Manipulate

Rae looks at me, her eyes wide and surprised. “Abhaya, there will be none of that. If you fight; we all fight.” Rae’s tone is stern and sincere. “Understand?”

“Yes, ma’am,” I say. “I understand.”

Rae nods and stands up. She brushes the dust off of her pants and smiles at me. Then she turns to leave.

Twenty minutes go by, and my arms are dead as hell and so are my fingers. The muscles in my shoulders, back, and my stomach ache with fatigue but I ignore it; I push past the pain. I lower the bow and roll my shoulders back.

The door opens, and I whirl around, lifting the bow up and nocking an arrow. Mia stands there in the doorway, holding her hands up in surrender.

“Sorry,” I apologize, lowering my bow.

“You’re good, Abhaya.” Mia floats toward me. “I shouldn’t have done that. Do you want to train together?”

“Sure,” I say. “What do you have in mind?”

“Knife throwing.” Mia laughs when she sees me contort my face in confusion. “Don’t worry. It’s like archery. Instead, you’re throwing the knife not shooting it. That would be super weird.”

I nod. “Okay. Let’s do it!”

For the next hour, Mia and I stand in front of targets. Silver knives fly through the air and hit the target with clear and accurate precision. Mia looks at me and smiles as she lets another knife soar through the air.

“You’re pretty good at this, Abhaya,” she comments.

“Thanks,” I say, letting another knife out of my hand. “This is pretty cool.”

Mia laughs. “Good. It’s one of my favorite pastimes.”

“I can see why. So, how are you and Peter doing?”

Mia throws one last knife and smiles. “Really good, actually. He’s turning eighteen next month and asked me to move in with him!”

“That’s spectacular,” I say.

“Thanks!” Mia squeals. “So, I heard about you and Theo last night.”

“What?” I ask, dumbfounded. “What did you hear?”

“Oh, Trey and Theo are good friends and I’m good friends with both of them.” Mia looks at me and smiles.

“Hold up,” I say. “I need a flow chart for that.”

“Theo told Trey and Trey told me,” Mia explains. “That’s okay, right?”

“Yeah,” I say. “That’s perfectly fine.”

“I can totally see you and Theo being a couple. You two would be so cute together!” Mia squeals, clearly shipping Theo and I together. “If you two get married at some point, I better be there to see it happen.”

A laugh escapes from my mouth. “Okay, first of all, Theo is an instructor, Mia. Second of all, I don’t think that I could even get a boyfriend.” I step with my right foot and release the knife with my left hand. “Now, you and Peter are cute together and you two should get married. And by the way, I don’t use the word ‘cute’.”

Mia shakes her head and laughs. “Thanks, Abhaya. And what teenage girl doesn’t use the word ‘cute’?”

“I might be one of the many.” I use the knife in my hand and point to myself.

Once again, Mia bursts out laughing. Her laugh fills the room like the rumble of thunder shakes a house. She throws a knife as the bell rings for dinner. The halls outside fill with conversations as Mia and I clean the knives up to join the rest of the unit.

Dinner passes with laughing, jovial conversations, and warm food that fills us. I throw my head back, laughing as we tell cheesy jokes and puns. Peter sits next to Mia and Trey sits next to Kayla. I’m the fourth wheel out of the group.

The bell rings, and we leave. As everyone walks back to their dormitories or their apartments, I walk down to Ash’s to receive another piece of ink on my skin. My heart races and a thin layer of sweat begins to form on my hands. I take deep breaths to help, but it doesn’t work as well as I hoped it would.

Your hallucinations are worse. Get over it, I yell inside my head.

The door to the tattoo parlor is open. I walk in, hesitantly and look at the sketches on the wall. Then one catches my eye. It’s a phoenix.

It’s simple but the tail feathers and wings fan out for its body. The bird that’s known to rise from the ashes looks like it has just risen. It’s beautiful.

I begin to think about where I want it. I want it somewhere where everyone can see it. I look at it again. It’s the perfect size to fit on my bicep.

“Hello, Abhaya!” Ash sings in a soprano voice, appearing out of the back.

“Hi, Ash,” I chirp, turning my attention to her from the sketch.

“Back for another tattoo, I see,” she teases. “They’re addictive, aren’t they?”

A smile spreads across my face. “Yep!”

Ash smiles and then she sits down. I notice that the room is leaner than usual. Some sketches clutter the room but it’s more organized. Sketches don’t pile on top of the coffee table or the chairs. Ash motions for me to sit down, so I do.

