Emergence [noun] - the process of becoming visible after being concealed.

author's note: thank you for 6k reads! hope you're all loving reading it as much as i am writing it <3

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I was awakened in the middle of the night by a deep humming sound.

Kane's arm was around me firmly and he looked fast asleep. I blinked slowly, sat up and coaxed his arm off me. Normally, he would have woken up, but I could tell his body was forcing him to rest. The swelling of his arm, however, was going down.

I made sure he was resting against the wall before I focused on the humming sound again. It was coming from the pool. I stood up and approached it with curiosity. I crouched down to get a better look. The water was still running, and the reflection of the full moon was visible.

My eyebrows twitched in confusion. I looked up. The sky couldn't possibly be seen in the middle of the cave. The moon shimmered and seemed like a mirage as the water jolted. Black vines slowly spread across it, reaching further until the whole disc turned obsidian. The water around it remained a clear blue. I lifted my hand and dipped it into the water.

The humming stopped and the vines retreated until the moon returned to white. The brand on my wrist pulsed and I turned my hand over to see his name glow amber before it momentarily flashed blue.

"What?" I whispered.

Kane stirred with a pained grunt and I watched him cautiously. He rubbed at his wrist before opening his eyes. It was his broken arm. I quickly crawled towards him.

The brand on his wrist was flaming. My hand was wet as I pressed my fingers against his skin to relieve him of his pain.

"Rina," he said through gritted teeth. "Are you okay?"

I nodded. "Yes." I squeezed his wrist and he inhaled sharply. I quickly let go. "Sorry. Is the mark still hurting?"

He winced as he shook his head. "No. Just my arm. What happened?"

"I don't know." I looked back at the pool. "The water—it was making a sound and I saw something."

He was still sleepy when he responded. "What? What did you see?"

"The moon," I replied, sitting back on my heels. "But not the real moon. It was black and then turned white again."

"Is it still there?" he questioned.

I shrugged. "Let's look together."

We stood up from the ground and knelt by the edge of the pool. It was dark, but the water lit up the cave as it glowed. I could see my reflection in it. I looked at Kane's and gasped when I saw his wolf with glowing eyes.

"How is this possible?" I asked, feeling my heart race.

Kane stared at his reflection in disbelief. "I don't know..." He glanced at me and a small frown pulled at his lips. "It's not real."

I rubbed my hands over my face. The fear was evident on it. "I know. I'm sorry."

He waved a hand in the water. His reflection returned to normal. It was silent in the cave, but outside, the wind was howling. The storm had been going on for several hours now.

He wiped his hand on his jeans and sighed as he looked towards the cave exit. "We'll be here until the morning. Thankfully, everyone else is safe and indoors."

I leaned closer to him and placed my hand on his. "You need medical attention now, though."

His lips tightened into a resigned smile. "I'll be okay." He turned his hand over and linked our fingers. His thumb lightly caressed my skin and he tightened his grip. "You're cold too."

I was wearing a jacket and layers, but the several hours we had spent in the cave, even if it was warmer than outside, were getting to me. "Not as cold as you."

"You should shift. You'll be much warmer." He let go of my hand.

I stared at him, and the bewilderment slowly emerged on my face. "Kane, if anyone should shift, it's you. You'll be warmer and heal quicker."

He shook his head. "That's not an option, Rina." His voice softened. I knew what he meant and frowned. He continued before I could say anything. "I've dealt with worse, so I'll be okay. Shift and then you can keep both of us warm."

I almost objected until I saw the pleading glint in his warm eyes. He was tired. My shoulders dropped in resignation and I slowly stood up. His gaze followed me as I unzipped my jacket and shrugged it off.  I pulled my sweater off and shivered as the air brushed against my shoulders. I was wearing a red tank top underneath it. His eyes were on mine until they travelled down, taking in my bare skin. They stopped at my neck where he would eventually mark me.

The air suddenly felt hotter, but I shivered again under his darkening gaze. His jaw ticked and he forced his body around so that he gave me his back. I stared at him, dazed for a lengthy moment. My body felt alight purely from the way he was looking at me. It made me want him to mark me. It was pure nature that drew us together, and the urge to have our souls united would become stronger with every second we spent in each other's presence.

I couldn't think about the way I wanted him to sink his teeth into my neck, so I shook the thought out of my head and stripped out of the rest of my clothes. I triggered the shift, feeling my bones contort until I stood behind him in wolf form. The first time I had shifted had been incredibly painful since my body had never experienced the change, but the sensation had dulled over the years. Now, I could only feel surges in my bones as they took their new shape.

Kane turned around and a smile climbed onto his face. "You are magnificent," he uttered quietly.

