Yoruishi stood on a tree branch not far from Leo's house, taking deep breaths. However, that alone did nothing to calm her emotions.
After all, with the confirmation she had just received, all the vague yet wonderful moments with her 'basty' finally had a reason behind them.
"This is not funny, god damn it!!" she screamed, her lungs straining in frustration. She may sound against the mate bond she discovered, but on the contrary, she was happy to get one, and it was someone close to someone she held dear.
Additionally, it is a one-in-a-million chance to meet your mate while still alive. But the problem was that Yoruishi was not the only one destined to him.
"How is that even possible!!" she murmured, lying on the branch, her eyes fixed on the distance, lost in deep thought.
After a few minutes, she let out a deep sigh and jumped to the ground, intending to open the veil and retreat to her house for now. Something cut her off in the middle—a sudden spike of energy, closer to the house she had just left.
"This..." Recognizing the type of energy as one of the scarce types on this far continent, she concentrated on sensing the aura. Seconds later, another spike of energy appeared, stronger and more familiar than the first, but this time she could sense a mixture in it.
"Good energy count, and he inherited his mother's Rireuk!" Yoruishi smirked and nodded, letting her troubled mind shift to interest in what was happening.
"Well, let's take a sneak peek before leaving," Yoruishi muttered, slipping behind the veil. She accelerated back to the house, expecting at least a fight.
But surprisingly, she found none. In fact, the moment Yoruishi stepped closer to the vicinity of the house, close enough to see what was going on, her senses went weird, and it started to feel like drowning in the deep sea.
And what she saw was a completely different story.
Back in time, right after Yoruishi ran away, Leo saw the message from his mother.
Leo looked at the clothes on the ground, then the not-far forest, then the place where his mother's projection had been.
Seeing that 'woman' projection actually pushed him to tears—a definitive proof that the memories he had were his, and probably, with the old world ones awakening, his mind got confused.
And as if this was not enough excitement in his plan for the night, he discovered that he actually got a second mate—and one of the top-tier beasties (in his opinion) at that.
"A second mate?! Is that even possible?" Leo thought. Funny enough, it was the same as Yoruishi, but he was more confused by the fact, given his background knowledge.
But now he was only trying to wrap his mind around it, leaving everything else aside, to at least give his just-become wife an explanation first. After all, he had literally just discovered a new 'mate' on his first night with Rose.
They didn't even get the chance to... You know!!!
In complete contrast to what he expected, Leo turned to find Rose not angry; instead, she looked troubled, more than anything else.
"You should go after her," Rose said, not reprimanding Leo, but encouraging him to follow after her, not out of anger, but completely out of care. something Leo picked up clearly.
After the ritual, not only had they become connected on a soul level, meaning Leo could sense Rose's emotions and condition from the other side of the globe or even another dimension. Of course, the inverse was possible too.
And that way, Rose gave him those words, partly for the confusion and sadness Leo was feeling right now, and secondly, because she vaguely felt the hurt Yoruishi had when running.
"Is that okay?" Leo felt like he was between an anvil and a hammer at this moment.
No man could resist the charm of multiple women, but with how Leo grew up, it became hard to just accept it. And seeing Rose this positive about the whole situation almost stopped his heart.
Maybe thanks to all the stress or the blood flowing to the wrong places, he forgot one critical piece of information: Rose had future-telling on her side in the form of an energetic pixie.
"Oh, I almost forgot to tell you," Rose admitted, scratching her head. "You're going to have multiple mates."
She then explained that Alice had shown her the vision, how she knew who he was, and how the whole process worked.
"And you're okay with it?" Leo almost felt like smacking his head on the wall at the moment. After all, how the hell did he forget about the little pixie!?
"I wasn't at first, but..." stopping mid-sentence, she looked at the forest for a second before looking back at Leo with a sigh, "You feel it too, right?"
Rosalie referred to the emotion that burst from her during the run, but Leo looked confused, not understanding her meaning.
What Rosalie didn't know was that it was only possible because she gained an empathy ability—one of the few abilities she developed after the ritual and the transformation.
"I don't think I got what you mean?" Leo asked faintly, shaking his head for a second.
"Before she ran, you didn't sense her emotion?" Leo shook his head at her question.
"That probably was just you. I heard that every ancestor beast tends to have a set of unique abilities—probably an empathy type."
"I see," she said, nodding as she grasped the idea. "That feeling she had… I've actually experienced it before."
Rose explained that it was how she had felt the night her fiancé betrayed her, and she didn't want anyone else to feel that way—especially someone connected to him.
"I just hope you keep a place for me in your heart," Rose said, putting her hand around his wrist and resting her head on his shoulder.
"What are you talking about?" Leo said, hugging her. "You are my heart."
"What about the other one?" Rose knew what he meant, and now she could even feel the truth behind it, but she couldn't resist the urge to tease him a bit—just to let her frustration out.
"Well..." Leo froze for a second and sighed, "It's more like I got another heart at that moment... if that even means anything."
Leo answered, really trying hard to find the right words, letting Rose have a funny moment to laugh at him with a bright smile.
"Well, it was a good answer, I guess."
Not knowing what was wrong with her, Leo could only sigh and let her go.
"Now go get her, Lolo," Rose said with a smirk, causing Leo's face to drop.
"For god's sake, don't call me that," Leo said, massaging his eyebrow. The only one who ever called him that was his mother, and God help him if that got public.
"Nope, too late," Rose said, skipping back to the house, but stopped as she saw an actual black tiger appearing out of nowhere beside Leo.
"Hey buddy, what's wrong?" Leo patted the tiger, asking confusedly.
The tiger was one of his beast subordinates, and this specific one was tasked, along with a couple of others, to keep an eye behind the veil in Forks.
Growl (We have intruders. Smells like the man you fought last time.)
Leo's mind spun with questions, frowning at the unexpected info.
"Give me a break!!!" With how the night felt like it was never-ending, Leo started to really get angry.
"Sorry, Rose, but I need to take care of something," Leo said, kissing her on the forehead. "We have some visitors in the town; I have to check. Can you follow that kitty for me?"
"Will you be okay alone?" Rose asked, not really helping, but still concerned about his well-being, and favoring going with him instead.
After all, knowing him, he was probably out to fight.
"Nah, I will wrap it up real quick," Leo waved his hand lazily and looked at the tiger. "Lead the way."
With that, both slipped away. Rose took a look at the place before jumping down into the forest.
____________________________________________________
Don't forget to have a look at: Ko*fi.c**/brain_n_clouds.