decided to take the oppurtunity to go first.

"I just wanted to say thank you. For doing this journey with me and for Daphne's Garden. I've never been outside of my pack like this before, and having you here has made it all the more easier," Rayne rushed, threading her fingers together. "When we go back and kick vampire butt and go our seperate ways . . . I want you to know I'll never forget all of these moments."

"You don't have to thank me for coming with you, Rayne. This is gonna sound . . . unnatural," Jarrah said, pausing. He tested the word on his tongue for a moment before he continued. "But I'd do this journey with you all over again if I had to. And I won't forget how much you're helping my people too in doing this."

Rayne's heart stuttered in her chest and it takes everything in her not to do something about that soft look he gave her just then. The warmth of his smile, the kindness in his eyes, it was almost too much for her poor heart. She wanted to wrap her arms around his neck and kiss the living daylights out of him.

But she couldn't.

He was promised to another, and she couldn't break that. Not when they couldn't be together anyway. A wolf and a Fae? Never. It's never been done, and it probably never will be. It was tradition in both of their cultures.

But that didn't stop her from wanting him, and she didn't think it ever will.