“I would have got you one anyway. You were destined to receive one as soon as you told me you wanted one.” He opened the door, and jerked his head in the direction of the now open store indicating that she should go in.
Smiling, she entered the store her feet immediately leading her to the clear cabinet that held rings beneath its glass exterior. An elderly couple stood behind the counter and as soon as they had entered the store, they had separated; the older man walking towards Erica while the lady ambled in Sebastian's direction. Erica had immediately struck up a lively conversation with the man gesturing at the rings she liked the look of.
A flash of blue caught Sebastian's attention and he found himself walking towards it, while the elderly lady trailed behind him. His eyes landed on a stunning ring and he walked towards it, unable to prevent himself. The silver coloured band of the ring was slender and embedded on the top was a modest sized blue gem, judging from its clarity and the way it had easily caught his attention it was sapphire. A clear diamond on either side surrounded the small blue stone, though it was the sapphire that held his attention. The ring wasn’t what he imagined a typical engagement ring to be like but Erica was anything but ordinary and the longer he stared at the blue gem, the more it reminded him of the startling blue of her eyes.
“It’s unique don’t you agree?”
He turned to find the elderly woman at his side. “Yes it is.”
“Is it for you fiancée?”
“There’s no one else I’d even contemplate buying a ring for. The metal of the ring, what is it?” Though his eyes led him to believe that it wasn’t silver, he could never be too careful especially after what Erica had been through.
“White gold.” The woman answered easily, confirming what his eyes already knew.
Perfect, he thought, turning around to locate Erica in the small store. His eyes immediately latched onto the ring that the male shopkeeper was offering her and his heart began to pound in his chest. The glint of the metal that she was reaching for was most definitely silver and the thought of her skin coming into contact with the hazardous metal made his stomach churn. “Erica!” he called, speeding across the small store to reach her before she touched the dangerous metal.
“What’s the matter Sebastian?” she asked when he reached her.
“No silver.”
“Why not? It’s pretty.”
Pretty and lethal to your health, he groaned. But I can’t tell her that. “You’re allergic to silver.”
“I thought I didn’t have any allergies.”
“No food allergies,” he amended. “Silver is something that you’re most definitely allergic to. If you want a ring in that colouring then choose something in white gold, platinum, anything but silver.”
You sound hysterical, his wolf commented casually.
I know what I sound like, Sebastian snapped. But she can’t even look out for her own health while she’s like this. It has me worried.
“Ok Sebastian, no silver,” she conceded, shrugging off the urgency in his actions as simple concern for her well being.
“Good.” He smiled. “Now that we’re both in agreement on that. I have a ring I want to show you. I think you’ll like it.” And it isn’t going to burn the skin from your flesh either. God, I hope her memories come back soon. It’s bad enough that I have to pretend to be human but she’s more vulnerable than ever now. She doesn’t even know the most basic things to ensure her survival and that worries me more than anything in the world.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Sitting in the living room of their cabin, Sebastian watched as Erica moved about the kitchen preparing dinner. He had offered to help but Erica had rejected his assistance with a very forceful ‘no’. When he had asked her why she was so intent on cooking alone, she had explained that she wanted to see if she could even remember how to cook. Unable to argue with her desire to see what she could do for herself, he had left the kitchen and was now content to watch the fluid and graceful way she moved.
Apparently her body remembered how to cook well if her ease in the kitchen was anything to go by. Her hands were quick and her fingers nimble as she chopped and sliced any vegetable that came within her reach. The many pots and pans on the stove were easily managed beneath her watchful eye as she heated the oven in preparation for the roast she had prepared. The longer she was in the kitchen, the more fragrant the smells that wafted out of the kitchen became. A curious sense of pride began to fill him the closer she came to finishing, she might not remember much, but the fact that her body remembered anything was an achievement in itself. Erica, however, didn’t seem to share his feelings of satisfaction. The more competently she moved around the kitchen, the deeper the scowl on her face became. She placed the well-prepared beef joint in the oven before slamming it closed in frustration.
“Erica?” Sebastian began, concern clear in his voice.
“I’m fine Sebastian,” she responded easily, breathing deeply as she tried to calm herself. “I’m just a little upset that I can remember to do something like this,” she waved a hand to encompass the kitchen, “and not remember a thing about my life. Will you do me a favour?”
“Of course.”
“You don’t even know what it is yet,” she chided, though the laughter in her voice diminished the warning’s effect.
“Enlighten me then.”
“Tell me about when we first met.”
He groaned loudly upon hearing what her request was. Maybe I was a bit too hasty in agreeing to what she wanted. “Erica,” he cautioned. “The doctors said it would only impair your recovery if I told you things like that.”
“Sebastian please, I just want to know more about my life. You don’t understand how bad it is to not know. It’s not as though I’m asking you to tell me everything,” she reasoned. “ I just want you to tell me this one thing.” The genuine sadness in her voice was easily overcoming his objections and he could feel the instinct tugging at him, urging him to give her whatever she wanted. Her blue eyes caught him and he could feel himself falling helplessly into their depths. “It’s important to me,” she stated simply and his defences crumbled.
