Shaping Destiny

by Hmonroe

  “You trusted me once with your daughter’s life! I’m begging you now . . . trust me. I can heal her. If you don’t let me try, I will take her by force.”

  It sounded crazy, but Dad did trust Max with my life.

  “Honey, give her to Max,” Mom pleaded. “Let’s not waste any more time.”

  That was enough of an answer for Max. He went to the truck and took me. He rushed into the house and laid me down on my bed. He used my sheets to cover my body and to apply pressure to my wound.

  “Come on, Leah! I need you. I love you.” Max felt anxious but knew I could heal. He kept his faith that our connection would bring me back, until his hearing told him my heart was slowing. He removed the sheets from the hole in my side and placed his bare hand on my wound. He raised the sheet up to lay next me, knowing it was us together that gave us strength. His hand never left my side. Not knowing if this was our last moment together, Max gently rested his lips over mine in a kiss.

  My mind was on fire. Max’s soul was calling to mine. At that moment I realized one couldn’t be whole without the other. Life would be meaningless without the life force of a true soul mate. We were one and that’s how it was meant to be.

  His soul touched mine until the darkness disappeared. My lips moved slowly to the gentle pressure of my lips, and my fingers traced the line of strength and warmth of Max’s stomach. His lips became more demanding and the more desire that filled my core the stronger I got. I craved more of him as if my life depended on it. The trail of his fingers felt like flames but left behind goosebumps. His hand moved from my side, where I expected pain, but there was none. He trailed up the side of me, following the shape of my body, until he found the crest of my neck.

  His smile pulled our kiss apart. “You’re OK,” he whispered.

  “Yes” was all I could say before he softly kissed his way down, starting at my neck. True love consumed us down to our souls as we let our passion devour us every way we could.

  ***

  “Knock, knock.”

  I opened my eyes to see the morning sun through my bedroom window.

  “Knock, knock.”

  “Oh man.” I groggily moaned myself awake. I grabbed the sheet to wrap around me and headed to the door. My head peeked out. Both my mom and dad stood there speechless as if they’d seen a ghost. I made my way out the rest of the way.

  “It’s OK. I’m better now.”

  “How?” Dad muttered.

  I put a hand on my dad’s arm. “Thank you for trusting Max and believing in us. We are stronger together. We noticed a while ago that a simple touch from each other sped up our healing . . . a lot. Destiny has a funny way of working its magic.”

  “Wow,” Mom whispered. “I thought I’d lost you.” She pulled me into a hug, but pulled away quickly. “Sorry, does that hurt? I didn’t mean to . . .”

  I squeezed her in a hug once more. “I’m completely healed, but I am starving.”

  “Right, I’m on it.”

  “Thanks, Mom.” I looked over to my dad. “How is everybody? Luke? Leon?”

  “Everyone is fine, just worried about you.”

  “And the Spark family? Jared?”

  “Now the boss is gone, I don’t see a problem. I called some family that’s in law enforcement. Everything is taken care of.” My dad folded his arms. “Jared, well, I think he’s still unconscious.”

  “What?”

  “Well, your brothers didn’t have much patience for him. Go get dressed and then you can talk to him.”

  “Thanks, Dad.” I smiled and turned back to my room.

  Max was already awake and half dressed. “Where did you run off to?”

  “My family was worried about me.” I grabbed my clothes and sat next to Max. “I need to talk to Jared one last time before this is over.”

  “Then I’ll go with you.” He put his shirt on.

  “No, not this time. He’s harmless, and I need to take care of this myself.” I finish getting dressed.

  Max placed a light kiss on my lips. “OK, but I won’t be far.”

  ***

  Jared looked asleep, hunched over in the same chair we had tied him to. Seeing him now, I realized that I didn’t need him in my life anymore. His betrayal took any love and respect I still had for him. I did my fair share of lies in our relationship, but his whole life had been a lie. His first hello to me was a setup.

  I went to the kitchen to get a cold glass of water and returned to Jared. In one quick movement he was dripping wet.

  “What? What’s going on?” Jared connected eyes with mine. “Leah.” Sadness enveloped his words. “You’re alive. Thank heavens. I thought I would never get a chance to apologize to you. The boss held so many threats, I never had a choice.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong. You’re a coward, and you chose murder over me. You’d rather see me dead than go against the boss.”

  “At first it was an adventure, two cousins daring each other to learn more about the Hawks. I never thought it would end like this. One thing led to another, and . . .”

  “It’s too late. Nothing you say will fix this. I just wanted to tell you good-bye. I never want to see you again.” I started walking away, but stopped. “Forgiveness is something everyone needs in this world, and when there is none it’s hard to move forward. So take my forgiveness so there is no excuse for you to show your face here again.”

  “Leah, please . . .”

  “Leon, will you untie Jared and show him out?”

  “My pleasure.” Leon rubbed his hands together and grabbed a knife.

  Max waited for me in the kitchen. “I hope that knife is to undo the tape.”

  “Me too.”

  ***

  Days passed with a lot of clean-up on the home and cars. Windows got repaired and new furniture was purchased. We worked hard to make the home better than it had been before.

  “So, Dad, how should we fix the fence this time?” I folded my arms.

  “I’m thinking steel this time.” Dad nodded his head. “Yes, steel.” He exited to accomplish his vision.

  I turned to see Max finishing up some flooring. When he noticed, he took a towel to wipe his hands.

  “So what’s the plan for us? Where should we go from here?” I asked.

  “Anywhere you want to.”

  “I thought maybe you could show me your hometown.” I placed my hand in his.

  “I can’t wait.”

  “Then maybe go visit the roomies, try school again.” I inched closer, putting a hand on his chest.

  “We can do that.”

  “And then because I had such a great teacher to help me be in control of the shift, maybe we can practice being out of control again.”

  “Perfect,” he said over my lips as we kissed.

  THE END

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