บท 18: Chapter 18
-Middle of April-
‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ K ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙
I glanced at the clock beside the bed and sighed. It was three in the morning. Baby Emma was screeching up a storm so loud that it woke up Amara, which woke me up in turn. Amara had practically bolted out of the room with those maternal instincts she refused to accept she had. I had no doubt that Connor and Mary could handle their own child, but Mara seemed to have a way with children. All the pups loved her, Emma included.
It wasn't long before the wails came to a stop, and I heard Amara's soft footsteps coming back up the stairs. She opened the door to the room and walked in and frowned at me.
"I'm sorry if I woke you." She said
"Don't worry about it I'm sure if you hadn't, screechy the demon child would have in due time." I smirked. Amara put her hands on her hips and glared at me.
"Kieran Quinn! That baby is not a demon. A fusspot yes but not a demon. She's only a baby. Be nice!" She said in a scolding tone that made me chuckle.
"I was only kidding my love." I yawned and patted the bed beside me. "Come lay back down." Amara walked back over to her side of the bed and climbed into the bed next to me. She rarely slept in the makeshift bed I had made for her when I first brought her here. When she did, it didn't last long, by the end of the night she was curling up into my side. Always.
"Goodnight love." I said and leaned over and kissed her cheek.
"Night" She smiled. I rolled over to get comfortable and closed my eyes hoping to go back to sleep. Amara drummed her fingers on her stomach and shifted her feet under the blankets, kicking me a few times. I sighed. Now that she was awake it was going to take an offer to the Gods to get her back to sleep.
"Kieran?" She asked.
"Yes love?" I mumbled.
"Are you still awake?"
"No, I've just gotten so used to you being awake all the bloody time that I am able to talk to you while sleeping." I said sarcastically.
"Oh..." She said with adorable disappointment in her tone. Sometimes she was brilliant, and then there were times she was so dense it killed me. I rolled back over to her.
"I was kidding Mar, I'm awake. I'd like to be asleep, but I am awake."
"Oh! Good!" She beamed and sat up and turned to face me.
I propped myself up on my elbow waiting for what she had to say but she just stared at me.
"Mar what are we doing?" I asked.
"I don't know, you're awake, I'm awake. Let's think of something." She shrugged. I blinked a couple of times before I shook my head.
"Go to sleep." I said and sank back down into the bed rolling back over and shutting out the light on the nightstand. Amara sighed and flopped backwards dramatically.
I had just fallen asleep when I felt Amara laying over my side.
"Kieran!" She all but yelled.
I opened my eyes and rolled onto my back, and she sat right on top of me with her phone right in my face. I squinted at the bright light.
"What is it Amara??" I asked.
"My profile says there are hot singles near me. How do I tell them to go away?"
I stared at her, deadpan.
"I'm about to tell them to come take you away. It's 4 in the morning Amara, Go to bed."
She frowned at me and rolled off of me and snuggled into my side with her head on my chest.
I had a few more minutes of silence before she gasped. I tried to ignore it.
"Kieran." She whispered.
"What?" I mumbled.
"The weather is supposed to be really nice today. We should run."
"The weatherman on the news said it was going to be rainy Mar."
"But the weather on my phone has a little sun with sunglasses and says 70 degrees." She argued.
"Fine. Sure, whatever you say." I sighed. "Just let me sleep."
"Okay." She said and snuggled back into my chest, raising her head after a couple minutes.
"Hey Kieran?" She asked.
Judas Priest just let me sleep she-wolf!
"What is it now?" I asked.
"Why does the sun have sunglasses?"
And there it was, my breaking point. I sat up and took the phone from her hands and opened the drawer on my nightstand, tossing it in before shutting the drawer and turning back to her.
"I love you, Amara with all that I am, I love you."
"I love you too Kieran." She smiled at me.
"I am tired. I need to sleep, or I am going to be a miserable bastard today. That baby has woken us up every night this week sometimes twice a night and I am going looney. So please, if you must stay awake, do so quietly." I sighed.
"Sure." She nodded and smiled at me.
"Do you need anything else from me before I try to sleep?" I asked.
"You never answered my question. Why does the little sun on the weather thingy have sunglasses? It's the sun, if it had eyes what would it be protecting them from? Itself?"
