Page 14 of Branches of the Willow

“Weeks?” My voice came out a bit higher pitch than I had intended, but I was expecting them to come back a lot sooner.

“I know. It’s a lot.” Ashley consoled me. “You’ll be busy in the meantime though, so I’m sure you won’t even notice.”

“How could I not notice my best friend’s absence? That’s absurd, Ash.”

“I’m sorry, hon. If it weren’t important for me to be here, I would be headed home before the boys. They need a woman here with them though. There’s a lot going on.”

“You’re starting to worry me, Ash. What don’t I know?”

“I’m still new to some of the wolf stuff, Jess. I think it would be better coming from Evan. He said he was going to give Mikael a call later. He got the same message from your mom that we all received, so he’s been holding off for a few days.”

“I see.” I heard the door downstairs open and listened as Mikael went to put the groceries in the kitchen. A part of me felt bad for still lounging in bed naked while he had been dressed, and out the door early to go get us some food. “Well, I’m still sad that you’re going to be gone longer, Ash. What about pictures? I haven’t seen any yet!”

“I uploaded some to my Facebook this morning. You can take a look if you ever get your ass out of bed.” She laughed at me again, trying to cheer me up.

“Yeah, well, my ass has been very comfortable in bed lately.”

Mikael came into the room and made a beeline straight for the bed. He leaned over and playfully bit me on the butt. “And what a fine ass it is!” His gruff voice was like heaven, and then he bit me a little harder, causing me to yelp.

“And on that note, I’m going to let you go, before I hear things I can’t un-hear!”

“I love you, Ash!” I managed as Mikael continued to nibble down my thighs.

“You too, hon! Later.” Just like that, Ashley hung up, and I tossed my phone aside as Mikael flipped me onto my back and straightened himself out against me.

“Hi, beautiful. You ready to come downstairs and eat? I stopped by Java Joe’s and grabbed you a caramel macchiato and some blueberry muffins.”

“Blueberry muffins?” I bit my bottom lip, trying to decide which was more important in that moment. Fresh, hot, blueberry muffins or my gorgeous, hard-bodied mate. It was definitely a tough call.

“Come on.” Mikael laughed at me, and hauled me to my feet, pulling my body tight against his and caressing my backside with his right hand while he kissed me and reached for my robe with his left. “Let’s get you food. I talked to your mom while I was out. She said she’s stalled for as long as she could, but that people are starting to get antsy about your being missing in action for so long.”

“Damn those people!” I whined as we made our way downstairs.

“Truly!” Mikael agreed with me.

The rest of the day was spent much like the previous few. We couldn’t get enough of one another, taking time out only to eat, shower, and watch a movie towards the end of the evening. I was already dreading the next day, when we’d have to go back to reality, and try to find a balance between our time together, and what we had to give to everyone else.

I started dozing off at the end of the movie, which is when we both gave up for the night and called an end to our day, and our impromptu honeymoon at home. As I began to drift off in bed, with Mikael spooned up behind me, I was suddenly bound and determined to take him with me to meet the white wolves in the dream world where they always appeared to me. Part of me wanted to show him off to them. The other part of me needed someone else to understand what the white wolf dreams were like, so I didn’t have to feel like a total crazy person when I talked about them. I figured if I could pull him into the dream, he could validate things for me with everyone else who had a hard time believing that I spoke to our ancestors when I slept sometimes. Nobody likes the insinuation that they may just be a big ball of nuts.

I wasn’t sure I would be successful, even when I smelled the familiar scents of lavender and fresh earth. The candlelight danced in my periphery as usual. Everything appeared as it always did when I first showed up, and the dream haze began lifting a bit.

“What in the hell?” It was Mikael’s voice.

“Oh my God! I did it!” I screeched to him.

“Did what? Where in the hell are we?”

“I brought you along to see the white wolves with me.”

“You did what?” He questioned, but I didn’t get a chance to answer as laughter towards the center of the room boomed all around us.

“She is growing stronger.” The wolf voices commented aloud. “Jessica, you have introductions to make.”

“This is Mikael DéLune, my mate.” I spoke reverently, then I gestured to the dais in the middle of the cave. “These are the former white wolves, my ancestors.”

Mikael stood speechless for a few minutes, before he finally collected himself. Then he bowed down before them, going to one knee, as he did. “It is my great honor to be presented to you.”

“The honor is ours, young man. For you are the true mate of our daughter-spirit. From you both, the cycle continues.”

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