Page 47 of The Lycans: Vol Four

The wind blew her hair over her shoulders and across her back. Her sweet, addicting scent, already saturating the interior of the car, became even more potent.

And thank fuck we reached the property at that time, or I wouldn’t have been able to stop myself from reaching out and touching her.

I pulled to a stop, cut the engine, and when I got another concentrated dose of the lavender that clung to her hair and skin, a low growl left me.

I watched for a suspended moment as she looked through the front windshield at the vast countryside. I knew she could see the edge of the lake on the property, the rolling hills, the green meadows, the towering trees. I was sure it looked different now, more lush, slightly overgrown. Although the property had been taken care of over the years, it hadn’t been occupied since her parents passed away decades before.

“It looks the same but… It doesn’t.” Her voice was soft and she glanced over at me, biting her bottom lip again, her nervousness clear across her face.

I let her set the pace, sat there silently until she was ready to get out of the vehicle, and only then did I follow.

I stayed close to her, curling my fingers into my palms so I didn’t reach out and touch her, didn’t take away from this moment where she explored and let her mind and emotions open up fully.

It was a wonderful thing to see, a wondrous thing to experience with her. And I couldn’t take my focus off her face.

Because although we were surrounded by the beauty that only nature could create, I was staring at perfection.

We walked in silence side by side for long moments as she took everything in. I watched her expression transform from happiness to sorrow to a deep melancholy.

Finally we made it to her childhood home. The small cottage was built against the side of a sprawling hill, the overhang covered with moss and flowers, the wood siding weathered, the glass of the windows foggy from age.

“I can’t believe they kept it here all these years.” Her voice was nothing but a whisper as she stared wide-eyed at the place she once called home.

I took a step back when she took one forward and watched as she lifted her hand to run her fingers over the curved doorknob, the metal weathered and oxidized.

She glanced over her shoulder at me, and there was so much rawness in her expression it was like a knife in my chest.

I gave her a reassuring smile and inclined my head for her to enter. And when the knob turned and her eyes widened that entering was as simple as that, a rush of emotion filled me.

I hadn’t told her yet, hadn’t told her the truth about the property and what it meant now.

She entered and a small gasp left her. I followed inside, the interior slightly illuminated from the filtering sunlight that came through the windows, dust particles floating in the air as we made our way deeper inside the cottage.

“It’s the same,” she said with this wonder in voice. “It looks exactly how it did when I lived here.” She looked over at me with wide eyes, her hands held out, her palms upward. “I don’t understand. How?” She glanced around again and started touching everything. The small bookshelf that lined one wall, the hand-carved dining room table, the wooden rocking chair that sat beside the hearth.

“After ye were taken, I went tae yer parents, explained everything, and told them what happened.”

She’d gone silent and still then, her hand covering her mouth as she listened to me confess.

“I was ashamed that I was unable tae protect ye. I wanted tae let them know how I failed ye?—”

“You didn’t fail me,” she said right away.

I shook my head as my mind was carried back to the past, then I lifted my hand and scrubbed it over my face. I remembered that day I confronted her family as if it were yesterday. I remembered the pain in her father’s eyes, how her mother had cried, clutching at her mate.

“I expected them tae want tae kill me. I would no’ have fought back. I would’ve deserved it. But they humbled me, shocked me as they came and embraced me, wrapped their arms around me and said they believed that I would find ye again, bring ye home.”

“I made them a promise that I would find ye, that I would no’ stop until ye were safe.” I looked over at her again and saw she was crying. I was in front of her a second later, brushing away her tears and leaning down to kiss the crown of her head. “Ah, my soft-hearted lass.” I kissed every inch of her face until her crying lessened. “If it’s any consolation, yer parents passed naturally in the warmth of their bed within days of each other.”

She nodded and gave me a watery smile.

“After they passed and the property went up for sale, I outbid anyone who tried tae purchase it.”

“You… you bought my family’s property?”

I nodded and pulled her in close. She rested her head on my chest, and I closed my eyes at how perfect and right it felt to hold her like this.

“I bought it for ye, so ye had a place to come and remember and feel happy. It took me too long, but I made good on that promise to them, lass.” I pulled back and cupped her face. “Now I just have tae make things right between us, and show ye that ye’ll never have tae worry about yer safety again.”

---