Chapter Forty
Col had been listening outside the children’s door. He had come up to find Katie, and could not help but listen when he heard her words about theDestine. She, who had never heard ofDestinesuntil the night of his story, had intuited correctly what they were. In the guise of a children’s bedtime story, she had eloquently woven words that reached out to him, ensnaring him with their truth as if they formed a fine meshed net.
In her presence, his father’s voice, the one that had ever pushed him, goaded him onwards, was completely silenced. And it was true. With her, he felt anything was possible.
Mayhap it was his longing for her that clouded his senses, but it had sounded to his ears that she was desirous of being hisDestine.
At that moment, as if she knew of his presence, she turned, and their eyes locked. A smile was on her face, delight at seeing him filling the jambs of the children’s door. No words were necessary, as she moved swiftly towards him.
They would join together again under the stars.
* * *
Her fingers were interlaced with Col’s, and even that small contact thrilled her in a way that she had never believed possible. His thumb stroked her palm gently, a caress that she could feel inside her hidden depths. They walked in an easy pace, on a different path tonight than one they had taken before.
Lily felt safe beside his large form, and was able to take in the magic of their nighttime walk in the cool, crisp air. The comforting sounds of the crickets and nighttime birds, the crunch of their steps on the twigs and dried leaves of the path, all lulled her into an easy pace beside him. When she brushed against him at one point, she smelled his unique scent, which she could only describe as manly, powerful, and hinting of the depths of the woods that they ventured further into.
They broke into a small meadow, where the flickering of the fireflies added to the charm of the blanket of grass and wildflowers.
“It’s beautiful.” Lily’s voice was hushed. Col pulled her into him, and she nuzzled against the cotton stretched across his hard, muscular chest. He had one arm around her, and the other moving up towards the back of her head.
Her body tilted towards his, feeling the strength of his massive body pressed up on hers.
She tilted her face back, inviting his kiss, and as he started to lean his handsome head in—
He cursed. Loudly.
What the—?
Col pulled apart from her quickly in one smooth movement, and positioned himself at an angle in front of her. He was an immovable wall, blocking her.
“Col, what—” Lily’s voice was sharp with indignation, and she instantly scrambled around him.
And froze.
A few yards away from her, with only Col’s body in between, were two enormous, furred animals the size of ponies.
Except ponies didn’t look like vicious wolves, with their canines showing. Their eyes were trained right at the terrified but tasty snack that Lily was.
It was unnatural. Time stood still. Col wasn’t moving. His muscles were coiled with tension, but it wasn’t from fear. As big as Col was, that was a mega-sized monster. Times two. So why wasn’t Col scared?
Instead, he seemed….pissed.
She didn’t get it, couldn’t wrap her mind around this insanity that was happening around her right now. Couldn’t take her eyes off of what was sure to be a horrific, painful death, with the sheer size of the canines that each animal sported.
Which one would get her first, she wondered, although that was like deciding which deck to hang out in on the Titanic. Apparently her near death experience was going to consist of making nonsensical choices. The big black wolf with the curly fur on the left, or the huge brown and white wolf on the—
Suddenly it all clicked together.
Where she had seen them before. Sort of.
She could hear the excited voices of the twins, as they proudly showed their drawings.
“Merek?” Her voice had a slight tremble. Well of course. She was scared shitless. And hallucinating. “Barric?”
The two wolves dipped their heads, as if in acknowledgment, and her mind was on a two second delay processing that, as all of a sudden, they started to move.
Towards her.
