Journey 'The Chosen One Trilogy: Book Two' (13 page)

Alex gave Leslie long kiss. “I can stay
if you want.”

She laughed. “Go. I’m sure I can stay
out of trouble for a few days.”

“
I know. It’s
just…”

“I know.” She kissed him again. “Go.
They say distance makes the heart grow fonder.”

“My heart doesn’t have to get fonder.
You know that. I…” He looked flustered.

“I know. Me too.”

He nodded. “I’ll be back soon.” He
shifted and the lion went to stand by the wolves.

I wrapped my arms around Jasper and lay
my head on his chest.

Jasper looked down at me, his eyes
almost as conflicted as Zane’s. “I’ll try not to take too
long.”

I smiled at him. “I’ll be fine. Just
think. A few days with just the girls. I’m sure we’ll have lots to
complain about while you guys are gone.”

He laughed. “It’s not you I’m worried
about. I don’t know if I can make it that long.”

He bent down and kissed me softly. “A
vais menk yan,” he whispered.

I sighed. “I’ll miss you
more.”

He chuckled. I was probably right. At
least he was going to be busy fixing the barn. He gave me one last
kiss and started walking towards Luke and the twins.

“Let’s go Zane!” Jasper laughed at his
friend. Zane looked stuck in place.

Dawn gave him a shove and laughed. “Go!
The faster you leave, the sooner you can come back!”

That seemed to help. He gave her one
more quick kiss and jogged to catch up with Jasper. Jasper gave him
a pat on the back and the two of them shifted and leaped off to
catch the others.

The four of us stood and watched until
they had disappeared into the woods.

“Does it get any easier?” I asked Mel.
I had only been fated to Jasper for two years and every time we
parted ways for any amount of time it felt as if a part of me was
leaving.

She shook her head. “No. At least the
past eleven years, if he left, I had the pups to keep me occupied.
This feels just like the first time again.”

“This is going to be a long few days.”
I looked to the woods again.

“Ooh! Let’s go fishing!” Dawn
suggested.

“Sure. May was well.” Mel
laughed.

We set our things up by the river,
enjoying the warm weather as it melted away some of the snow. Mel,
Leslie and I had our lines in, waiting for bites. Dawn looked at
us, head tilted like a dog’s.

“That looks boring.”

I laughed. “How do you do
it?”

She grinned and shifted. I watched in
amazement as she stood on the river bank, staring intently into the
water. She sprang into the river, completely disappearing under the
waves. When she reappeared she was a little farther down river with
a fish in her mouth.

“That was great!” I exclaimed as she
pulled herself onto the shore and shook dry.

Mel laughed. “Foxes.”

We stayed and relaxed for a few more
hours until the wind picked up and started to blow the snow around.
Overhead the clouds darkened.

Mel got up. “It looks like we had
better get back.”

We gathered everything up and started
toward the cave. The wind continued to pick up and the snow started
to fall. By the time we got to our house Leslie and I were
frozen.

I started a fire and threw on more wood
than necessary. Once our fingers had warmed up, we got to work
cleaning the fish.

Every once in a while one of us would
look out the window into the storm. Every time that happened we
would reassure ourselves that the men were fine. It wasn’t like
they were out hunting. They were at Cholta’s and had his house for
shelter if needed.

The storm lasted the rest of the day
and all through the night.

When we awoke the next morning the sun
was shining and the clearing was sparkling with all of the new
snow.

I wished Jasper had been here to see
it.

Mel was saying something to Dawn but I
wasn’t paying attention. Outside, on the edge of the creek, was a
herd of deer.

“It doesn’t get more beautiful than
this.” I smiled.

Mel and Dawn looked outside.

“Just because I would love a camera,
one wouldn’t work here!” I complained.

Both of them looked at me as I ran to
the bedroom and came back.

When Tara had come back she had been
thoughtful enough to bring me some things she thought I might like.
One of the boxes had included my art things. I put my canvas on the
easel and set my paints up. I worked quickly, scared the deer would
move away.

When I was done I stepped back and
looked at the painting. It was lacking some of the perfectness of
the moment, but at least I would be able to show Jasper.

“Wow!” exclaimed Dawn. “That’s
great!”

I blushed. “Thanks.”

We spent the next two days chatting
about anything and everything. I laughed at the stories Mel had to
tell about Luke, Jasper and the twins.

“I swear,” she grinned. “They are worse
than the boys are when they all get going!”

By day number five we were all getting
a little restless.

“Do you know something else that would
be handy right about now?”

The three of them looked at
me.

“Cell phones!”

Since none of them had crossed to my
world I explained the concept to them.

“That would be handy!” Mel looked
awed.

“So I’m curious,” started Dawn.
“Leslie. That has to be short for something.”

Leslie laughed. “It is. Alex started
calling me that because he couldn’t say my name. It’s actually
Reztlangquanhthleslie.”

We all stared at her. “Leslie it is!”
laughed Dawn.

Mel leaned forward a bit. “So how does
it work? The two of you. I had heard Fairends didn’t
fate.”

“We don’t. We live alone. Every seven
to ten years, we are all called to meet. That’s where we mate. It’s
purely hormones, really. I was too young when the last meeting
occurred. That was six years ago.

“With Alex, it’s…well…it’s hard to
explain. He’s not fated to anyone. I…well I love him and I know he
feels the same. But we haven’t said it to each other, can’t say it
to each other.”

I remembered their goodbye a few days
earlier. “Why not?”

