Laurie walks into the bathroom and takes her time changing into the significantly softer clothes. She takes a moment to look at herself in the mirror and lets out a disgruntled sigh when she spots a bruise forming on her right arm. There was some light bruising that went around her upper arm that Laurie knew would darken come morning. She hadn't been paying attention to how hard the man, Darren, had grabbed her but now that she wasn't wearing the sweater, she could see it was apparently hard enough to bruise.She inspects herself further and groans in annoyance as she sees another on her wrist. "Great. That's just great."She had been too busy being in her own head to feel anything and now that she had the time, she was making sure she had not missed anything, stopping only when she was satisfied at having found no other injuries. She looked over the bruises she did have and deduced that the one on her wrist looked far worse than the one on he

Laurie leans back in shock, both eyebrows raising. Out of all the things Kate could have said, she was not expecting that. "You need to do what?""I need to bite you," Kate repeats herself, eyes trained on Laurie's face as she tries to gauge her reaction.Laurie blinks twice before asking, "Like, bite bite?"Kate nods."Why?"Kate shakes her head, "I don't really know why, but a connection is formed when it happens. I'm not quite sure how it works."Laurie takes a breath to center herself before speaking. "What if I don't want any of this? I mean, do I even have a choice? Do you?" She asks.She wasn't trying to hurt the other woman but all of this was starting to feel like a lot and she needed to know.A sad smile makes its way onto Kate's lips. "I don't have a choice, no. But you do." Kate knew

Kate was tired.It had been two weeks since she had seen or even heard from her mate and she wasn't doing too well.The first few days were somewhat manageable. She snapped at almost everyone about the smallest issues and she felt constantly on edge, but it had been manageable.However, the longer she went without any form of contact with Laurie, the more she started to lash out. She was short-tempered, aggressive, and just plain exhausted. After a week, she chose to see her pack members as little as possible to avoid saying or doing anything in her current state that she would regret later.Two weeks in and Kate had not left her house in seven days. She had Iris and sometimes Isaac Or Connor take over most of the duties she had, having them report to her instead of going out. She trusted them the most and they were the ones who understood the unique situation that she was in.

Iris took a quick moment to think about what it was that she could say. On one hand, Kate probably didn't want her to tell Laurie about what she was going through for fear of influencing her decision. But on the other hand, Iris knew telling Laurie would do no harm. She should have been told in the first place and with the way both women were acting, all of this would only end in one way. It looked to her like Laurie had already made up her mind; whether she knew it or not."No. She's not okay." Iris sighs.Laurie straightens up in her seat, suddenly feeling an overwhelming amount of worry at the thought of Kate being hurt in any way. "What happened? She was fine the last time I saw her.""This thing you guys are doing, not seeing each other, it's taking a toll on her," Iris says, shifting to move her seat closer to Laurie who was listening to her with rapt attention. "I don't know why but it's not good for

Kate wakes slowly, shifting a little as she feels a weight laying on top of her and frowning as she is unable to move her left arm properly. She opens her eyes and is met with a face full of blonde hair. A smile makes its way on her lips as she remembers what or rather who that weight was.Laurie was still asleep. Practically on top of Kate now, having drifted closer in her sleep. She had one arm tucked under herself while the other was wrapped around Kate, her hand holding Kate's shirt in a tight grip. Her face was still tucked in Kate's neck, sleeping soundly as the other woman slowly started to wake up.Kate reaches up with her free hand, removing it from its place around her mate's waist to gently smooth her hair down, feeling slightly amused as Laurie barely even twitched as she did. She must have been exhausted.Kate craned her neck a little to look at the clock on her bedside table, careful not to jos