Burnt

Chapter 7: Mates...Again

Alison's POV

The sun shining through the window next to my nightstand wakes me up. As soon as I flutter my eyes open I can tell something is different. I feel better than I have in years.

Cameron's arms are wrapped around my waist, keeping my back against his chest. That's not new though. What is new are the sparks everywhere his skin touches mine. Also, I am incredibly at ease in his arms. His presence has always helped to relax me but not this much.

Oh. My. Goddess.

'Nessa?' I call out to her skeptically.

'Hi, Ali!'

My hands fly to my mouth. 'Nessa, holy shit, it's actually you. I can't tell you how much I missed you.' Happy tears leak out of my eyes. I sit up quickly, somewhat harshly pushing Cameron's arms off me and leaning against the headboard. He immediately readjusts his arms around me but doesn't wake up. Somehow, he only wakes up when something is wrong and I really don't want him to.

Nessa jumps around in my mind. 'Oh my goddess! Mate! Mate! Mate!' she yells, making me flinch. I guess I've got to get used to that again.

'Yes, or you could call him Cameron.' I giggle at her enthusiasm as I look down at him. He is adorable when he's asleep. Looking at him feels different now. Almost everything feels different now. I suddenly understand why he always wants to be with me. This feeling is addictive.

Nessa breaks back into my thoughts a moment later, 'Cameron as in Lockhart? As in Alpha and twin brother of Chris?!?!' She sounds concerned. Finally, someone who sees where I'm coming from, literally.

I take a deep breath before responding, 'Yes, it's okay. We can talk about it later. Are you okay?' My plan is to avoid the inevitable and hope it goes away.

We both know that identical siblings share one mate. She knows. I know, but I also know that when I do talk about it with her it's going to be hard. I think it may physically hurt me to confront any of my feelings about Chris now that I have a wolf again.

'I'm fine, Ali. A little coma is nothing. Are you okay? What exactly happened while I was out?' she asked. I should have expected her to want to get to the bottom of things. She wants to be in the loop and she's stubborn about it.

I'm hesitant to tell her anything. 'What's the last thing you remember?' I ask instead. She spoke to me on the twins birthday but she may not even remember that. I don't know how much I need to tell her.

She's silent for a moment, thinking, then, 'It was winter. You were doing homework after a shift and I needed to sleep.' Her voice is distant. She's in her own mind. 'I didn't wake up until...Cameron. You saw Cameron and I woke up. I couldn't--I was so tired. I tried to tell you and then...it was dark again.' she said, whining slightly

'You did tell me. You told me he was my mate. You said it.' I tell her. 'Then, I realized that if Cameron is my mate then that means that...Chris is my mate too.' I continue, trailing off slightly before finishing my thought.

Nessa's mood drops significantly. She likes Chris about as much as I do but at the same time he's our mate. We are programmed to love him. He hurt us. We're scared of him. We don't have to imagine what he's capable of, we know it. We lived it. But none of the reasons not to be attracted to him like a magnet matter. All that matters is that magnets move towards each other.

It's science, or in the case of mates, it's magic.

'Does he still hate us?' Nessa hesitantly asks after a few moments of silence. 'While I was out did he keep hurting you?' she nervously re-words her question.