How can I refuse her?
You can’t, his wolf answered simply and Sebastian knew that he was right. It went against everything within him to deny her something that would bring her happiness.
“Just this once,” he sighed, though well aware that if she asked him again he would most likely cave, the instinct was very effective in ensuring a mate’s happiness apparently even over matters that concerned her health.
Rushing from the kitchen, she leapt into his arms and hugged him tightly. “Thank you Sebastian.”
His arms came up around her and pulled her closer against him, but it wasn’t close enough, it would never be close enough. Her joy was infectious and he found himself smiling despite his earlier objections. He had smiled more in the short time he had know her than he had in months, having a mate really did improve a wolf’s quality of life even if your mate didn’t know exactly what she was to you. “I can’t resist you. Once you decided that you wanted to know, it was as good as done.”
“I know that you’re worried that telling me could jeopardise my chances for recovery, but don’t blame yourself. If anything goes wrong then I accept any and all blame.”
Pulling away from her embrace, he took her hand and began leading her outside. The night sky was clear and this far from the bright lights of a city, the stars shone clearly against the dark backdrop. It had snowed heavily when they had returned from their shopping trip the day before and it had continued to snow throughout the day and the ground around the wooden porch they stood on was now covered in a thick layer of the white powder.
“We met on a night like this,” he chuckled, “Well there wasn’t all this snow and the moon was much fuller than it is now but the stars were exactly like they are now and you outshone them all in my eyes. There was a celebration for my cousin’s wife.” He hesitated over t
he use of the word wife, it felt unnatural on his tongue but he knew that he couldn’t use the term mate if he was to maintain his human façade. “I was looking for my brother Ryan and instead I found you. You were wearing this beautiful blue dress, which I later found out you had been bullied into. Your hair was down,” he reached for the hair band that was loosely holding her hair in a messy bun and pulled, releasing the long strands.
The way she tied her hair was apparently another thing she hadn’t forgotten. She had accepted the long length of her hair as a part of life and never complained about how much time she had to put into maintaining it. Though he loved her long hair, Sebastian had quickly concluded that if his hair was that long, it wouldn’t have taken much time before he took a pair of scissors to it. Despite the time she put into her hair’s maintenance, she rarely wore it down. The mystery of why she kept her hair so long confused him and not for the first time he found himself cursing the fact that he hadn’t asked her about it before she had lost her memories.
“You were the most beautiful person I had ever seen. You still are. I think my heart might have stopped for a second, but then it began to race. I could practically feel it pushing against my rib cage. It was right then I knew, I knew you were the person I was going to spend the rest of my life with.” He struggled to keep the new version of events as close to the truth as possible and hoped that his story sounded plausible.
As Sebastian words floated to her ears an image began to form within her mind. The picture was hazy at first but the longer he spoke, the clearer it became. Sebastian stood at the forefront of her mind, dressed in a well-cut dark suit instead of the comfortable jeans she was used to seeing him wear. He was rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet in that curiously endearing motion she had come to recognise during their short stay at the estate was a sign of his nervousness. His mouth was moving but she couldn’t hear the words that he spoke and she groaned in frustration. Though she couldn’t seem to remember the words he had spoke to her that night, her body remembered the reaction he had caused within her perfectly.
Her mind was still struggling to hear the words that Sebastian was saying but her mouth was moving on its own, her voice slow as she told him what she remembered. “You looked downright edible in that suit. And the way you looked at me made me feel like I was the sexiest person in the world. My mouth went dry and my body became so hot and then you told me, you said…” She groaned aloud this time as the memory eluded her.
Her words had lit the spark of hope within him and Sebastian decided to continue helping her fill in the blanks in her memory. Maybe the doctors were wrong, he concluded before holding his hand out to her in the human method of greeting. It wasn’t what he had done that night but there was no need to push his luck. The doctors may have been wrong when they said that no information was the best thing for her, but she still believed she was human and if he told her different she might decide that he was crazy and not to be believed. She placed her hand within his and he tightened his grip. “Hello, my name is Sebastian.”
“I’m Erica,” she replied easily, but a frown formed on her face as soon as the words had left her lips. That doesn’t sound right. I wouldn’t say that to someone I had just met. She continued to shake his hand while she frantically racked her mind trying to find the right words. “No, that isn’t what I said. You can call me Eric.”
Sebastian smiled at correction. She was remembering. “That’s exactly what you said to me that night. And like I said back then, that’s a man’s name and you’re no man.”
“It’s what my friends call me,” she responded automatically, her body walking her through the steps of that night. Taking her hand out of his, she stepped back, his scent was wreaking havoc on her body and she couldn’t seem to think straight when they were so close.
Apparently Sebastian had taken affront to the distance she was putting between them as he stepped forward and breathed deeply, much like he had that first night taking her scent deep within himself. “Erica.”