I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose.
"It's just supposed to be cute Amara. Can I go to bed now?"
Amara looked to be thinking if she was satisfied with that answer and nodded.
"Alright." She shrugged and laid back down. I laid back down next to her and she resumed her normal spot curled into my back. I sighed contentedly and closed my eyes.
After trying to sleep for about .8 seconds Amara rolled over and groaned.
"I can't sleep and I'm BORED."
Ignore her Kieran or you'll never sleep again.
Thunder rumbled, and lightning flashed illuminating the room, I peeked up just enough to see Amara sitting up and looking at the window with a look of betrayal.
"The sun with sunglasses lied to me."
I tried my best not to laugh, even though I wanted to. She flopped backwards again.
"Kieran, do you want to do the thing?" She asked.
"You'll have to be more specific, love. What thing?"
"You know... The sex thing." She said in a whisper as if she was afraid someone would hear her. I opened my eyes and propped myself up on my elbows.
"Where on earth did that come from?" I asked.
Amara sighed and sat up and scooted over to me.
"I'm awake, you're awake. What else are we going to do?" She asked.
"Well... sleep would be an option if you'd just close your eyes. You're worse than the pups on Christmas I swear. Honestly Mara, what's keeping you awake?"
Amara nodded. "I can't stop thinking about it!" She groaned and threw her hands over her face. "I've been trying to find a way to casually bring it up and I couldn't seem to do it" she pulled her hands away from her face and climbed on top of me cupping my face in her hands. I reached over and turned on the light so I could get a better look at her.
"What are we waiting for?" She asked. "I want you; I want this, and Roxy said I needed to make my intentions clear and take what I want." She said and leaned in and kissed me. I put my hands on her shoulders and moved her away.
"Backup. Roxy told you? You talked to Roxy about this? When?"
"A month ago." Amara said. "And this morning. Do you not want to? Roxy said men always wanted to." She shrugged.
"Word of advice, love. Stop listening to Roxy. I'd prefer it if you'd just come to me with your concerns, especially considering they include both of us."
Amara frowned.
"I'm sorry. Are you mad?" She asked.
"No." I shook my head and smiled at her and pushed a curl out of her eyes. "Believe me Love, every hour of every day I want you, I have for a while, and I'm glad that you want me too, but I want this to be special, I want it to be more meaningful than a spur of the moment thing because you are bored."
"I love you Kieran, anytime, anyplace would be special to me." She said.
"I'm glad to hear that. Just put a little trust in me darling. I know you are used to taking control of everything in your life but just hand over the reins and trust me."
She nodded.
"Okay." She agreed.
"Now, that is off your mind, and your chest can we go to sleep?" I asked with a chuckle.
She smiled and laid back down and as soon as I laid down, she curled into me and closed her eyes. I kept my eyes open, and on her, watching her just in case she had to ask why the sky was blue or something of that nature and then before too much longer she was snoring lightly. I sighed in relief and closed my eyes finally ready to sleep and then all of a sudden, baby Emma started crying all over again. Amara opened her eyes and raised her head.
"Don't. You. Dare." I said and watched as she slowly put her head back down on the pillow where it stayed for the rest of the night.
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Later that afternoon, as Amara's weather app had advised, it actually was sunny and nice outside, however Amara was still sleeping. Of course, she was up all night, and even though I hadn't gone to bed until almost five in the morning my eternal clock never let me sleep past 8. I walked up the stairs and down the hall to the bedroom and opened the door and smiled at Amara who had completely taken over the bed in my absence like she owned it. I walked over to the bed and sat on the side of it running my hand over her back.
"Mara, wake up love." I said gently. She whined and pushed my hand away.
"Come on Mar it's the middle of the afternoon. If you sleep any longer, you'll be up all night again." I sighed.
I knew she could hear me, but she rolled over like she didn't.
"Alright, well, the rain didn't last so we are going to go run, and I will see you when we get back." I said and stood up and walked out of the room. I waited by the door and heard a soft thud, and a shuffling sound and then a crash. I raised an eyebrow and opened the door again and laughed at Amara who was on the floor having apparently tripped herself trying to get her pants on in a hurry.
