Chapter 13 #2
I couldn’t help but smile, remembering that day so clearly.
“We all knew he just wanted to talk to a pretty girl. So, we followed him, mostly with the intent to make his mission that much harder, because that’s what brothers do with each other.
But when we saw her face… fuck. It was like a punch to the gut.
I knew right then that nothing would ever be the same again.
It was like my very being changed, my center of gravity shifted, and my world now revolved around this tiny little blonde with the most stunning eyes I’d ever seen.
“She was sarcastic and sweet, perfect down to her toes. So, I looked at my brothers, ready to shout with glee that I’d found my mate.
How lucky was I? Finding a mate is so rare nowadays.
I knew it was a massive blessing. But when I turned to them, I could see it all over their faces, that same thunderstruck expression.
Even rarer than finding your own mate, finding a gods’ honest clan mating”—I shook my head, letting out a low whistle—“that’s rarer than a diamond-studded gold nugget. ”
At Rowan’s frown, I paused. “But she was human?” she asked.
“She was. We helped her with her truck and discussed it among ourselves right then and there. Almost immediately, we knew we needed to tell her what we were. So, we decided to show her the next day. And boy did we. Just went and shifted in front of her.” I laughed.
“Oh my God. You just threw her into the deep end? How did that go?”
I rolled my lips between my teeth, pausing on the path. Unable to keep the smirk off my face, I bobbed my head, remembering exactly how well that had gone.
“She stabbed Orsen.” I let out a full belly laugh as Rowan gasped. “Orsen claims to this day it was the moment he knew he was in love, confessed while we stitched him up.”
Rowan laughed, putting her hands over her mouth as her eyes glazed over. “I stabbed him? Ha, I can so see that.”
She’d said I this time. Did that mean she was coming around? Encouraged, I kept going.
“You’ve always had that fire. I’m sure you’re stronger than the girl we once knew, but there was always a core of steel to you.
Gods, that summer was fucking magical. We spent every day swimming, nights at our cabin, mornings in bed, and we fell in love so damn fast. It was beautiful.
We called home and told the horde. Everyone was elated at the prospect of a mated group.
After the summer, you were supposed to go back to college, but you looked at local universities instead of Duke, where you were at that time.
“Duke?” Rowan asked weakly. “What area of study?”
“Elementary education. You wanted to teach, anything to do with kids, really. We were all ready to see what the future held. Then, one day, you went home to pick up some things and… didn’t come back.
We searched for days, weeks, hell, even a year later, but we still had nothing.
We looked everywhere, hoping to catch a glimpse. You were just… gone.”
Rowan quickly swiped at the tears gathering in her eyes. I wanted to soothe her, to make it better, but how could I?
“Grey…”
I closed my eyes and moaned lightly at her speaking my name. It’d been so long since I had heard that nickname uttered from her lips.
“How can you be sure I’m… her?”
Facing her, I pulled my wallet out of my pocket and rummaged through it until I found the picture I always kept in there. I passed it to her. It was a photo, the sight of which made Rowan choke on a sob.
It was her.
Younger, less scarred and bruised, but the girl in the photo was undeniably her.
She was sitting on a dock, her legs crossed, wearing a dark green bikini.
Her long blonde waves were sectioned into two French braids, and she was grinning brightly at the person behind the camera.
It was taken on one of the days we were all swimming.
I couldn’t remember who took the photo, but I never went anywhere without it; it was a lifeline that gave me hope, as painful as that could be sometimes.
“I… I don’t know who this is, but it’s not me. At least, not who I am now,” Rowan whispered, losing the battle against her tears. “Grey…”
I gently tugged her into my arms, so damn glad when she let me.
It had been so long, and the feeling of her against me stoked a flame I was sure had extinguished years ago.
It felt right, Rowan back where she should be.
And I would always be there for her if she’d let me.
I’d never let anything happen to her again.
After a few moments, she pulled back. “It’s weird, seeing myself with unmarred skin,” she admitted, looking at the photo again. Unconsciously, her hand pressed against her stomach.
“What do you mean?” I cocked my head to the side, brushing my knuckles over the back of her hand. “I mean… well, Griff mentioned scars.”
Rowan sighed, looking at the sky for a moment before standing straighter, grasping the hem of her T-shirt in her fist and pulling it up, showing her entire midsection and bra.
I ducked down, utterly thrown by the move. I struggled between looking away and the immediate desire to take her in, to finally see what I’d been dreaming about for years. But all thoughts of reuniting with her quickly fled my mind when my gaze landed on her stomach.
I stared in horror at her damaged skin. It started on her stomach, spreading up to just below her chest, where small flecks of scar tissue dotted the skin visible behind her sports bra.
There was no mistaking what those scars were.
Dragon fire.
Whoever had done that to her had intended to kill her. There was no doubt about that.
“How the fuck did you survive?” I asked in a strangled voice, reaching for the rough skin, as if I could wipe it away if only I wanted it badly enough.
She smiled softly. “Kiki. She never gave up on me, even when I gave up on myself.”
“I wish she were still alive so I could thank her.” The evidence of Rowan’s suffering was obvious. A growl rumbled low in my chest as I focused on the fact that someone had done this—had tried to kill her. “You don’t know who, do you?”
Rowan shook her head. “Total mystery.”
“I swear, Rowan, when we find out who hurt you, I’m going to tear the fucker limb from limb for so much as touching you.”
She stared up into my eyes, her lips parted as her brows remained lifted.
Silence permeated the space around us, and I inched closer, unable to stop myself.
I smoothed my fingers over the scar, and the way she let out a little gasp went straight to my head.
Fuck, it had been so long. And she was right here.
My mate was right here, in front of me, after I’d thought she was dead.
Every part of me screamed to claim her, right here and now.
“Oh.”
We both reeled back as the voice burst through the quiet, and I turned to see a wide-eyed horde member on the path, a basket in her arms. She shook her head, holding up a hand as she walked backward. “I’m so sorry. I was—”
But Rowan rushed past her back toward the house with her basket of herbs, the girl quickly turning and fleeing as well, and I was left standing there, alone in the garden.