by L. P. Dover
Eyes lit with wonder, she shakes her head. “Not at all. I’m not doing a thing.”
She flicks her wrist, and the roots gently slide away from me. I stand, and we watch the roots slide back into the earth. “Guess the tree likes me.” I walk over to the tree the roots came from and place my hand on the bark.
Laila rests her hand beside mine and grins. “I think it does. It feels warm.”
“And that’s a good thing?”
She nods. “It is.” The alarm on my phone goes off, so I walk over and pick it up off the ground, handing Laila hers.
“Time for me to go to work,” I say.
Her lips pull back. “I think I’ll go with you. That apprenticeship you talked about the other day sounds interesting. I’d like to get that started.”
She couldn’t have made me happier if she tried. Taking her hand, I walk with her back to the house. “You sure that’s what you want? If we work together, I might get on your nerves.”
She winks at me. “Don’t worry. I can handle it.”
And I do not doubt that.
Laila filled out all the paperwork to start her apprenticeship. She got fitted for her uniforms, and she’ll officially start on the job in a couple of weeks. It’ll take a while for her to work her way up to a full-time ranger. She says she’s happy, but what I like most is that she’ll be with me. It finally feels like we’re moving in the right direction together. However, I keep waiting for the bad shit to happen. I can feel it stirring all around me. Not only do I have to worry about the dark fae coming after Laila and killing her, but there’s also a fucking faerie prince who wants her as well. Ripping him apart isn’t an option. If he were a shifter, I could challenge him and kill him in my own right. I keep waiting for him to show up, especially with Laila spending all of her time with me, but luckily, he hasn’t. Maybe he’s given up on her, which I highly doubt, but one can hope, right?
After we finished up on the trails today, I promised Laila we’d pick out a Christmas tree for her house. Of course, she wouldn’t agree unless we got one for mine as well. Faith and Amelie helped us decorate the one at their home, and once that was done, we came to my house to decorate mine, but not before Laila fixed up a pot of chicken and dumplings. While the Christmas music plays in the background, I can’t help but smile as I observe Laila place each ornament on the tree. Everything is perfect right now.
I pick up a candy cane and hook it on one of the branches. Laila looks at it and smiles up at me. “Thanks for all of this.”
I shrug. “I’m the one who should be thanking you. I didn’t have to do any of the work.”
We both laugh, and she picks up another ornament, this one a glittery silver ball. “Hey, I can’t complain. It’s been fun. Once we’re done with the tree in here, we can decorate the outside.” She winks at me. “I have an idea.”
“Can’t wait. I’ll get the ladder and the lights ready.”
While I gather the boxes of white lights, she hums Silent Night while focusing on the tree. I take the lights outside and pull them all out of the boxes to hang them up around the porch and drape them over the rails. When I’m done, I walk away from the house to get a better view from a distance.
“Not bad,” I say to myself.
“Nice job,” a voice calls out behind me. I should’ve known I’d hear that voice sooner or later.
Growling, I jerk around. Beck stands there, leaning against a tree, with his arms crossed over his chest. “What the hell are you doing here?”
He nods toward the house where Laila is clearly visible through the window, dancing and singing around the tree as she finishes decorating it. “You know why. I’m here to check on her.”
My blood begins to boil. “I’m her protector and her mate. I got it covered.”
Beck shakes his head. “Keep fooling yourself, wolf. My people don’t know where Dorian’s at right now. He could be anywhere. Hell, he could already know Laila’s here. You’re an idiot if you think she’s safe.”
“So she should run off with you, and that would make her safe?” I snap.
He nods. “Pretty much. If you loved her, you’d let her go.”
I step up to him. “She’s mine. No matter what you say or do, she belongs here with me. We’ve never needed help from people like you. Where were you when she was with the Sierra pack? You didn’t save her from them.”
Beck shakes his head. “That was complicated. I had to wait for her to realize who she is.”
“And still,” I say, knowing I’ve won, “she made it out on her own. She doesn’t need you.”
