Defying Destiny

by Olivia Downing

  should be only us. No curse. No family.

  No obligations. No worries. Nothing but

  us.”

  He nodded. “We’ll forget about the

  rest of the world for tonight,” he agreed.

  “I’ll love you the way you were meant to

  be loved—without any reservations.”

  She held onto him for a while longer.

  Clinging to his strength made her believe

  they could overcome anything as long as

  they were together.

  “Let’s have dinner and then we can

  stretch out in front of the fire and talk,” he

  murmured, not seeming to mind that she

  depended on him so completely.

  She grinned. “Talk?”

  “Among other things,” he promised.

  “I guess I have to let go of you now.”

  She pressed her cheek up against his back

  and closed her eyes.

  “Just for a minute.”

  “All

  right,”

  she

  agreed,

  arms

  tightening around his waist.

  She inhaled his scent and then

  regretfully released him. He didn’t move

  away immediately and she was pleased to

  realize he didn’t want to part from her any

  more than she wanted to part from him.

  They would make it. They had to, for both

  their sakes. Maralee pushed her worries

  aside to concentrate on the here and now.

  She couldn’t allow herself to believe her

  time with Nash was limited or she’d fall

  into despair again.

  “I’ll go start that fire then,” he

  murmured and disappeared into the

  darkened living area.

  Maralee started cooking their dinner

  and Nash joined her in the kitchen after a

  few moments. He seemed intent on driving

  the outside world away from them, leaning

  against the edge of the kitchen counter and

  talking to her while she cooked. By the

  time they sat down for their meal, Maralee

  had convinced herself the only thing that

  mattered was how she felt about this

  wonderful man.

  “Tell me about your childhood,” he

  urged as he began to methodically devour

  his steak.

  Maralee immediately thought of the

  most terrifying and tragic moments of her

  childhood, but she pushed them aside. She

  instead focused on other things. “Well,”

  she began, “I was raised primarily by my

  aunt. She was the wife of my father’s

  eldest brother. Her husband had been

  kill…” She paused, looking up at him

  rather than go on any further.

  “Killed by Wolves,” he supplied.

  “Yes,” she admitted. “I have no living

  blood relatives so the court left me and my

  estate to my aunt’s care until I turned

  twenty-one.”

  “And when do you turn twenty-one?”

  “Oh, I turned twenty-one over four

  months ago.”

  “So the estate in Dubwar is yours

  now?” He had stopped eating his broiled

  rabbit to stare at her with consideration.

  “My aunt still lives there. I don’t know

  if I’ll ever go back.”

  “Do you own a lot of land, then?”

  Maralee stared at him for a long

  moment. His sudden interest in her

  inheritance seemed strange to her. It was

  almost as if he was interested in her solely

  because she was a wealthy heiress. She

  discarded the idea as soon as it occurred

  to her. What interest would Nash have in

  wealth and property?

  “It is a large holding,” she agreed after

  a tense moment of silence. “All of the

  Decatur’s lived upon the estate at one

  time,

  so

  there

  are

  several

  large

  homesteads all combined together. My

  aunt rented out chunks of the properties to

  sharecroppers soon after she took control

  of the estate. I think it’s doing fairly well,

  but I’ve never had much interest in such

  things, so I’ve never really asked about

  it.”

  “You should go home, Maralee.”

  Her heart seemed to drop down to her

  toes. Her distress must have shown on her

  face because Nash reached for her hand

  and gripped it tightly.

  “I’m not trying to get rid of you or

  anything,” he said. “But maybe it’s time

  for you to take charge of your life. You’ve

  decided to stop hunting Wolves and so

  you should start thinking about your

  future.”

  “But you are my future.”

  He smiled at her sadly. “Of course.”

  Maralee pushed her meal aside, her

  appetite suddenly lacking. “I don’t think

  you really believe I love you,” she

  whispered, looking up to try to catch his

  gaze. “I don’t think you realize I mean it

  when I tell you how important you are to

  me.”

  He looked away, but Maralee caught

  the look of guilt on his face. How could he

  question her feelings, even now?

  “You don’t believe me, do you?” she

  asked.

  He looked into her eyes and said, “I’m

  trying.”

  “Damn it, Nash. What do I have to do

  to prove it to you?”

  He shook his head. “Nothing.”

  They stared at each other for a long

  moment before she said, “You don’t want

  me to love you, do you?”

  He lowered his gaze. “I just don’t

  understand how you could love someone

  like me.”

