16 - Chapter Sixteen - Adler Hain’s Point Of View.

Wilder looked at me. It was early in the morning and he had woken me up; the sun was barely even up.

"I'm sorry. I know you didn't sleep well last night, and I'm sorry for kissing you."

I wasn't sorry about it, not in the slightest. The kiss was amazing. I touched his arm, before muttering no worries. He didn't seem to share the same thoughts as me.

"I'll try to be more careful in the future when I wake up."

"It's fine. Don't worry about it. One early morning will not kill me."

He dressed, grabbing his spear off the wall.

"Anything you want in particular for breakfast?"

"Surprise me. I'll eat nearly anything. Did you want me to come with you?"

"No, you can stay in bed. I'll only be a few moments."

"Alright, if you need my help, come back and get me."

He hummed in response before heading out. Rolling over, I snuggled deeper into the blankets, hoping to get more sleep. The birds singing and children screaming well they played were not helping me sleep. Not in the slightest. Sighing, I sat up in the bed and rubbed my eyes.

A wave of panic rolled through me, followed by pain, but not my pain. I didn't even have to think about who's pain it was. This was Wilder's emotions.

I shoved the blankets back and raced from the hut. Blindly, my legs took me down the path to the beach and through the sand. Wilder was there in the sand. With him were the same men from before, Ash and the others.

"What happened? Is he ok?"

He was grinding his teeth, sounds of painful grunts leaving his mouth.

"A toxic fish stung him, nothing terrible. The pain is the worst. He will be fine in a few hours."

"A toxic fish?"

"Yes, they are rare, but they show up at this time of the season."

Moving past Ash, I dropped into the sand by Wilder. I took his hand he had bunched up the ground and held it. I tried to distract him by shoving his pain away, but it took over the entire connection.

"Let me help shoulder some of your pain."

He grunted at me. Trying to pull his hand out of mine.

"My... Mother is coming."

"I don't care. Let me help you."

I held on to his hand even harder, not allowing him to pull his hand out of mine. I heard Liv speaking as they came running down the beach, his mother alongside her. She almost seemed shocked to see me there. Liv didn't look shocked in the slightest. I heard her mutter to his mother, 'I told you he would be here.'

Liv came and sat down on the other side of Wilder, her hands running over his wound. She slowly used what I assumed was her gift to heal part of the wound. Wilder grabbed her hand and removed it.

"That's more than enough. I would have been fine without you healing me."

Wilder's pain was still more than what one would like, but it was manageable, it seemed, with us both sharing it. His mother was looking at me with the eyes of someone who had finally found out a secret. I wanted to warn Wilder, but he looked at me with a look that said he was aware she knew now.

"Everyone can go now. I can handle the rest." His mother said softly before taking a seat in the sand beside Liv and looking right at him.

She waited for everyone to leave before she had a look at his wound, then crossed her arms and waited. Unsure of what I was really doing, and worried about how this would all play out. I looked to Wilder, who gave my hand a soft squeeze.

"I'm going to take Alder as my life mate." He said strained.

His mother frowned. Her eyes looking at me.

"Wilder, you hardly know him. Are you sure?"

I don't know why, But I grabbed her hand and forced her to hold my hand. She yanked her hand out of mine only seconds later.

"What the hell was that?"

Liv smiled to herself, sticking her hand out. I lightly held onto it, and she also removed her hand shortly after.

"Those are powerful emotions, though who's I am not sure? Please explain this to us."

"Every time Wilder touches my hand, we have a connection. It goes well past just holding hands now. I know when he is near, when he looks at me, when he is in pain and it grows stronger every time we break off the connection. It doesn't happen with anyone else, and until I just touched your hands, I wasn't sure if I could use my gift to show our connection."

"Was that your pain we felt?"

"Yes. My pain is taking over the connection."

"Then let me heal you further, Wilder," Liv said sternly.

"No, it's fine. Adler is helping me. I don't need you to overwork your gift and become exhausted."

"How long has this connection between you two been a thing?" His mother asked, looking at Wilder now.