Beck’s gaze averts to Laila. “She can still choose me. I’m a patient man.”
Rage consumes me. “You’re about to be a dead man if you don’t get your faerie ass away from here.”
His smile enrages me even more. “See ya around, wolf.” And with those final words, he disappears through a door I can’t see. If all faeries act as high and mighty as him, I have a feeling I’ll hate them all.
“Cedric,” Laila shouts from the porch. “You okay?”
Taking a deep breath, I slowly turn around to see her staring at me with concern. “I’m fine. Just checking to make sure the lights look good from far away.”
She waves for me to join her. “They look great. Come here. I want to show you something.” I try to hide my anger as best as I can. With Beck coming and going as he pleases, it makes me wonder if she’s met with him alone. The thought pisses me off to no end, but I can’t dwell on it. I trust her, not him. When I get closer, Laila jumps down the stairs and stops me. “Tell me what you think about this.”
She holds her hands out, palms down toward the ground. The snow swirls like little tornadoes, and when she lifts her hands toward the house, each swirling section turns into giant snowflakes that freeze onto my house below the lights. They look like something you can buy from the store, only better.
“Amazing,” I say.
She wraps her arm around my waist. “You like them? I can take them down if you want.”
Shaking my head, I turn toward her and cup her cheeks. “Keep them. They look festive.”
Her face lights up. “I’m glad you like it.” She stares into my eyes and narrows hers. “Sure, you’re okay? I thought I might’ve heard you talking to someone out here.”
“Nope. It’s just me.” I tilt her face up and kiss her. As much as I’d like for her to stay the night, I don’t want to be the one to make the first move. I want to wait until she’s ready. “It’s getting late. I should probably get you home.”
She nods. “Good idea. I have to finish the drawings for my dad’s client. Since I don’t officially start at the ranger’s office yet, I’m going to skip out on going to work with you and go to the meeting tomorrow to see if I get the interior design job. If his client likes my work, I’ll have two jobs.”
The one good thing about her being with her father is that I know he can protect her when I’m not around. It wouldn’t be so bad if I knew there wasn’t a dark fae trying to find people like her. I want to be the one to protect her always, but the last thing I want is for her to feel like I’m smothering her. I lower my lips to hers, gently nipping her bottom lip. “You’ll get the job. I have faith in you.”
She smiles and lifts up to kiss me again but stops cold when we both catch the scent of a rogue close by. Growling, I push her behind me as I scan the woods. The smell is gone, but I know we both smelled it.
“You caught that, right?”
“Yes,” she says, her body on full alert. “But I lost it. I don’t feel anyone around.”
Neither do I. The only shifters who can hide their presence are royals. This wolf was not that. First, Beck appears, and then a rogue wolf. I don’t like where this is headed.
“Let’s get you home,” I say to Laila, still keeping my eyes on the forest.
“Sounds good,” she whispers. “I have a weird feeling.”
“So do I … and it’s not good.”
Fifteen<
br />
Laila
Cedric didn’t relax the entire night. Even when I went to bed, I could hear him pacing the floor beneath me. He called Ryker and made sure the pack knows that there’s something strange going on. A rogue wolf’s scent doesn’t just appear out of nowhere and then disappear without a trace. I don’t like that there are rogue wolfs sniffing around our pack. Cedric used to be considered a rogue after his pack disbanded, but many rogues choose the solidarity for nefarious reasons. Not all rogues are bad, but the majority are.
Dressed in his park ranger uniform, Cedric grabs his keys off the kitchen counter. He’s still tense and on alert, but it seems like there’s something else on his mind, only I can’t pinpoint it. “I’ll be fine,” I assure him. “Micah’s outside with the girls, and I’ll be with my dad for the rest of the day.”
His eyes flash to that of his wolf, but it’s only for a second. Mine have never glowed before like that. Cedric looks at me and sighs. “I know you’ll be fine. Hell, you had me flat on my back yesterday. I have no doubt you can take care of yourself.” He rubs a hand over his chest. “There’s just this feeling I can’t shake.”