Her heart began to pound as the vague memory of that night filled her. Something was going to happen if he spoke again though she couldn’t remember what it was. There was almost no space between them now and as she breathed she could feel her chest brush lightly against his.
“Sebastian,” she gulped, unsure of if she truly wanted to hear what he had to say next.
Unconcerned with the warning in her voice he pressed forward. “Erica, we’re meant to spend the rest of our lives together. You belong with me and I with you.”
“No.” The word slipped past her lips though she couldn’t recall wanting to say it. She took a step back, intent on increasing the distance between them.
“Yes Erica. There is only you for me and me for you.”
“I can’t,” she gulped. Her heart was beating so fast within her chest that she was surprised that he couldn’t hear its frantic beating. The expression of sadness on his face made her want to stay but even though she couldn’t remember why she would do such a thing, she ran. The snow beneath her feet was cold but she continued on, desperate for an unknown reason to escape him. The feel of cold snow trickling down her neck as a hard projectile hit her, stopped her wild run and she turned back to Sebastian. There was another ball of snow between his hands and he was smiling at her despite her rejection of him. “That didn’t happen that night.”
“No, it didn’t.” He laughed, throwing the snowball at her. She managed to dodge his aim but he laughed harder. “If there had been snow that night then I’m sure it would have.”
She watched unmoving as he bent down to gather more snow in his hands. The ball was formed quickly before he threw it directly at her. She shrieked as the snow hit the exposed skin of her arms. He moved again, preparing to gather more snow and she leapt into action, gathering snow of her own to throw in his direction. She laughed in satisfaction as her snowball hit him directly in the chest but her victory was cut short as he threw more snow in her direction. Retaliating quickly she threw an unformed fist of snow in his direction laughing as some of the flakes landed in his mouth. They continued their playful fight in the snow until they both conceded defeat and accepted a draw.
Falling flat on her back in the snow, Erica watched as more snow flakes drifted down from the sky. Warmth began to penetrate her body as Sebastian settled down beside her. He grasped her hand lightly, turning to smile at her. She returned the smile and shifted closer towards him, uncaring of the sorry state her clothes were inevitably in. As they lay side-by-side in the thick snow a sense of peace and happiness crept through her. Even though she couldn’t remember much more than she had the previous night, she had Sebastian and for now that was enough. A curious thought began to intrude on her sense of peace. Why would I be so desperate to get away from him? I was running like he was the devil or something. It doesn’t make any sense.
You ran because you were an idiot. That’s the only explanation for it.
She barely suppressed the urge to groan aloud at the strange voice’s return. I’m ignoring you. Right now it doesn’t matter that I can’t remember anything, he’s willing to stay with me. I’m not sure how true that’ll be if he finds out I’m crazy so I’m ignoring you, she stated resolutely, banishing the intrusive thoughts of why she had run from him and hoping that the voice left with it. It doesn’t matter why I ran; he obviously caught me and made me see sense. Thank God for that, where would I be without him?
Chapter Twenty-Six
Sebastian felt a momentary feeling of guilt as he sat on the sofa in the living room in his wet clothes but quickly reasoned that as he was paying for the house he could use the furniture inside it in whatever way he saw fit. The smell of the roast beef made his stomach grumble in hunger but his mind was preoccupied with other thoughts. Erica was currently in the shower, her human habits making her believe that she was cold enough to warrant a shower to warm her. As he was coming to expect his wolf was fixated on images of her in the shower and was projecting them
into his thoughts. He could feel his body begin to react to the visual stimulation and groaned.
Stop this. He glanced down at his rapidly hardening shaft, his cheeks flushing as his wolf forced a particularly detailed and vivid image of Erica naked to the forefront of his mind. You’re going to make me embarrass myself. Just give it a rest.
Never. I’ve yet to see our mate naked and so I have to content myself with this. It is your fault that you’re suffering now. If you had just allowed us to claim her during the last full moon then we wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place.
Don’t you think that I know this? I beat myself up enough without you making me feel guiltier. Erica is like this because of me and I’ve come to accept that. If she doesn’t recover then that’s also my fault. I’m perfectly capable of assigning blame.
That’s good to know but you seem to have overlooked something.
What’s that? he questioned, mentally bracing himself for something that he undoubtedly wouldn’t want to hear. His wolf rarely delivered good news to him.
What if she hasn’t recovered by the next full moon? It will inevitably come around and we won’t be able to hide what we’re from her.
I hadn’t even thought of that! Shit! What rules apply when your mate thinks she’s human but is really a wolf? Do I have to show her what I’m as though she were genuinely human? But if I tell her will that make her worse? I want her to get better not worse. He groaned, wishing that his wolf hadn’t told him anything.
I like her this way, the wolf began. She’s far more open to our advances than she was before. All in all I think that we should take advantage of this opportunity.
Is that the only thing that you think about? Erica is sick, can’t you consider her for just a minute?
I’m considering her, in my own way. Trust me if we claim her now then things won’t be so problematic when she eventually gets better. I’m sure she’ll thank me for it actually.
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