Page 106 of Valpar

Obviously, I wanted to forget my past for a reason, that is the only explanation why I would want to forget.

I swallowed and Fairy Godmother’s hand wrapped around mine. It wasn’t but a few steps later that she sat me down on a boarded swing sitting over a stream. She stood behind me and pushed.

“This is your thinking swing, a little present,” she muttered as she pushed me. “I know what I told you is hard to hear, Calliope, but I wanted you to know all will work out in the end. You will always be the same Calliope after you find out what happenedto you. The sweet, innocent little fairy who is curious about the world around her.”

“You are just making me have to think more, not less.”

She laughed, pushing me harder.

More delicate whisps gracefully floated down from the towering trees, their ethereal forms twirling and swirling in a mesmerizing dance around the babbling stream. With a gentle touch, they plucked droplets of water from the surface and playfully tossed them, creating a sparkling spectacle that shimmered in the partly clouded moonlight. The cool mist lightly caressed my legs, and I laughed when they began to twirl my braids and spin around my hair.

I gazed back at her as she continued to push. “Am I gonna turn green?”

Godmother’s hands landed on her knees, her laughter filling the air around us and I tilted my head to see if she would fall over. She stood, her purple hair falling back around her shoulder.

“Gods, no. You won’t turn green. You will stay human.”

I kept my hands tight on the ropes. “And how do you know for certain?”

Godmother smirked and pushed me again, this time higher. “I know these sorts of things.”

I squealed when my feet grazed across the water, and the whisps followed me with each push.

“Loved your performance, by the way, with the tent ceremony. I have to say, it was almost as entertaining as a hole in the wall performance I saw recently.”

“Hole in the wall—?”

Godmother snickered. “Yes, Valpar’s brother Thorn chased his female right through their wood and he fucked her through a wall.”

I smiled wildly. “Really? Tell me more! Did they like it? This chasing thing?”

Godmother’s eyes glittered with mischief. I think she was trying to set me up to do something naughty. I didn’t really care. It sounded fun.

“If I tell you, will you promise to make a decision about what you want to do?”

I nodded quickly. “Yeah, I’m going to talk to Valpar. I want us to make a decision, together.”

She smiled back, halting the swing and gave my shoulders a gentle squeeze. “Good girl, now about this chase thing—”

Chapter Thirty-Four

Calliope

I knew this forestlike the back of my hand. The emerald green leaves danced in the gentle breeze, casting dappled partly-clouded moonlight upon the moss-covered ground. I leaped through the rustling bushes, their branches brushing against my skin, as the chirping of crickets filled the air.

The soothing sound of water trickling echoed through the forest, oblivious to what was coming. The earthy scent of damp soil and the fragrance of wildflowers filled my lungs, lightening my mood further. With each step, my heart raced, and a surge ofadrenaline coursed through my veins, propelling me further into the depths of the enchanting wood.

The whisps followed me as I slung my head back in laughter.

Valpar was going to be so mad.

After my Fairy Godmother told me how Valpar has held back for my sake, how he’s taken care of me, to protect me from my past, I knew right there I had to break him. I felt this was for her own entertainment, though. She was an entity helping the Moon Goddess with this job she had to do, to give the orcs their mates. She needed the entertainment.

And heckers, I kinda liked the idea of poking the orc.

Overall, the Moon Goddess was helping me, a human, and a monster of a creature come together to be one.

A bond is a bond and with that power to bring two souls together, it didn’t mean that we would fall in love. It most defiantly meant one day we could—should fall in love after being with one another for so long. And I was so utterly and irrevocably in love with him.

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