Page 29 of Lost Fate

I take a minute. There are so many feelings swirling through me. Love for Leander. Questions about my father. Worry about leaving Terra behind.

I look through for feelings of sadness. Of a longing to stay here. Surprisingly, though, I don’t find them. Instead, I find something else.

Hope.

“I’ve been… I’ve been such an outsider. My whole life.”

“Not to state the obvious, but I think your dad wants to end that,” Leander says.

“What if he doesn’t?”

He leans forward and presses his lips to my forehead. “Then we’ll come back.”

What he’s offering seems almost too good to be true. The chance for a family? To meet my father? To belong?

It’s so enticing. But what Leander says next seals the deal for me.

“I just want to be with you, Ember. If it’s here, great. If it’s in Florida, great. I want you to meet my family and my pack, and I want you to meet your dad. But if you don’t want any of those things, they’re all negotiable. The one non-negotiable?” He presses a kiss on my lips again before finishing. “Us.”

Fuck it.

“Let’s do it,” I say, the rush of the decision making me giddy. “If I hate it, we’re coming back.”

“I’d drive across the world if you needed me to.” He smiles.

I roll my eyes. “That’s a little dramatic.”

“I’ve done it before, Ember. I’d do it again. You’re worth it.”

I’ll love wherever Leander is, and doing this together? That makes me feel a lot less worried. “So, when should we go?”

“Soon. I think. Do you want to explain everything to Terra?”

I nod. “Yeah. Then we’ll start the long-ass drive.”

“But at least we’ll have plenty of time to talk.”

I laugh at that. Leander straightens, cracking his neck as he steps back. I look down at his shin, where the kick I landed is already starting to bruise. “Sorry about that.”

“Don’t be sorry. Not everyone can say they went up against someone as strong as you and won.”

I cringe. My chest, that’s been so filled with warmth and light just now, feels like it drops.

“Ember?”

I look up at him. “What if my dad doesn’t accept… who I am?”

Leander sighs. “I promise you. James Rodoff is going to be thrilled that his daughter is just as strong as he is.”

“Is he?” My ears perk up.

Leander smiles and starts back toward the cabin. “Oh, yeah. He’s also insanely strong. I probably should have put those things together earlier. Would have, if I hadn’t… you know. Been hit by a tree.”

“Tell me more about my dad,” I say softly.

He takes my hand. We walk back to the cabin, and he tells me everything. By the time we get back, I feel like I know him.

It doesn’t make me any less nervous. However, with Leander by my side, I feel something else. Happiness. Belonging.

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