Wren's POV

“What a ride it’s been with you.” I take it real slow. I'm not fragile and composed. I'm fucking breaking down.
She stalls.
I will never see her again.
Maybe the glimmers forming in Joy’s eyes may already know.
She brings a clenched fist to her blazoned chest. “Chimeras never die. They fly forever in the endless skies.”

I free a not so liberating exhale, half my lungs suffocating from a tight throat. I'm still in the same place, soaking in Mustar...
Damp skin enters in contact with mine. It’s soft and cold, probably from the wind. Red Crotal...
I take in her scent without making eye contact. At this point in the night, I’m the drunkard who just wants to be left alone.
As she mirrors my posture, forearms crossed on the bar and presumably gazing at nothing, Nathair sighs, “I still think about the old days when stories went the same way, and we had time to waste. Now places keep changing names, renaming areas that used to be streets. Bomb sites that were once crystal nests...”
I turn to this woman, her snake tattoo eating her smile. “You’re not dancing with a mutt?” my voice is husky from the liquor. I’ve been indulging in this Mustar for the past 30 minutes. It dries my throat so much that I’m dehydrated. So here I am, quenching my thirst over and over again...
“I was, but a lone wolf caught my attention. I took pity on it, and so here I am.” Nathair is smirking at me, one eye closing with friendliness.
I would have never guessed that this girl who tried to take me down was the friend I’d been seeking for so long.
But who cares? It’s too late now.
“Girl, tell me your problems,” I mumble.
“I have none.”
“I can tell you have a lot on your mind...” The war paint on her face is fading with tears. She can’t hide that. The girl is waisted.
“None that matters anywaysss.” Aye, beyond the shadow of a doubt...
“And certainly not as much as you.” She dangles a bottle in front of me and sniggers, “Here, let’s drown them, shall we?”
“Or us,” I simper.
“Or us.”
“Let’s drink ourselves to death. I’m dead anyways.”
“You went to the temple?” she asks, knowing well I did, and as she does, this faker refills my cup right up. What a friend, indeed.
Anyways, I nod.
“Sometimes these three oldies say stuff, and it’s all very metaphoric. Please don’t take it too literally. They’re just a bonch of old decrepits.” Nathair is feeling chatty tonight. It might very well be the most extended conversation we ever had.
“Then, why do you worship them?”
“Our Madres can see the future. Rather than solving issues, they empower us to solfe them for ourselfes. Isn’t that all that matters?”
“Are you all churchgoers around here,” I sneer.
She’s gazing up the dune, smoldering her eyes on the bonfire. And after letting seconds run between us, she mumbles, “There’s nothing wrong with having Faith.”
“I prefer to trust Fate,” I echo in my can.
Nathair’s face darkens. “At least you get to spend your last breath with your mate.”
“My mate... Kilian?! I never had the Calling.”
“What?” She looks stunned.
It’s no secret.
“No,” I flatten out. I wish Kilian were my true mate so damn hard. But no. He’s not.
“Well, that makes two mateless wolves amongst a thousand men. How unlucky can we get?” She’s giggling her drunkness out like it’s frigging cute.
...So cute I can’t unplug my eyes from her. “It’s not that true...” My gaze is drawn up her cheekbones. Nathair is as if she was born from marble, with a smudge of shadow slipping over her cheeks. Finally, I manage to rasp, “...Jinx is yours.” Phew, the alcohol is sure kicking in.
Suddenly, she’s looking at me with full blue eyes like the Mil Estrelas—that was another fucked up episode of mine, now that I think about it.
Nathair’s soft voice trails off. “Jinx...”
She pours me a glass and says, “Meeting you was Fate.”
My smile spreads across my face because, quite obviously, our exchange is going down the drain. “Where’s your Faith gone?”
“It’s with me always,” her voice is no more than a murmur.
In a similar tone, I say, “I wish I could have yours...” I wish I could believe in better days. Fuck, I want to.
“I can share it,” she purrs, turning her entire body towards me.
Why is the time so slow? I watch her hands draw closer to me and become frozen as they cup my head.
“Please do.” The words that come out of me are not mine; if they happen to be, this thing happening here is new, and I have no control over it.
I can feel her lips gliding against mine, but then they creep back, giving me a flush all over.
“It’s ok...,” I hear. In a playful game of threads, her fingers slip behind my neck, inviting me to her lips once more.
A twirl of softness invades my mouth as I try to process what is happening.
“What is the purpose of this cavity check?” This question comes with an intense masculine growl, and RIGHT NOW I’m fucked.
Hand caught in the bag, we push ourselves away.
“Kilian... it’s-it’s—
“Nathair!” I cut. “You wanna run with Jinx?”
“With Jinx?!”
“Yes.” I'm trying to avoid Kilian. But I can't. Fortunately, I don't seem to interest him.
With nostrils flaring in silence, he's dead-eying his Zeta like he's about to kill her.
However, she doesn’t seem to care in the slightest. In fact, the more I watch her, the more her face glistens like a child under fireworks. And not a minute later, there she is, naked like a worm, shifting as I ponder the manner of things.
I guess it’s time to go jogging. And it’s going to be chaotic because I can’t tell my left from my right.
Jinx, you’re free to go.
“Nathair, at last...” I press my head against hers. I want to feel her, touch her, smell her...
“Where do you think you two are going?!” It’s this man again.
In response, I turn my attention to him, my clapping snarl sharper than ever. “Alpha, you can’t catch us!” I channel.
We thunder off, beating the sand, our fur teasing each other as we take over the desert side by side.
“What?! Hey!” the human spurts.
“Jinx, how far can we go?” Nathair mind-links. Ablaze with brown fur, this perfect dove is the wolf of wolves, the heart of my heart...
The one for me...
...At last.
“As far as you're willing to go with me.” Yelps, it’s all I have for her. Weak, but I mean weak, weak yelps. That’s how she makes me feel, and I don’t give the slightest shit.
I howl with joy as we blaze off into the night, reunited at last.
But then, another howl that is not mine ripples through us.
I twist my neck to find a massive white wolf tailing us, a chuckling groan huffing at each of his shuffling paws.
I internally grin.
He’ll never catch us...