“Do you see anything that you like, Abhaya?” Ash questions, crossing her legs, adding confidence to her posture.

“Yes,” I respond. “The phoenix sketch over there.”

Ash smiles brightly. “Sounds good,” she says. “Come on back.” Enthusiasm seeps into her voice.

She grabs the sketch off of the wall and begins to skip. I follow Ash back, my nerves bouncing everywhere. It’s the same procedure as the last tattoos. I smooth my hands over my leggings and exhale.

I sit down in a chair, making it squeak as I get comfortable. My body is buzzing with nervousness and excitement.

“Nervous?” Ash snaps on a pair of black latex gloves.

“No. Just frazzled from earlier.” I pull my arms out of the sweatshirt that I stole from Theo.

Ash nods. Then she holds the stencil up. I motion to my left arm and Ash presses the stencil down. She peels it back, revealing the outline of the phoenix.

I lay back and let the ink settle into my skin. The sharp poking of the needle prods my muscular arm. The buzzing of the tattoo needle buzzes in my ear, and I let my breaths match it.

One hour later, it’s done. Ash wipes it down for the final time and I open my eyes. I see her expression before she hands me a handheld mirror-- pride.

“I hope you like it,” she states. “It’s permanent.”

“I love it,” I gush. “Thank you.”

“I’m glad that you love it.” She disposes of her gloves. “Anything else I can do?”

“Could you pierce my eyebrow?” I point to my left eyebrow.

Ash smiles. “You just can’t get enough of being poked by needles, today, can you? But, of course. Hold on for just a few minutes.”

Ash stands up and walks over to a cabinet and pulls a drawer out. She sets the drawer down and pulls out another set of black sterilized latex gloves. She begins to rummage through the drawer and my nerves begin to bounce.

“Is a black barbell okay?” Ash asks, turning her head to look at me.

“Perfect,” I state.

She comes back and sits down, dragging a silver tray cart over with her. Ash picks up an alcohol-based soaked pad and begins to clean my left eyebrow. Then marks the spot. She hands the mirror back to me, checking that the spot is okay. I nod.

I attempt to hide my trembling hands but I can’t. It’s not like I can stick them in the pocket of the sweatshirt that I discarded over an hour ago.

“Nervous?” Ash looks at me, holding the barbell between her gloved thumb and index finger.

“No,” I confess.

“Feel free to, Abhaya. It’s perfectly human-like.” Ash holds the piercing up. “Ready?”

I exhale a tense breath. “Yes.”

“Okay. Now, inhale a deep breath and then exhale slowly. Try not to tense up, too.”

I inhale as the needle pierces through my skin. A sharp but quick sense of pain passes through me. I exhale as the rest of the barbell passes through my skin.

“There you go!” Ash sings happily as she secures the barbell with a ball on the end. “Now, I need to show you how to clean the piercing.”

Five minutes later, I’m walking out of the tattoo parlor tugging the sweatshirt over my head, carefully. Along with a small bottle of salt-water and a bandage over my arm.

“Night, Ash!” I call. “Thank you, again!”

Ash waves to me as she stands in the doorway. A cheerful smile paints her face.

I make my way back to the dorm with my piercing throbbing. I tuck the bottle of salt-water into the pocket and roll my shoulders.

When I get to the dorm, it’s chaos. I stand in the doorway, flummoxed but not surprised. They say that teenagers love to be crazy but I didn’t think that they meant this.

Strange objects make their way across the room by flying. And I cannot tell what they are and that’s exactly what worries me. People are jumping from bunk to bunk like kids on monkey bars, and there is so much more that my eyes cannot identify. Yelling and screeching fill the room, causing my ears to feel like they’ve stuffed with cotton.

I inch my way toward my bunk along the wall. Thankfully no one is jumping on my bunk. I push my body up onto my bunk, sighing in relief when I lay down.

My eyes feel heavy and my body feels like they’re being weighed down by water. They want to rest. I don’t obey. I sit up and pull the head over my head. I crawl toward the end of my bunk and pick up the black backpack that I brought with me. I open it and find the book with Mom’s handwriting in it.

“I’ll see you soon,” I whisper. “I’ll fight to see you again.”

Then, I put the book away. A feeling of longing aches in my chest. It’s a feeling that I’ve pushed away for years. It was a distraction but I learned how to get past it. I have to find her soon.

Silence coats the room, suddenly. I take the hood off of my head and see two figures standing in the doorway--Max and Theo. The room becomes insanely quiet; a blessing and a curse.

