Fate Fixed

by Bonnie Erina Wheeler

  got remarried and we are al trying to learn to live together.

  They aren’t always welcoming. My step dad and brothers are….” She shook her head, unsure of how to describe them.

  Torin pondered her expression. If she thought her family was complicated, he wondered what her reaction would be once she learned about his.

  As they sat under the sun, the bare skin on their arms and legs brushed against one another. He took ahold of her soft hand

  – the sensation of her touch stirred him. Her innocence was rare; she shivered when he caressed the inside of her wrist.

  “But, you do want to see me?” he hoped.

  Her gentle laughter sounded like music. “Of course I want to see you.” She turned to face him and sighed contently, “Who are you anyway? You do realize we hardly even know each other.”

  He tipped his face towards hers and brushed his lips over her shoulder. “You know me,” he assured her. He wanted her to believe it too, “I’m the one you’ve been waiting for.”

  She gave him a teasing nudge with her shoulder, “Sure – Does that line usual y work with girls?”

  He chuckled. Her playful expression was endearing. “I don’t know – I have never used it before. Let me know.”

  “Okay then – I’l do that as soon as I decide,” she countered with a grin. “Why don’t you tel me a little about yourself in the meanwhile?”

  He appreciated her humor. She wasn’t painful y serious like him. She helped him lighten up. “My name is Torin and I real y like this girl named Lexie and I can’t stop thinking of her,” he teased. “Now it’s your turn.”

  Her cheeks flushed as she confessed, “I can’t stop thinking of you too. It’s kind of disconcerting – I’m not the kind of girl who just loses herself in some strange guy.” She laughed at herself.

  “I am strange,” he agreed. Torin reached over and ran his hands through a silken lock of her hair. Her scent reminded him of his mother’s garden – a cross between lilacs and sunshine.

  “How has it been for you moving here?”

  “It’s hard leaving everything behind – like my best friend and my school. But, moving here was important to my mom and I want to make her happy.” Torin noticed the strain just behind her eyes when she mentioned her mother. Family is important to her.

  TORIN

  Lexie cupped her hand and dipped it into the cool water.

  She rubbed it across her legs, making her skin glisten in the sunlight. “But,” she continued. “There have been some wonderful things about coming here that I didn’t imagine.”

  Torin knew she didn’t expect to meet him. “Changes can be a good thing.”

  Lexie gave him a sidelong look, “At risk of sounding like a complete fool, I do have to admit, I like being you. You seem so familiar, yet you’re unlike anyone else.”

  Leaning in, he brushed his lips across her ear. “You aren’t a fool.”

  He touched the side of her face and angled her chin so he could kiss her lips. His own blood sang in his veins,

  heightened by their closeness. There was so much he stil wanted to learn about her. Would he have enough time? He kissed her lightly, al owing himself the moment of intimacy.

  Her body trembled against his. He didn’t want to scare her away, but struggled to contain himself. It was more than the dream; Lexie had her own power over him. With reluctance, he pul ed his mouth from hers and met her surprised

  expression.

  “Listen, I know we just met and you’re unsure about this thing between us…but I am not going to hurt you.” Now he felt like the one at risk of sounding foolish. “I just want to be with you.”

  Her demure smile was cute. “Okay,” she said simply.

  The gentle breeze blew in the direction of the lake. Torin could smel something pungent. Before even glancing back to the parking area, he knew that one of Lexie’s brothers had arrived. Turning his head, Torin spotted the smal er one from Friday night climbing out of a black Prius, his blond head scanning the area to locate his sister.

  Torin rubbed Lexie’s back in a circular motion, “So, do you think your family wil like me?”

  Lexie lifted her head from its resting place on Torin’s shoulder, “I think so, why do you ask?”

  Torin smiled down at her, his bril iant blue eyes captivating.

  “Your brother is here,” he stated in a calm tone.

  Startled, Lexie whipped around expecting to see Maxim

  trudging towards her. Relief settled through her when she saw Alik approaching with his usual outgoing grin in place.

  She let out the breath she didn’t even realize she was holding. She wasn’t ready to explain Maxim and his

  charming attitude.

  She needed more time alone with Torin so she could

  decipher why he had this startling impact on her. Like Friday night, she felt lured to him. He dominated her senses with his presence and charm. Fascination to know

  everything about him fil ed her, but she kept losing herself in his caresses.

  With a thump, Alik dropped down beside them. “I heard

  about this place and thought you might be here.” He

  extended his hand to Torin, “Hey, I’m Alik.”

  Torin was polite as he studied her brother. “I’m Torin.”

  Alik pul ed his polo shirt off, revealing a wel -built torso.

  “So what are you kids up to, have you gone swimming yet?”

  “Kids?” Lexie probed, “We’re older than you.”

  Alik grinned, “Yeah, your boyfriend here looks like he’s pushing thirty.”

  Lexie considered Torin. He was leaner than Alik, but his muscles were more defined. It was his face that was

  special, it showed maturity. She knew from Brooke that he was eighteen, but he did look older. Early twenties maybe, but not thirty...

  She smiled with approval. Torin was hot, she didn’t care what Alik thought.

