Page 63 of Kidnapped Rejected Mate
Maybe, amidst the fire, they realized how close they were to losing me.
“That’s right,” Soren says, and Gramps perks up beside him.
“The elk up there tastes better,” he says, pointing his spoon at my dad. “I’ve been saying that for years. It’s why people were all willing to pay more for my stuff.”
“Well,” my dad says, clearing his throat and looking at Soren. “I’ve heard you still need to repair that cabin up there.”
“Yeah, my bad,” Lachlan laughs, though he doesn’t sound particularly sorry. Valerie rolls her eyes at him and reaches over, feeding a tiny spoonful of the chili to Levi, who babbles happily and takes the bite.
We’ve decided not to tell anyone else about my pregnancy until it’s a little further along, but the way I’m staring at Levi might give it away. Will our baby have my hair, or Soren’s? Or is it possible they might come out with some sort of golden-copper mix of the two? What will his eyes look like? What will her little hands look like, reaching up for me?
“Well,” my dad says, breaking me out of my thoughts and drawing me back into the conversation. I look over at my parents, watching as my dad leans forward on the table, wearing that look he gets when he has a new idea. “I’ll tell you what, Soren, for elk that tastes this good, I’d be willing to pay to stay up at the cabin. Maybe we could—”
“I already gave him money to fix it up,” Lachlan says, shaking his head. “And asked about building another place up there. He said no.”
Gramps looks pleased, and I stifle a happy little laugh when I think about how happy he was to be having company, how he’d hovered in the kitchen, watching over Soren’s shoulder to make sure he wouldn’t ruin the balance of spices, burn the cornbread, make the vinaigrette on the salad too “oily.”
“Sorry,” Soren says, but he doesn’t look that sorry. In fact, more than anything, he looks happy. Confident. “Been in the family for a long time, and I’d like to keep it that way. In fact, I was thinking—Aurela and I might just fix up the cabin and move out there.”
“All the way up there?” Mom asks, worrying at her scarf.
“Oh, please, Shae,” my dad says, shaking his head. “As if you’re not looking for an excuse to shift and go for a run through the woods. It’ll be a treat.”
I look at Soren, and when he meets my eyes, it’s with something soft and yearning for the future in his gaze. I only woke up yesterday, and while we really should have had some important conversations at this point, we’ve been far too busy with…other things.
It’s refreshing to see Soren this loose, this comfortable. A little less concerned about following a schedule, following therules. It’s nice to have a second for recovery before life has to start again.
And though we haven’t talked about moving up to the cabin yet, I already love the idea. For our baby to grow up in that place, far away from town, but still connected to the pack. Hunting out there with Soren, leaning from him the way he learned from his Gramps.
We don’t have to say a word, holding this gaze, to know that it’s what we both want.
“You’re right,” my mom says, glancing over at me. In a rare show of affection, she reaches for my hand, holding it for a moment.
It seems to me like my parents have been working on some things of their own since the day we walked out of the house. And I can’t wait to talk to them about it.
Looking out over the rest of the table, my mother finishes her thought with a contented smile. “It will belovely.”
Epilogue - Soren
Seven months after the incident on the ridge, Aurela and I are back, walking on the scorched earth, finding the little spots in which green grass and flowers sprout up in patches.
Her baby bump is now fully grown and presses against her dress. I can’t stop myself from reaching out to touch it. At home, it ends with even more touching. Here, I’m able to contain myself, but only barely.
“Are you sure this is okay?” I ask, watching as she picks her way through the area with careful, practiced steps.
“Yes,” she says lightly, glancing over at me with a little smile on her lips. I’m not sure how my protectiveness, my possessiveness, has not gotten on her nerves throughout this pregnancy.
Aurela came up with the idea of coming out to the ridge just a week after everything happened. When she was able to start repairing things with her parents, she got it into her head that she could fixotherthings, too. Including the patch of forest that was decimated by the fires that day, our last confrontation with Tara.
At first, coming up here was incredibly depressing, watching the birds flit around, unsure where to land, confused by the sudden and complete depletion of trees. And I worried that she might use her magic too much, pull on it a little too hard, hurting herself or the baby. I worried how much her mental state might suffer if she poured all her effort into regrowth, only to find that nothing could sprout up in this area again.
And for months, that was the case. There was nothing but silver ash, and then even that was carried away by the wind, untilwe were spending our days wandering around in what looked like a cracked, dried-up lake.
But Aurela was persistent, and just a month ago, we saw the first sign that something else could grow up here.
A single blue flower sprouting in the center of the clearing, like a sign sent from a god.
Aurela had sat next to it, her hand on her stomach. Eventually, she lay back, looking up at the sky and talking to the baby until it was time to go home.
