08/13/2017

*Here ya go, thanks for voting!

Kristin abruptly awoke from a nightmare, jolting up and gasping.

After seconds of looking around her familiar bedroom, she sat back down and let out a breath.

She was surprised she had even fell asleep in the first place. The last time she had looked at the clock it had been almost five in the morning.

She must have actually fallen asleep, and two hours later it was now seven o'clock.

She groaned, rubbing her tired eyes and trying not to think about what had happened last night.

Had it just been another nightmare? Maybe she had been sleeping the whole time.

However as pain shot through her exhausted body when she got up, she knew she hadn't gotten hardly any sleep.

She went straight to the shower to wash away the nightmares and anxiety, however this hardly helped.

It only gave her more time to think.

The pain in her chest increased with every minute she spent awake, and after her shower she slipped on some sweats and headed back to her bed.

She wrapped herself in her blankets, trying to find some comfort through her pain.

Why was she hurting so much?

Surely the bond couldn't cause actual physical pain.

However living in a pack of werewolves had taught her that it was nearly impossible to fight the mate bond.

So now what was she doing?

Trying to fight the mate bond.

She wanted to go see Ryder, but at the same time she didn't want to.

She was scared he'd just try to push her away again.

What had changed his mind? He had seemed fine with their conversation yesterday morning and she thought they were good.

Were mates always this complicated and hard?

Kristin tiredly sat in bed, wishing she could go back to sleep, but even in the daylight, the nightmares haunted her.

She wondered if she would ever not be haunted by memories of blood and murder.

Kristin's phone rang on her nightstand, making her jump.

She eagerly looked at the caller ID but sighed with relief when she saw Allison's name.

"Hello."

"Hey Kristin, whatcha doing?" Allison's cheery voice lightened Kristin's mood.

"I'm still in bed," she chuckled, looking at the time which read nine thirty am.

"That's okay, I'll come to you. I want to hang out, and you need to catch me up on everything!"

"Okay, come up to my room. I'm too lazy to get ready," Kristin said, snuggling into her pillow.

Allison laughed, "Okay, I'll be there in a little bit."

Kristin set her phone back on her nightstand, thinking it was a good idea for Allison to come over.

She felt lonely, she wanted someone to talk to.

She missed having talks with her best friend, ever since the arrangement she hadn't spent a lot of time with Allison.

Before Allison arrived, Kristin's mother knocked on her door.

"Good morning," she peeked her head in the door.

Her mother was already dressed and ready to go like usual.

"Morning," Kristin yawned.

"You look exhausted Kris, did you sleep okay?"

"Not the best," she replied truthfully.

She tried smiling at her mother so she'd stop worrying, but it turned into a grimace as pain shot through her chest.

"Is everything okay, you don't look very well," her mother walked over to her and put her hand on her forehead.

"I think you have a fever," she replied, closely examining her daughter.

"I'll be okay, I'm just going to rest," Kristin said, putting her own hand to her forehead to see if she was indeed burning up.

"Okay, honey. Get some rest and I'll come check in in an hour or so to see how you're doing. I just have to head over to the pack house," she said, looking at her watch.

"Okay, mom. Allison is coming over too," she figured she'd mention it since her friend would be here any time.

Her mother gave her a pointed look, "I don't want you going anywhere today, Kristin. It's not like you to get sick, especially to have a fever this time of year."

"I'm fine mom, it's probably the weird mate bond messing with me," Kristin muttered, waving her off.

Her mother stopped in the doorway, "Why would you say that, is everything okay with you and Ryder?"

At the sound of his name a pain shot through her chest and she winced.

Kristin sighed, regretting mentioning anything about mates.

When she didn't answer her mother raised her brows, impatient.

"I mean, I think we're okay..." Kristin struggled to lie, not being able to say everything was perfectly okay.

"It could be the separation between you two. When you first met, you stayed together most of the time. You'll probably be more affected than usual with separation because of it," her mother nodded at her, "Maybe you should go see Ryder."

Kristin groaned, "I don't want to go see him."

Her mother scrunched her eyebrows, "What do you mean? So something did happen between you two."

"I don't know, this whole thing is giving me a headache, I'm just going to rest for now," Kristin pulled her covers up to her chin, wanting her mother to drop the subject.

"Okay Kristin, rest. The only thing I'm going to say to you is this," her mother held up her finger, ready for a lecture, "When you get into a fight with your mate it's best to work it out, because even if you don't want to, it'll make you like this," she motioned at Kristin. "It's also going to be worse for you because you're Alphas, trust me."

, Kristin thought sourly.

"It's going to cause you more pain ignoring your problems than just sorting them out, okay?"