  “Someone like you?” she questioned,

  lifting her hand to touch his face. “What

  do you mean?”

  He shook his head again. “I shouldn’t

  have said that.”

  “Don’t stop now,” she demanded.

  “What did you mean?”

  “I don’t have anything to offer you,

  Maralee,” he said. “I can’t give you a

  proper home or a family or a future. I

  can’t make you happy. You’d be better off

  without me.”

  “You’re wrong,” she shouted, startling

  him. “You do make me happy. You don’t

  know how miserable I was without you

  because you weren’t there to witness it.

  The only thing I need is you, and as long

  as you’re with me I have a home, a family

  and a future.”

  He smiled at her crookedly. “I don’t

  think I’ll ever understand you.”

  “You don’t have to understand,” she

  told him, “just believe.”

  “I’ll try.”

  She sighed with exasperation. “You

  can’t try to believe,” she said, “you either

  do or you don’t.”

  He nodded in agreement, but none of

  this changed the fact that he couldn’t

  believe she had found something within

  him to love. After a moment, Nash

  released her hand and began to eat the


  remainder of his dinner. Maralee left him

  to his thoughts and picked at her plate as

  well. After they finished their meal, they

  washed the dishes together and then

  retired to the living area. They spread out

  side by side on the bearskin rug before the

  fire and talked for hours about anything

  that occurred to them. It was well after

  midnight when Maralee cuddled up

  against him and pressed a trail of warm

  kisses along his throat. They made love

  slowly, touching, exploring, and loving

  one another without the typical mindless

  passion that usually consumed them both.

  When he moved over her to claim her

  body as his, he kissed her ear and

  whispered, “Being here with you like this

  makes me glad I’m part human. I feel

  closer to you.”

  She smiled and held him close as he

  moved within her slowly. His usual

  animalistic lust was completely obscured

  by tenderness and though her body was

  aching with need, her soul and her heart

  were completely satisfied. He rose up on

  his elbows and looked down at her.

  “I still find it hard to believe that you

  could love me,” he said, “but I’m glad you

  do. I’m glad that you accept me because it

  allows me to accept myself.”

  She wondered at his sudden need to

  vindicate his existence, especially while

  he was making love to her, but she knew

  he needed her to stand firm in his corner.

  She blinked her eyes open and found that

  he was staring down at her intently. She

  smiled up at him warmly.

  “I do accept you, Nash, and I love you.

  Nothing will ever change that.”

  He smiled and she recognized that he

  truly believed her for the first time. She

  also recognized a physical change in him.

  His eyes, normally a feral gold, were

  inexplicably a greenish-blue shade. She

  gasped in surprise, unable to drag her gaze

  away from his beautiful eyes as he stared

  down at her with love and hope.

  “What is it, Maralee?” he asked,

  touching her cheek with his fingertips.

  “It’s nothing,” she murmured, but she

  knew without a doubt that at that moment,

  her Wolf was entirely human. “I just want

  to be together with you like this forever.”

  “Forever,” he agreed, his eyelids

  drifting closed as he lowered himself to

  kiss her tenderly.

  CHAPTER 42

  A loud knock at the front door pulled the

  pair of intertwined lovers from sleep just

  after dawn. Maralee groaned in protest

  and snuggled more securely against Nash.

  He tugged her closer still and buried his

  face in her hair. A second knock, even

  louder than the first, refused to be ignored.

  “Who in the hell is pounding on the

  door at this hour?” Nash grumbled,

  unsettling Maralee as he sat up abruptly.

  “Nash!” a panicked voice called from

  outside the door. “Nash, are you in there?”

  “Rella?” He rose and struggled into

  his discarded pants before moving to

  answer the door.

  More awake now, Maralee sat up,

  wrapping herself in the blanket they had

  shared, and rubbed her face wearily. The

  instant Nash opened the door, Rella was

  in his arms sobbing brokenly against his

  bare chest. Maralee was too concerned to

  feel jealousy.

  “Rella, what is it?” Nash asked, trying

  to pull her away from him so he could

  look at her.

  “Carsha.”

  “Carsha?” Nash took Rella by both

  shoulders and forced her to look up at

  him. “What happened?”

  “She ran away,” Rella said. “When

  we returned from visiting the Northpack

  last night, I told the children that we

  would be moving away and joining their

  pack soon. When I woke up this morning,

  Carsha was gone.”

  “Are you sure she ran away? Did you

  check with mother? Maybe she just went

  to see her grandma.”