  Alik and Torin both turned to where the others were on the beach. A heavy set woman in a brown uniform was pointing at the parking lot. Lexie couldn’t hear what was being said, but Torin’s expression revealed concern as he helped her stand.

  Taking her elbow, he whispered, “Looks like we have to go.”

  As Lexie joined her friends, the woman’s shril voice

  continued to bark orders, using her clout to order them out of the area. Torin wasted no time addressing the situation, “Officer Barry, is there an issue concerning the beach today?”

  The woman was in her late forties with shoulder length stringy blond hair. Thrusting her fists on her plump hips, she barked, “Yes Mr. O’Connor and if you could please escort your friends from the area, it would save me the effort of cal ing Sheriff Timmons to do it himself.” Lexie doubted the animal patrol officer’s beauty improved when she wasn’t angry – her cold hazel eyes were almost as intimidating as Maxims.

  Her skin bristled with the officer’s continued rude tone.

  “Over the last week, there’s been a great deal of mutilated animals found in the woods al along the lake, possibly due to rabies. The mayor and I agreed this afternoon that we would close off the recreational areas until the matter is resolved. We don’t need minors partying down here and

  getting hurt. ”

  Lexie wondered what it meant when Cian and Torin

  exchanged knowing glances. Perhaps this was a common

  occurrence in Erris – or from Officer Barry. Brooke and Theo gathered their things as Cian and Torin walked the animal control officer back to the parking area.

  Lexie scanned the woods along the waterline as far down the lake as she could see. How long would it take to locate an il animal like that? She remembered her private joke about a moose with rabies – it wasn’t amusing now.

  Alik paced back and forth, watching the three as they stood talking next to the patrol car. He approached Lexie clearly

  troubled. “Listen, if Dad hears about us being down here by that woman �
�� we wil be restricted from leaving the house until the end of the year.” The sun was so bright, he

  squinted his eyes to focus on her. “Seriously, I found you easy enough and I’m sure Maxim wil be looking for us

  soon. What do you say we just head home and avoid any

  more issues for today? Besides, if there is some animal around here, I don’t want you to get hurt.”

  Lexie glanced as Theo and Brooke climbed the steps of

  the trail to the parking area where Cian and Torin

  conversed by their cars. Were they al going home or

  maybe heading to Big Wal y’s? Having Alik with her made things awkward, she wanted to spend time alone with Torin.

  Exploring what was happening between them was her new

  favorite past time.

  Having Maxim show up would be a buzz kil . She didn’t

  want to ruin a wonderful afternoon with another argument.

  A delightful sensation swept over her skin. She couldn’t distinguish Torin’s expression but she could feel him eyeing her as he leaned against his Camaro. A warm flutter fil ed her bel y

  – she wanted to go to him.

  Alik’s hand clamped down on her wrist, “Wil you stop being like that with him? What’s the deal anyway?”

  Lexie yanked from his grip. “Being like what Alik?”

  Darn, that hurt. She rubbed the now tender spot. “He’s real y sweet – I like him.”

  Alik cocked his head to the side. “Lexie, you weren’t the one in school hearing what a mutant he is. He’s dangerous anyway – I heard he was responsible for some kid’s death,”

  he insisted, his tone exasperated.

  Confusion flooded Lexie, “You just met him when you got here. How would you know anything about him?” She didn’t want to even look at her brother, he was crossing a line.

  “Like I said, I heard about it in school al day. It’s a smal town and everyone saw you sucking his face Friday night – lots of people wanted me to warn you.”

  Torin was gentle and considerate. So why was Alik

  flaunting this now? Although she didn’t know a lot about her new boyfriend, she had faith in her instincts about him. Or do I? What did she real y know about him?

  As she headed to the Prius, Lexie was livid with Alik for planting seeds of doubt in her conscious.

  As she ran down the trail, Lexie realized for the first time that her familiar dreamscape was an actual place. She was on the small trail behind her new home and on her way to him. The intense smell of cedar and the rich vegetation held no sway - she only desired his embrace.

  She felt no hesitation, only joy as she rounded the curve past the big rock to where he stood waiting for her...

  always. For the first time, he stepped from the shadows.

  His powerful blue eyes illuminated as they met hers and she knew his smile instantly - Torin. Complete surrender drifted through her as he pulled her into his arms. Just when she thought it would end differently this time, a cold pain slapped against the back of her calves, dragging her from his embrace.

  It slithered up her back, biting at her spine and digging under

  her ribs. Torin reached for her, but his hands slipped through hers until he disappeared. She dropped to her knees. A ripping sensation spread through her chest cavity. She couldn’t hear anything as her blood poured out of the opening where her heart once was...

  With a shudder, Lexie sat straight up in bed, checking herself for a gaping hole. The adrenaline from the

  nightmare had her heart racing with panic. Unable to bear the darkness, she reached her bedside stand and fumbled to turn on the smal lamp.

  It was a little past midnight and she had only been sleeping for a couple of hours. As she curled onto her side, she questioned how her dream’s surroundings were now so

  apparently familiar. Al along, she had been dreaming of the trail right behind her new home. Torin – he was in her dream.

