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nAugust awoke to a faint whimpering in her ear and something soft nuzzling into the curve of her neck.

"Graeme?

" she called in a voice groggy with sleep. Her chest felt heavy, and for a moment the fear of the virus returned before she remembered her inherent immunity that had somehow landed her here in a lycan's treehouse.

nWith a deep breath testing the congestion in her lungs, she turned to where Graeme had been lying next to her and was met with a wet, rough tongue licking her face. She covered her face, giggling softly from the unmistakable sensation of canine kisses.

nWhen the kisses ceased, she looked into the same intense dark eyes she had come to know, but now they belonged to a gigantic wolf the size of a bear lying next to her in the bed. She gasped in surprise and pushed herself up to a sitting position. The wolf bowed his head, covering his own muzzle with his front paws before looking back up at her again with his head tilted to the side.

nAugust laughed softly.

"Graeme?

" she whispered, running one hand through the brown and black fur on his neck,

"Wow, you're quite majestic after all, aren't you?

" To this, he licked her on the face again. She reached up with both hands and smoothed his soft fur against either side of his handsome face and scratched behind his large ears for his eyes to close sleepily in response.

nHe rolled over on his back, stretching his long body across the length of the bed with paws in the air and looked back at her, one ear flopped comically to the side.

"You want a belly rub?

" she asked, the smile never leaving her face. He let out a light yip in response, and she ran one hand over the pale skin on of his belly that was covered with a thin layer of fur.

"Hmmm… I think I like you better like this,

" she teased and heard him rumble back.

nThe wolf flipped to jump off the bed, and in the blink of an eye Graeme was back in his human form flopping down next to her on his stomach with a smirk. A blush spread over August's face upon realizing this Graeme was naked, and she looked down into her hands resting on the covers.

"You prefer the furry version, huh?

" He tilted his head to the side just as the wolf had.

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"The furrier version, you mean?

" she laughed softly, scanning the bristly dark face next to her in awe at how quickly he transformed back to himself.

"He's beautiful,

" she smiled, looking down into her hands again.

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"What is it? Embarrassed this morning?

" he touched her cheek.

"You weren't embarrassed standing before me in all your glory last night.

" This made her already pink cheeks turn a darker shade.

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"Yeah, about that…

" she started.

"I'm sorry. I…

"

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"What are you sorry for?

" he interrupted.

n

"I-I wasn't myself. I mean, I was myself, I just was seeing everything through, you know, these new crazy eyes or whatever, which is honestly pretty trippy, and then looking at you…

" she trailed off, risking a glance at him before looking down again.

"I guess it was overwhelming. The feeling.

"

nHe watched her become seemingly more and more flustered trying to explain her experience.

"What feeling?

" he asked curiously.

nShe opened her mouth without any words coming out before she closed it to try again.

"Um. The feeling of being… Um.

"

nGraeme touched her hand, bringing her gaze to meet his again, which did not help in sorting her words out.

"It's okay,

" he reassured her.

"What feeling are you talking about?

"

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"Of… suddenly understanding… of recognizing you as—as… my… own,

" she said quietly.

"Of feeling your… pull on every part of me,

" she said looking down at his lips.

nHe hummed appreciatively and smoothed down a bit of her hair that had gone wild from sleep before kissing her on the lips.

"I know that feeling, love,

" he said, staring deeply at her for her to gulp softly.

"What happened last night when I was gone?

" he asked.

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"I was under the tree looking at photos in my camera from that day in suicide forest,

" she gulped softly again,

"And my weird vision returned. But I was able to calm down and control it, and then I guess I got lost in it. In the forest. I could… feel it moving through me, like we were one. Even the stars. I could hear them,

" she whispered, amazed at the memory.

nGraeme studied her face for awhile, imagining what it must have been like to experience what she was explaining.

"Did you leave last night? How did you get wet?

"

nAugust looked back at him, remembering the strange journey she had taken. Would he understand it? Would it scare him? And how had she gotten back? She ran the experience over in her mind, wondering if it had actually been a dream. She had crawled into the darkness beneath the tree, and then… And then Graeme had been there, approaching her, sliding next to her with that intense energy that scattered everything else around him.

nGraeme watched the confusion on her face. She appeared not to remember all of the events from the night before.

"What did you… take from me?

" he asked finally.

nShe looked down into her hands again.

"Yeah um, I'm sorry. I just knew I had to do it, and it seemed okay, because you're part of me. I mean, it felt like you were literally part of me…

" she trailed off remembering how their beings seemed intermixed in her eyes last night. How the boundaries of their skin had become practically nonexistent, and she could feel his energy moving with her own. His heartbeat throbbing in time with her own, pushing her blood through her veins just as his own.

n

"I saw this… doubt,

" she nodded, as if confirming for herself that that was indeed what it was, as she could still feel it inside of her now.

"This doubt and fear… and guilt?

" She looked at him apologetically.

"Graeme, when I saw you walking through the forest last night, it was like…

" she smiled to herself, unable to find the right words for him.

"Everything bows to you, parts to let you through. It was breathtaking to see.

"

nHe watched how her face lit up remembering it.

"I told you to put yourself first,

" he sighed, worry lining his features as he remembered how she reacted afterwards.

"How are you feeling now?

"

nHer eyebrows furrowed together.

"Putting myself first assumes I am a separate… being from you,

" she replied slowly. It didn't make sense to her even now as she was explaining it, but it was the experience she had.

"And last night it didn't seem that way. There was nothing separating us. Not even this skin,

" she carefully touched the place on Graeme's chest that she had touched last night to feel how solid it was this morning. She quickly withdrew her hand and met his eyes that were as warm and deep as ever.

"I know it sounds crazy…

"

nBefore she could finish, Graeme had pulled himself up next to her and kissed her deeply.

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