Chapter 37:

Camila didn't know how she found herself in his bed that night.

Questioning herself later on, she realised that it was a comfort thing. A familiarity that stemmed from a childhood bond she could not shake. Since he was nomadic these days, the room hadn't changed much in the last two decades. The 'super-wolf' sheets and figurines still painted the perfect picture of boyhood.

It had begun with simple frustration. Frustration that had morphed into anger and had grown sharp claws and teeth before she even had a chance to reign her emotions in. These days she was teetering between fragile stones of losing herself. One slip of the foot and the waves threatened to consume her. And tonight she had felt the water lapping at her feet.

A bubbling cocktail of emotions. The only hand that she wanted to hold was the very same fingertips that pushed her away. And so, she knew retreated into old comforts. Old conversations and old bedsheets.

(A day earlier)

Mason had arrived home the previous night. The trio, Jake included had grabbed a quick but sombre dinner. The brothers were too despondent to antagonise each other and Camila was too heavy-hearted to initiate any form of banter. The atmosphere between them had never been so low in spirit. Even when their grandparents had passed, even when Alpha and Luna Hart had the occasional fight, they'd find themselves always laughing, joking, comforting each other. But that night it seemed that they all had nothing left to give.

Baby girl's heart rate had begun to drop. The doctors had done their tests and had their theories, but Camila knew that even with the gift of modern medicine, a pup was not meant to be without the touch of their mother. No drips, scans or medicine could compare.

When the news was just as unpromising, the next evening, Camila, feeling the strain of being away from her pack, from Taine - she collapsed into herself. She has been outpouring hope to everyone around her, caring for Sammy, Partick. She was glad to do it, but had reached the inevitable point of overload.

She knocked on his door that night, practically fell to pieces in his arms, and let herself be carried in and cared for, in a way that she had so desperately needed.

--

Camila was embarrassed, to say the least. It was a long time since Mason had last played therapist for her. She glanced at the couch he had graciously slept on while she had soaked his bed with her tears.

She opened her mouth to speak but she was cut off.

"Camila don't apologize."

She lifted her head from the pillow. He was now lying next to her.

"How did you know I was going to apologize?"

"I know you, Mila."

She sadly smiled. The fact that he could practically read her mind, didn't surprise her.

He lowered his phone from his face to look at hers. "And because I know you so well, I know that you know, what you need to do."

She laughed. He was speaking in riddles.

"And what is it, that you know, I know, I know I need to do?'

He didn't answer the question. Instead, he let silence fall into the conversation and settle over them like a blanket. It was a silence so comfortable that it could only be attributed to the type of silence shared between lifelong friends.

"I don't want a mate. I have so many other things I love in life, I don't need some she-wolf coming in and shaking that up."

Camila turned her head to look at him. His eyes were on the ceiling. She had figured as much. After his man-whore stage as a younger wolf ended, he had shown no interest in romance of any kind. She always wondered if he had ever fallen for someone. Fallen hard, fallen young. Maybe he had gotten hurt so badly that the scars were too deep to do anything but throw him into a life of travel and disinterest him in the routine of pack life.

She had always wondered who that girl was.

"I was a hormonal wolf and I slept my way around for a few years but then...I realised I just felt empty inside. By the time I realised how pathetic I was, people my age had already found mates and were on their way to a lifetime of happiness. By the time I realised all the mistakes I made, the people I hurt. It was just too late. I felt so trapped here that I had to leave for a while."

He reached for her hand across from his. "I know I hurt you guys."

She shook her head and squeezed his hand. He was wrong. "You never hurt me."

She was being truthful. Him leaving hadn't hurt her. Ever since the day they met, they had been inseparable. But that was exactly why she understood him. She knew why he needed to uproot. The truth of it was that he had never truly left. He was there in her laughter, in the wind, in every moment and memory, he had been with her.

What had hurt was the girls constantly hanging off his arms and the way he'd choose them over their friendship.

She had loved him then... or at least she thought she did, but that was a long time ago.

Everyone had long forgiven the prodigal wolf, but Jake on the other hand, would never forget. The confusion and pain of waking up one morning and finding out his brother had gone, without so much as a goodbye. It stung.

And after a few months he was back, like he had never left, already putting marks in the calander of when they were going to go adventures together.

Mason continued, with a sadness lacing his voice. " I realised that someone had been chasing me and I was too stupid to slow down so she could catch up."

Her heart panged. She didn't allow herself to think deeply into his words. That was the past. A lifetime ago.

"And by the time I did...well, it was too late. After breaking so many hearts I realised that I'd only broken mine."