"You realize I would have never left this house without you right?" I asked.
"It hadn't occurred to me." She mumbled "That was mean! You know I've been waiting for my first run with the pack!"
I chuckled as I helped her off of the floor.
"Well, it worked, you're up." I said. She mumbled under her breath mocking me as she finished dressing herself.
"Are we really running today or was it just a cruel joke?" She asked and pouted at me.
"Darling, you are so dramatic sometimes." I chuckled and shook my head. "We are going to run but I wasn't going to leave without you I promise." I smiled and swept her wild hair out of her face with my hand.
"Good." She smiled and leaned in to kiss me but instead poked my nose and made a boop sound before sauntering away from me.
Once outside, half of the pack had already shifted, and the pups were running around chasing each other excited for a run. I whistled and everyone came to a stand still waiting for me to speak.
"As always, everyone needs to make sure to stick together. Hunters are growing in numbers by the day, and they are getting bolder, So absolutely no wandering away from the rest of the pack." I said and my eyes turned to Amara, I knew she liked to wander. "We have all three pups with us, and they are still learning how to keep up so be mindful of them and do not let them fall behind. Should we encounter a hunter, I will handle it." I said and looked around at everyone making sure they all understood, they gave me a nod and we were off.
‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ A ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙
For the most part, during the run I stayed at Kieran's side, it felt powerful to run with him at his side at the head of the pack. It's not at all where I thought I'd end up and it still surprised me that I was his and he was mine.
I looked back, noticing that one of the pups, Josephine, was falling behind. I nudged Kieran to let him know I was going back for her and turned around and ran to the back of the pack and then I noticed why Josephine was falling behind. She was limping. I came to a stop and howled for Kieran. Josephine tried to step and cried out in pain, her back left paw was twisted oddly, she must have stumbled and landed on her paw wrong, but she was so far behind that we couldn't hear her crying.
The rest of the pack stopped, and Kieran ran over to us. He nudged Josephine's foot gently with his nose and she howled in agony. Michael, Josephine's father hurried over and lifted her by the scruff of her neck. Kieran nodded for him to return home, and Jake followed behind. I wanted to go to make sure the little pup was okay, but Kieran nodded for me to come with him.
I whined and looked in Josephine's direction. He looked to the other two pups, Nicolas and Riley who were running off track into the woods chasing each other around. He looked back to me and nodded in their direction for me to go get them, and it was honestly better me than him. The pups were already intimidated by him, they'd be terrified if he was the one going after them.
I hurried off in the direction of the pups and found them splashing around in the river. I sat down, watching them play for a bit, they were only children and there was no sense in stopping their fun and if Kieran had anything to say I'd take the blame. I took note of our surroundings, smelling the air, nothing seemed off so far.
My eyes scanned the perimeter and across the river, into my father's territory I saw somebody. Or rather something peeking out at me from one of the trees. The figure had what could only be described as a sparkling green aura around it and I saw a flash of blonde curly hair before it ducked back behind the tree.
I barked for the pups to come to me, they looked up and hurried over to me. I nudged Riley, and nodded towards where the rest of the pack was, instructing him to take Nicolas and himself back. Riley whimpered at me, wanting to stay and play, I nudged him again a little harder and gave him a low growl, I didn't want to be mean, but I wasn't sure exactly what was out here with us. Riley whined and bowed his head and started making his way back to the pack with Nicolas following in suit.
I watched them making sure they were back on the path before I turned my attention back to the other side of the river where the figure was back peeking out from behind a different tree. I could see, vivid green eyes, and blonde curls and I knew I had seen this person or whatever she was before, but I couldn't place it. She gave me a mischievous smile and wiggled her fingers at me. I stepped into the river and cautiously over to the other side. I hadn't been on this side in a long while and I knew it wasn't exactly safe here and Kieran would have an absolute fit knowing I even put a paw over the line, but I had to know what she was, who she was.
I approached slowly, but the second I got close enough to get a somewhat good look of her, she began sprinting away. I bolted after her trying to catch up, but she was fast and the trail of green dust? Glitter? Whatever it was she was leaving behind her, as she ran it was making it increasingly hard to see, but I knew exactly where she was leading me to. She was leading me to the spot where my mother was buried. But why? I hadn't been here since I was 13 and my father told me it was time I let go of the past and he forbid me from coming out here, so I had mixed feelings about seeing it again but before I got any further a mass of black fur stopped directly in front of me, and I slammed into it and it was like running into a wall. I snorted and shook my head looking up at Kieran.