My fur was a rich, deep brown, and in wolf form, my eyes were a flashing silver. I approached him slowly. With my sharper vision, I could see the way his blood pulsed in his arm. I looked back up at him and noticed how he could feel every bit of the pain. I dipped my head closer to his and he pressed his forehead against mine. His left hand rose and he buried his fingers into my fur, right by my neck.

"I'm okay," he said in a low tone. He sat back against the raised edge of the pool and straightened his legs out in front of me so that I could settle between them.

We were larger and heavier in wolf form, but Kane held me as if I weighed nothing. His arm came protectively around me and I dug my muzzle against his neck. His hand caressed my back before travelling up my neck and around my ears. His fingers pressed under my jaw and he looked down at me. I was basking in his attention.

"One day," he began, "I hope you can feel this comfortable with my wolf." I didn't move, and the muted sadness was clear in his eyes. "So I can know what it feels like to run wild with you."

I stared into his eyes, wishing that mine communicated that I hoped that too. He pressed a kiss between my eyes and slid his body down so that his head rested against the edge instead. I did the same, adjusting myself so that I was staring into the water. Before I closed my eyes, I caught the reflection of my wolf.

—————

When the morning finally came, Kane was awake before me. He was looking up at the cave ceiling, and a small frown was on his face.

"The storm is over," he spoke with a gruff voice. One look at him told me he hadn't gotten much sleep. His arm was bothering him.

I climbed off him and looked at my clothes. We needed to get back.

"My father will meet us at the main path. You can shift back." He kept his gaze upwards.

I trotted to my clothes and shifted back. I stretched to rid my body of its stiffness. It wasn't often that I slept in wolf form. I quickly pulled my clothes on but kept my sweater off. I kneeled in front of Kane and ran my hand through his hair. He lifted his head and closed his eyes. He was worse than last night, and I felt guilty that he wouldn't shift because of me.

"Let me make a mock sling from my sweater." I tied the sleeves around his neck and adjusted them until they held his arm as securely as they could against his chest. I held his other hand as we stood up, momentarily letting go to shove my camera into my backpack. I secured the straps around my shoulders and fell into step with him. 

He groggily led the way out of the cave and when we emerged, the snow was piled higher than the day before. It crunched under our boots and the brightness was harsh. I squinted, instantly aware that without him, I wouldn't know which way to go. We reached the main path after ten minutes.

Lachlan was waiting in an SUV and came out to open the back door for us. "There are blankets, water and food inside for you. Are you both alright?"

"I'm okay thanks to Kane," I replied, ducking under Kane's arm when I noticed he wanted me to go in first. "Kane needs to go to the hospital."

He climbed in after me as Lachlan responded. "They're waiting for him."

It was much warmer in the car, but I unfolded the blanket on the seat and wrapped it around Kane. I fastened his seatbelt for him then mine before I cracked open a water bottle and handed it to him. He chugged it in seconds and I did the same. Lachlan had packed two sandwiches and I unwrapped them and passed one to Kane. We were equally ravenous. It had been almost twenty-four hours since we had eaten.

Lachlan drove as fast and safely as he could. We reached the hospital in record time and like he had said, two nurses and the main pack doctor were waiting for him. It was a small hospital, mostly reserved for the pack but could function as a normal hospital for passersby.

"We've got to get you in for an X-ray, Alpha, to see how bad the break is."

He barely acknowledged what she was saying because of the pain.

"We'll give you painkillers too."

My heart twisted as they led him away. I stayed back with Lachlan who surveyed me with concern. "Are you okay, Rina?"

I looked at him, swallowing down my emotions. "Just worried about him."

Lachlan's arm came around my shoulders consolingly. "Kane is a fighter, always has been. It only looks this bad because you guys were out in the storm all night."

I nodded, knowing there was truth to his words. It didn't help the guilt that was festering inside me. In the past thirteen hours, I had caused Kane not only physical pain but emotional pain too. His entire demeanour had changed once I had told him about the nightmares. I was quickly regretting my decision to tell him. Maybe it would have been better if he had never known.

Just under two hours had passed when Kane finally had a cast and sling around his arm and was no longer in pain. He was sitting on the edge of the hospital bed, dressed in the warmer clothes that Moira had brought, and freshly showered. I felt icky in comparison, knowing that I was in desperate need of a shower too.

His parents had left to help Finn and Carmen survey any damage caused by the storm, which meant I was driving us back home. Kane turned to face me, and seemed back to his normal self—except for the slight dimness in his eyes. When he looked at me, it was like he was seeing right through my soul. I had shared my deepest secret, and I didn't know how to feel.

"Are you okay?" he broke the silence to ask.

"You keep asking me that," I replied, wrapping my arms around myself.

"Because I want you to know that it's okay if you're not." He stood up and walked over to me.

I craned my head back to keep my gaze on his. I felt exposed. I clenched my jaw and took a deep breath in, turning towards the door. "I know. We should go home." I began walking to the exit.

