Chapter 234

#Chapter 234 – One Last Night in the Forest We troupe out of the cabin about an hour later, headed west through the pines towards where we sense we last made camp. I look over my shoulder one last time at the run-down little cabin sitting alone in the woods, mouthing a little thank-you to it. It’s truly given us so much – fed and protected us when we really needed us. The sunlight gleams prettily off the roof of the little house for a moment, as if in reply – a little wink from the wise woman of the woods, telling me it was her pleasure.

I turn back to my family, where a little argument is breaking out. Ian begs Victor to let him and Alvin turn into wolves and run the distance to our camp, but Victor tells them no, not this time.

“It’s too dangerous to let you wild things out on your own,” Victor says as we step into the embrace of the trees. “And I don’t want to change. I want to walk with your mom.” He takes my hand and gives me a little smile.

“But mom can change too!” Alvin protests. “We can all –“

“Not today, baby,” I say, shaking my head at him. “Let’s all be people for a little bit. I like the look of your cute little faces.”

“I’m not cute,” Ian protests, crossing his arms and frowning at me. “I’m handsome. Like dad.” He looks up at his father with hero-worship in his eyes.

“A complete hottie,” I reply, my voice rich with sarcasm.

Ian just frowns at me. “What’s that?”

Victor laughs and shakes his head. “Seriously, am I never going to live that down?”

“No,” I respond seriously, grinning up at him. “I’m putting it on your gravestone.” My mate laughs harder and puts his arm around my shoulders, pulling me along.

The boys get over their disappointment at not being allowed to run as wolves pretty rapidly, enjoying themselves as little boys instead. They climb over the rocks like little geckoes for hours, exploring interesting new plants and creatures that they find. Victor and I feign a little interest whenever they run back to show us some new treasure, but really, we’ve only got eyes for each other.

I try to work up a little guilt at not paying enough attention to my sons after leaving them alone all night but I give up on that pretty fast. I can’t help it.

And neither, apparently, can Victor.

“So,” he says, letting his hand fall from my shoulders and down my back, coming to rest dangerously low. “How are you feeling, little mate?”

“Oh, you know,” I say, wrinkling my nose as I look up at him. “Overwhelmed with despair, just wracked with misery at the prospect of our future health and happiness. General woe…”

“The only sensible reaction,” he murmurs seriously, playing along with me. “What do you think of it all, though? The astral mates thing?”

I purse my lips, considering and glancing up at the canopy of trees as if I can see the stars behind them. “I mean, happy, of course. It’s lovely to know that you’re my mate, or at least to have it confirmed. She said something, though, at the end…”

Victor c***s his head, curious. “What was it?” he asks. “Something bad?”

“No,” I reply softly, thinking it through. “Nothing bad. Just…she said that the children of astral mates are extraordinary, and they bring peace to the world.” I look up at him, seeing how he reacts to it.

“Hmm,” he says, looking out into the forest after our boys. “I mean, we always knew they were remarkable –“

I nod, my gaze following his.

“But,” he continues, “I always gave credit to my superior genetics –“

I snap my eyes back to him, smacking his belly with my hand. He flinches and laughs, looking down at me.

“What worries you about this?” he asks, growing serious again. “It kind of makes sense – if we’re a once-in-a-millennium pairing, wouldn’t our children be unique?”

“Sure,” I consider, shrugging. “I just…don’t want it to put undue pressure on them. I don’t want them to think they have some kind of destiny to fulfill, just because of some kind of astral design.”

“But what if they do have a destiny to fulfill?” he probes, not really contradicting me, just wondering aloud. “If you had a destiny, wouldn’t you want to know, so you could chase it?”

“No,” I say instantly, definitely. “I’d want to find it, on my own time.” I peer up at him, letting him know that I value this journey we’ve been on together. “I’d want to find it myself and want it for myself, not because someone told me I was supposed to.”

“You’re right,” he agrees, stopping me in the forest and using that hand on my back to pull me close.

“We’ll let the figure out their destinies for themselves. It’s their journey, after all.”

“Good,” I reply, turning my face up to his. Victor obliges my silent request by pressing his lips to mine.

Our kiss deepens after a moment and I open my mouth to him, a little shiver running through me as his tongue presses inside –

“Ewwwww,” Alvin whines. Victor and I break apart to see our two boys standing before us on the path, their faces wrinkled in disgust.

“You’re being grossss,” Ian chimes in, his shoulders slumped with misery.

“I thought you wanted this!” I accuse, laughing and thinking back to the first night I accidentally slept at Victor’s house, after the children had pushed us into the pool. “I seem to remember you sneaking out of your dad’s bedroom after tricking me into falling asleep there, so that we’d wake up alone together –“

“Yeah, but we didn’t know it was going to be gross!” Alvin protests. “We thought it was going to be nice!”

“Well,” Victor murmurs, ignoring them. “You reap what you sow.” He kisses me again, bending me over backwards to elicit shrieks and moans of indignation from our boys. As nice as the kiss is, I can’t help the laughter that bubbles out of me, so I swat at him.

“Let me back up, you Alpha brute,” I murmur, and he obligingly allows me to unbend my spine.

“Come on!” Ian says, turning away from us and darting back towards the woods. “We’re almost there!”

Victor and I follow our children through the final stretch of woods, finally breaking into the little clearing where we last set up camp. I look fondly at our tent, which is standing just as we left it, remembering how upset I had been when I had last gone to sleep in it. How fast things change here in the woods. I give Victor’s hand a little squeeze, grateful for small miracles.

The boys run through the site checking on things, Ian darting into the tent and Alvin looking around the burned-out fire.

“Everything’s just as we left it!” Ian shouts, poking his head out from the zippered door.

“No it’s not!” Alvin counters, pointing to a little patch of bright color collected on one of the rocks ringing the charred wood. “The forest left us a gift!”

“A gift?” Victor asks, suddenly alert. We all go to join Alvin at the fire, curious.

“Yeah!” Alvin says, looking cheerfully at us. “Snacks!”

I peer down at the pile, pleased to see a collection of fruits gathered on a little patch of green leaves.

They look fresh and dewy and delicious and I hear my stomach rumble, suddenly ravenous for them.

“Well,” Victor says, putting his hands in his pants pockets and looking at me. “I think it might be the forest inviting us to stay one more night. What do you think?”

I shrug as the boys shout their joy. “Sounds good to me.”