“We’re playing a game, tonight,” Theo announces, his voice filling the empty room. “Come on and follow us.”

Whispers and murmurs fill the room. Questions begin to circulate as we leave. Confusion jumps from one person to another like germs.

I jump off of my bunk and join the rest of the unit. We crowd the halls as we follow Max and Theo. Our footsteps turn into a steady rhythm. We stop walking and begin to run.

We near the tracks and a train whistle blares through the tunnel. Our pace quickens and our rhythm becomes faster. Cool air rushes past our faces as our feet hit the solid ground.

The train nears us and we begin to jump. Three people, then three more. Fifteen initiates, plus two instructors manage to fit in one car.

“Okay, listen up!” Max yells over our perplexed conversations. “We’re going to Forest Park for a little bit of teamwork.”

“We’ll be splitting up into two teams!” The adds, raising his voice to overpower the conversations. “Max.”

Max surveys the small crowd like we’re prey. His eyes settle on Lee, Trey, Peter, and another guy who I have no clue who he is.

“Picking all the males?” Theo inquires, his voice irritated.

“Well, you have the females, plus some males,” Max adds. “Now, when we get to Forest Park, either follow Theo or I.”

The rest of the ride is full of hushed conversations. Maybe they know about the events that have been going on in the dorm. I bet that they know about the fight that happened between Nick and I last night.

We begin to jump out of the car. The air is crisp and cuts through the night like a knife. The night is pitch black; like my soul. Now, I’m grateful for the sweatshirt that I have proudly stolen.

My arm throbs, dully from the new tattoo that has been etched into my skin underneath my sleeve. And the brand-new hole that I have pierced in my face throbs dully along with my arm.

Suck it up, I think, scolding myself. It could be worse.

We split into our groups. Theo waves us over while a majority of the boys follow Max. Their group is much smaller than ours.

“If you’re wondering why their group is only six people,” Theo announces, catching our attention, “is because you can’t have half a person. Basic math. They may be fast but I know that all of you have semi or fully working brains.”

“Wait, why do they only have six people?” Erika interrupts.

“Because, Erika, you can’t. You cannot have half a person. If you did, well, they would most likely be dead within minutes,” Theo says, clearly done with Erika, already. “Come on, we need to catch up to Max.”

We follow Theo, as we jog along with him. The air around us blows itself in our faces. Soon, the clear, pitch black night begins to rain. Light sprinkles of water fall around us as we run.

Erika shrieks loudly as the light sprinkles cover us. My eardrums want to split! I swear by the end of the night, I will have ear fatigue. Mia catches up to me and we jog together.

“She needs to get her act together,” Mia mutters. “She’s acting like a total Bishcuit.”

I laugh softly. “You can say that again.”

Mia laughs and I smile. Finding a friend is easy but finding a best friend takes more than that. It takes time and trust, but they’re for life. They’re beside you through the darkest days and nights.

I pick up my pace and run toward Theo. My face turns warm very quickly.

“Hello, Phoenix,” Theo says quietly.

“Hey,” I reply.

“If I’m being honest, I cannot deal with Erika anymore,” Theo confesses.

“So, you’re trash talking about one of your initiates, now?” I tease, my breaths becoming syncopated.

“You could say that,” Theo says, bumping me in the elbow with a slight laugh.

I can see him smile. Even in the dead of night, I can see the expression of joy on his face. Everyone breaks character at times.

The rest of our awkward conversation is pure silence. Theo leads us until we’re near the Wheel. Max stands there with his smaller group, clearly waiting.

“Now that everyone is here, we can begin,” Max announces, his sharp voice cutting through the area.

The rain begins to fall harder. Its light sprinkles turn to a heavy rain, turning the grass that we’re standing on muddy. The ground becomes soppy and mud begins to coat our shoes. Yelling begins and complaints file in shortly.

“Hey!” Theo snaps. “Listen up! Your humans you won’t melt, I promise.”

“Thank you, Theo. Now, we’re going to be doing some teamwork building exercises--”

“In the dead of night?” Erika asks, interrupting Max.

“Yes, Erika, in the dead of night.” Max sighs. “To begin, we’ll be starting off with a relay race.” Max nods at Theo under the lamp post they’re standing under.

“Okay!” Theo’s voice cuts us like a razor, snapping us out of tired, half-dead dazes. “Everyone, I need two people from each team. I want Abhaya and Erika from my team. Max.”

“Nick and Lee,” Max decides.

