by Vella Day
When he reached the path that led down to the water, his heart squeezed. The young girl who’d passed by them on the trail was clinging to a rock in the middle of the river, holding on for dear life. The mother was on the edge, trying to help. Considering the water’s speed and depth, and the amount of rocks, she might fall in and drown before she could even help her child.
Will would have to save her, which meant he’d have to shift. The mom might freak, but she’d soon understand he was only trying to help once he saved her daughter. Will quickly ditched his clothes and then shifted. The best approach would be to come at the girl from below. In case she let go of her perch, Will would be there to catch her.
His bear was able to scurry down the rest of the path with ease. The mom looked over at him and stilled. He probably should have explained that he wasn’t a wild bear before he shifted, but there hadn’t been time.
“No!” she screamed. “Go away.”
Shit. Will stood still and rose to his full height. Trying to act like a human rather than a bear, he held up his hands, moved away from her, and then jumped into the river. The water was moving fast, but that only made him more determined to help. The little girl wouldn’t last long in the fast-moving water.
Dropping down onto all fours, Will charged up stream. Thankfully, when he reached out to the young girl, she didn’t resist and must have been in shock since she barely hesitated before she grabbed his big furry arm and then let him hug her close. Will would have heard the loud crack sooner if he hadn’t been so busy making sure the girl was safe.
Out of nowhere, a huge tree fell and slammed down onto his back, pinning him in the water, but narrowly missing the girl. Will managed to lift the child onto his shoulders before he had to let go in order to hang onto a boulder in the river. If the current swept him downstream, the girl would surely die.
Will heard voices shouting and managed to look up and see Lucas coming to his rescue. He wasn’t sure what his human friend could do, but the young girl’s mom was yelling louder now. All Will wanted was to get the young girl to safety. Thankfully, Will was able to lift his head out of the water enough to breathe but not much more.
Lucas stepped into the water down river and worked his way toward them. If he could hand off the child to his friend, Will might be able to shift and get out from under the massive tree.
“I’m coming, Will. Hold on,” Lucas called.
Acacia had her arm around the mom’s shoulder, probably telling her that the bear was a shifter and not a real bear. Will struggled to free himself, worrying the whole time that the child would be swept away in the process.
Acacia couldn’t just stand by and watch a young girl drown or have the man she was falling in love with die. Yes, it might jeopardize her relationship with Will, but it was the chance she had to take.
Concentrating on the huge fallen tree that was pinning Will down, she held out her hands and tried to levitate it. While she’d never lifted anything this big before, Will was her mate. Acacia was sure Fate would give her the power to do this.
When nothing happened, her legs nearly buckled. What was she doing wrong?
Acacia could try to make another tree fall further upstream to help slow down the flow of water, but that wouldn’t help free Will from under this tree.
I could use a little bit of help here, Fate!
“I don’t think I can reach him,” Lucas shouted.
“Don’t move. I’m going to help,” she called.
Lucas grabbed a branch to keep from being swept down the river himself. “To do what?” he called. “If you didn’t notice, Will is barely able to keep his head above water. I’ll catch the girl if she can’t hold on.”
Time was slipping away. And then the familiar wave of light entered her body. Acacia had never given it a thought in the past, but just before she and her sisters would perform their magic, she’d feel this power enter her. It must be coming from Fate.
With a renewed determination, Acacia closed her eyes and pointed her arms at the tree again, while she recited a spell she’d long forgotten, willing the monstrosity to rise. When her arms began to shake, she looked. Her pulse soared. The tree had lifted off Will’s body. She did it, so why wasn’t he moving?
“Will!” she shouted.
Just as she waved her arms to make a tree fall upstream to block the flow of the water, a huge rush of adrenaline coursed through her. The tree up river fell and helped to slow the river’s flow.
“Holy shit, you did it,” Lucas shouted. With the water now calm, both she and the girl’s mom raced to the banks and waded in.
Seeming to have forgotten how difficult his first journey was to reach Will, Lucas charged in after Will too.
As if Fate wanted to help, the water completely stilled.
Lucas looked back at her. “Did you do that too?”
“Kind of.” Fate had actually leant a hand. “Now isn’t the time to discuss it though.”
While it wasn’t easy crossing the large rocks, they were able to reach Will’s bear. Acacia was the first to grab hold of the crying girl. She then quickly handed the child to her mom.
“Oh, baby, are you okay?” her sobbing mom asked.
The little girl sniffled. “Uh huh.”
“Take her back to shore and get her warm,” Acacia said. “We’ll help Will.”
“Thank you,” she said.
While Acacia suspected the mom was the kind of person who would have helped, she had to take care of her child first.
Because Will hadn’t yet moved, she hoped his legs hadn’t been crushed. He grunted and then reached out both arms. She and Lucas took hold and tugged. His bear roared, clearly in pain, but she saw nothing else they could do. The downed tree was still suspended a foot above the water’s surface so something else must have trapped him.
She said another spell to free his legs. A second later, Will rose to all fours and roared, as if to indicate he was okay, and that they needed to move to safety. Lucas grabbed her hand and helped her to shore. Despite being a goddess, Acacia was exhausted.
