Chapter 393 The bestfriend’s hug

Chapter 393: Chapter 393 The bestfriend’s hug

Talia’s POV

I could not sleep.

I lay in the darkness, and I stared at the ceiling. The room was quiet, and the fire had died completely.

I could hear the wind outside, and I could hear the distant sounds of the camps as the wolves settled in for the night.

I tried to close my eyes, and I tried to empty my mind. But the thoughts kept coming: The battle, Malachai, and the wolves who might not survive tomorrow.

I sat up, and I looked at the empty space beside me. Kaelen was still in the war room with Cain, and I did not know when he would return.

I climbed out of bed, and I pulled on my boots, then I grabbed a light cloak and wrapped it around my shoulders. I needed to move, and I needed to walk.

I slipped out of the room, and I walked through the quiet hallway. The torches flickered low in their brackets, and the shadows danced on the walls. I passed by the rooms of my pack, and I could hear the soft sounds of sleep coming from behind the closed doors.

I wondered if they were dreaming of tomorrow. I wondered if they were dreaming of victory, or of death, or of the families they had left behind. I wondered if they were as scared as I was.

I did not know where I was going yet, I just knew that I could not stay still.

I walked through the stronghold, and my footsteps echoed on the stone floor. The great hall was empty, and the kitchen was dark. I could hear the distant murmur of voices from the war room, and I knew Kaelen was still there.

I walked past the library, and I walked past the gardens. I walked past the rooms of the servants and the rooms of the warriors.

The stronghold was quiet, but it was not peaceful. It was the kind of quiet that came before a storm, the kind that made your skin prickle and your heart beat faster.

I walked past everything, and I still could not shake the feeling that was pressing down on my chest.

I was scared. I was scared of losing the people I loved, and I was scared of dying before I had a chance to live.

I stopped walking. I stood in the middle of the hallway, and I closed my eyes. I took a breath, and I let it out slowly.

I needed to see someone. I needed to be with someone, because I needed to feel something other than the fear in my heart.

I thought of Piper. I needed Piper. She had been my anchor for fifteen years, and I needed her to remind me who I was.

I opened my eyes, and I knew where I needed to go.

I walked to Piper’s room, and I saw that the door was slightly open. I could see the light flickering inside, and I could hear the murmur of voices.

I paused because I did not want to interrupt anything. But I still needed to see her.

I pushed the door open slowly, and I froze.

The room was warm, and the fire was burning low. I could smell the lavender soap Piper always used, and I could hear the soft crackle of the flames. But none of that mattered.

What mattered was what I saw.

Jax was there. He was standing in the middle of the room, and Piper was standing in front of him. Their arms were wrapped around each other, and their foreheads were pressed together.

Jax’s hand was resting on the back of Piper’s head, with his fingers tangled gently in her hair. While Piper’s hands were fisted in the front of his shirt, holding on like she was afraid he might disappear if she let go.

Neither of them was speaking. They were just breathing together, slow and steady, like they had been standing like that for a long time and had no intention of moving.

They pulled back when they heard the door. Jax’s face flushed, and Piper’s eyes widened.

For a moment, no one spoke. The three of us just stood there, frozen in the doorway, and I could feel the tension crackling in the air like lightning.

"Luna," Jax said, and his voice was too loud. "I was... uhh... hmm... I was just about to leave."

He stepped back from Piper, and he walked to the door. He paused beside me, and he looked at me.

"I was just checking on her," Jax said. "That is all."

I nodded trying to keep myself from laughing out loud, and I did not say anything.

Jax walked out the door, and he disappeared down the hallway. I watched him go, and then I turned back to Piper.

The door closed behind him, and the room felt smaller now, and quieter. I could hear Piper’s breathing, and I could hear the fire crackling, and I could hear my own heartbeat in my ears.

Piper was standing in the middle of the room, and her face was red. She kept looking between the door, and me. And she looked like she wanted to run.

"Piper," I said, and my voice was soft.

She looked at me fully, and I saw the tears in her eyes. "I do not know what you are thinking, Talia, but nothing happened. Jax was just..."

I walked to her, and I took her hands. "Piper, stop."

She stopped talking, and she looked at me.

"You love him," I said.

Piper’s face went pale. "What? No. I do not... I mean... I do not know."

I smiled, and I squeezed her hands. "Piper, I have known you my whole life. I know what you look like when you are in love."

Piper stared at me, and the tears spilled over.

I saw the fear in her eyes. The fear of admitting something she had been hiding for so long. The fear of what it meant, and the fear of what would happen if she said it out loud.

"I do not know what I feel," she whispered. "He is... he is Jax. He is annoying, and he is impossible, and he makes me laugh more than anyone I have ever known."

She pulled her hands from mine and pressed them to her face.

"And I do not know what to do with that."

I pulled her into my arms, and I held her tight.

"You do not have to know," I said. "You just have to feel it."

Piper buried her face in my shoulder. "Do you think he knows?"

I smiled against her hair. "I am sure he does, Piper. He would have to be blind not to."

She laughed, but it was a wet sound, half a sob.

We stood there, holding each other, and I felt the weight of everything that had happened settle over us.

Neither of us spoke, because there were no words for what we were about to do. There were no words for the fear, or the hope, or the love that was filling the room.

We just held each other.

I could feel her heart beating against mine, and I could feel her breath on my neck. She was my best friend, and she was my sister, and she was the only person in the world who had been with me through everything.

I did not want to let her go, and I did not want to leave. I wanted to stay here, in this moment, where nothing could hurt us.

But I knew that the morning would come, and I knew that we would have to face it.

I pulled back, and I looked at Piper. Her eyes were red, and her cheeks were wet, but she was smiling.

"Be careful tomorrow," she said.

I nodded with a bright smile. "You too,"

She hugged me one more time, and then she let me go.