Leslie’s violet eyes saddened. “Because
it can’t last. Sometime in the next four years I will be called to
meet. I’ll have to leave him.”

Mel put a hand on her arm. “But
couldn’t you come back?”

Leslie nodded. “I could. Alex has
already said he wouldn’t care. But I don’t think I could handle it
later. It would be…well, me and him, a baby. And when he finally
fated, it would be over. He would leave. It’s just best not to go
there.”

“That’s why you looked so sad when he
said he was going to be looking for a place for the two of you.” It
was starting to make sense.

“He doesn’t think he’ll fate; says that
most lions fate by the age of twenty five. He’s thirty three.” She
laughed at us. “I know. He looks like he just turned
twenty.”

Dawn looked hopeful. “But what if he’s
right? What if he doesn’t?”

Leslie shook her head. “What if he
does?”

We all thought about what she had just
told us. Would I be able to do what she was doing? Live with the
man I loved, waking up each day wondering if we had just spent our
last night together. I didn’t know.

Mel stood suddenly, her head cocked to
one side. She grinned. “Almost better than cell phones,” she
laughed and ran outside. She shifted and the black wolf
howled.

Faintly, in the distance, three more
wolves joined in.

We all stood outside and looked across
the clearing. A few minutes later, our impatience was rewarded. Mel
gave an excited yip and shifted back as three grey wolves left the
cover of the forest. These were joined by a tiger, a lion, and a
panther.

Mel was knocked flat by the two smaller
grey wolves before they shifted back. She gave them both hugs and
laughed. Luke helped her up and pulled her to his chest.

“Did you miss me?”

“Not at all, love. Why are you back so
soon?”

Luke snorted and crushed his lips to
hers. When he was done they were both breathing hard.

Mel smiled up at him. “Well, maybe I
missed you a little.”

Zane lifted Dawn right off the ground
and she almost disappeared in his arms.

Alex and Leslie were standing a few
feet from each other. Leslie was frowning slightly and I knew she
was wondering if he had dreamed of his fated one while he had been
away. As if he guessed, he smiled and shook his head. Leslie’s step
closed the distance between them and he wrapped her in his
arms.

Jasper came trotting up to me, his
massive paws sinking into the snow. He was purring. I laughed and
he shifted. I gave him a long kiss, my heart pounding with the
thrill of holding him again. He hugged me close and his stubble
scratched my cheek. It took everything I had not to groan at the
thought of it elsewhere on my body.

He smiled at me. “I guess I don’t have
to ask you if you missed me or not.”

I blushed. I got off topic before I
decided it was acceptable to tear his clothes off in front of
everyone. “We decided that since Leslie will be hanging around me,
she needs to learn how to fight.”

He laughed. “Yes, that probably is a
good idea.”

We all headed inside to start
explaining the finer points of self-defense to Leslie.

Chapter Four

It had been a whole month with no
fights, abductions, or natural disasters. Of course, that had been
before I found myself in the situation I currently found myself in.
I was pretty sure it fell into the natural disasters
category.

So this was what going into heat feels
like, I thought to myself. I tried to remember all the details of
the conversation I’d had with Mel on the subject. She had been over
having a cup of tea when she noticed that I couldn’t sit still.
She’d told me that all beings went into heat, and this only
happened after finding the one you were fated with. It could last
anywhere from two the five days. She had also said that for wolves,
it turned into pure instinct. They had no choice but to
shift.

I started pacing. It felt like I was
starving or had a craving that I just couldn’t place. I imagined
this was what an addict felt like when he needed a fix.

I looked out the window and over the
meadow. Most of the snow was gone now.

It was taking every bit of will power I
had to stay put and not go track Jasper down. Of course he would
have picked yesterday to run to town and grab a few things we
needed. And of course I had told him I would stay home because
there was a paste I had just made and I needed to keep an eye on
it. It had to be put in jars at precisely the right moment or it
lost all its healing properties.

The hours passed and the feeling got
worse.

When the sun set I went to bed hoping
that sleep might give me some relief. I tossed and turned, unable
to get comfortable. The fire had died down but it didn’t help the
heat I was feeling. I was covered in sweat. My clothes were
bothering me and I stripped out of them, pacing some
more.

Was it possible to live through three
days of this? Maybe Wedelves only had to do it for one, I thought
hopefully.

But as day number two started, my hopes
for some quick relief died.

My second day went much like the first.
By the time night fell again, I should have been exhausted. I
hadn’t slept, hadn’t ate, and yet I was still feeling
agitated.

I stopped pacing long enough to get a
glass of water which I drank without taking a breath.

The door opened and a cold breeze
touched my bare skin. I put the glass down and turned
around.

Jasper stood in the open doorway, his
eyes wide. We stared at each other. There was something different
in his eyes and he shook his head like he was trying to clear
it.

“Do you want me to leave?” he
asked.

I burst out laughing. “Only you,
Jasper, would sit there and fight every instinct that you have to
make sure this is what I want!”

He shook his head again. “Hayden...” he
warned.

I saw the look in his eyes and realized
it was a fight he was going to lose if he didn’t leave this
instant.

“All I need to know is if you think
you’ll have the urge to shift.”

He shook his head, his eyes locked on
mine. “No. I don’t feel that at all.”

“Then why won’t you come
in?”

He looked like he was having trouble
finding words. “I want to make sure this is what you
want.”

Something changed in his eyes and he
shook his head again.