Kristin huffed, not wanting to hear how true her mother's words were.

"Okay, mom."

"Good. Now, get some rest, then go work things out with your mate."

Almost a minute after her mother had left, Allison came rushing in, going to sit in a lounge chair in the corner of Kristin's room.

"You look horrible," were her first words as she sat down and looked at Kristin.

"Wow, thanks," Kristin replied sarcastically.

"You know what I mean, Kristin. But you look super tired."

"I am," Kristin sighed.

"You're having a hard time sleeping?" Allison guessed, reading her friend's mind.

Kristin nodded, happy to finally have someone she could really talk to.

"Maybe it's because you are miles away from your mate?" Allison suggested, making Kristin groan.

"Everyone needs to stop talking about him, it's annoying."

"You two got into a fight?" Allison's eyes lit up. "Kristin, why didn't you tell me?"

"Because it happened last night and because it's complicated."

Allison gave her a flat look, "What happened?"

"Nothing really," Kristin shrugged, not really knowing herself what had happened.

"We were on the phone and one minute we were fine and then the next, Ryder went bipolar and started being an as*hole."

Maybe it was an exaggeration, but she was angry. At him for making her feel like this, and at herself, for not being able to control the affect the bond had on them.

"What did he say?" Allison asked.

Kristin shook her head, not knowing what to say.

"He started acting weird and he-- I don't know... I'm really confused to be honest, Al."

"Kristin please try to tell me, the suspense is killing me. At least what did he actually say?"

"He kept saying he didn't want to 'force' me into being the Luna of Nightfall. He thought I was just doing it because it was my responsibility. He said he wasn't going to let me be forced into it."

"Did you say you wanted to?" Allison questioned, crossing her legs on the chair.

"Yeah but he wasn't listening," Kristin said, frustrated. "I asked if that meant we couldn't be together and he said ."

"What?" Allison frowned, "What does that even mean?"

Kristin threw her hands in the air, "I don't know!"

"What did you say?"

"Not much, I guess I was kind of thrown off by his complete change in behavior, I didn't know what to say. But he said he had to go anyway, and hung up."

"What the hell?" Allison shook her head, getting angry as well.

"We need to go confront him, like right now," she stood up, putting her hands on her hips.

"What?" Kristin widened her eyes at her friend's determination, "No!"

"Yes, I'm going to give him a piece of my mind," Allison said matter-of-factly, putting her hand out to Kristin to get up.

"I'm staying right here, I don't want to see him," Kristin crossed her arms, although a part of her did want to see him.

Probably the part of her being tormented from their separation because of that stupid bond.

"Come on, we're going," Allison tugged her arm.

"I'm not going anywhere looking like this," Kristin said as an excuse. Truthfully she didn't care what she looked like at this point.

Allison sighed, finally getting Kristin to sit up. She sat behind her and started braiding her hair.

"Fine, we're making you look badass, then we're going," she smiled evilly.

Kristin rolled her eyes and let her braid her hair.

After she did that, Allison went to her closet, coming out to throw a bunch of clothes at Kristin.

"Wear this, it'll make Ryder sorry for ever saying you shouldn't be together."

Allison's words made Kristin frown, but she just pulled the clothes on and followed Allison downstairs.

"Breakfast?" she asked Kristin as they passed the kitchen.

"I'm not hungry," she shook her head, nervous about going to Nightfall.

Allison hurried her into her car and sped out of the driveway.

"Allison, slow down!" Kristin gasped.

"Sorry, I'm just ready to go kick your mate in his precious little--"

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Kristin said, interrupting Allison's threat. "I need to let my parents know I'm leaving pack territory."

Her mother was happy to hear her plans, however her father made her stop by the pack house, so they could have a guard go with them.

"Okay, finally we can go," Allison said excitedly as she pulled onto the main road.

"You look super hot, by the way," Allison looked at Kristin's attire, "Perfect," she grinned evilly.

Kristin looked down at her black skinny jeans and her top.

"I don't think this will help at all," she tugged on her shirt.

"Is Ryder a guy?" Allison suddenly asked.

"Yes, Allison," Kristin replied, rolling her eyes.

"Then trust me, this will make him you."

"I don't want him to me, I want him to not be a jerk to me. It's almost like he doesn't want me to help him lead the pack. Maybe I should just leave him alone."

"Kristin have you ever heard of mates not wanting to see each other?"

"Ye--"

"Thought so," Allison shrugged, "Kristin, you said the bond is affecting you. That means it's obviously affecting him too."

Kristin wondered if this was true, not convinced Ryder was feeling as bad as she was.

•. •. •. •. •.

Chapter Twenty Six read!

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Chica_2016