Not now! I'm busy!
I looked past him trying to get a glimpse of the figure I'd been following and tried to run around him, but he jumped in front of me. No matter which way I tried to go he blocked me. I whined at him, but he returned my whine with a snarl, and I knew he wasn't playing around but I still needed to know who that was! He nudged my shoulder with his nose trying to turn me around to head back, but I pushed him away.
He growled at me now, his blue eyes flashed silver and I was torn. He wasn't just my mate. He was my Alpha now and to defy him like this wouldn't be right, but I had to know why that figure was leading me here.
I took a risk and again tried to run around him. He blocked my path again and growled and leaned in, snapping his teeth on my ear like I was a disobedient pup, I yelped and sank down low, in defeat letting him know I wasn't going to challenge him any further. I was pissed as hell, but I knew better than to try anything else. He barked at me. A commanding bark telling me to head back to the pack. I bowed my head and slinked back across the river towards the rest of the back with him following me behind me. I kept looking over my shoulder trying to get a glimpse of what I saw before but there was no trace of her.
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Once we were home, I went up to the room and shifted back and wrapped myself in my bathrobe and tied it tight. I walked over to the vanity in the room and pulled my hair back to look at the little nick on my ear and scoffed. Maybe I deserved it, but if I could have just told him what I was doing he might not have been the way he was. He would have understood, maybe. If he even believed me, I wasn't even sure I believed myself, I had no idea what I saw in the woods and I still blindly followed it.
I felt Kieran come up behind me and I tensed. I figured he was going to be angry and start yelling, but he gently moved my hair away from my ear and frowned at the little nick in my ear.
"I'm sorry." He said softly. I turned around and looked at him, raising my eyebrow.
"My wolf side gets a little carried away and when I saw you in Alexander's territory, I was angry, and then when you defied me, I just lost it and now I've hurt you." He said apologetically.
"It's really just a scratch Kieran." I shrugged. Still confused, I fully expected a huge fight out of this. "It was my fault I should have stopped."
"Don't blame yourself. I could see that you were torn. It takes a lot for a wolf to defy their Alpha like that so I knew whatever it was must have been important but sometimes the wolf takes over. I was worried about you, when the pups came back by themselves. I was especially worried when I saw you across the river. After everything, I have no doubt that Alexander would kill you if he ever got the chance and I panicked. If you haven't noticed, I tend to do that a lot." He sighed and scratched behind his ear, a gesture that I had come to recognize as an anxious tick. I reached out and held his hand.
"Kieran, really it's okay. I was a little angry at first, but I can see you are really upset over this, I'm sorry to have worried you but it's just..." I stopped myself and bit my lip trying to think of how to tell him what I saw in the woods without sounding crazy.
"What is it?" Kieran asked.
"Honestly…I don't know." I said and hoisted myself up onto the dresser to sit on top of it. "I was watching the pups play in the water for a bit, and I noticed something watching us."
"Something?" Kieran questioned.
"Well, it looked like a person...but shiny." I explained.
"Shiny?" Kieran raised his eyebrow.
"Maybe sparkly would be a better word." I replied. "She was sparkly."
"So, it was a woman?" Kieran asked.
"Yes." I nodded. "I don't think she meant any harm; she was leading me somewhere and I know where, but I just don't know why, but I knew I had to find out which is why I tried to get around you." I frowned.
"Where was this sparkly woman leading you?" Kieran asked.
"To where my mum is buried." I said quietly and looked down. "I know it sounds crazy, but I swear that's what I saw, Kieran."
"Hey... if you say that's what you saw then who am I to tell you, you didn't. There are all sorts of things in these woods. Oliver, my brother, swore he once saw a mermaid when we were boys."
"A mermaid? In the river?" I asked, figuring that would be an awfully difficult place for a mermaid to be. The water wasn't very deep.
