Fated Mate

It was a happy picture, with her seated on her father’s lap and Alice in her mother’s arms with her little fingers in her mouth. Jayson was standing behind her mother and father with his huge dorky smile on. She’d missed that smile.

The first day she spoke after her family got killed was the day she saw their picture in the newspaper. Her social worker had to file a motion with the court, declaring that she hadn’t died in the fire. It was a long process but she was finally legally alive. She was glad that the newspapers hadn’t found out that she was still alive, she didn’t want the attention and maybe not physically, but a part of her had died with her family that day.

She looked up. Ash was standing at the door, his face distressed. She stood up and walked to him. She took his hand in hers and walked back to the living room. Without a word, she handed Ann the clipping then led Ash back to the couch. He sat down before she climbed back onto his lap, burying her head in his chest. He held her tight, cradling her.

The gasp behind them answered everyone in the room. Lee wanted to disappear, to creep under a rock and never come out. She pressed herself against Ash, hoping his body would give her the refuge she so badly needed. His arms tightened around her in response.

The room was quiet, everyone’s breathing sounded louder than they usually did. She kept her concentration on Ash’s heartbeat. It was racing erratically. She needed him to stay calm so that she could draw that from him. She clenched her finger tighter on his shirt, keeping her other hand securely on his arm.

“Ash, will you please calm down. I’m depending on you to keep me from falling apart. So you need to keep it together.” Her voice was flat, emotionless and low.

“Okay.” He slowly shifted on the couch and stretched out on it keeping her cradled against him. He put her in between himself and the couch. Someone placed a blanket over them. Lee didn’t bother to move to see who it was. Then the breathing was gone. She and Ash were the only ones left in the room.

She pressed her ear on his chest, listening to his heartbeat slow down, depending on it to keep her anchored to reality. She didn’t want to think of anything. She needed to stay sane long enough to process the new curve ball life had thrown at her. She kept her concentration on Ash’s heartbeat; it was now a stable rhythm. She pushed everything out of her mind, except for the loud thud of Ash’s heart. She closed her eyes and drifted into sleep, hoping she would drown in her new dreams.

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Ash spent the night playing out Lee’s reaction when she finally reunited with her father. He was scared she would hate him for keeping her father from her. Adding the fact that they were werewolves on top of everything would be the final nail in the coffin. He knew she would want nothing to do with him. He spent the night holding her in his arms, filling her mind with the dream he had created for her to keep the nightmares away, knowing it would be the last time he would be like this with her.

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It was a miracle Lee had managed to sleep through the night. She thought she would wake up a couple of times, trembling, screaming, crying or something but she hadn’t. She wasn’t sure if she was to thank her new dreams, Ash or the orthopedic mattress. Ash had carried her to bed once she fell asleep. He’d become a part of her existence, a vital part of her that she couldn’t do without.

She got up from their new bed picked up her toiletry bag and headed for the bathroom. She wanted to relax for a while before she started freaking out. The water was soothing, washing away all the tension that had built up inside her. She spent close to an hour in the water before she went back to her room and dressed, slowly prolonging her date with reality. She sat on the bed engulfed with thoughts of her family.

It took her a long time but she had finally accepted that they were dead, and now, an image of her father was about to destroy it. It was going to pull her and drown her in her sorrows again.

He looked exactly the same, like he hadn’t aged. Jayson would have looked exactly like him if he had lived. Her mother always said he was a spitting image of her dad when he was that age.

Jayson! How could I not have thought of that before! She jumped off the bed and ran for the living room.

“Ash, Ann was right! My dad should be in his mid-forties, that guy was too young! It could have been Jayson! Maybe he escaped!”

She stopped when she saw Ann’s and Maria’s zombie faces in the kitchen, staring ahead toward the living room. Ann was standing, with Billy’s arms around her. Maria was seated at the table, her hands buried in Joe’s who sat so closely next to her. She turned following their gaze. She stopped when her eyes connected with Ash’s, not daring to look directly at the person in her peripheral view.

Ash’s eyes were sad, scared. The side of his lips curved up in half a smile. But she knew the fake smile was for her benefit, his eyes didn’t express the emotion he was trying to portray. He extended his hand and reached for her. She walked slowly toward him, keeping her eyes locked on his. His arms encircled her, tucking her under his shoulder. She fisted her fingers around the front of his shirt her other hand fisted around the shirt at his back. She looked up at him, still holding his gaze, too scared to break it.

Ash rubbed her cheek, wiping a tear that had escaped, keeping his eyes locked on hers. “Lee, someone’s here to see you.” She didn’t turn neither did she speak; she just kept staring into Ash’s deep brown eyes.

Then after what seemed like a decade, Ash broke his stare and turned his face toward the door. She blinked a couple of times as he released the hold on her eyes, but she didn’t dare turn, instead she kept her eyes on the floor.

“Merilee…” She jumped as the familiar voice called out her name. She tightened her hold on Ash, turning her head into his shoulder. She wasn’t ready yet, it was happening too fast. What if her mind was playing tricks on her again? Imagination or reality, she wasn’t ready yet.

She could feel Ash’s fingers under her chin, trying to turn her head. She pulled away burying her head deeper in his shoulder. She pressed herself into him, tightening her grips on his shirt.

“Ash,” Her voice was muffled, but she knew he could hear the panic in it.

His other hand was around her, he’d shifted her, and she was now pressed against his chest, his lips on her hair. But she never let go of his shirt, her palms hurt as her nails dug into them in a tighter hold.

“Lee, we’ll wait until you’re ready.” His voice was patient, soft; she could feel his breath in her hair.

Ash I want to see her, to hold her!

The familiar voice was impatient anxious.

You’ll wait until she’s ready, not a minute sooner!

Ash was firm but calm. She was glad he was there. But she knew she couldn’t hide all day, as much as she wanted to. They would still be standing here when the sunset and rose tomorrow.

Why is she scared of me?

He was no longer impatient, just desperate.

Dave, shh! She can hear you!

What did Billy mean I could hear him? I am in the same space as them! Lee thought to herself.

What! What do you mean?

He sounded shocked, but no one answered him this time.

Wait, he called him Dave! It wasn’t her brother. It was her dad! He was alive! She trembled as the reality hit her. Ash tightened his hold, and bent his head down. She raised her head to put her cheek against his. He was whispering in her ear, but she wasn’t paying attention to his words, but his silky singing voice soothed her, calming her down as she took her time to process everything.

She took a deep breath and turned her head, peeking from under her wet lashes at the person who was now standing so close to them. It was her dad. He looked exactly the same as he did when she last saw him. Her family’s last happy images were fixed in her mind, there was no way she would forget them.