Page 94 of Stargazer

That was the least I could do. That was my calling.

Just like Griffin was.

I could still be the anchor between their two worlds.

But I wouldn’t be afraid of my choice anymore. Or better yet, I’d face the fears head on. Because this wasn’t living.

While everyone else was falling in love and being loved, I was preventing myself from truly loving.

I couldn’t live restricted by fear, it’s hold on me dictating every move I made.

Leaving my family.

Coming to the Knights.

Not making the final blow.

Pretending I hadn’t fallen in love with him.

Now I had a chance at a life with Griffin. He was offering himself and everything he had. And that had been something I’d wanted for a while if I was being honest with myself.

Yes, he could possibly hurt me. But I could do the same to him. In fact, I had. And yet he was putting his heart on the line again. He had been for months now.

Really, he hadn’t hurt me at all. I was just being dramatic. He’d only reacted to my actions and his own hidden emotions.

He followed me here. Came for me. Chased me. Lived with the wolves. For me.

He was taking the risk. Now it was my turn.

If I’d learnt anything from these last few months, it was that life was too short. And I was too worried about the bigger things going on that I was living a half-life in the process.

Whether it was now or later that I made that choice, that I gave in, I had to make it at some point. It would still hurt and suck no matter when I did it. The longer I kept this up, the worse it would be for everyone involved.

The answer was blatantly obvious.

One was the sun and the other was the moon.

One was night and the other day.

But I had always been drawn to the night.

Always been awake and alive in the dark.

Always looked to the stars for answers.

CHAPTER 33

VENUS

We were scouting a popular camping spot in the mountains—or rather in the valleys—outside River’s territory. A spot that was bordered by a beautiful, large lake which drew in the crowds. Unlike the little tern that Riv had taken me to that was secluded and magical in its privacy, this place was anything but—the grassy clearing usually teeming with people bustling about the campsite or enjoying the cooling waters in the summer heat.

Usually.

Today, however, the site was a ghost town. And not because the general public had got wind of the wolf situation that was plaguing these mountains. No. This was solely due to the looming angry grey storm cloud that hovered over our heads and the impending damage it would do on such an open area bordered by a large body of water.

I wished we had checked the weather forecast before we bothered to drive the thirty minutes it took to get here through winding roads that curved around the mountainside, the metal barriers—that had seen better days—the only protection against the sheer drop to the valley below.

But we did not.

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