Kieran laughed. "No, I come from a pack that resided on the other side of the city in the wooded area near the ocean. Oliver and I went to the beach all the time to collect seashells. He described her in such detail I couldn't help but believe him myself and I didn't even see her, so If you say you saw some sparkly woman in the woods then I believe you." Kieran smiled and rested his hands on my hips.
"I'm sorry for stopping you." He frowned. I shook my head.
"It's…okay I honestly don't know if I was ready to see why she was leading me there. I haven't been to see mum in ages."
"Why not?" Kieran asked.
"I used to go as often as I could, but after a while my father told me it was time to move on and told me I wasn't allowed to visit her anymore. I tried to sneak off to do it, but someone always caught me so...I just stopped." I shrugged.
"Just when I thought that man couldn't get any more awful." Kieran grumbled.
"What did the mermaid look like?" I asked, trying to change the painful subject.
"According to Oliver, she looked about his age. He was 15, She had eyes the color of the chocolate buttons and her hair was brown and it was so long, when she jumped out of the water it was almost down to the tip of her tail, and she smiled at him before she dove back into the ocean, and he never saw her again." Kieran shrugged. "We went to the beach every day for months trying to find her after that but no luck."
"How is the ocean?" I asked.
"You've never seen it?" Kieran asked.
"Only in pictures."
"It's beautiful." Kieran smiled.
"Will you take me to see it sometime?" I asked and put my arms around his shoulders pulling him closer to me. I bat my eyelashes at him for an added effect.
"Well how can one say no to that?" Kieran chuckled.
"That's the point. You can't." I grinned.
"You don't play fair." Kieran said lowly in my ear, making me shiver.
Neither do you Quinn.
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‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ K ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙
A couple of days later, I found myself searching the house for Amara. I'd looked in her usual spots, she wasn't in the library, she wasn't in the kitchen where I often found her either making some sort of herbal something or another or sneaking around looking for a snack. So, my next thought was maybe the game room, Since Roxy had introduced her to streaming services, I usually found the two of them glued to the tv binge watching but upon further inspection she wasn't in there either. I walked back up to the main part of the house and into the den where Michael and Marcus were chatting.
"Have either of you seen Amara?" I asked and looked around, since Josephine had broken her foot, she was supposed to be inside. "Where is Josephine?"
"Josephine was upset that she couldn't go out and play with the boys, so Mara came up with a solution." Michael smiled.
Outside of course she was outside, Kieran you idiot.
"Thank you." I smiled and walked outside onto the front porch, the boys were play-fighting in the yard while Rob supervised and Amara was over by the pond, pulling Josephine around in a little red wagon. Amara was wearing one of the new spring outfits she had picked when shopping with Roxy. It was a beautiful, brown and turquoise tie dye blouse and a flowing turquoise skirt. Both of them were wearing crowns made of the flowers and weeds that grew around the yard. I grinned and stepped off the porch making my way over to the pond. Amara turned around and smiled at me.
"Just in time, Josephine and I just finished yours." She said.
"My what?" I asked. Josephine smiled ear to ear and held out a flower crown.
"Oh... No." I said and shook my head.
"You don't like it?" Josephine frowned.
"It's quite lovely but you know I don't think It will go with what I am wearing." I said as nicely as I could.
"You could use a little color." Amara grinned.
I narrowed my eyes at Amara. She was not helping my case at all. I looked down at Josephine who sat in the wagon with the most pitiful pout on her face.
"Oh, Alright." I sighed. Both Josephine and Amara squealed as I took the crown from Josephine.
"Here let me help." Amara said and helped set the crown on my head.
"I love it!" She beamed.
Rob approached us chuckling and went to speak but I stopped him.
"Speak at your own peril." I grumbled.
"What does Peril mean, Miss Amara?" Josephine asked.
"It means Rob isn't going to get any cookies after dinner tonight." Amara smiled at her and shot me a little glare. I looked down at Josephine.
"Is it okay if I steal Amara for a little bit?" I asked. Josephine sighed.
"Well, I guess so." She said. "But only because papa says it's impolite to not listen to you."
"You hear that Mar, it's impolite to not listen to me." I smiled at Amara who casually scratched the bridge of her nose with her middle finger.
