Chapter 20 - Willow
When Thane hinted at another surprise, I had a brief flashback of what happened last night, but the warmth of his protective hand gave me the courage to sneak off from training because I knew there was nothing we couldn't face.
Together.
Somehow, that single word fills my heart, having become an anchor for everything I've been doing with my witch powers. Once resistant, I feel myself becoming stronger, and last night was proof of that.
When Thane pulls me toward his grandfather's house, my brows knit with a light, confused frown, but I don't ask what the surprise is, because I trust him.
I trust Thane.
After nearly losing him last night, like I often foresaw in those nightmares, I realized how much I'd been denying.
Like my feelings for him.
Those feelings were inevitable because he's my fated mate, but I've also learned to trust him because he's earned it.
I'm just a little surprised when, instead of heading inside, Thane pulls me toward the back, and my heart flutters with gentle suspicion. I know what lies at the back of his grandfather's house, and this feels like another walk down memory lane when the glass-encased greenhouse comes into view.
“I know you haven't had much time to come out here and explore,” Thane begins, glancing at me with a knowing smirk. “So I took the time to reorganize the greenhouse, get some fresh buds, and reawaken something you loved so much.”
“Thane…” I whisper, my throat tightening.
Thane proceeds to push the door open, stepping inside and pulling me with him. I'm hit with the scent of earthiness, my airways filling with a range of notes, from the sweetness of flowers to the spicy traces of herbs, coupled with the smell of the past that I'd been yearning for.
My hand slips from his as I wander down the aisle, my eyes filling with tears at the reminder that before Blood Claw, before his rejection, before any of the witch and demon stuff that's been going on, I once had a passion for this place.
A place that felt like home, and the only place where I felt like I belonged.
My lips curl into a wistful smile as I stop by the pot of yarrow. “I always wondered why you let me have this place back in the day.”
Thane clears his throat nervously behind me. “It was my mother's, before she died,” he admits softly. “You're the only one who seemed to care enough for this place, anyway. It was rare to see anyone trying to plant stuff in their gardens, especially with all the snow we get.”
“I missed this place….”
“I'm sorry I drove you out of Girdwood when I—” Thane's hesitation prompts me to turn to him, finding him rubbing the back of his neck nervously.
“You've already apologized for that,” I remind him as I move toward him. “There's no need to bring up the past, Thane.”
Thane reaches for my hand, smoothing his thumb over my knuckles. “You're right, but I still feel guilty.”
I shake my head slowly, meeting his warm, forest-green eyes.
“You don't have to feel guilty anymore,” I whisper.
“This makes up for it. Everything you've done since you brought me back has made up for it. And last night, when I almost lost you—” my voice breaks off, and I tear my eyes away, but Thane hooks a finger beneath my chin, compelling me to look up and meet his eyes.
“But you didn't lose me, Willow. You never will,” he promises. “Everything you've been afraid of, we've handled it. Together.”
That one word has my heart skipping a beat.
“I was afraid that my nightmare would come true. It almost did.”
“But you saved me.”
I shake my head slowly. “Rissa saved you,” I protest, but Thane leans in, staring deeply into my eyes.
“No, Willow. You saved me. You see? You never had anything to fear. You're stronger than you realize.”
Whatever was left of my fear disappears like a breath in cold air while the sun is out, misting and dissipating from faint warmth. Staring into Thane's eyes, I can see how ridiculous it was for me to be clinging to those nightmares as if they were some kind of prophecy.
It's like the others advised me—the outcome of a vision can be changed in reality depending on how one acts, and what one chooses.
I acted last night when I carried Thane with my gifts back to the village to get him the help he needed.
And I choose…him.
“You're right,” I concede with a gentle nod, nuzzling into his touch and smiling at the way my heart flutters from his warmth. “I am stronger. But it was only possible because you've been supportive of me.”
“No, Willow,” he whispers. “It was all you. Don't you see how amazing you are?”
“I think I'm starting to see that,” I say as I gaze deeply into his eyes, finding my reflection in the soft glow of forest green, as if I'm seeing myself through his eyes.
Perhaps I've been underestimating myself all this time, but Thane has been seeing me for who I am since the beginning.
Even in the past, he was the only one who made me feel seen.