I don’t have time to object, but Erika does. She begins complaining and going on about why she shouldn’t have to do the exercise.

I’m a short-fused person. I’m not a flower, I’m a bomb. I’m about to snap at her.

“Do you mind?” I hiss as we behind Max and Theo, along with Lee and Nick.

“What?” she asks, flummoxed and clearly offended.

“Would you mind not complaining?” I raise my eyebrows, annoyed.

Erika sighs. Thankfully, she shuts her mouth. The rain falls harder around us and a distant rumble of thunder joins the storm.

Max and Theo stop. They turn to face us. I readjust my posture as I feel Theo’s eyes survey over the small group.

“One of you will start here.” Max stands next to a broken and dented lamp post. “Then the second person will stand where Theo is standing. Then both of you will run here.”

The distance is halfway from an ancient wooden bench and a color-changing bush. Erika uses her elbow to push me to the starting line. Then, she jogs off to the halfway point, her ghostly blond braid giving her away in the night.

“Good luck, Bishcuit, you’ll lose,” Nick comments.

I scoff. “Thanks. But we’ll see about that.”

Theo’s voice cuts through the storming night. “Go!”

Rain soaks through my clothes and mud coats my boots, like I care, though. My legs burn as I sprint. Nick isn’t too far behind me. I take in breaths as I near Erika.

I yank Erika by the wrist and lead us in the dark, toward the finish-line. Erika is a chain ball behind me. She runs but not enough.

Nick and Lee aren’t far behind us. Thunder booms in the distance and a strike of lightning fill the sky. Erika yelps in surprise.

Come on, I plead. Help the both of us out. Please.

Miraculously, we beat Nick and Lee. I throw the two of us over the line where Max and Theo stand, covering the two of us in mud.

Erika shrieks in surprise as I laugh. When I was younger, Aj would sometimes throw me in the mud, for fun. It was his sense of humor. I would shriek with joy as I sat coated in muddy earth.

“Abhaya and Erika, good job,” Theo comments, holding his hand out to help me.

“Thanks,” I say, breathless.

Theo pulls me to my feet. Our eyes lock for a split second, then they drift off. His hand lingers on mine, then he pulls back.

Even through my sopping wet sweatshirt, I can feel the heat where his touch was moments ago. My heart beats rapidly and it’s not from running.

Max calls for us to follow him and Theo. Thunder and lightning fill the sky, again and most of us begin to act like kids.

I sigh in exasperation. Sometimes, I swear people either want to burn the world, let it burn, or keep it from burning. And most of the people in my unit want to watch the world burn.

Max snaps. “Enough! One more exercise, then we’re done for the night. Deal?”

“Deal,” we agree.

“Good. Now everyone needs to find a group of three,” Max announces.

Everyone dashes to find their friends and form a group. Kayla, Mia, and I find each other and form a group. We stand in a circle, becoming drenched in rain.

“Okay, everyone needs to hold their arms out for the other people in your group to be supported by. Stand in a circle and arms under the other people’s,” Theo explains.

Mia’s arm rests on top of my right arm, my left arm rests under Kayla’s, and their arms support each other. We stand like this while Theo and Max walk around correcting other groups.

“You can stop now,” Max declares after three minutes.

We drop our arms and some sigh collectively. My teeth begin to chatter as the rain falls. Theo calls us to follow him and Max back to the train. We don’t hesitate.

Our feet stomp through puddles of water, splashing us. The wind pierces through our clothes as we run through the night. It’s fun running at night when it’s warm-- not cold and raining.

We make it to the train, and we begin jumping. The handles are slick from the rain and cold from the night air, but we pull ourselves in just fine.

When it’s my turn, I reach out to grab the handle as I push off the ground. My grip slips and my heart skips a beat. No. Not tonight. My arms burn as I try to steady myself.

“Abhaya.” It’s Theo. I can tell by his voice.

My pours down my face. I look at him. He holds out a hand and I accept it. He wraps his hand around my wrist, and I do the same.

Theo pulls me into the car. I gasp and instinctively, I wrap an arm around his neck. Theo’s arm wraps around my waist and my heart becomes a hummingbird in my chest.

“Thanks, Wolf,” I say bashfully.

“You’re welcome, Phoenix.” Theo unwraps his arm from my waist.

I unwrap my arm from his neck and let a breath out. Theo squeezes my shoulder, reassuringly, and walks to the back of the humid car. I feel one of my fears rising inside of me.

Breathe, I tell myself. It’ll be over before you know it. And God, that was stupid. I bury my face in my hands.

