Forty Five.

Eren

The past few weeks had been awful for more reasons than just the fact that no one knew what exactly was wrong with Dylan and why she wasn't waking up.

From the moment I carried her into this damn building, I've felt incomplete and Dane had been in one of the worst moods I've had the privilege to experience. He would snap and bite my head off at the slightest thought he didn't like.

When Dr. Pavel had gotten Dylan set up in a room and had done whatever it was that he did to stabilize her, he immediately linked with my uncle and apprised him of the situation.

It had only been minutes from the time Dr. Pavel had walked out of the room he had set up for Dylan that my uncle came storming into the clinic. When the door flew open, I was not surprised in the least to see that f*cking beast standing there.

My uncle's wolf had practically busted the doors off their hinges when he had stormed into the building and snapped at us at everyone he passed as he strolled down the little foyer approaching Dr. Pavel.

To his credit, Dr. Pavel showed no fear or intimidation from the massive monster in front of him, and I had to admit I was a bit impressed. 

The beast was filthy and I wasn't sure how far away he had been, but it was clear that he had run through the woods to get here as quickly as possible.

Refusing to let my uncle see her in his current state, he shifted right there in front of everyone. The same small nurse who had brought me shorts had immediately shown up with much better clothes for him to change into.

Before the two of them had walked into Dylan's room, he had looked around the little facility and when our eyes met, he didn't even bother to link me, his eyes, just flashed ominously before he turned and went in.

They had stayed in her room for quite a while, and I hadn't realized how tense I was until they walked out and I felt relief flood my body. 

Neither of them had come over to talk to me or the Silveras, but once they had walked out of the building, the nurse motioned at us that we could go into the room now.

Lecia practically flew out of her seat, but the twins had waited and let her go in alone. I also sat there watching her and when I heard Cruz's voice in my head I knew that they had planned this.

The two of them wanted to give Lecia time to see Dylan alone, but they also wanted to talk to me in private.

Figuring that it would be easier to comply with them, I stayed sitting there with them. Cruz was the first to speak and I knew that he wanted Nico to hear our conversation.

"What happened before we got there," he asked softly so that the nurse at the little desk didn't hear us.

All three of us glanced at her at the same time, and Dane cursed at our inability to be conspicuous. I didn't know her by sight, but she seemed like a kind woman because she suddenly flicked a switch that sent soft music flowing through a speaker system.

"Thank the Gods someone in this place has a brain," Dane muttered and I really wished he would go back to ignoring me like he usually did.

With the music playing, it was harder to hear our little conversation, but they still moved in closer to me to have our little discussion.

I knew that I didn't owe them anything. They were no one to Dylan except her friends little brothers, but I wanted them to trust me and the way that I felt about Dylan.

Cruz and I had already talked about the way that I felt about her, and while I hadn't told him everything, he knew enough. If he had shared it with Nico I didn't know, but I knew that Lecia knew something.

Diving into the story was harder than I had thought it would be. There was so much that I hadn't been able to tell her, but even more that I couldn't tell them so parts of the story changed a bit from the way they happened.

Damn Cruz for being able to see through me because once I was done telling them everything he just looked at me for a moment before questioning me without pushing.

"I'm sure there's quite a bit you had to leave out, but if you could have said it all I know you would have."

They knew it all now, so I sat there just waiting for their move. I saw the shimmers in their eyes and I knew that they were talking to each other, but it didn't bother me. 

Sitting back in my chair, I waited and wondered what it must be like to not only have a sibling, but to have a twin. I hadn't realized how much I envied them until this moment.

Nico was the one who stood first. "Lecia is asking why were taking so long," he said as he started walking towards Dylan's room.

I stood and followed him and I felt Dane urging me to hurry up and go to her. His desire to be near her was greater than mine and I might have laughed in any other situation. 

The moment I walked into the room, I was floored at what I saw before my eyes. The room was cool and dark and there was a small light on that was coming from a lamp that hung neatly above the head of the bed that Dylan laid on.

Machines and monitors were all around her and they were all connected to different parts of her body.

What happened to her? 

Had I done this? 

Had that wolf done this to her?

