Misty
Look, I love Shadowcrest. The suburbia nestled within the biggest city in my parents’ kingdom has been my saving grace, especially after having a baby. I’m close to stores, to parks, and we’ve made several friends over the past few months.
Sydney has been cool, as well, which isn’t normally a word I’d use to describe him. He’s a great Alpha, even if he’s my dumb older brother.
But Shadowcrest has nothing on Silverhide. Not by a long shot.
I breathe deeply, closing my eyes as the crisp, mountain air fills my lungs. My powers sizzle to life beneath my skin, little voices whispering in a language long lost to time in my head. Silverhide’s nestled in a valley between two massive mountains and sprawls out in a sea of stone cottages and log cabins. A few small barns and farmhouses dot the horizon, nestled in rolling fields of wheat and barley. Toward the village center, the buildings become larger–some rise two, or even three stories above the ground. New homes and shops are in the process of being built while other buildings have additions being added.
It’s beautiful. Simple, a bit rugged, but beautiful.
I glance up at my mate as he looks around, following behind Ryan and Aviva as we walk toward the village down a long, gravel road where the pastures fan out on either side. Cole’s wide-eyed as he pats Addy’s back in the carrier he’s wearing on his chest–a sharply modern contrast to the fabric sling Aviva’s carrying Lexa with. For the first time in many months, I feel a sense of hope and excitement fizzle to life in my chest, warming me to the bone.
Maybe Cole was right. Maybe I did, in fact, desperately need this “vacation.”
We begin to pass people on the road. I have to step out of the way when a cart driven by two wolves parts our group, the back laden with baskets of grain, beans, and dried vegetables. Some people are out in the fields tending to the wheat while others watch herds of sheep and cattle graze. There’s a quiet hum of energy in the air that’s unlike any place I’ve ever been before.
Ryan’s people are happy, that’s clear, especially when we reach the village square and familiar faces dart forward to greet their Alpha, Luna, and their guests.
While Ryan greets his pack members, I take a moment to scan the crowd gathering around us, counting at least ten women in varying stages of pregnancy. Silverhide was always a small pack, so seeing it like this…
I could almost cry with pride knowing my brother built this pack, but I’d never give Ryan the satisfaction.
The war didn’t change me that much.
“This isn’t what I expected,” Cole says over the ripple of chatter thrumming from the crowd. A trio of wolves part them before darting into the distance, howling, wearing halters lined with weapons.
I notice Aviva turning to the wolves and watching them disappear down the road, her happy expression cracking with jealousy. I gather those wolves are going hunting and follow their movements until they disappear completely, their bodies replaced by open road and rolling plains.
“I keep forgetting you’ve never been here before,” I tease, smiling up at him.
Cole’s pale gray eyes sparkle as he matches my smile. “I haven’t seen you smile like that in a while.”
I try to frown at him but can’t get my lips to move in the way I want, but now I’m smiling so hard my cheeks hurt. “I love it here.”
“I know,” he replies, smoothing his hand down my back at the same moment Freya, Aviva’s best-friend and the mate of Andrew, who works for Ryan, hops over to us. Her blonde hair is tightly braided away from her face as she leans down to kiss each of my cheeks, then beams at Addy, who’s fast asleep against Cole’s chest.
“Welcome! We’re so happy you’re here!”
I glance behind her to where Ryan and Aviva are moving away, swallowed by the crowd.
“Ryan wants me to show you your cabin. Come on! I figure you want some time to settle in before dinner tonight.”
I’m still watching Ryan and Aviva while Freya introduces herself to Cole, however, and barely notice him giving my hand a tug to let me know we need to start walking again.
A few minutes later, we reach a tidy, two-bedroom cabin just outside of the village, tucked in a grove of apple trees.
The air is scented with sugar here, and the apples are nearly ripe. Bees dart through the branches as Freya talks our ears off all the way into the house, which is a stark contrast to what we’re used to in Shadowcrest.
But, Cole and I have lived in… a lot of different places together.
There was his shitty quarters in that Goddess-forsaken fortress in the middle of the desert, then the fancy, gilded rooms in his father’s castle in Oasia. We spent a week in my old dorm room, sharing Georgia’s old bed because we broke mine the first night we spent together after the war.
Then, there was his apartment in Crescent Falls–our first real home together, even if we didn’t stay there for very long.
After that, we shared that old cottage in Shadowcrest where I nearly gave birth to Addy before being rescued by Sydney… and now?
I step into the cabin, but I’m momentarily greeted by the foyer in our house in Shadowcrest. Spotless wood floors. Soft white walls. The furniture I picked out using Cole’s credit card because I didn’t have access to my inheritance yet. The staircase, and the big, muted pink rug I also bought with Cole’s credit card…
“So, this is you,” Freya says as my vision fades, and the cabin hurtles into view.
