"ANNA."
"I know," she smiled sadly at West. "I know that you're all over the place, right now."
"How did you-" West started.
"We're soulmates, aren't we?" she interrupted. "Of course I know what you feel... So, don't choose, now."
And at that moment, seeing the way that West looked at her, I knew that he wasn't just giving her false hope. He felt the bond and so he felt something for her.
"Take your time, West. Think about it. We both have a lifetime ahead of us; there's no hurry in making choices."
That was when it hit me. I realised why Anna wasn't so persistent in showing her love for him.
The Brown Wolf illness. If she had the span of a normal Brown Wolf, Anna would only have another 25 years at the most. Was she trying to save West from the pain of losing her?
"It's noon, already, I have to go make lunch." She glanced at me. "I'll get going, Weslyn." As she left the room, West took a sharp intake of breath.
"Lyn I don't know what to do," he murmured, after about a minute. "What do I do?"
"Who do you love more?" I asked. It was the most important thing of all. The Soulmate Curse ultimately ended when one love overpowered the other.
"I don't know," he admitted. "I really don't know. Until recently, I never felt anything for Anna. All this time, I was convinced that I love Mary but she's no longer the same, Lyn. She has changed."
"What was she like before?" I asked.
"Thr last time I remember her, as she was, was when I was 15..." West trailed off. "She let me cry on her shoulder and listened to everything I was struggling with. She was so mature and kind. And whenever she spoke, it was as if everything would be alright." He paused. "When I saw her two days ago, it was as if the missing piece of me returned," he told me. "But something was wrong. It was as if the piece broke and left a gap."
"West," I whispered.
"I shoved her away when I found her hurting you. Usually a Gray Wolf will experience the same pain that their mate is facing, but when I hurt her, I felt nothing," he continued. "The only pain I had was from the gap inside me."
The gap. It was something that I understood too well. I had felt it for the eight years that I had lived without remembering Liam.
"When Anna told me how she felt, the gap closed up in an instant... I guess she's the one I would choose if it was emotions alone," he sighed. "But life isn't just emotions, is it? It isn't Mary's fault that she changed. She just did. So if I choose Anna, what will happen to Mary?"
"When you love someone, West, you can't stop loving them, just because they've changed. The fact that you no longer love Mary isn't only because she's changed. It's because you love Anna more; you love her, just as she is."
"I know," he answered. "But I still need time. I can't jump straight into it."
"I get it," I stared at the ground. "Well come on, then. It's time for lunch."
As he followed me out of my room and into the kitchen, I couldn't help but flinch at his pained expression. Despite how he was before, West had a pure heart. And his heart was being torn by the War of Hearts.
Only one question lingered in my mind...
How did someone so pure attack his own blood?
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