Those questions were running through my mind and I couldn't move any closer to the bed. Her eyes were closed and her hair was strewn on the white pillow under her head. 

Even though the machines were freaky looking, I knew that the noises they made meant that she was alive and that was the only thing that brought me a semblance of comfort.

Lecia was beside her and she was holding her hand with both of hers and she was whispering to her softly. 

Damn if the scene before me didn't pull at my heart. Dane however wasn't sad, he was furious. I imagined him mentally pacing and howling at everyone who would listen to him.

"I can't feel her," he finally whimpered to me and even though I hadn't been paying much attention to him, I snapped to attention at his words.

"What," I asked him unsure if I had heard him right. Still whimpering he didn't respond to me immediately, but then a little softer he said again, "I can't feel her, her wolf. I can't feel her anymore."

"What does that mean," I yelled out and to my surprise I hadn't said that to Dane, but I had said it out loud and all three Silvera's were now staring at me in confusion.

Lecia's gaze could have cut glass and when our eyes met, I saw that fierce wolf inside of her. If anyone thought she was meek or docile, they didn't know anything.

The look on her face let me know that I needed to explain my outburst, and quickly.

Taking another step into the room, I walked towards the side of the room where Lecia sat next to Dylan's bed. Nico and Cruz stood on the opposite side of the room, but they stood much closer to the wall.

As soon as I was this close to her, I felt the slight prickles under my skin that I had felt earlier when I was holding Dylan in my arms. 

One of the machines that had a steady constant beep had started to steadily increase in speed and sound. We all took a step back quickly.

Today was the first time I had ever felt anything like this, and it had only happened when we had touched. This time I felt that strange sensation just from being close to her, but it wasn't as pronounced.

Distracted by what I was feeling, I almost forgot that I had moved that close to Dylan to tell them why I had yelled out loud until Lecia reached out and smacked my arm.

'Earth to Eren, what is going on with you," she hissed at me. Unsure if she meant to hit me that hard, or if she hadn't realized how hard she had smacked me, I rubbed my arm quickly.

"Sorry," I said quickly, but not quietly. There was no need to whisper. Dylan was unconscious and I'm sure the twins wanted to know why I had yelled out as well.

"I didn't mean to yell like that. Dane said something that struck me as odd, and I thought I was speaking to him," I told her quickly still rubbing my arm.

She was still looking at me until she must have realized I was done telling my story, when she reached out and smacked me again in the same damn spot.

"Gods, what is your deal," I yelled at her as I took a quick step back.

"Hello dummy, what was it that he said that made you freak out that way," she sounded more exasperated this time.

Unsure of if and how to tell them what Dane said, I hesitated a moment before answering her. "Dane said he can't feel her wolf."

"Wait what?"

"What does that mean?"

"What are you talking about?"

All of the Silvera's were now bombarding me with questions that I didn't know how to answer, and right now Dane was absolutely no help to me so I couldn't ask him for a better explanation.

When Lecia reached out this time I flinched back, but she wasn't reaching out to hit me. She grabbed my arm and just stared at my face for long seconds.

"He can't feel Rae," she asked softly still holding onto my arm.

Rae. So that was her name. Even though Dane didn't say anything, I felt the shiver of delight that ran through me at his reaction to her name. The more the name ran through both mine and her thoughts, the more it seemed right, like it just fit.

When I didn't immediately respond to her, she squeezed a bit, but not hard enough to hurt. "Yes, he is completely distraught because he said that he can't feel her," I explained.

The look that she gave me was a mixture between sadness and fear and I felt really bad for being the cause of that look. 

Nico and Cruz had both come really close to Dylan's side on the opposite side of the bed and were looking between Lecia and me.

"How is it that he can sense her and we can't," Cruz asked, but Nico just watched his sister intently for a moment before saying, "you can't feel her can you Lele?"

Tears filled her eyes and she immediately let go of my arm and stepped back towards the bed. We all watched her fight to keep the tears where they were and once she had won the battle and none fell down her cheeks, she spoke.

"I have spoken to Rae before, but when Dylan was in her human form, I have never, not once, been able to sense Rae. I never thought anything about it, before, but I don't understand how he can feel her when I can't."