"Come on Josephine, let's go keep the boys out of trouble yeah?" Rob said and pulled Josephine away in the Wagon and I made sure to take the flower crown off when Josephine was not looking.
"I think your sass is rubbing off on that one." I smirked.
"That's not a bad thing." She smiled. "So, you're stealing me then?" She asked.
"Aye." I said and offered her my arm. She linked her arm with mine.
"Where too?" She asked.
"Wherever the wind takes us."
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Amara jumped from rock to rock, along the side of the river with a huge smile on her face. I couldn't believe that anyone would ever want to keep her from smiling. She didn't just smile with her lips, she smiled with her whole being and it was contagious. I just loved my little wildflower.
I walked out into the river and held out my hand. She looked at me, clearly confused.
"I think it's time you visit your mum."
"But we'd have to cross the territory lines." Amara said. "If my father finds out-"
"If he finds out, I will deal with him. I won't allow him to keep you from visiting your mother anymore.
She hesitated for just a moment but took my hand.
"Lead the way."
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We came to a small clearing in Alexander's territory, it was actually almost out of Alexander's territory. There were patches of wildflowers surrounding a large stone in the ground, there was a feeling of peace here.
"This is it." Amara said quietly her hand squeezed mine tightly.
"Why don't you go sit with her?" I asked.
"It's been so long. What if she's mad at me?" She asked.
"It wasn't your fault, I'm sure she knows that." I said. "I'll give you some time alone with her, but I'll be right here if you need me. Go on." I smiled.
Amara slowly approached the stone in the ground and reached out and touched it.
"Hi mum." She said with a sadness in her tone that was absolutely heart wrenching. "I'm sorry it's been so long. But you know how papa could get." She sighed and sat quietly for a few minutes before speaking again.
"I don't live over here anymore. I'm sure you know that somehow Papa was trying to force me to mate with Colt. Can you believe it? Colt!" She let out an exasperated sigh and leaned against the stone.
"So, I ran away, and it's a long, interesting tale but I ended up finding a mate anyways. Papa hates him." She giggled. "But you... You'd love him. I just know you would. His name is Kieran and he's the Alpha from the pack across the river." She said and then frowned.
"When you passed, I thought I'd never truly be happy again but...Kieran makes me happy in ways I never thought possible for me." She beamed.
I felt my heart swell at her words, and she looked at me and waved for me to come over. I shook my head.
"This is your time with your mother." I said.
"But I want you to meet her. Please." Amara smiled. I approached the stone and sat down.
"What do I say?" I asked.
"Just say Hi silly." Amara giggled.
"Erm... Hi..." I said and searched the stone for a name but there was no name. I looked to Amara for help.
"Her name is Lillian, but she prefers to be called Lily." Amara smiled. It was a beautiful name.
"Hello Lily." I said and held Amara's hand. "I know that you don't know me and you've probably heard all sorts of things about me that aren't true. But I promise you that I will never stop finding ways to make Amara happy and that as long as I breathe, no one will ever harm her. I love her with everything that I have."
There was a small breeze that came in the area and there was a warmth that cloaked us and a sweet floral scent in the air. Amara's eyes welled, but she smiled.
"She says she knows." She said.
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We stayed out there for as long as Amara needed to, and as we were continuing our walk, the sun was beginning to go down.
"I have something for you, and I wanted to wait until your birthday to give it to you, but I realized I didn't know when that is exactly." I chuckled.
"My birthday is the 16th of October." She smiled.
"Oh. well then I suppose I could wait." I smirked.
"But... now I want to know." She pouted at me. I chuckled and fished in my pocket and retrieved a small black box with a blue ribbon and handed it to her.
"You didn't have to get me anything Kieran." She smiled, but curiosity got the best of her, and she untied the Ribbon and opened the box she gasped.
"Oh... Kieran, it's lovely." She smiled and pulled out a bracelet made out of turquoise beads with a little silver "K" charm attached to it. "I love it!" She beamed and held out her wrist.
"Help me put it on?" She asked. I smiled and took the bracelet from her other hand and put it around her wrist and closed the clasp. She held it up and wiggled the little charm back and forth on it.
"I never saw you leave the house; how did you get this?" She asked.
"Ah. Online shopping my love. I'm surprised Roxy hasn't shown you that yet."
