Page 32 of Caught By Her Guardian
“And the island too,” she said.“I know my place is pretty girly.”
“You’ve got a great view of the ocean though.”
“It’s pretty neat,” she said.“With all our places to live and family to spend time with, you and I are blessed.”
“We really are.”
He took her hand and led her to the couch.Taking her hand, he said, “I love you.”He stopped, clearing his throat as emotion rose in him.“You literally fell into my life and every moment since then has been wonderful, exciting, a little scary too, but so amazing.”
Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears.
He took a deep breath and pulled out a small velvet box that he’d tucked behind the pillow before they left for dinner.Inside was a delicate silver band with an ice-blue gemstone in the center, cut in a way that made it shimmer like the frozen lake in Northernmost.
She gasped, her hand flying to cover her mouth.
“Pixie Starling, will you marry me?”
She threw herself at him so fast they nearly toppled off the couch.“Yes!Oh, Hunter!Yes!”
He laughed and pulled her close, giving her a swift kiss before slipping the ring onto her finger.
She held her hand up to look at it.“I love it, it’s so beautiful.”
“So are you, sweetheart.”
He kissed her, pouring every ounce of love he had in his heart for her into it, his bear rumbling in happiness that they’d finally found their other half.
No more lonely nights and cold beds.
When the kiss ended, Pixie smiled, her cheeks pink with excitement.“My turn!”
She hopped up from the couch and went into the bedroom, returning with a small box topped with a red bow.
He opened the box and found a bracelet inside.
“This is cool,” he said, lifting it out of the box.
The wide bracelet looked like it was made of a complicated braid of thin strips of leather that shimmered in the light with amber, silver, and copper striations.It felt like it hummed as he held it, and he looked at her curiously.
“I made it,” she said, biting the corner of her bottom lip.“I worked on it every day after I dropped off the teeth at the fairy garden on the island before I went back to Northernmost.It’s made from a magically imbued fairy flower called hydropsia that fairies use in protection spells.The flower itself only grows on Evermere Island and it’s ancient, as inmillenniayears old.The dried vines of the flower look and feel like leather and I had it enchanted for protection.Whenever you wear it, it’ll give you an extra sense of the aura of others around you and when danger is near.”
He swallowed hard at the beautiful gesture.
He slid the bracelet on his wrist, where it fit perfectly.“Pixie, it’s incredible.”
“You like it?”
“I love it.And I love you.”He pressed a kiss to her forehead.He couldn’t believe she’d made him such a thoughtful gift.
He was the luckiest male on the planet.
They talked for a bit longer about the night ahead, and then they walked to his parents’ where the family had gathered for the shift and hunt.
His dad said, “First, we welcome baby Hale to his first shift and hunt with the family, and second, we welcome Pixie toherfirst shift and hunt.As has been our family’s tradition for generations, we spend Christmas night in the woods, communing with each other and nature.Be safe and have fun.”
It started snowing while he spoke, quickly dusting the already snowy ground with another layer of fluffy flakes.
“Ready, love?”Hunter asked, pulling her behind a large tree so they had some privacy while he stripped and shifted.