The train ride back to TID is rapid, thankfully. Soon, we’re jumping off of the train. I land on solid ground, perfectly with my knees bent at a ninety-degree angle.

“Have a good night, everyone. We’ll see you tomorrow,” Theo calls as we go our separate ways.

I sit on my bunk with my muddy shoes dangling over the edge. I yank the ponytail out and shake my hair out, letting it hang loose around my face.

My mind urges itself to forget what happened between me and Theo, but it won’t. It’s playing a game of tug-of-war between itself and the memory. It won’t let me forget. Not until the end of time.

I sigh indignantly and flop onto my back. The mattress creaks underneath me as I close my eyes.

“Do you mind?” Nick snaps, his voice tired.

“Do you mind not being such a Bishcuit?” I retort, acid in my voice.

Nick doesn’t respond. That’s one thing I’ve noticed about us teenagers. We’ll be best friends one day and then the next we’re fighting one another, or the complete opposite.

I sit up and before I know it, I’m walking out of the dorm. I don’t know why, but I want to talk to Theo. I have something to confess to him and I think that it’s time that I tell him.

I speed walk through the halls and dash up the stairwell. My heart beats rapidly in my chest. I swear that it’ll burst at any given moment.

I make it to Theo’s apartment and I knock on the door. My heart thunders in my ears. My face goes warm. Maybe I can ditch now?

Theo answers the door, surprised by my unexpected visit. He smiles warmly at me. His smile is different around me than around the initiates. He’s dressed in a black T-shirt and black jeans with black socks, making his ocean blue eyes darker. God, I’m dead for those eyes.

“Hey, Phoenix,” he says. “Can I help you?”

“Uh- kind of,” I say awkwardly, digging the heel of my boot into the carpet floor.

“Come in,” Theo says. “Do you want a change of clothes at all?”

I nod. “Sure. Thank you.”

Theo lets me inside and closes the door behind him. He walks over to a dresser and pulls out a pair of black jeans, a maroon T-Shirt, black socks, and a pair of slightly worn black sneakers.

“These were Brooke’s,” he says. “Dad told me to hold onto an extra set of clothes for her, in case we found her. You guys are the same age, so hopefully they fit well and I have extras.” Theo hands me the clothes and winks. “The bathroom is over there. Change in there.”

“Thank you so much,” I say. “Well, for the extra clothes.”

Theo claps me on the shoulder and smiles warmly. I turn around and walk to the bathroom, closing the door behind me.

Cold air rushes to my bones chilling me as I peel the wet clothes from my skin. I change hastily, pulling the jeans up, pulling the shirt over my head, rolling the socks up to my ankles, and tying the sneakers. Everything fits well and I smile at myself in the mirror.

My eyes look dull and dead from lack of sleep. Deep and dark circles form underneath my eyes. I examine the piercing that penetrates the skin of my eyebrow. No dried blood, thankfully. I peel back the bandage on my left arm from my new tattoo and throw it away.

I’m a new person. I’m a phoenix; I’m rising out of the ashes every day. I’m burning more brightly than ever before. I’m stronger and I can’t be broken.

I pick my dirty laundry up and open the bathroom door, flipping the switch off. I find Theo sitting on his bed applying lotion to his hands.

“Hey, are you okay?” I ask.

“Yeah. Just dry skin,” he confesses.

I nod. “Thanks again for the clothes.”

“Any time, Phoenix.” Theo stands up and walks toward me. “Here, I’ll clean those for you tonight, if you’d like.”

“Thanks, Wolf. I appreciate it.” I hand Theo the muddy and soaked clothes.

He places them in a basket and smiles at me. He leans against the wall with his hands behind his back. I can’t fight it.

“Wolf, what would you do if I kissed you?” I ask dumbly.

“What would I do if you kissed me?” he repeats. “I don’t know. Why?”

“I think that I might like you,” I blurt, immediately regretting my words.

Theo smiles and walks toward me. He places his hands on my shoulders and looks me in the eyes. His touch is gentle but everything inside of me is burning.

“I think that I might like you, too,” he whispers, resting his forehead on mine.

And then, I kiss him. Everything inside of me crumbles. The walls that I’ve built have now fallen. My fingertips brush the hem of his shirt and in seconds, I yank it over his head.

I wrap my arms around his neck, bringing us closer together. Theo’s arms wrap around my waist as his lips explore mine. I sigh.

He lets me kiss him. God, I’m spinning.

Everything

Is

Falling

Apart

And

It’s

Incredible.

