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Lorena chuckled. “Isn’t that the truth.”
The two sat side by side and watched how the firelight reflected off their glasses and turned the red elixir into a rich and warm hue.
Then suddenly and without a cue, both chorused. “I’m sorry.”
Then they laughed.
“Okay, I’ll bite. What are you sorry for?” Lorena flashed her signature warm smile.
“Oh, just that I was so caught up in gaining power after Mom died. I didn’t see one of my own in such dire need. If I had been less focused on my reign, all this could have been avoided.”
“Oh, Thomas, that’s not right. You know, if it hadn’t been for me and my father, that evil man would have gone after someone else in the pride. As you said once … Sonny was a predator looking for injured or weak prey.”
“Yes, I suppose you're right. There would be no stopping that man. Eventually, it would have come to this end. At least now I can protect the pride, and it can thrive. Your turn. What are you sorry for?”
Lorena chuckled. “That I didn’t go to you sooner. When Sonny approached me, why didn’t I immediately run to you and tell you? Why did I allow that man into my life, even for a second?”
Thomas put an arm around Lorena and sighed. “My overzealous leadership. I think I was … no, that’s wrong. I know I definitely was too brutal in how I handled the pride when Mom died. All you saw was my focus on my pride, which isn’t a bad thing. But it scared good people like you away from asking for help. I should have taken a page from my late mother. Maybe things got beyond her in her later years, but she had a way with everyone, both non-shifters and members of the pride. Reign with velvet gloves, not a big stick.”
Lorena looked up at Thomas. “We’ve both learned lessons here, haven’t we?”
“At the risk of death. Yeah. We surely have.”
There was silence for a time. The couple sipped at their wine and watched the flames lazily lick at the dry oak logs. Two sets of eyes, mesmerized by the flames … restful irises with a hint of the wild.
“Thomas?”
“Yes.”
“Any other regrets?”
Thomas inhaled, and his pecs grew large. “Yes. I do. But I still have time to remedy this regret.”
He turned to face Lorena. “I should have said this forever ago. And it’s not because the feeling wasn’t there. Maybe fear of losing you for any reason kept me holding my thoughts close to the vest. But now that there is no more fear and all we have is a bright future ahead. Lorena, I love you. I love you with all my heart and want to spend forever with you.”
Lorena’s eyes widened. Her mouth opened, but she couldn’t voice words. Thomas had taken all the air in the room, and she was left floating in a dream. It had been a fantasy, of course. But for him to actually say those words to her and for her and mean them. She was beyond ecstatic. She, too, was in love.
A man who would love and protect her. A family to call her own. It was all she ever wanted. To have the love she had for her father flow to the man of her dreams was beyond imagining. In that moment, the world was reduced to just them, on that couch, in front of that fire, and that world was bliss.
Before Lorena could find her voice, Thomas fished in his back pocket. She had earlier seen a bulge there but assumed it was a pocket knife or a box of matches.
Out came a box, all right. It was a small royal blue velvet box.
Thomas slowly opened the lid. Inside lay a ring. And not just any ring. Yellow diamonds set in 24-carat gold, the ring fashioned as two sets of eyes as two golden lions, standing side by side, their front paws intertwined.
“Will you be my mate for all time, Lorena? I will honor you and cherish you and protect you all the days of my life.”
Lorena’s mind flashed back to the stories her father would tell when he was first married to her mother. What a love story that was! For them, it was love everlasting. From the moment Alfredo caught sight of the beautiful Rose, he knew she had to be his wife.
And within the year, after much courting and wooing, a marriage it was. Alfredo said they were like two peas in a pod, going everywhere together, sharing everything. The highs, the lows, the laughter, and the tears. To Lorena, his father’s love stories about her mother were what she wanted for herself.
Lorena, holding back tears, gazed up at Thomas.
He’s so like my father. Loving and giving, and so protective. Maybe I shied away from Thomas at the start because his likeness to my father intimidated me. To be struck by divine lightning, not once but twice. No woman can expect that. And yet here I am, facing Thomas. Facing love.
Lorena heard her father’s words echo in her mind.Love is not something you seek, Lorena. Be a kind soul with an enormous heart, and love will find you. You may not recognize it at first like I did with your mother. Truth be told, I don’t think your mother realized it as soon. But love finds a way, dear one. Love finds a way. And when it faces you head-on, welcome it in.
Thomas took the ring out of the box and slid it on Lorena’s finger. It went on as smooth as silk, like it was meant to be there. She slowly turned her hand to and fro. The lions’ eyes sparkled in the firelight, making them come to life on her hand in their natural surroundings.