In typical Mason fashion, he flipped over to face her and changed the atmosphere of the room, like the flick of a switch.

"So girl, you need to get your ass home. I don't want you to make the same mistake."

She blinked at him in surprise. "I Didn't realise this was going to be a sob-fest, do you want me to get you some tissues? Or your mum?"

"No, you used all the tissues last-night cry baby."

That earnt him a few swings of a pillow in his face.

After Camila had gotten payback in the form of a pillow fight, Mason broached the subject again.

"No, but seriously Mila, As much as I like seeing your ugly face around here... I think its time."

Camila crossed her arms and looked at him incredulously. "Libby isn't cleared to leave the hospital yet, Patrick has only just started acting like a father again, Jake is having girl problems! You know things will only fall apart if I leave now."

"As much as we all benefit from your saviour complex, you're just making excuses now."

She growled at him and he dismissed her anger with a flippant wave of the hand.

"So what, if you're the luna of a pack that killed your entire family and now your emotionally unavailable mate seems to have a side wolf and you have no real friends."

Camila rolled her eyes. "Well, when you put it like that." She knew he wasn't unsympathetic. If knowing him like the back of her hand didn't t6ell her that, then way he wiped her eyes the previous night certainly did. He had never, never treated her like she needed to be packaged in bubble wrap. Not unless she made it clear her soul needed it. It was all on her own terms. And right now, he knew she needed a reality check.

"Look I'm going to sound like a dick right now—"

"Cause you haven't been sounding like one this whole time?" She responded.

"Shut up and listen to me."

Camila pressed her lips together and waited for Mason's pearls of wisdom.

"This is a reality check. No matter how un-ideal this situation seems...this, him. That's your destiny. Like it or not, you were matched with him for a reason. I don't like him very much right now – or in general, but at least let him explain himself. And if the conclusions you've jumped to are right, I'll personally come over there and beat him- and the girl up with you...And at risk of sounding like a typical future Alpha, let me remind you, you are a Luna now. You have responsibilities and if you aren't going to go back for yourself at least do it for your pack."

Her jaw went slack. "Wow, what brought this on? You've completely changed your tune from a few months ago."

"Let's just say I had a little phone call of my own, when you were asleep."

"What?!"

Mason shrugged. "Nobody makes you cry unless it's from laughing too hard. So I stole your fingerprint, phone, and called the guy."

Camila groaned and placed her head in her hands. "That would have pissed him off so much."

"Yeah. It did."

She slapped him across the arm. "You want me to go running back to him, but you're creating problems for me before I've even made my mind up."

"Nothing but a bit of jealousy to make him realise what he's got."

"I hate you."

"Okay, point is Mila, I dropped a few subtle hints and even though the guy has two emotions and is like a brick wall of a conversationalist, I didn' t get any 'just-cheated-on-my-mate' vibes. You sure it wasn't the beta? Or his mum or sister or something?"

"Well, wouldn't that be convenient. I'm not an idiot Mason."

Mason raised his arms up defensively, seeing the death stare Camila was giving him.

"I am going to stay a till the end of the week, but after that...I'll take into consideration what you said."

Mason grinned. The same face he'd make when he'd win games as a kid. She couldn't stay mad at that cheesy smile. "That's all I'm asking, Mila."

She sighed and threw her head back into her pillow. This conversation was making her sweaty and anxious.

Mason grabbed a tendril of her hair and lightly tugged it, "I have news for you."

"What?"

"Libby woke up a few hours ago."

Camila instantly sat up. "Why didn't you tell me! I've been sitting here having pillow-talk with your hairy ass when I could have been with Libby!"

"For one, my ass isn't hairy."

She interrupted him. "You're a wolf. Of course it's hairy."

He glared at her, "and second, you needed some beauty sleep, trust me."

She jumped out of bed and put on her jeans under Mason's shirt she had stolen.

"I can't believe you."

"Also, if I told you, you would have wanted to stay for longer, but remember what you just promised me?"

She didn't acknowledge his words because he was right. He knew her too well. She was ready to bolt out the door and to her best friends side when Mason grabbed her arm to halt her.

"Mila, life goes on. Yours is important too and it doesn't have to stop indefinitely as soon as something bad happens. Things are gonna be okay, even if you aren't here."

She nodded and gave him a hug. "Thanks for being honest with me."

He hugged her back, "you don't need sugar-coating. I mean you put the guy in the hospital, I would be afraid of you if I were him."

He'd become so wise in the last few years.

"Look, I just had a moment. We've moved past that." She crossed her arms defending herself.

"And if all else fails...I think the poor guy just needs to get laid."

Nevermind.