After that vague conversation with Valente at breakfast, I helped him with the dishes and we spent the rest of the day together, like a stay-at-home date.

He showed me his entire collection of origami pieces that he had made over the years, and I could tell my piece was at such a beginner level as compared to all this.

He was extremely skilled and crafty, and I could tell his talent wasn't limited to the delicate art of origami.

"What's this?" I asked him, looking at a small metal wire sculpture of a tree.

"It's a Rowan," he said, seeming proud of this piece in particular.

It looked like it had taken hours of work, and it had been carefully built to perfection.

"It's beautiful," I told him.

"It reminds me of home, I guess. It reminds me of you," he said.

I looked at him, but it just increased the warmth I felt in my chest.

"Also, these metal trees blew up on the internet a while ago, so, I thought I'd try to make one too," he said, laughing.

After that, we'd watched a few movies together. Thankfully we had similar taste.

I could tell he was trying not to think of the shift tonight, and so I helped him escape those thoughts.

...

When it was evening, Gramma mindlinked me to tell me she'd find me at the gathering, and that we should be on time and not "loiter around".

I just hoped that didn't mean what I thought it meant.

Valente and I had started to get ready for the shift. I had changed to put on my pants from the night before, under one of his smaller t-shirts and a light trench coat that I picked from his wardrobe.

He was still in the bathroom, so I decided to look around his room a little more while I waited.

I saw some framed photographs placed on the console opposite his bed. Most of them were his pictures in varying ages, some with his friends and with Sylvia.

One particular photograph caught my attention, I recognized Valente and Kristján, not more than three-years old, in the arms of Alpha Fridure who I recognized from the countless photos I'd seen of his.

As Valente came out of the bathroom, and started to pull on his clothes, I sat on his bed and faced him.

"Will you announce your Beta and Gamma too tonight?" I asked him.

"We'll see," he said. "I've already told Kristján his duties."

He said.

"And who have you chosen as your Gamma?" I asked him.

He paused to look at me while combing his wet hair.

"Kristján is the Gamma," he said, plainly. "Just like his father."

It took me a minute to digest this.

"I don't understand. Kristján is your best friend. Why's he not the Beta?" I asked, completely baffled.

"Kristján is my best friend, agreed. But he is good at certain things just like his father was. I trust him as my Gamma, but not as my Beta," he said.

"Who've you chosen as your Beta then?" I asked him.

"Nobody," he said, looking at himself in the mirror, running his hands on his already crease-free tunic.

I stood up and looked at him questioningly.

He turned around, looked back at me and sighed.

"Rayne," he said. "There are some things you can't see from my perspective right now. I don't think anyone in this pack is capable to be my Beta. I'd rather wait for a suitable right hand than hurriedly choose one for the sake of it. Kristján is going to be an excellent Gamma and I have already had this conversation with him."

"Okay then," I told him, although I did feel a little put-off for Kristján, even though I trusted Valente's decision. I didn't understand how his Beta would just randomly show up, but I did know he wasn't stupid either.

I had turned to his side table to check the time, when my eyes landed on the origami wolf I had painstakingly made.

I decided to ask him something I hadn't thought to ask before.

"What's your wolf like?" I asked him.

"He's okay. His name is Sterkur. Not much of a talker though," he said.

"Really?" I asked him, almost in disbelief. Imadis on the other hand-

"Don't complete that thought," she said in my mind.

I let out a light laugh. I could annoy her too sometimes.

"Does he like me?" I asked him, now a little self-conscious, as I ran a comb through my hair.

"Does he like you?" he repeated my question, with some added disbelief of his own.

"He fucking loves you Rayne. Well not as much as me but-," he stopped himself as his eyes went wide with those words.

I sighed with those butterflies in my stomach again.

I honestly don't get what the big deal is with the word 'love'. If you're there, you're there. What's so scary about it?

I went up to him, putting my arms around his neck, and kissed him hard, feeling him smile through the kiss as he held me tight.

I let go of him just enough to touch my forehead with his gently, my voice a small whisper.

"I fucking love you too."