Page 20 of Twilight Echoes
Instinctively, she leaned into him. “What did he say?” A wave of sadness coated her heart. His father would never meet their… she couldn’t finish that thought.
“That when it happens that way, so young, it means something important and that you were one special, young woman.”
She closed her eyes as he kissed her forehead, circling his arms around her waist. Inhaling deeply, she let his wolf scent of freshly chopped wood seep into her bloodstream. That smell had mesmerized her years ago, but she’d been a child and didn’t understand why it made her feel so good inside.
“Wait.” She cocked her head back, blinking. “If my pain is from this spell, my father would be able to tell that.”
“No. I don’t want him to worry about you.”
“He’s already worried, and he’s risking his life and powers for me because he doesn’t want you to die. And he wants me to be happy. Besides, this might make it so he doesn’t have to peel back your inner aura.”
“That really doesn’t sound appealing.”
She let out a short laugh. “He still might have to do it. But if what I suspect is true, he’ll know the right location.”
“Still doesn’t sound like fun.” He grabbed her by the wrist before she tugged open the doors. “What?”
“Not until you say the words.” He leaned so close his lips were less than an inch from hers.
“Why is that so important?”
“Because I’ve dreamed about this moment since I was eleven years old,” he whispered.
She swallowed her beating heart. “I accept you as my fated mate.”
His mouth brushed against hers as if he’d lifted her off the ground and twirled her around. It lasted less than a minute but she’d cherish this moment for a lifetime.
“We should get back.” She pulled open the doors. She took him by the arm and scurried off toward the living room. “Dad.” Her father sat in his big chair, reading a magazine, waiting patiently. “Where’s Jackson and Trask?”
“Helping Mom move some furniture around to set up a couple of cribs. She thinks her grandchildren will be staying over, often. I keep telling her until we know there’s no danger, we’ll be going to the farm. But she won’t listen to me.”
Avery couldn’t wait for her sister to give birth, but she had other things to deal with right now. “We need you to cast a matching spell.”
“Why?” Her father peered over his reading glasses. “What spell and why can’t you do it? I fear your skills are getting rusty.”
“Because I think I’m infected by the spell because he imprinted on me all those years ago.”
Her father bolted upright. “Your overuse problems?”
She nodded. She would have some words with her sisters for letting that cat out of the bag.
“Hold hands,” her father said.
She held up their already intertwined fingers.
Her father reached for a small box on the coffee table. “Out of the cauldron and into this case, bring a single spell into this space. Cast it back if not a match, but if it is, mix it for a batch.”
Darrell squeezed her hand as his body trembled. The coldness in her leg increased. She gritted her teeth as a tearingsensation lifted from her knee, floating into the box. A larger one popped out of Darrell’s chest. He let out a low growl.
“I have good news, and I have bad news,” her father said as he stuck his finger in the box, swirling it around.
“Is the bad news that what’s happening to me and my pack is also happening to Avery?” Darrell asked.
“Yeah, that’s bad.” Her father set the box on the coffee table and continued to peer inside, moving it around and breaking it apart.
“How? Why?” Darrell asked as he tugged her to the sofa. “She’s not a wolf, and it seems to only happen to males.”
Her body weakened from the spell, she caved into the soft cushions, rubbing her knee.