I feel it too. It’s that weird, sickening vibe I felt last night. It lingers all around us like an impending doom is about to happen. Walking over to him, I wrap my arms around his waist and lay my head on his chest. “Be careful today.”
He rubs his hands up and down my back. When he touches me, it’s as if everything disappears, and it’s just us. “Same to you. And good luck with your designs. I know your dad’s client will love them.”
“I hope so,” I whisper.
“I’ll be back over here after work. Call me if you need me.”
“I will.” I step back, and he kisses me before hurrying out the door. He says a few words to Micah and then gets in his truck and drives off. Time is passing by quickly. The full moon will be here in a couple of weeks, and I have to decide what to do. Do I seal the bond with Cedric or wait? It doesn’t matter if we wait for this full moon or the one six months from now. The outcome will be the same. Only I have no idea what that will be. Will I be more shifter or fae? Will I stay the same and still have my magic? A part of me wants to see what the Land of the Fae is like, but I don’t want to risk the chance of not being able to come back. The rules are different in the fae realm. Their words hold power, not like the language here where promises can be just empty words.
Beck’s vow to me comes to mind. I rush upstairs to my room and grab my mother’s journals out of my dresser. I sit on my bed and skim through the notes my dad and I made. It doesn’t take long to find my mother’s knowledge on vows. Her handwriting is otherworldly, very fae-like, and magical. One day, I’ll be able to read the language myself, but I have to rely on my father’s translation for now.
Her words say: Vows naa sacred a' i' fae. Iire i' words naa spoken, i' vow can ere' be rusva e' er en' atta ways, either ed' fulfillment ri' invokien i' tenkela rusv- ta. Ere' i' person i' vow naa thrust deno' can rusva ta freely. Ilya tanya er must uma naa say i' words, amin leitha lle en' sina debt. Once i' words naa spoken, i' vow naa considered fulfilled.
Translation: Vows are sacred to the fae. When the words are spoken, the vow can only be broken in one of two ways, either by fulfillment or invoking the spell to break it. Only the person the vow is thrust upon can break it freely. All that one must do is say the words ... I free you of this debt. Once the words are spoken, the vow is considered fulfilled.
“If you have a question, you can just ask me,” Beck calls out.
The breath hitches in my lungs, and I jerk around, my heart beating wildly in my chest. “Dammit, Beck. You scared the hell out of me.”
Arms crossed over his chest and dressed like a fae warrior with his sword strapped to his waist, he smiles. “I can tell. Your heart’s beating out of control.” His smile slowly fades as he walks around the bed to stand before me. “It’s nice hearing you say my name. I’ve been waiting for you to say it.”
There’s a longing in his voice, and it hurts my heart. “I’m sorry,” I say softly. And I am. I’m intrigued by who he is, and I want to know more about the fae and where I come from, but my heart isn’t with him.
Beck kneels in front of me and places a hand over mine. A soft, white light glows from our hands, signaling the bond between us. According to my mom’s journal, it’s what happens when one is vowed to another. Once the vow is complete, there is no light. It’s a sign that the vow has been fulfilled.
Beck’s icy blue eyes bore into mine. There’s a sadness in them I haven’t seen before. “Usually I go after what I want, but with you, I waited for you to decide. I’m starting to think it was a bad move on my part.”
“What do you mean?”
He averts his gaze to our luminous hands. “You’re in love with him, aren’t you?”
Just hearing those words out loud feels right. I haven’t known Cedric long, but in my heart, I know I love him. It’s like I’ve always loved him, even before I knew who he was.
“I do,” I murmur. “And I can’t leave him. I know you vowed to protect me, but this is where I belong.” I slide my hand away from his and reach for my mother’s journal. “That’s why I was trying to figure out how to break the vow. It’s not fair to you.” All I have to do is say the words. “Amin leitha …”
Beck’s eyes widen. “Stop!” He covers my mouth with his hand. “Don’t say it.” I hold up my hands, and he slowly lets me go. “Please don’t say the words. Not yet.”
