I must have stared at Liam for a full thirty seconds before I finally got my mouth to work well enough to ask him what the hell he was talking about. That’s not what I said, though, when my tongue finally loosened from the roof of my mouth. “Wh-what?” was all I managed to get out. “You… saw me in your dreams?”
I could tell he was wishing he hadn’t said anything at all by the way his face was continuing to grow more and more red by the second. He ran a hand through his blond hair, making it ripple as it stood and fell and then stood up again. “Yeah,” he murmured. “It’s weird… Harlow. I’ve been seeing you in my dreams for years. Not just since I met you. It started about five years ago. I don’t dream about you every night, but I did often enough that, when I first saw you, here, I was taken aback. Even hearing your name, wh
“Okay--you’ve got to tell me, what in the world is wrong with that girl?”I tried to stifle a laugh, but it was hard. Maggie’s face was priceless as she sat next to me in first class, flying with me back to Chicago. I insisted that she didn’t need to make the last leg to Montana, but I was glad it was her flying with me across the Atlantic. While it was super hard for her to unlatch Fionna from her, the flights had already been arranged before Fionna decided Maggie was her new security blanket. We were both leery of how Fionna might react not having Maggie there, or me, but the best part about the situation for us was that neither one of us would have to deal with the aftermath. I was a little afraid she might burn the school to the ground, but Maggie had left her in the care of Mage Jaye herself, so at least it would be the head of the council who would be responsible to make
I didn’t know what it was about my expression that let Maggie know there was something else I wanted to talk to her about, but I was glad she’d asked because I otherwise might never have had the courage to bring it up. Perhaps it was part of her own personal brand of magic.Even with her asking me what I wanted to talk to her about, it was difficult to get the words to start coming out of my mouth. After all, we were talking about a guy I hardly knew who had been having dreams about me for years. None of it made any sense to me. Hence, the reason for me bringing it up to Maggie to begin with. Still, that didn’t make getting my mouth working appropriately any easier.“Well,” I began, choosing my words carefully. “I spoke to Liam yesterday, and he said something to me that I found… interesting. You can’t repeat any
Maggie’s last words did not sit well with me as I tried to reason through what she was talking about. “My fated-match?” I asked her. “What do you mean Ben not dying could’ve changed everything? Are you saying that you think he was supposed to die that night, and the fact that I was able to save him means that I’ve changed the outcome my life is supposed to have?” If that was what she was saying, she sounded just as crazy about the whole thing as Ben always did whenever it came up.Unfortunately, Maggie was nodding her head. Score another point for the crazies. “That’s exactly what I think might’ve happened,” she said.The words “exactly” and “might’ve” did not go together, in my experience. “So you think that Ben was supposed to die that night, an
It was hard to say goodbye to Maggie at the Chicago airport, but after a hug and a few tears, she left to go get on her plane back to Paris, and I went to find my connection to Montana. We’d had a great, meaningful chat, and even though I was still confused about what I should say to Ben, I felt better about the situation knowing what the explanation might be, even if Maggie’s best guess was unsettling in its own way.The rest of my flight was just fine. I was tired and slept for a bit, but as soon as I arrived in Montana, a new energy pulsed through me. I was excited to see Ben. I knew he’d be at the airport to pick me up, and the idea of seeing him soon had me so antsy, as soon as it was time to disembark from the plane, I was about ready to push the people in front of me over and run off of the plane, but I couldn’t do that, so I did my best to be patient.
It was great seeing my pack again. They were my family now, and even though I hadn’t been gone that long, being back with them was soothing to my soul. We spent the evening getting reacquainted, but the forest was calling to me. I wanted to go outside and sit on my stump with my eyes close and let her powers wash over me, but it was still snowing, and even though the cold didn’t bother me, it seemed a little weird to sit out there in those conditions.But when Ben asked me, “Do you want to go for a run?” I had to take him up on the offer. It didn’t seem strange at all to run around through the forest snow in the form of a wolf. Wolves are made for the cold, after all, aren’t they?We shifted in the back yard and took off for the woods. The snow falling felt good against my fur, which I&rsq
Ben and I didn’t talk about my trip that night. We slept in each other’s arms in the ice palace the forest had gifted us. In the morning, we ran home in our wolf forms, took a shower, and came back downstairs just in time for a huge breakfast Raven had cooked for everyone. I was determined to enjoy every aspect of my home and my family since taking Fionna to France had taught me that things can change at any time.Everyone was there except for Sam and Starla. Even before I’d left for Paris, they’d been spending a lot of time in their own house, keeping to themselves. It made me sad not to see his face, but I didn’t say anything. Instead, like everyone else, I thanked Raven and took a seat, my stomach rumbling.The night before, I’d spoken to everyone in general about how the trip had been, but I hadn’t gotten into any d
We settled in the larger lounging space downstairs that wasn’t quite a living room or a media room, but probably more like a game room. There was a movie screen and projector in another part of the room that had more seating, but over here in the corner, where there were a ton of couches and comfortable chairs was the best place in the house to talk--even if we didn’t all want to talk about what some people (everyone but me) was asking about.“So… what happened between you and Liam?” Brice asked me, a smirk on his face that I sort of wanted to reach across the couch and knock off. It reminded me a lot of how he used to look at me before he became a part of my pack, when he was still with his family and Verina.“Nothing happened between us!” I said, hoping my tone conveyed how much I didn’t appreciat
I stared at Brice for a long moment, trying to determine how to answer his inquiry. He wanted to know what had really happened in Paris. I didn’t quite understand how all of these people who were my friends all along, even the ones who had been in my pack from the very start, couldn’t tell when I was holding something back, but it seemed like Brice always could.I also couldn’t decide whether or not I should tell him.He got tired of me staring at him and shrugged. “You don’t have to tell me, obviously. I can’t make you. But… I know that’s not everything, that there’s more to the story than what you told those people who are willing to just take the juicy bits and leave the rest. Not that Joshua and Tony even care at all beyond making sure that Ben doesn’t get hurt.