He didn't move for a long moment before he followed after me. He easily fell into step with me but didn't say anything. It gave me a false sense of security, in an odd way, because I knew better than to think that Kane would let it slide. In the middle of a cave during a storm wasn't the best backdrop for the truth we needed to confront.

When we got to Lachlan's car, Kane gave me directions back to his house. To distract myself as soon as we got in, I lit the fireplace. The power had been affected during the storm, so I got a few candles and lit them around the living room since it was gloomy outside. Kane watched me do all this, and I willed myself not to crumble underneath his intense gaze.

"I'm going to freshen up," I muttered before I bounded up the stairs. I grabbed a change of clothes from my suitcase and headed straight for the bathroom.

The hot shower soothed my sore body and I traced the bruise that spanned across my back and side. It was a miracle that I hadn't broken anything. No, Kane was the miracle—my saviour. The sight of his wolf flashed behind my closed eyes and I whipped them open, shutting off the water with shaky hands. Stop, Rina.

It was a battle—the duality of man and wolf, calmness and fear.

For three years, I suffered with it all alone. Telling him meant I was no longer shouldering the weight of it by myself. It had become all I knew, and now, I didn't know how to handle it being off my chest. No one knew what I had seen every night, not my parents, or Tiana and Levi.

A secret long concealed was no longer hidden.

The thought of it made me breathless. I dried off with a towel and pulled on my fresh clothes. I bit the bullet and went downstairs. Kane had two peanut butter and jam sandwiches plated on the coffee table in front of him. We had finished anything that needed to be refrigerated before the storm (we had three days' notice), which left us with limited options until the power came back on.

I took a seat next to him, pulling my sleeves over my palms. He pushed a plate in my direction, and I couldn't meet his eyes until his warm hand settled on my leg. I looked up and felt my eyes water. He took off his sling.

"Come here," he softly said, pulling me into his arms as I crumbled under my overwhelming feelings. His arms enveloped me in his warmth, and he held me against his chest as I cried. "You're safe, Rina. You're safe." He leaned back and lay me on top of him. Our legs tangled as I gripped his hoodie between my fingers.

My tears expelled everything I was holding in—the shock of finding my mate and all the effects it had brought, my nightmares finally being over, and the loneliness that had suffocated me ever since my twenty-first birthday.

He was a mountain underneath me, holding me tightly. When I finally caught my bearings, I flattened my cheek against his chest, staring at our reflections in the TV.  After a while of silence, I lifted my hand and wiped my face before I propped myself up on his chest.

"Thank you," I quietly uttered.

I could feel his cast against my back, and with his other hand, he combed his fingers through my hair and brushed it back. "Anytime." He sat up and my hands rested around his shoulders as I brought my legs on either side of him.

I probably looked a mess with red eyes and flushed cheeks, but he simply gazed up at me like he was looking at his painting of me. He reached down into his pocket and pulled out a pendant on an equally bronze chain. He held it up between us.

"This is our pack's crest." He traced the engraving of a howling wolf on the pendant. "It's our tradition that the alpha and luna of the pack wear it—a commitment to each other and the pack that will always be honoured. I want you to have it until you're ready to wear it."

A flash of bronze peeked out from the collar of his hoodie, and I noticed he had put his one on. I took mine from him with my left hand, feeling the cold chain between my fingers. I copied his movement and lightly dragged my thumb across the pendant. The howl was a symbol of communication, connection and the crux of what it was to be a werewolf. Directed to the moon, it was a complete acceptance of our true nature.

Wearing it would show him that I did accept our being mates. I noticed things about Kane as much as he noticed them about me. Ever since I divulged the truth to him, he had an air of self-doubt around him, like he was unsure if I wanted him around me, even in human form.

I closed my fingers over the pendant as I glanced at him. I then quietly put my head through the chain, and slid my hands across his broad shoulders. I cupped his face, feeling the stubble. He was staring at the pendant that rested on my collarbone until I leaned down and slanted my lips over his. He inhaled through his nose, returning the kiss eagerly. His hand curled into a fist at the small of my back and I wrapped my arm around his neck to completely close the distance between us.

Time felt like it stopped as we kissed, and when I pulled away because he accidentally tensed his broken arm, he shook his head.

"I can barely feel it," he breathed out, punctuating his statement with another kiss.

I smiled against his mouth, loving how much his heart raced. Mine was equally as fast. The pull of an alpha. At that thought, I pulled back and laughed nervously. "I think we should eat now." I climbed off him and took a seat on the other side of the sofa.

He sat up properly and readjusted his hoodie, fighting a smile at my jitteriness. "Okay."

I quickly took a bite of the sandwich to occupy myself. The pendant felt cold against my skin, so I pulled my collar up and placed it against the material with my right hand.

I didn't miss the way the brand on my wrist warmed as I did so.