“Why don’t you want to be free from me?”
He sighs. “I’ve been connected to you for years, Laila. I don’t know, maybe I’m not ready to let you go. What I do know is that Dorian is still out there. Until he’s defeated, I don’t think it’s wise to break the vow, not when I can protect you. All you have to do is say my name, and I’ll know where to find you.”
“Okay,” I murmur. “But when the time comes, I’m saying the words.”
He gets to his feet and steps back slowly. “You can still come with me, Laila. You’ll be safer in the Land of the Fae.”
“But I won’t be happy. I can’t hurt Cedric like that.”
The air shimmers behind him. “I understand. Be safe, Laila. I’m always around if you need me.” He steps through the portal and disappears.
“I, for one, am glad the faerie wolf triangle didn’t come into fruition,” Amelie says, her voice just outside the door.
Pursing my lips, I watch her walk in. “Nosy much?”
She giggles and throws up her arms. “Hey, I was getting worried. Beck is seriously good looking. You should hear Faith talk about him.” Her smile fades a little as she sits on my bed. “And I know you have a lot of fae in you. The allure of a faerie prince is kind of enticing.”
The idea of it is, but my heart never strayed on me. I’ve always known what I wanted. “Cedric has nothing to worry about,” I say in all honesty.
Amelie breathes a sigh of relief. “Good. Anyone can see that he truly loves you.”
I pat her hand. “I’m starting to think I love him too.”
“Laila, you ready to go?” Micah hollers from downstairs. “Faith and I are going to drop you off at your dad’s.”
Amelie nods toward the door. “Good luck today. I have no doubt you’ll get the job. Your designs are gorgeous.”
“Thanks.” I grab my notebook off the dresser that has all of my designs in it.
“Is Cedric staying with us tonight?” she asks as I head for the door.
I stop and glance at her over my shoulder with a smile on my face. “Don’t know. I think we might need some privacy. I know it’s killing him not getting close to me.”
Amelie shakes her head and laughs. “Oh, I know. The guy is stronger than I realized. I’m just glad he’s respectful of you. You deserve it.” She stands and walks over to me. “Does he know you’ve never been with a man before?”
It’s a subject we haven’t talked about, at least not on my part. I already know h
e’s been around the block a few times with several local human women, which I try not to think about.
“No,” I answer. “I’m sure it’ll come up soon.”
“Laila!” Faith shouts. “You’re going to be late.”
I wink at Amelie. “See you soon.”
I rush downstairs, and both Micah and Faith are in his car, ready to go. One of these days, when the dark fae is not hunting me, I’ll be able to do things on my own again. Right now, I want to do everything I can to keep my family and friends safe, even if I have to give up some of my freedom.
Since my dad lives away from the pack, it takes a few minutes to get to his place. When we arrive, he’s waiting outside by his car, dressed in a suit, looking all regal with his whitish-blond hair perfectly coifed. He reminds me so much of my uncle Sebastian in the way they dress. Micah, on the other hand, is more loveable and down to earth. He’s not the suit-wearing type. Still, you can tell they’re all brothers—my family.
My dad walks over to help me out of Micah’s car and smiles. “You look beautiful, Laila.” I didn’t know what to wear to the meeting, so I chose a pair of black dress pants and a blue, silky button-down top. His gaze averts to my notebook. “Is that your drawings?”
I nod. “Take a look.” I hand him the notebook and wave at Micah and Faith as they back out of the driveway.
My dad flips through all of the drawings, and seeing the pride in his bright blue eyes makes my heart soar. “Impressive. Richard will love them.”
My stomach flips with excitement. “Glad you think so.”
He opens the passenger’s side door for me. “Just so you know, Richard thinks you’re my sister. With us looking the same age, I can’t exactly tell him you’re my daughter.”
“I understand,” I say as I get in the car. It’s one of the many lies we have to tell humans.
Once on our way, I start to get nervous. I don’t want to let my dad down if Richard hates my ideas. It’s his name on the line. “How did you get to be so good at designing houses?” I ask.