“Thousands,” Holden corrected.
“Thousands of candles, and a band and orchestra band, string quartet? Whatever,” Cali waved her hand, “He brought me to the top of the stairs and proposed there in front of this huge window that overlooked a moonlight garden,” She sighed and looked up as if she could see it now, “Normally I would say it would be over the top and cheesy,” Cali gave me her wry smile, “But I deserve it.” She flipped her curls.
“That you do,” I smiled at her.
Her happiness was infectious. I saw a different side of her recently, one where her first instinct wasn’t to protect or defend.
“How did Caspien do it?” She turned her hazel eyes to me. They seemed almost gold under the dim kitchen light.
“Well, it was the last day, this morning, actually.” Goddess, was that only this morning? “And we were taking a walk through the woods, and then he proposed,” I said.
“Oh,” Cali said, expecting more.
“The princeling got dirt on his pressed pants?” Holden’s eyes widened in mock horror, “That is romantic,” He stared at Caspien, “For you at least.”
“I was going to do something else, but it felt right,” Caspien shrugged, ignoring his friend, “I can still do something more dramatic,” Caspien turned to me, but he wasn’t joking.
“No, no, please, once is enough,” I said, and Caspien’s eyes furrowed slightly, “No, I meant like it’s over; we don’t need to redo it.”
I was definitely not getting this out right.
“Sorry, wait. It was perfect; nothing could top it.” I looked at Caspien; I meant it. I didn’t want anything else.
Holden sucked in air through his teeth, and Cali looked away.
“Great save,” Caspien chuckled dryly but put an arm around me, smiling.
I mean it, it was perfect. Unexpected, everything I linked him
He kissed my forehead.
“Your parents are here,” He said, “Let’s show them the new place.”
I heard Caspien call Emmett to show his grandparents their new apartment. We did the same engagement story over again for them. More tears, more congratulations.
Neither of us even thought to tell anyone. Not out of disrespect for our friends or family, just because it felt so natural. This was the next step for us, not one that either of us had to think about.
It felt so normal, so natural; we didn’t think about it.
Once they were all settled, at least for the night, we left both of our sets of parents in their apartment to relax over a glass of wine.
Cali and I were leaning over the kitchen table, Emmett and Loreli were fast asleep, tiring themselves out from chasing each other around all afternoon.
Cali was twisting her ring, watching the reflection of the overhead lights.
“I never thought I would get this, you know,” Cali murmured, her voice soft.
“A ring or a wedding?” I asked.
“Either,” She shrugged no hint of playfulness in her voice, “I honestly never thought about it. It was something I saw too many people do just because they felt like they had to, that they were stuck, and it was a way out,” She laughed once, “It never was.”
“I didn’t think my life would take this turn, not the werewolf thing,” She looked up, throwing her ruby curls across her back, “That one wasn’t even in the cards, but to even carve out time in my life to date it seemed,” She shrugged.
I smiled at her. I got it, in a sense. I never thought of the possibility of a second chance. It wasn’t even on my radar as something that might happen. I was too engrossed in the steps I had to take to ensure Emmett had a good life. I didn’t think about a future for myself as well, outside of him.
“It’s funny how it happens, isn’t it?”
“People always say that when you meet the one you know,” Cali smiled, “I didn’t believe them, but the whole werewolf mate beacon electric buzz thing is something else.”
I shook my head, “It’s not because of the mate bond that you want your mate. It’s because of who they are. The mate bond just alerts us to our person we can cut the c.rap.” “Never go on a bad date again,” Cali gave me a wry smile, “Seems like you guys have evolved past humans in that department.”
“Maybe,” I shrugged.
“But it is Holden, even without the electric shock to my c.oochie every time he touches me,” I closed my eyes and shook my head, suppressing a smile, “He balances me, and I think I don’t know if I deserve this. It doesn’t feel real. I felt like I got a get-out-of-jail-free card for no reason. Life isn’t supposed to be this easy.” She looked up at me, her eyes hard.
“But was it always this easy? I don’t think either of us had it very easy, at least not at times,” I shrugged, she still didn’t dive into her past with me, but I hoped she did with Holden.
Cali took a deep breath and placed her hands on the kitchen island, “You’re right.”
“I think this happy ending is d.amn well deserved,” I smiled at her channeling a bit of her energy.
“You’re right again,” She gave me a bit of a smile, “I just feel too young to get this. I thought I would be slaving away for decades before I got this sense of peace, of ease.” She shook her head.
“If you want, we can start at the diner again. Maybe I’ll get Caspien to charge us extortionate rent just so we have some of the crippling anxiety back,”
She gave me a genuine rare smile this time, “Crippling anxiety is a feeling I’m far more comfortable with than peace. Every day my body is confused; it feels like it’s missing something, that sense of dread, fear like something is off.”
“You’ll get used to it, I hope.” I shrugged, “Also, you kinda did that whole assassin thing, so I’m sure we can find something to keep that adrenaline up if you ever find yourself getting bored.”
“I did, didn’t I?” She crossed her arms and leaned back, “Maybe I do deserve this after all,” She stood up and brushed off her jeans, “I’m going to find my mate.”
“Everything good that comes is something you already deserve,” I turned as she passed me.
“What? Next you’re going to tell me to trust the universe or something,” She laughed once.
“I mean..” She rolled her eyes, flipped her hair over her shoulder, and went to the living room where Holden and Caspien were.
I followed her out, letting Caspien pull me into his lap and wrap his arms around me.
“What did we miss?” I nuzzled into his neck.
“We were talking about logistics of the challenge,” Caspien said.
“When are you going to challenge him?” My stomach dropped, and ice went through my veins as I asked. I didn’t want to think about that, not yet.
“Tomorrow,” Caspien said, and I froze, pulling back to look at him, “We don’t know what else he has in the works; I want to cut it off before things go any further.” Caspien’s eyes were like chips of ice.
“He might not even know The Silent Assasin is dead,” I looked down, playing with the edge of the blanket.
“Griffen said that there has been talk, rumors at most, but I’m not taking any chances.” His jaw hardened.
“What about the baseball game? With my dad?” I was grasping at straws.
His eyes softened as they settled on me, “I’ll be back before then,” Caspien’s voice was gentle, and he took my hand, rubbing his thumb across my knuckles.
“I trust you,” I said.
I knew I couldn’t stop him, and I didn’t want to. I wanted to stop this challenge completely, wish it into existence, but we all knew this was the way we had to go forward. This was the exact moment that we had been working towards. “Let’s put on a show then,” I sighed and tried to smile, but my shoulders sagged.
“Now, that I can do,” He tilted my chin up to face him, a broad smile spread across his face, but it didn’t reach his eyes, “I’m ready for this, Willa. I need to show him, show them all what will happen when someone tries to touch my family,” His eyes flashed black, and I placed my hand against his cheek. He leaned into it, shutting his eyes and visibly calming.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.