My vanilla scented candles are replaced by the sharp, slightly sweet smell of wood sap and spruce. The floors are still made of wood, but so are the walls and every piece of handmade furniture. A small kitchenette greets us on the right side with a wood burning oven and hearth, and on the other side, there’s a small sitting area.
“Two bedrooms,” Freya says, sweeping her hand toward three doors along the back wall. “And a bathroom.”
“Thank you,” Cole says, glancing at me before turning his attention back to Freya. He asks about the communal dinner that takes place every night in the pack house while I step toward the doors, opening the center one.
It’s a bathroom. Simple, and clean. The main bedroom is also simple, clean, and rustic–with a hand woven blanket on the bed and goose down pillows.
I step into the second bedroom–a nursery–at the same moment I feel Cole approach me from behind.
I hear the front door snap closed, enveloping us in silence, at last.
“Do you think he’ll sleep in the crib?” Cole asks, tilting his head toward the baby bed along the wall.
“Kenna said he’d be tired today, that he might sleep a lot… because of the herbs,” I reply, shivering at the memory of the taste. Kenna had me drink an entire pot of tea before she swept us from Shadowcrest to Moonrise using her powers, then again to the outskirts of Silverhide. The herbs were strong enough to transfer to Addy through my milk and help with the mental and physical anguish of jumping through time and space, even for babies.
Addy is out cold, tucked warm and cozy in his new bed, within seconds of Cole laying him down.
We stare at our baby, shocked by how seamless the transition was, and slowly, carefully, creep out of the room and close the door.
The second Cole’s hand leaves the doorknob, he grabs me and pulls me in for a kiss.
The air leaves my lungs in a startled gasp as his lips brush over mine. He tilts his head, deepening the kiss to the point my toes curl in my sneakers.
He backs me toward the door to our room, smiling against my lips.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I ask against his mouth, giggling as his hands travel down the slope of my waist, to my hips.
I get my answer when he reaches behind me and opens the door, then picks me up, clamping a hand over my mouth to stop the squeal that will no doubt wake our baby up.
With his shifts at the hospital and Addy’s unpredictable sleep schedule, we don’t get time together like this. We find each other in stolen moments–like when we’re both getting ready for the day, and Addy’s entertained by his little bouncy chair, and Cole presses me against the kitchen counter for a heated kiss, a promise of what might happen later if the stars align.
Well, the stars are aligning now, that’s for sure.
We fall onto the bed together. He rises up over me, pulling my shirt over my head and unclasping my bra.
I sigh in relief when the cool, late summer air whispers over my bare skin. Cole pulls off his shirt and leans down, covering my body with his. He tugs down my shorts, his touch lingering on my thighs as he drags the fabric down.
His mouth is on mine again, hungry and desperate. I tangle my fingers in his air as he settles between my legs, one of his hands fumbling with his belt buckle.
“Please,” I whimper, gasping for breath. “Cole, please hurry–”
His mouth drags along my jaw, pressing kisses down my neck, sucking marks onto my skin.
The mark he left on my body just after the battle burns with satisfaction when he shoves his pants down and–
A sharp knock on the door makes us both freeze.
We wait for Addy to wake up.
‘If that’s you, Ryan,’ I say to my brother through the mind-link, not even daring to breathe, ‘Go. Away.’
Cole rises up on his elbows as heavy footsteps recede off the porch in the distance, then Ryan’s soft chuckle rings through my head.
‘Remember to get some rest,’ he teases, and I feel the blood rushing to my face.
“Asshole,” I grumble.
“Ryan, I’m guessing?”
Cole lowers his body against mine again, drawing teasing circles against my inner thigh with his fingers.
“We won’t have any privacy here,” I whisper as if the entire village can hear us, but any worry I have is quickly replaced by the insane desire beginning to course through my body at his touch.
“We don’t have any privacy anyway,” Cole counters, nipping at my neck.
Whatever I have to say in response is stolen from my lips when he slides his fingers inside of me with a groan, dipping his head. “Fuck, Misty.”
I arch my hips into his touch, silently begging for more.
Cole and I haven’t drifted apart. We’ve had months to find each other, actually, to fall in love all over again.
He has been nothing but strong for us. I often wonder if he’s holding back how he really feels. I know he has nightmares. I know he wakes to comfort me through mine.
I decided to come to Eastonia again because of him. I thought we both needed to heal old wounds preventing us from truly moving on from the war and everything we went through–everything we had to do.
I pray that this trip is enough to actually move on. We have a life to live together, after all.
Addy starts to fuss in his crib just as we’re getting down to business.
Of course.