Mate: Part Two

~Jane~ As Nathan drove me to school, I stared out the window, watching the world pass in a blur of color and light. But I wasn’t really seeing any of it. My mind was still back in the shower. With him. The heat hadn’t faded. It sat just beneath my skin now—quieter, but deeper. Like something had been awakened and wasn’t ready to sleep again. The water had poured over us, warm and endless, as his hands moved over me—firm, certain… like he already knew exactly how to make me unravel. My breath hitched at the memory. My back had been pressed against the shower wall, cool against my heated skin… his body close, holding me there. Every inch of him grounded me and unraveled me all at once. There hadn’t been space to think. Only to feel. His hands had wandered slowly, deliberately, learning me in a way that made my pulse race… like he wasn’t just touching me, but memorizing me. Worshipping me in every way. And the way I responded— It was instant. Uncontrolled. My body had a

~Nathan~ Letting Jane go is never easy. No matter how many times I do it, it never feels right. The moment I step away from her… it feels like I’m leaving a part of myself behind. She completes me in every way. When I’m with her, it’s everything I imagined it would be like when I found her. But mornings like this… when she has to go to school, when I have to walk away and leave her behind— It never feels right. What I wouldn’t give to stay with her. To keep her in my arms and never have to let go. To live in that world we fall into so easily… where it’s just the two of us. The only time I get close to that is on the weekends. Those moments when I don’t have to watch the clock. When I don’t have to count down the hours until I have to leave her again. When I can just be with her… hold her, feel her, exist in everything we are without interruption. But until she graduates… This is our reality. I sit in the car longer than I should, my hands locked around the steering wheel

~Jane~I could see it.How hard it was for him to keep it in… whatever it was that sat just behind his eyes.There was a distance there.Small.Barely noticeable.But I knew him well enough to feel it.To see the way his thoughts pulled at him, even while he sat right in front of me.And a quiet tension settled beneath my ribs.I wished he would just tell me.This morning at breakfast… when I asked him what was wrong, he brushed it off so easily.“It’s nothing you need to worry about.”But I was worried.More than I wanted to admit.Because whatever it was… it mattered.I knew that much.And a small, uneasy thought crept in—What if it had something to do with the secret he’s been keeping from me?My fingers tightened slightly around the edge of the table before I even realized it.“Nathan… is something wrong?” I asked softly, the words slipping out before I could stop them.The worry I felt was already there… written all over me.He didn’t answer right away.That hesitation—It said

~Jane~ I rest my head against his chest, my hands curling lightly into the fabric of his shirt. I’m not sure how much time has passed.Time feels… distant. Unimportant.All I can focus on is the steady rhythm beneath my ear.His heartbeat.Slow. Strong. Consistent.Something about it brings me peace—like it’s pulling me out of the storm inside my own head.For a moment, it almost feels like it’s beating for me.Like somehow… it was always meant to.My breath softens as I let myself sink into it, my body relaxing in his arms.And for a little while—everything else fades.The fear.The doubt.The questions I don’t have answers to.Not gone.Just quieter.His arms stay wrapped around me, holding me close like he hasn’t let go since everything we just said.The words. The promise in his eyes.It’s all still there.I want to believe it.More than anything, I want to trust in what he said.And part of me does.The part that feels it.My fingers tighten slightly against his shirt as I th

~Nathan~ I watched Jane, her head resting against my chest.Asleep.Safe.My arm stayed wrapped around her, holding her there a moment longer than I should have.Feeling her body against mine, In just a few days, her wolf would awaken.And everything will change, everything between us will more. As I watched her sleep next to me, the more I didn’t want to leave her. But tonight was the night, and I’d have to leave soon and meet my father and the others at the Pack-house. I took a slow breath, giving myself a few more seconds. I slowly eased my arm from around her, careful not to wake her.I slipped out of the bed, and walked over to the other side. I stayed there a moment longer than I should have- taking in every part of her. She was quiet in sleep—unguarded in a way she never let herself be awake.And for a second, I just stood there… committing it to memory. Bringing a hand to her cheek, I brushed my thumb along her soft skin. And leaned forward and placed a small, gently kiss