"It started the first time Adler took my hand."

"If you are really sure that this is who you want to take for your life mate, then I will accept it."

She looked at me next, her eyes narrowing slightly.

"Life mates are a little different from what you might be used to. Wilder should explain to you how it all works before you accept. That way, you know fully what you are getting yourself into."

His mother stood up, and I saw her relax every so slightly before she said goodbye. Liv smiled at Wilder and gave him a thumbs-up before she took off to catch up to his mother. Her life partner.

Wilder himself let out a deep breath and looked at me, our hands still linked.

"My mother means to tell you that once we are life mates, there is no way to break that commitment. There is no divorce, no splitting up. It just doesn't exist or even happens here. She clearly doesn't understand this bond. It linked us as it is."

I heard his words, listened and understood them, but I was still far more worried about him and his wound.

"I felt your pain and panic. I didn't even know where you were. I ran blindly and still got here. If that doesn't tell you something about the level of this bond."

Wilder did something that shocked me. He slipped his free hand into my hair and pulled me down to him; he touched our foreheads together. That just was not it for me. While I enjoyed that, I wanted to kiss him; it was what I thought he was pulling me down for. The idea was there in my head now.

"I can feel all your emotions..." he whispered, still in pain.

"I know."

I pressed our lips together and lived for the little tingles that seemed to be felt as our lips touched. He pulled back, releasing his hand from my hair. He licked his lips.

I pulled my hand from him, and he grunted at me. His pain seemed less, and I felt ok to remove my hand. I brushed my fingers over the scraps on his leg. They weren't as bad as they had been thanks to Liv.

"I should have come down here with you earlier."

"I'm glad you didn't."

The statement felt more romantic than it was probably meant to be. He touched my shoulder and spoke.

"We should head back to the hut. I will find something for us after more of this pain subsides."

"Where is your spear?"

"No clue. I can make another. I am not worried too much about it."

"Alright, here. Let me give you a hand."

I helped him up, and I walked while he limped. I left him access to my hand should he need to offset the pain some. The walk back was slow, but he managed it. I was worried about him. He laid down in the furs, his wounded leg resting on the top well the rest of him was underneath. I hunted down a clean cloth and dipped it in the clean water pot before bringing it to rest on his leg.

I waited until he was resting before going to do his normal tasks. Like finding food and doing the laundry and things like that.

I grabbed the basket and fetched all the clothes off the line. Folding them, I placed them into the basket. I check to make nothing had blown off the line into the dirt and then brought the basket in. Wilder had peeled his shirt off and was sleeping soundly still. I set the basket on the ledge and watched him for a few moments before sneaking out again.

Ash was coming up the path, spear in his hand.

"Hey! Wilder's home, yes?"

"Yes, he is here, but he's sleeping."

"Oh, I have his spear. I wanted to bring it to him."

"Oh, ok. I can set it inside for him."

"Great, thanks."

I went and set his spear against the wall quietly and left the hut again. Ash followed me down to the beach, not really saying why.

"What are you doing?"

"Looking for breakfast or lunch for Wilder and me, he can't do it, it hurt him."

"Come along, I'll get my spear and we can hunt up something for you two."

I followed Ash back to the village, and we talked about our gifts. He slipped into his hut and grabbed his spear. Ocean spotted us and came over.

"Hey, what are you guys up to?"

"Finding breakfast for Wilder and Adler," Ash said politely to her.

"Yes, I heard about his fish attack. Let me grab my spear and I'll come along too."

Ocean came back quickly with a bag and a spear with her. She asked about Wilder and how he was while we went back down to the beach. Ash explained to us what happened to Wilder and how it had all happened.

"Poor man, those things are relentless. They just attack anything they feel like."

"I feel terrible because he went to find some breakfast for us."

Ash went further down the beach to hunt and I told Ocean the rest of what happened on the beach after his mother showed up and about how she knows about the bond and Wilder telling her he was taking me to be his life mate.

"He really told her I thought he was joking when he asked for a shell to make the blade for the celebration."

"What celebration?"