“I’m glad you are proud of yourself, love,” Alina said, smiling at his smugness.
“Are you going to tell me what she wanted?”
“She took me to see Cyn.”
Vasile stilled. “Is she alright?”
Alina knew that her mate felt some responsibility toward the fae because Cyn had helped them so much. He was that way with all who assisted in the cause to fight evil, and it was one of the many things that made her love him.
“She’s having a hard time deciding what to do about Thalion,” Alina explained. “She loves him but can’t seem to reconcile where he fits in her life. At least that’s what I gathered.”
“And Peri felt you might be able to help her wade through the emotions?” His fingertips resumed their caressing, and Alina and her wolf took pleasure in their mate’s attention.
“I don’t know if I helped, honestly. Their ways of finding a mate are different from ours, but at the same time, their paths kept meeting and it seems clear that they are meant for each other. I encouraged her to surrender to it.”
“There was a time when you did not want to surrender to me,” he reminded her.
She pushed back and looked up at him. “I would have been a fool to have continued down that path. But, if you recall, you wandered as well.”
“I did. It was one of the darkest times in my life. I learned during that time that I could never, nor would I ever want to, live without you.”
“It is a good thing, then, that we both realized the error of our ways.”
He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “That it is, beloved. That it is.”
Peri stared out into the dark night, her presence cloaked by the forest around her. The fae’s eyes were narrowed as she gazed toward the Romanian pack mansion. Her mate was within those walls, and after all of her brave words to Cyn, she still could not bring herself to go to him.
She knew he would fill the void inside of her. He would be the balm to the wound that was left in his absence, an absence that was of her own making. Peri knew she couldn’t run forever. In fact, she was pretty sure her running days were numbered. Be that as it may, her stubborn nature would not permit her feet to move from the spot where she found herself rooted.
Would it be so bad to be mated to a wolf?Her mind screamedyesbecause it was programed to be irritated with the stubborn wolves. In the same way that breathing was natural, so was threatening to turn the wolves into rugs. But her heart was saying something different. Her heart was telling her that Lucian would be good for her. He was strong, not only physically but mentally. He’d proven that by coming out of the dark forest still sane after all that time in isolation. Being mated to Lucian would finally give her someone to help bear the weight of her myriad of responsibilities. But she’d also have a weakness, because she knew if she gave her heart to him, she would be unable to ever let him go.
Peri wasn’t prone to being overly emotional, but when she decided to bestow her emotions upon a person, she gave them freely and with great abundance. Such a thing was so very scary to do, and yet it was exactly what she wanted to do with Lucian.
Peri found a fallen tree trunk upon which to sit and lowered herself to the rough surface. Her soul would not let her wander far from its other half and the need to protect him. Lucian didn’t need anyone to watch over him, of course. He was so very strong. She felt him reaching out to her through the bond, but she kept it tightly shut, unwilling to experience such intimacy, at least not yet. Peri was ancient, though she only looked to be in her twenties. Her mind was a vast pool of experiences and memories, both good and bad. She wasn’t prepared to share those. She wasn’t ready for him to see that deep into her soul.
I will be waiting until you are ready, my mate.
Peri gasped at the sound of his voice in her mind. He was strong. To be able to get past her mental shields, even if only for a minute, proved how powerful he was. He was gone just as quickly as he’d entered. In his wake, he left feelings of peace, hope, and love welling up inside of her, tempting her all the more to run to him. “Stupid wolf,” she grumbled. One day she would give in to that need to cast all of her worries aside and grab onto her own fate with both hands. One day she would no longer be alone.
Chapter 13
“I’m running to you. Will you receive me with open arms? I’m running to you and to the future with so much promise. I’m running to you with all my fears and worries in tow. Will you accept me as I am?” ~ Cyn
Cyn stood just outside the veil that would lead her to Othea, the elven realm. Her palms were sweaty, which was a new experience for her. She couldn’t think of a time in her existence that she’d ever had reason to have sweaty palms. Apparently, facing the man with whom she was hopelessly in love was worthy of sweaty palms.
Cyn hadn’t seen or talked to Thalion in a week. That wasn’t a long time for them to be apart, since there was a time in their relationship that she avoided him at all cost, sometimes for decades. But now that they’d established they were indeed in love with one another, being apart was so much more difficult. Cyn found herself wanting to tell him about ridiculous things Peri had said or share with him how cute Jennifer and Decebel’s little girl was. She wanted to hear about his day and the things he was dealing with, and she wanted to be the one he desired to tell those things to.
She hadn’t realized just how much she’d been missing by not having a mate until Thalion. Just knowing there was someone who missed her and hoped she was safe brought peace to her warring heart. Cyn wasn’t a fool. She knew it couldn’t just be a warm body waiting on her. It had to be the one who held her heart, mind, body, and soul. Thalion was that person.
There was still a tiny part of her that worried that if she gave herself to Thalion as his mate, she might one day be matched as a true mate to a wolf. But the bigger part of her wasn’t going to let a ‘what if’ decide her present. After her long discussion with Peri and Alina, and then time to herself thinking about what she needed and wanted, Cyn had come to the decision that she couldn’t walk away from Thalion. She loved him too much.
She was just about to flash when she felt the warmth behind her. Cyn turned and immediately knelt, bowing her head.
“Luna,” Cyn said reverently, keeping her eyes cast onto the ground. The serenity and calm that accompanied the goddess surrounded Cyn, and she had to fight the desire to lay down and bask in the feeling.
“Child.” The Great Luna spoke and everything around them was silenced. It was as if all of creation was waiting with baited breath for what she would say. Cyn almost forgot to breathe as she too waited. “You have lived through many cycles of the earth,” the goddess said, her voice laced with affection. “You have stood before kings, been brought to your knees more than once in the face of your enemy, faced certain death, and yet triumphed through all. You, Cyn of the fae, were born into the life of a warrior. No one gave you a choice in your future. The steps were ordained by someone else. Yet you did not rebel. You have done your duty with humility, perseverance, strength, and honor. Few others would have behaved so nobly.”
Cyn felt a hand on her head and warmth flooded her body. The weight of everything she’d been carrying was suddenly gone.
