He says, “I love you.”
My eyes are wet as I smile at him. I don’t care about that. “I love you too.”
He exhales. “Good.”
“Good,” I agree, itching to tackle him, to cover him with my entire body, to let him know that I’ve got him, I’ve got him, I’ve got him.
I wait, because he’s not finished.
He reaches down for the backpack and unzips it, and right before he opens it, right before he takes out the object inside, I realize what this is.
What this means.
“My father gave this to me,” he whispers as he pulls a stone wolf out of the bag. And even though I should be surprised that it looks so much like my own, I’m not. It fits because we fit. There’s something infinite about us, and I tell myself I will never forget this moment. The way he looks. The way he smells. The sunlight on the back of my neck and th
e grass beneath us. Every piece and part of it I memorize, storing away to keep it safe. To keep it whole. “He told me one day I would know who it belongs to. Who I would want to give it to.”
“And you want to give it to me,” I whisper back.
He nods.
He holds it out to me.
And it’s that simple.
I take it from him, and then I tackle him. He’s laughing, and I’m laughing, and I’m kissing every inch of him that I can get my mouth on, promising him all the while that I’m going to love him forever, that I’m going to be the best mate, just you wait and see, Kelly, I promise you, you’re never going to be disappointed for choosing me, you’re never going to think you’ve made a mistake, because I will do everything for you, and I will never, ever forget you, I—
I
I cry out as he bites into my shoulder before I sink my own teeth into his flesh, and it all snaps into place, this bond between us, this thread of shining light that wraps itself around my heart and tightens. There’s blood in my mouth, and it’s all grass and lake water and sunshine and he’s summer-warm and I know what’s next, I know what’s going to happen next, and I don’t want it, I don’t want to see it, I don’t want to remember. I want to stay here with him, stay here in this moment where everything is wonderful and nothing hurts. And I—
I
I
I
I can’t.
Because it’s not who I am.
I see that now.
I see all that I am and all that I’ve become.
Who these people have made me into.
I am good.
I am loved.
I am wolf.
I am Bennett.
I am packpackpack.
There’s a door.