Fearless (The Willowdale Village Collection #2)

11. Lena Graves

CHAPTER 11

LENA GRAVES

A fter being let through the wooden gate by the two guards on duty, I drove through the pine forest towards the dark wooden cabins in the distance. The main house always had its lights on, and as I approached, I felt the air stir around me. It was like my mom or dad was in the car with me and we were returning home from a day shopping in Galena. Obviously that was far from the truth, but the atmosphere carried a faint signature of their memory any time I came here.

Not only the memory of the two of them, though—also memories of Ari and even Liam.

“ A ri.” I sighed, leaning back against the tree. “I just don’t understand it. Why the police?”

Ari offered me an amused smile, stretched out on the ground with his arms behind his head. I didn’t bother stopping myself from appreciating the way his shirt rode up, highlighting his perfect abs. Damn him. “I mean, you said you like a man in uniform, didn’t you? That’s why.”

I rolled my eyes. “I was teasing Liam when I said that. You can’t possibly want to work with him every single day. Every. Single. Day.”

Ari flashed a smile. “Oh, come on, he’s not that bad.”

“He’s almost arrested us like ten times!” I nearly screeched.

“Nah, Liam wouldn’t do that.” Ari chuckled. Shaking my head, I looked toward the path when I heard footsteps crunching in the leaves and dried pine needles on the ground.

“What wouldn’t I do?” Liam asked, his badge shining in the sunlight. I frowned at him as his eyes sparked with amusement at my attitude.

“I was saying that you would arrest me,” I pointed out. “And that I couldn’t believe Ari would want to work with you every single freakin’ day.”

“I’m not too worried,” Ari mused. “Maybe I’ll get to arrest you this time, baby girl.”

“You better not.” I narrowed my eyes on him, jumping slightly as Liam appeared next to me, crouching down. He grabbed my chin, and when he spoke softly, I felt my chest squeeze.

“I’m not taking your friend, nor am I here to stop your fun, Graves. I promise.”

I think that him stealing my friend had been the thing I was most worried about. Ari had been my only friend, so for him to suddenly pick a career when I had no idea where I was taking my life…well, it had been unexpected.

Luckily, it hadn’t turned out to be too much of an issue, although partying hadn’t been an option anymore. Then again, by the end of senior year—pretty much after the first few busts from Liam—I had been mostly over it.

I still couldn’t believe I had been that into partying. On the surface, there was nothing wrong with what I’d done—enjoying life as a teenager and breaking some rules. But the thing that cast a dark shadow over it was the knowledge that I’d done it for the wrong reasons. I’d wanted to keep my mind busy, to keep my heart occupied with other things so that I wouldn’t…think. Thinking has always led me down a bad place. Slowly but surely, in the years that passed, it had become easier.

But the pain of their loss would never be fully removed. The echoes of their lives were like painted memories surrounding me, reminding me of the love I’d lost. I could only hope to fill my life with more love, enough so that when I remembered theirs I could do so with happiness.

Pulling into the hidden garage on the side of the main house, I turned off my car and slid out, grabbing the bakery boxes from the back. I walked inside and left the boxes on the kitchen counter, the glinting marble and dark wood so damn familiar, before making my way into the den.

“Captain Magnus,” I said, unsurprised to find him there.

The serious man turned and offered me a sharp nod, placing the tablet he’d been working on down on the coffee table. He was head of security for the pack, and with his background in special operations somewhere overseas, we were lucky to have him.

I had to assume security was something he enjoyed—the dude was always working, and when he wasn’t…well, he was focused on Eliza.

“Lena. You’re here for the pack dinner, I assume?”

“Yes.” I put my hands in my jacket and looked around the familiar space. “But I was about to go find Eliza, if she’s home. I need to ask her something.”

“She’s home,” he confirmed, suddenly far more interested in my plans. “I was going to check on her anyway, if you want a ride over there.”

“I would love that,” I said, thrilled to get back out of the house. I climbed in next to Magnus on an ATV-golf cart like combo that security often used to get around, and relaxed. I was simply along for the ride, knowing Magnus wouldn’t talk to me much. I didn’t take offense to it; he just tended to be a man of few words.

Instead, my focus was fully on the beautiful landscape around us as we passed forested path after forested path, all of them featuring warmly lit cabins. Children’s laughter filled the air, and shifted individuals darted past as the spring breeze moved through the lively space.

There were times when I very much missed living here, even though I knew it wasn’t the right place for me—at least not right now. I needed space to heal and a place to find my own spot in this world. My place in Willowdale Village.

As we neared the center of the pack lands, the hundreds of mountainous acres mostly uninhabited, my ears picked up on the river nearby. When we turned down a familiar path, I instantly smiled, seeing that Eliza was waiting on the porch already.

“Hey, Magnus,” I drew out, feeling suddenly a bit uncomfortable. “I need to talk to Eliza about something personal. I know you normally hang around…”

“I was planning to do a check up on the riverbank. I’ll keep my distance,” he assured me, and I offered him a thankful smile. “Besides, I’m not sure that mia magia wants to see me.”

I always forgot that Magnus called Eliza ‘my magic,’ but every time I heard it I thought it was the sweetest thing.

“I doubt that,” I said, not wanting to push. The relationship between the two of them was odd, to say the least. Magnus was nearly ten years older than Eliza’s twenty years, but they had been in each other’s lives for over two years now. When she first arrived here in the frozen tundra of January, he had found her hypothermic, nearly dead, and covered in blood by the riverbank. Running from something or someone .

I didn’t know the full story, but his protectiveness suggested that either he was in love with her or the threat was very much real—or both.