  Impossible – but his presence is so familiar.

  Every easy moment they shared together was leading up to this. There was a striking resemblance in the eyes, height, hair color – everything. She wanted to be dreaming of him.

  Maybe her desire for him was influencing the dream’s

  course and detail… Maybe it is something more than that or maybe I’m losing my mind.

  Lexie stil hated the terrifying endings. They always began with her running until she found him – it was her sudden

  death that varied in intensity. Sometimes she would start screaming just by feeling the cold hand of death behind her.

  Other times she was swal owed by the earth. But by far, the worst was having her heart torn from her chest. Something otherworldly was always taking her away as soon as she found him. They couldn’t be together.

  Once she even looked up the meaning of dreams and none of the explanations made sense. Lexie was hardly afraid of intimacy or repressing a painful childhood memory. She couldn’t explain what these dreams were – she just knew there was something happening between her and Torin and the dream was only a part of it.

  Why would Alik say those things about him? If Torin was trouble, Theo and Brooke would have warned her away

  from him. It was true that Torin was Cian’s friend and some loyalty would be between them, but her new friends had been pretty vocal about everyone else she should stay clear of.

  Including Courtney – the one person Alik seemed to be

  around at school the most. She heard Courtney was real y into Torin but that he didn’t return her interest. Perhaps she was the one fil ing Alik’s head with stories.

  She stretched out with a languid sigh. How could she

  discern the motives of someone like Courtney if she didn’t even know her? The blond hadn’t shown any redeeming

  qualities in

  their first two meetings, so it was hard to have faith in anything she might say.

  It was possible Alik did hear something about Torin from someone else. Alik would want the best for her. They were developing a working relationship as brother and sister although he was stil a little clingy.

  Just the night before, she helped him with his math

  homework and when they finished, he made popcorn and the two of them watched television with Nick and El a.

  Maxim kept poking his head in and out of the room but

  wouldn’t relax enough to just join them. She didn’t think Alik was trying to interfere for any reason other than concern.

  She wished she had the answers.

  Lexie closed her eyes so she could dream of Torin again.

  Perhaps, knowing who he was would steer the dream in a different direction for a change.

  She wasn’t sure how long she had dozed off before a soft cry in the stil ness of the night awoke her. It took a moment for her to locate the sound. Lexie stepped out into the darkened hal way. There were no lights shining from under the other doors. She pressed her ear against the cold paint of her mother’s bedroom door. She could hear the faint sound of Ruby’s sobs.

  Should she knock? Ruby’s patience with Lexie had been

  limited earlier. Al she wanted to do was make sure her mom

  was feeling okay, but Ruby seemed to be offended with any interference.

  The anxiousness for her mother’s wel being won over.

  She knocked on the door and Ruby’s muffled cry paused.

  “Mom, are you okay?” She waited for a reply.

  After a long moment, Lexie could hear Ruby’s soft voice, “I’m fine, just feeling under the weather.”

  “Can I get you anything…a glass of water or some Tylenol?”

  The house was humid and she could feel a light coating of perspiration blanket her skin. Maybe the heat was making her sick.

  “No, just go back to bed.”

  Lexie stood outside the door a moment longer, unsure of what to say. Where was Dragos? The only time she had

  seen him al day was at dinner time. He and
Maxim plowed through the spareribs and coleslaw like they hadn’t seen food in a month.

  Alik and Nicolai were big eaters too, but not like that. Lexie remembered the quiet meals she used to share with just her mom and El a. The three of them would enjoy a garden salad topped with blue cheese crumbles and bacon bits.

  The meal would only pass as an appetizer for the guys.

  Lexie padded down the unlit hal way towards the stairs.

  It was time to have a talk with her new stepfather. Dragos needed to know that while he was off gal ivanting in his Hugo

  Boss suits, Ruby was home working her tail off scrubbing an oversized house and trying to feed his overgrown boys.

  The repercussions were taking their tol and her once

  relaxed mother had evolved into a grumpy stranger.

  Perhaps, Ruby just needed her new husband to spend

  more quality time with her. Moving and caring for five teenagers was a stressful change and Ruby wasn’t looking too wel for the experience. Lexie was wil ing take on some of the cooking and cleaning if Ruby would al ow it. Maybe Dragos could arrange for a date night?

  The downstairs of the large house flickered with the light from the family room television. As she peaked in, she realized Dragos wasn’t even there. Despite the heat, El a was under a wel -loved fleece throw, curled up on the couch sleeping. Lexie flipped the television screen off. When she was little, El a always loved fal ing asleep on the couch at night so their Dad could carry her to bed and tuck her in.

  Lexie glanced around the large room with its overstuffed furniture and motley assortment of knickknacks. Never

  could she have imagined how much life would change for them.

  Giving El a’s shoulder a gentle shake, Lexie admired how beautiful her sister had become. She no longer looked like a child; her facial features were of a young woman. “Hey, why don’t you come up to bed?”

  Rubbing her eyes, El a pul ed herself up into a sitting position. She looked around the room. “They aren’t back from running patrol yet?”