“I promise this one won't be harmful,” I reassure her, squeezing her hand lightly. “Let's go, before the others call you back.”
“Are we sneaking away?” she asks with a curiously arched brow.
“Of course, we are,” I wink, and Willow giggles again, like a woman who feels safe enough to drop her guard and let her little girl out to play.
As the soft sunlight kisses her cheek, a sense of accomplishment washes over me.
Bringing Willow back to Girdwood was the best decision I made, even before I knew she was my fated mate. She's healing, and that's exactly what she deserves.
To experience life again with a full heart.
Chapter 20 - Willow
When Thane hinted at another surprise, I had a brief flashback of what happened last night, but the warmth of his protective hand gave me the courage to sneak off from training because I knew there was nothing we couldn't face.
Together.
Somehow, that single word fills my heart, having become an anchor for everything I've been doing with my witch powers. Once resistant, I feel myself becoming stronger, and last night was proof of that.
When Thane pulls me toward his grandfather's house, my brows knit with a light, confused frown, but I don't ask what the surprise is, because I trust him.
I trust Thane.
After nearly losing him last night, like I often foresaw in those nightmares, I realized how much I'd been denying.
Like my feelings for him.
Those feelings were inevitable because he's my fated mate, but I've also learned to trust him because he's earned it.
I'm just a little surprised when, instead of heading inside, Thane pulls me toward the back, and my heart flutters with gentle suspicion. I know what lies at the back of his grandfather's house, and this feels like another walk down memory lane when the glass-encased greenhouse comes into view.
“I know you haven't had much time to come out here and explore,” Thane begins, glancing at me with a knowing smirk. “So I took the time to reorganize the greenhouse, get some fresh buds, and reawaken something you loved so much.”
“Thane…” I whisper, my throat tightening.
Thane proceeds to push the door open, stepping inside and pulling me with him. I'm hit with the scent of earthiness, my airways filling with a range of notes, from the sweetness of flowers to the spicy traces of herbs, coupled with the smell of the past that I'd been yearning for.
My hand slips from his as I wander down the aisle, my eyes filling with tears at the reminder that before Blood Claw, before his rejection, before any of the witch and demon stuff that's been going on, I once had a passion for this place.
A place that felt like home, and the only place where I felt like I belonged.
My lips curl into a wistful smile as I stop by the pot of yarrow. “I always wondered why you let me have this place back in the day.”
Thane clears his throat nervously behind me. “It was my mother's, before she died,” he admits softly. “You're the only one who seemed to care enough for this place, anyway. It was rare to see anyone trying to plant stuff in their gardens, especially with all the snow we get.”
“I missed this place….”
“I'm sorry I drove you out of Girdwood when I—” Thane's hesitation prompts me to turn to him, finding him rubbing the back of his neck nervously.
“You've already apologized for that,” I remind him as I move toward him. “There's no need to bring up the past, Thane.”
Thane reaches for my hand, smoothing his thumb over my knuckles. “You're right, but I still feel guilty.”
I shake my head slowly, meeting his warm, forest-green eyes. “You don't have to feel guilty anymore,” I whisper. “Thismakes up for it. Everything you've done since you brought me back has made up for it. And last night, when I almost lost you—” my voice breaks off, and I tear my eyes away, but Thane hooks a finger beneath my chin, compelling me to look up and meet his eyes.
“But you didn't lose me, Willow. You never will,” he promises. “Everything you've been afraid of, we've handled it. Together.”
That one word has my heart skipping a beat.
