Her naturally sweet, jasmine scent is faint once I’m outside, but I inhale deeply, picking up on the breadcrumbs leading toward the ingress of the forest.
I march forward until I see her standing with her arms folded in front of her, her back rising and falling with the rapid breaths she’s lugging in as if to calm herself down. Her aura is almost visible under the sunlight, faintly hugging her in wafts of golden mist as she stands with her back to me.
As I approach her, I’m able to sense the emotions rolling off her in waves. Even before I call out to her, I know what’s going to happen.
She’s angry with me. She probably caught a glimpse of my surprise encounter with Laura, and Emily must have been there, berating her. Laura and Emily set out with cruel intentions to corner Rissa, and I just happened to be there for Laura to try and sink her claws into me.
“Rissa,” I call out gently, cautiously reaching out for her shoulder. But as soon as she’s aware of my arrival, she dodges my touch and snaps around.
“What are you doing here?!” she exclaims, her eyes turning into dark pits of accusation. “Did you follow me out?!”
“I did follow you out, Rissa,” I admit carefully, retracting my hand. “I know what it looks like, but—”
“Oh, so you do know what it looks like when you were flirting with Laura?!” Rissa retorts with a roll of her eyes.
“I wasn’t flirting with her, Riss! She was coming onto me, and I shut her down! I’m guessing that’s the part you didn’t see!”
“Oh, I saw enough!” Rissa scoffs as she spins around again, avoiding this fight but also revealing something crucial to me.
She’s fuming with jealousy, and something about it gives me hope. Hope that she actually cares about me as her mate, if seeing Laura around me sets her off like this.
Sighing, I stare at the back of her head as I firmly and solemnly declare, “You have nothing to be worried about, Rissa. I am in this for the long haul. We may not have had a chance to speak about the mate bond between us, but I can assure you that I will never allow another woman to get between us.”
Rissa turns around slowly, her eyes glossed over with tears. Even as timid and apprehensive as she appears now, she still remains the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen.
“You mean that?” she whispers tentatively, to which I nod, pinching the skin on my neck between my thumb and index finger.
“I swear that I will never do anything that goes against our mate bond.” I sigh, hanging my head in shame. “I know Ishould have announced it to the pack by now, and I promise I will do that soon. I just wanna know if it’s something you’re willing to work on, too.”
“I am,” Rissa admits after a moment, prompting me to look up to see her wiping her eyes.
“Oh, Rissa…” I sigh as I take a step forward, wrapping my arms around her and noticing that she doesn’t pull away. I realize I might have left things hanging too long, and it’s about time we addressed the elephant in the room between us.
She’s clearly affected by the lack of clarity, while I’ve been affected by her pushing me away every time we fought.
Things feel different now as she clings to me, fisting my sweater with her eyes closed as if relishing the warmth of my embrace.
“You’re my favorite witch, Rissa,” I tease with a coy smile as I pull back to stare into her eyes. “That must count for something, right?”
Rissa huffs as she attempts to stifle the inevitable giggle that’s clearly lodged in her throat. She slaps my chest playfully then.
“Come on, Riss,” I nudge sweetly, keeping my arm secured around her. “If there’s one thing I won’t do, it’s go against what the Elders want.”
I know that deep down, Rissa is recalling what happened on the night of our graduation, when I’d blatantly allowed Laura to seduce me while I battered Rissa with brutal words. She has no idea that I’d only been pushing her away because I felt the pull of the mate bond from the start.
It took the Elders' encouragement from Yvonne’s vision to lead us back to each other.
“I know,” Rissa sighs, and there’s still a sadness that remains in her eyes as she takes a deep breath for composure. “I guess I shouldn’t have doubted you.”
Though her claim brings me ease, it still stings deep down, because Rissa has every right to doubt me.
I can only hope that enough time has passed for her to have space. I’m tired of waiting, and it’s time for me to enact my plan.
I just need to get the summer festival set up to follow through.
Taking Rissa’s hand in mine, I’m glad when she doesn’t snatch it away.
“I know you’re supposed to go back to work, but what if we went into town for your break?” I suggest.