"Well, I love it. Thank you." She smiled and stood up on her toes and pecked me on the lips.
"Now you need one with an A." She smirked.
I un-tucked my necklace from my shirt where I had already added a silver A pendant along with a flower. Amara observed the additions to my necklace and smiled.
"I like the flower."
"I knew you would." I grinned.
"This has been a really nice day Kieran. Thank you." Amara said and leaned in, putting her head on my chest.
"It's not over yet darling." I whispered. "Come with me."
I led Amara to a quiet spot not too far away from the house, but far enough to where we wouldn't be disturbed. There was a blanket laid out on the grass and a picnic basket in the middle of the blanket. Her eyes widened as did her smile.
"I may have enlisted Sable's help in setting this up. There's supposed to be a partial lunar eclipse tonight and I wanted to watch it with you and only you."
"This is perfect!" She said and spun in a circle squealing.
"It gets better. Open the basket." I chuckled. Amara skipped over to the blanket and plopped down before opening the basket and giggled.
"Now how did you manage this?" She asked pulling out a large pretzel from the kiosk at the mall.
"I sent Roxy on a little adventure today."
"You've just been full of surprises today." Amara grinned. "Oh! Look, Sable made Beignets!"
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Amara watched the sky, while happily munching on her pretzel, and as interested as I was in watching this eclipse, I couldn't keep my eyes off of her. She watched the sky with such wonder in her eyes. She turned to look at me and smiled.
"You're missing the eclipse silly." She said sweetly.
"But if I looked at the eclipse, I'd be missing you." I said softly. Her cheeks turned a light pink color, and she completely missed her mouth with the pretzel smearing cheese on her cheek. I chuckled and wiped the cheese away with a napkin.
"I'm sure the eclipse is much less of a mess to look at." She offered.
"You're the most beautiful mess I've ever seen, Mara."
Amara put the little bit of her pretzel back in the bag and tucked it into the basket. She crawled across the blanket towards me and sat in front of me.
"I love you." She said softly and leaned in, capturing my lips with hers. I pulled back for just a moment, to look at her, searching her eyes for any signs that this wasn't right, but I was met with nothing, but certainty and she must have felt it too. She reached down and pulled her shirt over her head tossing it aside and then she went for mine. I chuckled and leaned in and kissed her.
"Slow down love."
"No." She said and bit her lip and that settled it. The time to slow down was behind us.
"Have I ever told you how much I adore that rebellious streak of yours?" I breathed and tugged my shirt off and gently laid her back on the blanket.
"No. You haven't." She giggled.
"Well, I'm telling you now, I bloody love it." I said and crashed my lips into hers.
---------------------------------------------------
We had somehow rolled off the blanket and into the grass, our limbs completely tangled together as we moved in perfect rhythm with one another. Her fingernails marked my shoulders with crescent indents as she elicited the sweetest sighs. I ran my lips over her collar bone, making a trail of soft kisses as I reached the spot between her neck and shoulder.
My lips hovered over that spot, and I wanted to sink my teeth in and mark her for everyone to know that she was mine and only mine, but something in the back of my mind made me hesitate at the last moment. Amara let out a high-pitched gasp and buried her face in my neck as her body quaked bellow mine and it wasn't long after that, that I began to feel a similar sensation going up my spine and I collapsed on her, and we both lay in a tangled panting heap in the grass.
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We laid there in our bliss silently for a while before I felt her fingers trailing over my mark lightly.
"Why didn't you mark me?" She asked.
"Because I told you that I would never put you in chains and that includes chaining you to me."
"But we're mates...aren't we?" She asked.
"Aye. we are." I nodded and kissed her temple. "It's complicated Mara, I assure you it is not a bad thing darling, It doesn't mean I love you any less."
It meant I loved her more than life and that she wasn't just something for me to claim. My wildflower wouldn't be tamed. I could tell that she wanted me to, and she was confused that I didn't but I felt something in the pit of my chest and a voice in the back of my mind telling me that loving her meant loving her enough to let her go and I couldn't do that if she was marked and It wasn't that I wanted to let her go..ever but the voice continued to nag at me and I couldn't shake the feeling that in the days to come I was going to have to make a choice I didn't want to make.
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