I let his fingers explore my back. One hand holds me as the one twists the long strands of my hair. My eyes are closed shut but I feel the heat radiating off of our bodies.

I spin us around and press Theo against the wall. My lips break from his as they explore his neck, gently trailing kisses along his neck. Theo sighs.

Theo forces me against the wall, spinning us around again. He catches my lips as he does this, but follows what I did to him. His lips leave mine and he begins to explore.

His lips kiss me everywhere. My cheek, temple, nose, collarbone, my shoulder, my neck. I sigh again as I grasp another fistful of his hair. Sparks ignite inside of me, causing a fire to burn.

“Oh, God,” I whisper as Theo kisses my jaw. “Oh, God.” His lips kiss the hollow of my throat and I lose it.

A giggle escapes from me. Theo stops. His warm lips leave my skin cold. He looks at me, smiling like a dork. I giggle like an idiot, again.

“Are you okay, Phoenix?” he asks.

“Yeah. I’m fine.” I twirl the brown strands of his hair between my fingers.

“Okay.”

I press my lips to his and giggle. Theo smiles against my lips and laughs. His fingertips make me tremble with each blazing but careful touch.

My arm snakes around his waist. Theo laughs against my mouth again and we share one last kiss, before we pull away for air.

“So, that’s what you would do if I kissed you,” I say breathless.

“Sure.” Theo wraps both of his arms around my waist and picks me up, laying on my back on his bed. “But, remember I’m scared of love.”

“Then you weren’t.” His blue eyes are blue fire now. Full of passion and love. “Have you been practicing?”

Theo now hovers above me. “No, Phoenix.” He laughs. “That was talent. Have you ever kissed someone? Because that was very interesting.”

“No. You’re my first kiss ever, Wolf.” I laugh.

Theo lays down next to me, facing me. His face is centimeters from mine. I trail my fingers along the well-defined ridges in his abdomen. Theo wraps his arm around my waist and presses me to him.

I pepper kisses along his jaw and he shudders. I smile against his smooth skin. Theo smiles and closes his eyes, his eye wrinkles showing.

“That was interesting,” he whispers.

“It was,” I whisper, resting my face against his shoulder.

“Do you have any tattoos, Wolf?”

“Yeah. Two,” he says. “Here.

Theo unwraps his arm from my waist and stands up, facing away from me. I smile. His nickname matches the tattoo on his left shoulder. It’s a wolf howling at the moon at night. A black sky along with a forest and a moon surrounds the howling wolf.

“The wolf represents me and how I feel about Brooke. I want to know where she is, so I’m howling for her. I’m howling for her to come home safely,” he explains. “And the Iris is for my mom, like I told you a while back about how she used to love Irises.” He turns so I can see his right rib cage.

“Those are amazing,” I say, sitting up. “I like the fact that you got them for your family.”

“Thanks.” Theo lays down on his back next to me. “So, do you have any other tattoos besides the feather on your collarbone?” Theo touches the exposed tattoo on my collarbone and sparks zap through me.

“I have a tree on my back and I just got a phoenix on my left arm today,” I say, laying down next to Theo.

Theo lifts the sleeve of my shirt up and smiles. He doesn’t touch it, but his fingers trace the skin around the tattoo, gently. I shudder from his touch. He does not know how much he is killing me. Theo smiles softly and pulls the sleeve down. His eyes find the eyebrow piercing.

“And you got this today, also?” he asks, pushing my hair back, revealing the eyebrow piercing.

“Yep.” I smile shyly.

Theo presses a kiss against my temple. “It looks good. You look tough; invincible.”

“Thanks.” My face flushes from his comment and I yawn. “Do you mind if I stay here tonight?”

“Sure,” Theo says, kissing my cheek. “You can stay whenever you want to.”

I sit up and unlace my shoes, setting them on the floor next to the bed. I stand up as Theo stands up to draw the covers back. He lays down and I crawl underneath, facing him.

Theo wraps his arms around me as I snuggle next to him. I sigh against his shoulder. I feel safe next to him. He’s the rock that protects the beach from the raging ocean waves. He’s my rock and I’ll be his.

“Good night, Wolf,” I murmur, wrapping an arm around his waist.

“Night, Phoenix.” Theo places one last kiss against my forehead, and I press one on his shoulder.

I fall asleep in seconds. His breaths and mine. My body against his. His soft lips against my forehead. He’s all I need in this life. He’s my wolf; my Theo, and if anything were to happen to him, I’d kill whoever hurt him.