"Well, I thought the whole issue right now was that he can't feel her," Nico said right before Cruz smacked him right behind his head.

"Really," Cruz said glaring at him. "She's saying that even though she has spoken to and linked with her before, she has never been able to sense her without her being in her true form idiot!"

"Okay, so what does that mean then," Nico asked all of us while he rubbed the back of his head angrily.

Eyes shifted around the room between the four of us, but eventually they all landed on me.

"I don't know what to tell you. Dane and I have only spoken to her once, but he said that he could feel her before and now he can't."

My simple explanation seemed good enough for Nico, but the other two were not so quick to let it go.

"That doesn't make sense," Lecia huffed out, "if that is all it takes then I should be able to feel her to since I've also spoken to her before."

"I agree," Cruz jumped in, "we have all been around both her and Dylan, much more than you, and I have not once been able to sense her. I wouldn't have even known she had a wolf if I hadn't seen her."

What did they want from me, I had no explanation for them. I had no explanation for myself, and if Dane knew anything he wasn't telling me either.

"Look, I don't know what to tell you three. Dane is useless right now and even if he wasn't, I'm not sure if he even knows why that happened."

Shimmering eyes watched me both curiously and anxiously and I knew that they were probably all speaking about me and I had to admit that it kinda hurt a bit.

Lecia was shaking her head as if she was answering one of them or disagreeing, but her next question threw me off and I almost forgot that they had just been talking about me.

"How old are you Eren," she said quickly. Odd, I could have sworn that she knew how old I was, especially since we have gone to school together for forever.

"I'm eighteen, why." She watched me carefully and I saw the shimmer in her eyes again before I got annoyed and just yelled out, "Look, if you have something to say just say it, quite talking sh*t when I can't hear you."

Nico laughed, but Cruz and Lecia looked a little sheepish. "Sorry," she said ,"it's habit. We weren't doing it on purpose, we're just used to this at home."

I guess I understood that a bit, but I was still sort of annoyed. Cruz didn't say anything, but he watched his sister and seemed to be waiting for her to say whatever it was they had been discussing.

"When is your birthday," she asked. Even though I knew when it was, it's not something that I usually talk about or celebrate if my Aunt isn't around, so it took me a moment to realize that it was actually next week.

But before I answered her, I had a question of my own. "Why are you asking me about my age and my birthday all of a sudden?"

Cruz was about to speak when she said, "I know that you said that your wolf was able to sense Rae, but what about you? Do you feel anything from Dylan?"

Not sure if I should tell them about the feelings I had gotten when I touched Dylan and what I felt earlier, I asked, "why are you asking me this stuff?"

"I have a theory, and I have to ask you these questions to help me try to figure it out. Will you do me a favor? Can you take a step closer to Dylan again."

Cruz and Nico were arguing about something quietly amongst themselves, but I saw them jabbing each other with their elbows. Gods, they were such kids sometimes.

Lecia on the other hand was looking at me with one of the weirdest looks on her face I've ever seen.

"I don't know what this means or if this is what you're even talking about, but when I held Dylan in my arms earlier I felt small prickles under my skin." I felt stupid the moment the words left my mouth and it didn't get better when I answered her next question.

"Anything else or any other time," Gods, I knew I was going to regret this, but I told her what happened when I had walked closer to Dylan's bed. 

"So can you try it again? Can you walk closer to her and see if you feel the same thing as before."

Well now that she was telling me to do it, I didn't want to. What if I did and I felt the same thing? What if I got closer to her and nothing happened?

Damn it, I knew that I shouldn't have said anything because they were all staring at me, waiting for me to move.

F*ck it, I might as well just get it over with. Taking a step towards the bed, nothing happened and I was a bit disappointed, but Lecia was not satisfied. "Get closer, like you were earlier."

Taking two steps closer to her, she was just far enough that if I stretched out my arm I could have touched her, but I didn't need to because just as her machine started making the same noises again, the sensations started under my skin.

Looking over at Lecia, I didn't even have to say anything for her to know that it happened again.

"Oh my Gods, I think I figured it out!" This girl was something else. She just stared at me for another moment before she finally said, "I think she is your mate!"