  Rella shook her head. “I wasn’t

  thinking clearly. I came straight over here

  because you always make things right,

  Nash. I know I can depend on you.”

  “I’ll go start looking for her. You

  check with other people of the village and

  have them start looking as well,” Nash

  said. He tugged his pants off and took his

  Wolf form before brushing past Rella and

  out the front door.

  “I’ll help look too,” Maralee offered,

  struggling to her feet and searching for her

  clothes.

  “I don’t want your help,” Rella said

  coldly, glaring at Maralee. “It’s your fault

  she ran away in the first place. If you had

  never killed her father…if you had never

  wedged yourself between Nash and

  myself, then I wouldn’t be forced to leave

  the village I love to live with a bunch of

  strangers. Everyone would be a whole lot

  happier if you just disappeared.”

  Rella let herself out of the house and

  slammed the door. Maralee stared at the

  door in shock. Rella’s harsh words rang

  true within Maralee’s soul. The promise

  that she’d made to Cort over his grave

  seemed to call from the very core of her

  existence. I’ll do whatever necessary to

  keep them together—happy and cared

  for.

  Everything she did seemed to go

  against that promise. If Nash stayed with

  Rella, Cort’s family would be together

  and cared for. Surely everyone would be

  happier—except for her, but that didn’t

  really

  matter.

  She

  didn’t

  deserve

  happiness after all of the terrible things

  she’d done.

  Maralee

  dressed

  hurriedly.

  She

  wanted to leave before Nash returned,

  because if she saw him, her resolve would

  melt and she would never be able to do

  what was right. She would never be able

  to keep her promise to Cort.

  She gathered her belongings and

  stuffed them into her knapsack. She would

  go to Sarbough and hire a carriage to take

  her Dubwar. Perhaps it was time for her

  to take charge of her life and if she was

  going to live without Nash beside her, she

  would definitely need something to keep

  her occupied.

  She was almost ready to leave when

  there was another knock at the door.

  Maralee sighed. She had made her mind

  up, but she didn’t need anyone putting

  doubts in her head. She peeked out the

  front window and saw Stacia standing

  impatiently at the front door. Maralee

  sighed again and put on her cloak before

  swinging her knaps
ack over her shoulder.

  She opened the door and tried to brush

  past Stacia, but the woman caught her arm.

  “Where are you going?” Stacia asked.

  “I’m leaving,” Maralee said, trying to

  brush her off.

  Stacia smiled. “I always knew that you

  weren’t strong enough to stand by him.”

  Maralee nodded tersely. “Tell him

  good-bye for me,” she said. “Tell him…

  tell him that he was right not to believe.”

  “What?” Stacia questioned, confused.

  “Just tell him. He’ll understand.”

  Maralee reached into her pocket and

  located her money pouch. She dug around

  inside it until she found the barrettes she’d

  been carrying around for ages. “Give

  these to Carsha when she gets home,”

  Maralee said, handing dragonfly barrettes

  to Stacia. “Tell her that she’s lucky to

  have someone like Nash as her new

  daddy.”

  Stacia took the barrettes and looked

  down at them questioningly. She released

  Maralee’s arm and watched her step off

  the porch. Maralee half expected the

  embittered woman to say something to her

  as she walked away, but Stacia watched

  her leave without a word, undoubtedly

  glad to see the Huntress out of her son’s

  life forever.

  Maralee felt numb as she left the

  village of the Wolves behind for the last

  time, but she felt in her heart that she had

  done the right thing. When she passed the

  oak tree that marked Cort’s grave, sunlight

  warmed her face. She knew that he was

  smiling down on her, glad she had made

  good on her promise to him. Her leaving

  would hurt Nash, but he would realize

  with time he belonged with Rella and the

  three children he adored so much. He

  would find happiness. She had to believe

  that. It was the sincerest wish of her heart.

  CHAPTER 43

  The weeklong carriage ride to Dubwar

  had been uneventful and bleak. Maralee

  refused dwell on her past. Now she was

  only looking forward to her uncertain

  future. A future without Nash. Things had

  happened so quickly; the reality of her

  decision to never see him again had not

  truly sunk in. Just moments before, the

  carriage had let her off at Dubwar station.

  The town had existed before the Decaturs

  had made their home here, but it had

  profited greatly from the Wolf Hunters’

  wealth and prosperity. The familiar sights

  of the town were nostalgic as Maralee

  made her way to the livery to rent a horse.

  Home after a six-year absence. It was