“I’ll go get Will’s clothes,” Lucas said. “He may want to shift once his bear heals him.”
She winced as Will hobbled through the water on three legs. When he reached solid ground, he dropped down next to her, and she reached out. “You’re going to be okay.”
Lucas returned with Will’s things and placed them beside the hulking bear, but he didn’t shift.
Acacia shivered, happy that Will would survive. She just hoped their relationship would too.
Will was unable to wrap his mind around what had happened. When he’d spotted that young girl clinging for life on the rocks, he hadn’t thought twice about his safety. He’d just charged in. While he was thrilled that the mom was able to carry her back to solid ground, Will was pissed at himself for not recognizing the cracking sound as that of a falling tree.
It was unlike him to panic after the tree had fallen and pinned him, but he had feared that the child would squirm out of his arms and try to jump to safety. The more he struggled, the more his leg became lodged between two rocks. He must have blacked out or something, because the next thing he remembered was that the weight had been lifted off of his back, It was almost as if someone had elevated the tree, which of course was impossible. The cascading water must have moved it, but when he looked back at the river, it was still in the same spot.
Acacia was next to him stroking his head, helping to lessen the pain in his leg. Between his mate and his bear, he was thankfully healing.
Lucas dropped down next to him. “The little girl and her mom are on their way back so that she can be checked out. You did it, Will.”
With the family gone, he could shift. At least he didn’t have to worry about Acacia seeing him naked. She’d had her fill last night.
Will shifted and instantly shivered. “Thanks.” He donned his clothes and then tested out his leg. He smiled the best he could. “Good as new.”
There w
as some pain but not more than he could handle. Instead of heading back up to the path, he once more looked over at the downed tree that was now mostly submerged. His mind must have played a trick on him when he thought it had lifted off of him. He was just about to ask what their take was when Lucas faced Acacia.
“How did you move that huge tree?” Lucas asked.
Acacia looked away. “I used some magic.”
“Magic?” Will hadn’t meant to shout. “I’m aware of light and dark lighters who can do some really crazy stuff, but I had no idea you were one of them.”
Will didn’t know why that upset him, but possibly he expected her to have told him by now that she was one.
She looked over at Lucas. “Can you give us a moment?”
Lucas was his best friend. “I want him to stay.”
She held up her hands. “Fine, but I’m not sure he’s ready to hear this.”
Lucas took a step forward. “You’re wrong. Will and I have no secrets.”
Acacia took a large breath. “I’m not sure where to begin, but I want to be honest. I’m a goddess of Fate.”
That was so ridiculous that Will laughed. “You’re the goddess of Fate?”
“I’m a goddess of Fate. My three sisters and I are each one. You saw, or rather Lucas saw, me lift that tree with my mind. I have some powers.”
So that hadn’t been his imagination. Acacia had actually freed him. He crossed his arms over his chest. “What else can you do besides lift logs?”
She clasped her hands in front of her chest. “When I’m with my mate, I can do almost anything. And before you deny it, I can tell you feel the same incredible pull between us. You know we are mates.”
His chest squeezed tight. “I do. Or at least I thought we were, though I didn’t think Fate would give me some goddess.”
“Well, she did. I should know, given my title.”
His pulse soared. Here he was worried that she’d balk at the idea, yet Acacia seemed to have known all along. “Why didn’t you say something before about being a goddess and us being mates?”
She chuckled, but it held little joy. “I feared you’d freak when you found out, and it seems as if I was right.” Acacia’s eyebrows rose.
“I’m just surprised that’s all.” Okay, he was a bit upset, though he had no right to be. “A white lighter, a goddess, what’s the difference?” He’d met a few white lighters in his time, and all of them seemed rather normal. “It’s all the same to me.”
“There is a big difference between the two. For one, I’m immortal.”
He laughed. “You don’t need to joke.”
“I’m not.”
Lucas stepped between them. “It might be time to head on back. We can grab something to eat and relax by the fire while Acacia tells us more. What do you say?”
Good old Lucas. He was always coming to the rescue. “That works for me,” Will said. “I’m still reeling from being trapped by those rocks.”
“Sure.” Acacia smiled, but the light didn’t reach her eyes. “You two go ahead. I need a minute too.”
“I’m not leaving you here.” He hadn’t meant for his tone to be so harsh.
Acacia held up both hands. “You don’t have a choice.”
With that she disappeared.
Chapter Nine
Will froze. “What the hell just happened?” he asked Lucas. The rush of the rescue and then the save must have messed with his head. “Where did Acacia go?”
Lucas spun around, scouring the area for her. “Acacia?” he shouted. “Where are you?”
No answer. “Did she just disappear, or am I losing my mind?”
Lucas shook his head. “No, she just went poof.”
“That means she really is a goddess. Holy crap.”
Acacia had told him she was some supernatural being, but he wasn’t quite ready to believe it.
“Will, she said she was heading back to camp. We need to return. Did the log hit you on the head or something?”
“I don’t remember.”
