Page 49 of Those That Are Lost
“Yeah, it usually does.”
“Then, let’s sleep, Red. We can talk more about this tomorrow.”
To my surprise she wiggles closer, burying her face in my still naked chest. I hadn’t bothered with clothing for either of us after the shower.
I gently place a lingering kiss to the top of her head and wrap my arms around her, gently stroking her back. Her breathing evens out and she relaxes against me, warm and soft.
“You’re my everything, Red. I need you to know that,” I whisper into the darkness.
As I feel the pull of sleep dragging me under a while later, I swear I hear her respond, “You’re my everything too, I’m just not ready yet.”
CHAPTER 23
AURORA
Afew more weeks pass and it's the same, yet different.
Instead of late-night sex, we talk. Well, we do still fuck more nights than not now, but there’s a lot of talking. At night I feel like we are building something. I feel him sneaking through all my barriers and setting the old me free.
It’s not quite the old me but I feel that he’s taking the pieces and putting them back together, holding them in place as I find a way to be whole once more. At night we are open and completely uncensored.
During the day, however, we barely see each other, and when we do, I still feel a distance between us. We never touch except when we’re in bed together. There’s no casual hugs or hand holding or anything. It’s confusing and I don’t like it. I did bring it up last night but Ty was half asleep by that point and mumbled something I didn’t catch.
Maybe tonight will be different. The winter Solstice has arrived and the pack has been non-stop excited because the forecast is good and it looks like we might even have another show of the Aurora Borealis.
It turns out that the further north you are, the more important the solstice is. I guess the turning point of winter is a big deal when you only get two to three hours of full daylight on the shortest days.
Because of the fine weather, absolutely freezing but clear, the pack have organised a celebration in their square. Bunting and decorations were erected yesterday, as was the huge bonfire ready to light. Ash has been cooking up a storm with several types of baked treats and the whole town is set to come together for a night of music, food, and dancing.
The atmosphere is electric and I can’t help but be swept up in it. I’ve been out for a run with Luna—Colton’s mate—and Millie. In human form I could easily lap both females, but with them in wolf form, I’m arriving back a sweaty mess. I could’ve outrun them with my vampire speed but wanted the workout so didn’t pull on that side of my strengths. The pathways are pretty slick too, even the ones frequently used, so I’d stuck to muscle power rather than magic, and avoided most likely skidding straight into a tree on the icy ground.
Luna’s past the sickness stage of her pregnancy now but had tired on our morning out and wanted to nap before the festivities kicked off in a few hours, so we’d dropped her home.
Millie and I make our way back to the main square, heading for the pack house, when we spot a few males putting up some more lanterns for tonight. She has a crush on one of them and is quick to abandon me to go flirt. I shake my head, hearing her erupt in giggles as I push open the door after stomping my cleated boots free of snow.
The warmth of the house is accompanied by the smell of freshly baked bread and even though I have no desire to eat any of it, I enjoy the smell. When I’d first turned, all food had been so nausea inducing, so I’m grateful I can at least enjoy thesmell of it now.
I’m about to reach the corridor which leads to our room when I meet Henry coming the other way.
“Rory, glad I’ve caught you. Do you know where Ty is?” He looks concerned, which immediately sets me on edge.
“No, I’ve just got back,” I tell him. He walks past me, gesturing for me to follow. “What’s wrong?”
“Don’t panic, it’s not a huge problem. I don’t think…” he reassures me, but his tone is still serious.
I scramble after him as he takes long strides to the offices near the front of the house and catch up as he knocks on the door to Theodora’s and Etu’s study.
“Come in,” calls a familiar voice I’m not expecting.Is this where he’s been hiding during the day?
We enter and, sure enough, at one of the huge dark wood desks is Ty. I’ve not been in here before, it's not like any office I’ve seen. The walls, what you can see, are a dark green. Most of them are covered by several bookcases and filing cabinets. I can immediately tell the shared space is split between the couple that rule this pack. One side looks organised and neat; there’s no clutter and all the books on those shelves are organised. In contrast, the other isn’t exactly untidy but the cases have files and notepads shoved in amongst the books, and every available space has something filling it. The desk itself is piled with more papers and files. It's organised chaos at its finest.
Ty sits on the neat side, using a laptop. He’s turned in the brown leather chair to face us, a look of surprise on his face at seeing me behind Henry. He reaches back and closes the laptop lid.That’s not suspicious at all.
“I’m afraid I have some news.” Henry distracts me from Ty’s odd behaviour. “I’ve got to return to West Scotia next week, my publisher has been trying to arrange a meeting for a while and I can’t put it off any longer. They’re also insisting it's in person.”
“Oh.” I can’t hide the disappointment. We’ve been living in this town and ignoring the rest of the world. I guess it could only last so long.
“I don’t mind travelling back by myself, I just wanted to let you know.” Henry directs at Ty.