“Lena!” Eliza’s cheerful, soothing voice filled the air as I got out of the cart and met her halfway down the stairs for a hug.

“Sorry about stopping by unannounced,” I said. Her eyes ran over my face, their milky white texture taking in everything. In all technicality, Eliza couldn’t see. In the human world she would be considered blind, but those of us who knew her knew that was far from the case. Her magic was unique for so many reasons, the least of which being that she was a rare unicorn shifter.

Her ability to see into the future, especially for the sake of the pack, had become extremely valuable in making long-term decisions. And while her visions took up the majority of her mental space, Eliza could see the physical world as well, but in a different way than one would expect. The people around her, she’d explained, appeared in outlined pulsating figures the same shade as their auras. I couldn’t imagine seeing the world in that way, but I thought it was beautiful the way she described it.

Then again, literally everything was beautiful about Eliza, and I wasn’t afraid to admit that. She was built very waif-like, always wearing natural materials that made her look that much more ethereal, like a wood nymph. What stood out the most about her, though? Her rainbow colored hair. It was almost always pulled into a relaxed waterfall style, showing off a mixture of purples, greens, oranges, blues, and pinks. I honestly didn’t think anyone, even the best hair colorist in the world, could replicate it.

“Never a problem; I love having you over,” she insisted. “Let’s get inside. The weather has been absolutely awful lately.”

I personally liked it, but I had a feeling that for someone who spent as much time outside as Eliza did, it wasn’t nearly as fun.

“Thanks for the ride,” I called out to Magnus.

“No problem,” he said, his voice more gruff than before. “Eliza, I’m going to be down by the riverbank if you need me.”

Eliza looked toward him and seemed to hold his gaze for a long moment before nodding. Man, the way he said ‘if you need me.’ I couldn’t properly describe it, but I could practically feel the emotion between them. When she ushered me inside, I followed after, looking around her beautiful cabin.

The space fit her perfectly. The one bedroom cabin featured a massive apothecary where the kitchen was supposed to be and a living space filled with every blanket, pillow, and comfortable surface known to man, all around a fire. The walls and ceilings were covered in crystals and plants, the entire space smelling and feeling alive and vibrant. I had never been inside her bedroom, but I had to imagine it was much the same.

Eliza and I had grown close enough over the past couple of years that I could call her a friend, but with her there was always a distance. Like a wall separating the two of us. She was always there when I needed advice or an ear to listen, but when I tried to return the favor, she was a sealed vault. It was a boundary I respected, so I took our friendship for what it was and appreciated it, especially since she sought me out when she ‘felt’ that something was wrong.

I sat down in my usual spot, and Eliza went to make a pot of tea.

“What’s bothering you?”

“I’m in my mating heat,” I breathed out. Her brow dipped, the kettle beginning to heat on the stovetop. “It’s technically my third, but I was able to ignore the others. This year I couldn’t, and I know it's because my rabbit considers Ari, Liam, Macon, and Connery her mates.”

“Okay.” She nodded in understanding, clearly wanting me to continue.

“I’ve always been hesitant to give them a full chance…for a million reasons, but mainly because I thought that I’d have to choose.” I wasn’t telling her anything she didn’t already know—I’d probably talked to her about it more than anyone else.

“Even though they’ve never signaled that,” she pointed out.

“But it would make sense,” I murmured, having already explained my theory about half of them not having fated mates and therefore all the reason to find someone they could truly call ‘theirs.’ “Anyway, I gave them a chance, and I may or may not have slept with three of them—been marked by three of them. And the other also finished inside of me, so that sort of counts, I guess? And they knew I was in heat! So I’m confused, or maybe I’m not…” I trailed off, not quite sure how to finish that thought. All I knew was I needed some type of answer, some type of reassurance—desperately. But something held me back about asking her to do a reading about my future with the men.

“I want to know if anything is going to come from the mating heat,” I said finally, almost afraid to breathe the words out loud.

“Of course you do,” Eliza said softly, sitting down across from me and handing me a cup of tea. She motioned for my hands, and as I placed them in hers, I prepared for the sensation of her magic rolling over my skin.

“Before I do this, I want you to know one thing,” she said. “Your fate and future is one I always pay attention to, and while paths change and you always have options, your future is good, Lena. It’s always been good. You are filled with light and love, and there is no amount of darkness that can weigh that down. Everything, absolutely everything is going to work out how it's supposed to.”

My eyes welled with tears. “Thank you, Eliza. I needed that.”

“Now close your eyes.” She squeezed my hands, and as my eyes closed, her familiar magic rose up and rushed over me like a soothing breeze smelling faintly of lavender.

Describing the process of having Eliza read your future was almost impossible. Millions of images rushed past, noises and songs I didn’t recognize rang in my ears, and thousands of emotions ran through me. None of it clear and none of it understandable, except to one person—Eliza.

Instead of trying to figure it out, I just let myself enjoy the process, and when she squeezed my hands a second time, I opened my eyes.

Eliza’s smile gave me hope. She spoke in a near whisper, as if keeping the moment a secret between us. “As you know, being in heat increases the chances of conceiving more than tenfold for rabbit shifters. You should prepare for that possibility. I see thousands of paths ahead of you, Lena, and the majority of them have children.”

A smile broke onto my face. There were a million other emotions as well—concern, worry, anxiety, excitement, happiness, nervousness—the list was filled with both good and bad. But more than anything, there was a kernel of hope that things in my life were about to come together. I just had to be strong enough to take the future that I wanted—the future that could bring me true happiness.