Page 130 of Those That Are Lost
“I’ve got to go, Ty will be home soon and he says he has a surprise,” I tell Bree and Claire who are on the screen. We’ve been video calling these past few months as Bree has been away after finally signing a contract with the West Scotian Ballet Company. She’s been the prime for the last four shows and she’s relishing the challenge.
Claire is normally with me in person as we do these chats but she’s at her new in-laws for the week. Selfishly I’d been sad that she’d miss my birthday, but the trip couldn’t be helped.
“Enjoy your night!” they both chorus as we say goodbyes and good luck to Bree for her show this evening.
I disconnect the call and place the phone down on the dresser. I spare a glance at the photo of my mum and dad, my hand automatically clutching my dad’s ring, which is permanently around my neck on a new stronger chain. I shift my gaze to the second photo, the one of me and Ty on our anniversary last year. The house had finally been completed and we’d been in contact with a few other packs for a while and decided to host a gathering of sorts here at the ranch. Bringing so many vampires together had been a huge deal.It had taken a lot of planning, and convincing to Morris’s team, but we pulled it off.
Celebrating the night of our mating was something we’d simply fallen into, and so it seemed fitting that on the solstice night last winter we should throw a party, seeing as the gathering was scheduled for that week. It was an amazing way to get everyone to loosen up and give us something positive to share amongst all the political talk. It also gave us an excuse to dress up and dance the night away.
I quickly change into a dress, a black strappy garment with lace around the bodice and a glittering skirt which falls to my thighs. The hem dips slightly lower in the back than the front and twirls out around me as I move around the room to touch up my hair and add some eyeliner and lip colour.
Our bedroom is the master suite in the main house. The main feature is the king-sized bed. We also have a small desk, a large bookcase, and a dresser situated around the doors to the walk-in wardrobe, our private bathroom and my favourite element, the bifold doors onto the balcony. It’s light and airy but at the same time the furniture was strategic to ensure pockets of shadow. I couldn’t be mated to a shadow wielder and not design our space to suit his companions.
Finishing my look, I step out through the open doors and onto the decking of the balcony. We have a plush sofa out here and the view over the mountains and forest surrounding our land.
The rest of the main house has a few bedrooms, some of which are currently occupied by our seconds, namely Henry, Antares, and Atlas. There are a couple of spares for other visiting vampires, and the wolves too. Downstairs we’ve opened up the space, the common area is now the majority of the floor, although we have a few offices. We also turned the basement into a private lounge, opening up the walls and giving our pack somewhere to go when we have guests.
We turned the outhouse into further accommodation for the pack, which now totals thirty-six. Half a dozen reside in the city but the majority live here with us, so it’s always busy.
Leaning out over the iron rails, I absorb the summer evening sunshine. Ty’s taking me out somewhere in the city tonight. He’s managed to keep it a secret, even when I’ve tried probing into his mind. We have to take some of the pack with us, of course, being their leaders means we are never left completely alone, even here at the ranch. It’s too much of a risk. Especially as the protection orders Froan now has in place had some negative effects to our safety we didn’t foresee. The world still doesn’t know that vampires survived the war but word spread through our underground society and some of the less well managed packs caused a bit of stir about trying to overtake our lands to get themselves citizenship.
It was dealt with, and Morris’s team are now working extra hard to convince other provinces to put in their own treaties and separate themselves from the Scotian government. So far, only one has.
In short, it means Ty and I always have bodyguards. Not that the pack seems to mind taking shifts. We’ve built a fantastic community, we’re like family. The support goes both ways, and the house is filled with love and respect.
It's during the darker days, which I still have, that I feel it most. The pack pulls round to help me through, however I need. And I do the same for any of them when they’re facing one challenge or another.
Therapy has helped my mental health overall. Ty, by chance, found a vampire therapist amongst the pack in Carnio. I did regular sessions for a while and now only book in every now and again. I’ve found having a support network in the pack has been the biggest help. And Ty of course, he gives me unconditional strength.
The door behind me opens and my mate walks into our room. I turn to look at him approaching through the open balcony doors.
My eyes immediately catch on his magnificent tattooed chest, and bicep, the black ink complementing and yet still contrasting against his toned skin. His chest and abs look even more defined since he did a lot of the manual work on the house we now live in.
I feel my body temperature rise as he gets closure, until my brain registers that he is only wearing a pair of khaki shorts.
“Do you need to shower and change before we go?” I say after greeting him with a long lingering kiss.
He looks down at himself before offering me a one-sided grin. “Nope, I’m appropriately dressed for right now.”
“I thought you said to dress up? You requested this dress.” I gesture down my body.
“And you look stunning.” Heat catches in his gaze as his eyes travel my body. “I hope you don’t mind the dress getting a little wet though.”
“What?” I shriek as Ty ducks, lifting me up and over his shoulder. “Ty, what the hell?” I’m yelling as Ty is moving outside and onto the balcony.
“Don’t wriggle, I don’t want to drop you,” he orders, and my hands desperately try to find purchase on the expanse of toned skin that is my mate.
I have to close my eyes as I realise we are going over the balcony and dropping to the grass a floor below.
Ty takes off at speed over the outdoor area immediately outside the property, it’s only as we hit the trees that he lets me down.
“Where are we going?” I demand, glaring wide-eyed up at him. It’s not the first time he’s scaled the balcony, but it is the first that he's carried me whilst doing it.
“Come on. Just follow me.” He gives me another lingering kiss before taking my hand and pulling me through the trees. I’m grateful I’d decided on flat shoes rather than heels tonight as I hadn’t anticipated this.
We end up on a familiar path through the valley as we exit the woodland and I guess pretty quickly what our destination is. It doesn’t take us too long to reach Ty's favourite waterfall and swimming spot. He’s brought me here many times over the last few years. It’s a pretty perfect, secluded spot.
He leads me up the higher bank, the side that has a twenty-foot drop into the water below. Several of the guys love throwing themselves off it. I prefer to get in the natural pool by the rocky shore on the other side.
