AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He shared her feelings of delight and wonder at the new experience. She was headed for the stream a short way off, its babbling, churning waters getting louder as they ran.
They sprang forth into the clearing at the same time, racing across it to plunge into the icy chill of the mountain waters. Paddling and lapping at the fast-flowing water at the same time.
Once they were satiated and cool, they climbed out and shook the water from their coats. Obviously thrilled by the experience, Madison ran in crazy circles around him, occasionally ducking in to harass him until he joined in. They played chase and tag until, finally, they were exhausted and panting. They lay down together near the river to rest.
He didn’t know how long they lay there together. He woke to find her sitting close by, watching the white water of the stream and the lush forest beyond.
She noticed he was awake and came over, nudging him with her nose. He rose and stretched. The day was getting late, and there was hunger in his belly. As much as he would have loved to stay, they had to return. She knew it also because, as one, they turned and headed into the forest.
The return trip was slower. They trotted all the way. He was aware of her keeping pace with him, her beautiful wolf shape visible occasionally through the trees. He felt a fierce pride toward her, his fated mate. She had almost died, and his wolf was still furious about that.
Once back at the office, they both shifted and dressed. The well-stocked office kitchen provided them with an extremely late lunch, and they sat together on the big sofa to eat ravenously. They didn’t speak much. They had no need for words, each being perfectly in tune with the other.
“It was Lila all along,” said Fletcher, breaking the silence. “Over the past few days, while you were healing, my enforcers have been looking into the store’s situation. They traced everything back to her.”
“I was afraid it might be,” Madison replied.
“When we were both much younger, she chased me relentlessly. This was years before I signed the treaty with your father,” he explained. “She thought we were meant to be together. Destiny, she called it. But I never felt the same.”
“Ouch,” said Madison. “Sour grapes, then? I know unrequited love can be painful, but it’s a little extreme trying to kill me years later. What happened?”
“It was all a bit messy at the time,” Fletcher told her. “I thought it was just a crush at first. I was busy learning how to run a country, and she was really helpful to me. So we would work together on projects and things.”
“She was your assistant?” Madison asked.
“Yes, on some things. She’s a really good businesswoman, which is why I thought she would be useful to you. She’s run a lot of big projects for me over the years.”
“So what was so messy?” Madison wanted to know.
“Like I said, at first, I thought it was a crush. She would follow me around, making eyes at me, always helping. It became a bit of a joke among my friends. I’d turn up somewhere, and they’d take bets on how long before she’d arrive behind me, that kind of thing.”
“Oh, and she found out she was being made fun of?” Madison guessed.
“Yes, in the worst way imaginable,” Fletcher said. Even recalling the event now, he felt embarrassed for her, but she’d brought it on herself. “There was a big birthday party, my twenty-first. By this time, I’d realized it was something more serious than a crush. I’d stopped giving her my attention, and she was devising more and more elaborate ways to get it back.”
“I’ve seen that kind of girl before,” Madison said. “She was obsessed with you.”
“Just a bit,” he replied. “In the middle of the party, someone wheeled in this massive cake. I thought my friends had organized a stripper or something to embarrass me. But who should pop out of it?”
“No? Lila put herself in a cake for your birthday?” Madison asked, trying to suppress a laugh.
“Yep, she did,” he replied. “And then it got worse. She went down on one knee, in front of everyone, wanting to be my mate.”
“Shit!” said Madison. “What did you do?”
“I laughed in her face, of course,” he replied.What had she expected him to do, really?
“Damn, that must have made her angry.”
“She left the party in tears, and I didn’t see her for a couple of days.”
“A couple of days? If it were me, I’d have been too ashamed to come back at all,” she said.
“She came to the office, and we had a chat,” he said, continuing the story. “She apologized profusely and said she had misread the situation. She assured me it would never happen again, and I accepted her apology. I thought that was the end of it. We didn’t work so closely together after that. I seriously thought she’d moved on when I assigned her to your store. I mean, we were young then, and years have gone by.”
“She was obviously watching you from afar,” Madison said.
“I certainly didn’t see her betrayal coming. I must have played right into her hands, the manipulative bitch. She came forward when I made inquiries about a manager for you. I’d pretty much forgotten the cake incident. I thought it was ancient history. Just some crazy story from when we were kids.”
