One True Mate 7_Shifter's Paradox
Page 25
He stepped outside and came up behind her, clasping her in his arms. She’d scented him, and pressed back into him as soon as he came close. “How long did I sleep for?” he asked.
“A couple hours.”
“You sleep?”
She stared out at the forest, lifting her chin, closing her eyes slightly, tilting her head to best catch the forest breeze on her face. “Look at all the green,” she said. “I may never sleep again.”
Harlan hugged her close for a long time, appreciating the breeze and the forest and all the green in ways he hadn’t for too long. When he finally spoke, the subject was heavy, but his heart was mostly light. “I need to get back to Leilani,” he said. He and Evie had never been ones to avoid talking about the hard subjects. “She’s my responsibility until Jaggar comes back.”
Evie didn’t say a word, only nodded, and Harlan sensed there was so much she wanted to say, but she wouldn’t, not until she had it all worked out and categorized in her own mind, not until she was certain of her own stances and decisions regarding the matter.
In the forest on the other side of their tiny subdivision, a black wolf moved stealthily along a forest path with purpose, heading west. “Where’s Trent going?” Harlan asked, wondering why the male was up and out so early.
“To find Jaggar.”
Shit. “Alone?”
“Troy won’t go, he won’t shift back into a wolf, and Trent won’t take anyone else with him. He says the rest of you are too soft for the trip he’s about to make and he won’t wait any longer.”
Harlan wished his friend well, glad someone was doing something. “Who have you been talking to?” he asked, knowing full well that Evie might know what she knew without talking to anyone, but she held up a hand to her head. “Wade.”
Harlan nodded. Good deal. Official intel, and he hadn’t even had to leave this little love nest.
He pulled his mate down the steps of the cabin, toward the forest, resolving to run with her one more time before he made love to her one more time before they went to the main house.
But for that moment, he simply held her hand as they slipped under the canopy of trees, walking on light feet. “You ever considered going vegan?” he asked, happy to have someone to talk to again about the little things. The idiotic things. “I’ve been thinking about it. Eat more veggies, you know? Carrots, especially.”
Evie laughed at him, softly, as was her way, holding his hand, their arms swinging as they did something that had been denied them for so long.
Walked together. Talked together. Held hands and shared the moment together.
“Harlan you’re a meat eater. What will you live on, air?”
Harlan smiled up into the forest, not bothering to answer.
Not air.
Love.
<<<<<< >>>>>>>
Notes From Lisa XXOOXXOO;)
Well. There it is. If you made it this far, I have high hopes that you “got” the story, that you enjoyed it, that Harlan made you laugh, that Evie made you hope, and that Evie’s return made you feel. It made me bawl. I still can’t read it without bawling. I cried all through editing. Crying right now as I write this. lol. I loved this story so gosh-darn much. I know there was a lot happening. I know that the potential for confusion was high, and still I hope we managed to pull off a good story, you and I, because there is no point in story without both of us.
If you are in my facebook group, you know how much I agonized over this story. If you’re not, I agonized over this story lol. It’s different than my prior books. More dialed-in close, with so many complicated concepts, and I’m certain there are parts where I didn’t quite pull it off. <3 thank you for sticking with me through them. This is the halfway book of OTM, and I think it showed. Here we go, everyone, sliding down the other side, rocketing toward whatever awaits us at the bottom.
Troy and Jaggar’s stories are running through my mind already, as are the rest of them that are left, but on a lighter track, because they are farther away. Jaggar is next, then Troy. ☺ Jaggar will be intense, Troy more light-hearted (I think). No release dates. You know I am the worst person in the world at release dates, so I am going to pretend time doesn’t exist (lol) and not worry about them for now. But we know Jaggar, don’t we? And we know Leilani a little, too, so let’s hope soon. Very soon. Whatever the fuck that means.
I have the limerick and the haiku written from Harlan’s winning entry into the limerick contest, and the scene where he tells Evie about it is partially written, but no matter where and how I tried to stick it in this story, it would not go. So it may be the extended epilogue, more of a deleted scene. It may not come for a few days to a week, watch for my email. Sign up here for my newsletter.
As always, thank you so much for reading <3
Lisa