Page 62 of Knot Excused
I could see from the looks on Rook and Erain's faces that they felt the same way, her words causing a deep, clawing despair.
I could feel tears prickling at the corner of my eyes, and I bent down to embrace her legs tightly.
Life without her opened up in front of me, cold and barren.
She had been honest with us.
Maybe she would never get past it enough to love us.
I looked down to where my arms were wrapped around Piper's legs, her knee digging into my face, and I saw the telltale silver of an incipient shift on my arms. It was getting harder and harder to stop shifting, to stay in my human state.
Due to my own mistakes, my wolf had been denied. My mate had rejected me, and I could feel every day the pulls of the wolf bursting to get out. He was getting strong, that feral wolf inside me.
I closed my eyes, feeling tears gather at the corner of them. I couldn't control myself, my tears leaking out and spilling onto Piper's dress.
I just wanted to stay here holding her.
I said nothing for a moment, trying to gather my thoughts before I choked on my tears.
“Do your worst,” I said, gulping on the lump in my throat. “Because I love you. I’m not going anywhere. No accordion solo is going to chase us away. We are still going to be right here beside you, hoping and begging for another chance.”
CHAPTER31
Piper
That night I couldn’t sleep.
Truly, it was the worst-sounding concert I had ever been to.
And the fact that Rook, Erain, and Teddy had instantly offered to sponsor their album was quite surprising.
Now I would have had to be completely oblivious to not realize that they were planning something in the woods behind the palace grounds. Of course I had promised to go with them tomorrow to see whatever they were building, but that didn’t mean I couldn’talsogo look at it tonight on my own.
It was 1 am when I walked out of Otis and Mary’s home, down the steps, and into the forest.
Almost immediately, I felt a sense of peace and calm wash over me, almost eliminating the uncomfortable warmth I was feeling in my body.
It wasn’t too hard to figure out which way the surprise was with the way their huge Alpha feet had been tromping through the woods.
Not only that, I could scent them.
God, even their hours-old scents were getting stronger.
I felt liquid begin to pool in my mouth as goosebumps broke out over my skin, my traitorous nipples tautening as the wind carried the scents over to me. Dark, unyielding steel and bone-deep wood, fresh, crisp winter, the creamy, decadent taste of butterscotch.
Then I broke through the trees and saw it.
I couldn’t suppress a gasp of surprise.
It was so much more beautiful than I could have ever imagined.
A stunning stone and dark wood creation situated right beside the little stream like a filthy rich hobbit house, the water tinkling gently in the moonlight.
It was big, too. Spacious. With a huge wrap-around porch in front and, if I wanted to look, a stunning view of the city through a little window in the trees. In the other direction, the forest stretched away in the distance, with the tiny lights of far-away towns.
“Piper?” someone gasped, and I dragged my eyes from the house to see Rook, Erain, and Teddy working on building what looked like the world’s most luxurious cat palace outside.
The three of them looked frozen with shock, the cat palace expanding around them with huge walkways that Poppy, Iris, and Bluebell would love.