Reaching up on my tiptoes, I press a kiss to his lips—a chaste, reverent kiss that silently thanks him for having faith in me when I didn't believe in myself. It's what saved him last night, and it's what pushes me through every ounce of training, my powers to help this pack and defeat the demons.
Deep down, I want to protect the Snehvolk pack even if I never felt like I belonged, because deep down, buried in my subconscious mind and in my heart, is the mere fact that I am the sub-alpha's fated mate.
An etheric cord binds our souls, and it's only been my insecurities keeping me from accepting this one thing, just like I'd been refusing to accept my powers until they came out forcefully.
Perhaps it's that force that drives me to deepen the kiss, pushing my tongue through his plump lips to explore the warm, minty cavity of his mouth. I pull back only because I sense his hesitation, a frown furrowing my brows as I stare into his eyes.
“Is something wrong?”
“No,” he shakes his head slowly with a short sigh. “I don't want you doing anything you'll regret later.”
“I won't regret this,” I assure him, but he steps back, turning and running a hand through his hair.
“I brought you here because I do have an ulterior motive, Willow. I thought that maybe if I brought you to someplace you loved, it'd help you tap into the full extent of your powers.”
“You believe there's more?” I ask with a frown as I stare at the back of his head.
Thane nods. “I do. We all do.” He turns back to face me. “I think you know it, too.”
I take a step closer and lift my hand to cradle his cheek. “Then you missed something. I do need to tap into my powers fully.”
Thane frowns. “What did I miss?”
“You,” I breathe, and a feral sound escapes Thane's lips.
He shakes his head slowly. “If I start, I won't be able to stop,” he rasps, and my heart skips a beat.
“Then don't stop,” I whisper, and that's all it takes for him to crush his lips to mine, the kiss feverish now, full of pent-up passion that we've both been neglecting for too long.
The air around us is charged with desire as Thane becomes a ravenous beast and growls into my mouth, his strong hands sliding down my sides and stopping on my hips. He lifts me like a feather, spinning us over and finding an empty spot on the metal table to prop me on.
My hands fist in his hair, desperate and hungry for him as I moan into the kiss when I feel the rigid heaviness of his manhood between my thighs. My body ignites with a fire that's been begging to burn, yearning for this moment when nothing stands in our way any longer.
Thane breaks the kiss, and I mewl my protest at the loss of his lips, pouting with a frown. But he doesn't pull back, he plants his forehead against mine, his thumb tracing my moist, kiss-swollen bottom lip.
“You have no idea how much I want you, Willow Barker…” he drawls, his breath hot as it fans my lips, sending a shiver of awareness down my spine.
Thane moves his hand to my cheek, smoothing my scar with his thumb, reminding me that through using my witch powers, I'm healing.
Healed enough to be sure that I want him just as much as he wants me.
Healed enough to be certain that I'd rather be with him than risk losing him again.
“Then show me, Thane Savage,” I whisper, batting my eyelids seductively.
Thane bites his bottom lip, his eyes swirling with heady desire as he stares into my soul. “I like it when you're calling the shots,” he admits, and I wrap my arms around his neck, confidently cocking my head to one side, one brow arching.
“You do, huh?”
He nods slowly, eyes glowing as they take on a dark glint of desire.
“It's hot,” he admits as he begins working on taking off the buttons of my coat. “Putting me in my place the way you do.”
“Hm…” I hum as I lean back so he can remove the coat from my shoulders. Once he slides it off my arms, I'm left in a blouse with more buttons to undo.
I begin working on those buttons, giving him freedom to work on the single button on my denim jeans before he slides the zipper down, keeping his eyes on me the whole time.
“And where exactly is your place, Thane?”
“Right…” His hand slips beneath the waistband of my panties, slowly traveling his fingers down toward the apex of my thighs. “…Here.”
The moment his fingers connect with my bundle of nerves, a moan escapes me, drawn out from the depths of my desire and an aching need to have this. The burning longing to experience what his fingers can administer again, like the night my heat erupted, has my body pumping with anticipation.
The sensations rolling through my body set me alight, but it's everything, and too little all at once, prompting me to grab his face and crush my lips to his. The desperate kiss pulls him closer, has him scissoring his index and middle finger around my clit before he squeezes tightly.