Lucas tugged on his arm. “We can ask her more questions when we get back.”
Will was tempted to shift into his bear and race to the campsite, but not only didn’t he want to leave Lucas to hike alone, he needed time to think things through. It didn’t matter she was the sexiest woman he’d ever met.
The return trip was like walking through a dark tunnel. His mind was swimming with surprise and confusion. Normally, he would have enjoyed the birds chirping and the animals scurrying about but not today. His body had to work hard just to be able to walk.
Halfway back to their campsite, they came upon the mother and daughter sitting on a log having a snack. He and Lucas stopped, and he held out a hand. “Hey, I’m Will—or rather, I was the bear who helped saved your daughter.”
“Oh, my goodness.” The mom stood and hugged him. “I can’t thank you enough.”
“You’re more than welcome. How is she feeling?”
The mom smiled. “She’s fine. Once she started moving, she warmed up.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
Happy everyone seemed to be in good health, he and Lucas continued, and he let his mind wander. To think that being with Acacia for those couple of days had given him hope of a future filled with joy and dare he say love. She’d fueled his desire to be with someone. Now he was confused and a bit scared.
“You okay?” Lucas asked. “I’m here for you if you want to talk.”
“Thanks. I just need some time. To think a real goddess is living on Tarradon. Where have I been all this time?” He wondered if everyone but him was aware of them.
“I had no idea, if that helps.” Lucas’ face lit up like it always did when he was trying to be upbeat. “Just think of all the fun stories you can tell your grandkids about how you met a goddess.”
“Right.” At the moment though, he couldn’t even imagine what a future with Acacia would be like.
“What are you going to say to her when we get to camp? Thanks for saving my life, or I never want to see you again? You were rather distant after she told you she was a goddess.”
“I need to apologize. I’ll explain that I didn’t jump for joy when she told me, because I was too surprised to think clearly. Shit. She must think I’m a jerk.”
“She’ll understand. You’re a lucky guy. I’d love to have a goddess for a girlfriend—or in your case, a mate. She’s beautiful, immortal, and can save your sorry ass should you need her to.”
“Isn’t that the truth? Acacia seemed so normal. I never suspected she had this secret identity.”
“She is normal—for the most part.”
“I just wish she’d told me sooner though.”
Lucas huffed out a laugh. “Like you told her you were a bear shifter before you showed up naked at her tent?”
He hadn’t considered that. “I didn’t want her to be upset.”
“Maybe she had thought the same thing.”
Will had been such an idiot. “I screwed up, didn’t I?”
“Yeah, man. Big time.”
An hour later, as they reached the campsite, Will expected to experience some sexual rush from being near her, but he felt nothing. Wasn’t she close by?
Lucas abruptly stopped, causing Will to nearly bump into him. “Hey, a little warning next time,” Will demanded.
Lucas said nothing. Instead, he pointed to the campsite—make that the empty campsite—empty except for their gear.
“What the hell?” Will’s voice trailed off. They both jogged down the small decline into the camp. “I can’t believe she packed up and left.”
“Seriously? You didn’t show her much gratitude for saving your life.”
Guilt assaulted him. “I know.”
Lucas shook his head. “I bet she went back to her old campground. Why don’t you go over and talk to her?”
“Good idea.”
Will charged up the incline to the path and headed down the trail. When he came to her sit
e, it too was empty. Okay, now he was worried. If she suspected he might look for her, she could have found a place even farther down the trail. Will jogged down the path for another twenty minutes but never spotted her.
More confused than ever, he returned to Lucas.
“How did things go?” Lucas asked.
“I couldn’t find her.”
“Really? She couldn’t have vanished.” His friend stilled. “Or did she?”
“What are you thinking? That she swiped a hand over her campsite and teleported back to Edendale?”
Lucas shrugged. “We have no idea the extent of her powers.”
That was the problem.
Acacia probably shouldn’t have run away from her future mate, but his look of confusion, and dare she say disdain, was too much to bear—no pun intended. So what if she saved his butt or that when they’d made love, it had been off the charts amazing? Didn’t that count for something?
Apparently not. The last thing she wanted was to be a burden to Will. He said he needed time, and that was what she would give him. He and Lucas lived in Edendale, so it wasn’t as if she couldn’t conveniently run into him after he returned from his trip.
Too bad her plan had more holes than cheese. For one, Acacia couldn’t exactly waltz into her house. She might run into Magnolia and ruin her vacation. Not only that, having to admit her failure was too much to handle right now. And she definitely didn’t need her sister to lecture her about never revealing her goddess status, even though Will was her mate.
So here she stood on the edge of Edendale. It only took a second to get from the park in Hearndon to Avonbelle Province, but now she had to decide where to go. Asking to hide out at one of the Guardian’s houses was unacceptable. Word would get back to her sisters.
Acacia mentally snapped her fingers. Dalia Weatherspoon, a dragon shifter, was their go-to clay and glaze person. She lived alone and didn’t socialize all that much. She lived in a nice three-story loft apartment in the city that had been handed down to her. She’d have plenty of space for a guest.