Chapter 39
I easily found Evey in the crowd and made my way toward her, Callie, and to my surprise, Beatrice. They’d dragged chairs from under the tent and set them up in front of where Del was performing.
“Hey, guys, can I sit with you?” I asked the girls.
Evey rolled her eyes and pulled me down next to her. “Don’t be dumb,” she muttered.
I shrugged and turned to watch Del finish up her first song to a round of applause. Even here, with no spotlights and no stage, she still shined.
Beatrice leaned around Callie. “How are you enjoying your first solstice?”
It shocked the hell out of me that she was addressing me so casually, but I shook it off and answered her. “It’s been great! I was a little nervous about that fire jumping stuff, but even that turned out to be a ton of fun.”
Beatrice nodded. “I remember the first solstice we were allowed to jump over the fire. I almost didn’t do it.”
I arched a brow. “You? I don’t believe it.”
Evey nudged my side. “Don’t let Bea fool you, she’s a chicken at heart.”
“Shut up, Evey,” Bea said with a smile.
If you had told me a month ago that I’d be laughing and joking around with Beatrice, I’d have suggested you get your head checked. The animosity was gone, the attitude was gone, and beneath it was a woman that I was really enjoying getting to know.
She was still a little rough around the edges, but that was just how she was. Just like Evey was loud, and Callie was soft-spoken, and Del was clumsy. Each of them were so different, I sometimes forgot they were quintuplets.
Del played another couple of songs while I waited for Abraham to get back. I thought maybe he’d run inside to use the bathroom, but if that was the case, he should have been here by now.
Just as Del finished playing one of her original songs, Abraham appeared out of nowhere, with his black acoustic guitar slung around his neck. He took a seat next to Del and leaned in to whisper something in her ear. She nodded back enthusiastically, and Abraham began to pluck at the strings of his guitar.
The crowd noticed Abraham, and everyone quieted down and pressed in closer to the semi-circle we’d formed around him and Del.
“I’ve been workin’ on this song for my girl, and I was hoping I could play it for you all,” he said quietly yet somehow with so much authority, I felt sure there wasn’t a single guest who hadn’t heard him.
And I was freaking out.
Giant pterodactyl sized butterflies took flight in my stomach as I fought to keep the stupid grin off my face. Evey elbowed me, and I turned to find a smile stretched across her face too.
“Did you know he was doing this?” she asked.
“No, I had no idea.”
We both turned our attention back to Abraham who was looking right at us. I swallowed and wiggled my fingers at him in a poor attempt at a wave. He smiled though, and the butterflies fluttered even more furiously.
“This is for you, El,” Abraham said softly, and I heard more than a few feminine sighs. Mine included.
Finally, Abraham’s mindless strumming morphed into notes that I recognized as an Ed Sheeran song. Soon, he was singing, his deep voice ringing out across the space separating us.
I swayed softly to the beat as he sang about a perfect night and a perfect girl in a perfect dress. And for endless minutes, Abraham was all I saw. How his thick fingers somehow plucked out the right notes, how his throat bobbed as he sang, how his foot tapped to the beat. I was enraptured.
Finally, the lyrics trailed off into an instrumental solo and Del joined in. They played together for a few moments before Abraham set his instrument down and stood from his seat.
I watched with wide eyes as he walked across the distance between us and held out his hand. “Dance with me,” he asked.
I grasped his hand, and he pulled me from my seat. Once I was between his arms, he began to rock us to the music Del was still playing. Our bodies swayed together, lost in the rhythm of the song, as we lost ourselves in each other. I looked up at Abraham and saw nothing but blind devotion in his eyes.
It stunned me.
I knew without having to hear him say it that he was thinking about how much he loved me. I could feel the words as if he’d spoken them aloud. Never in my life had I felt so full and warm and perfectly content.
When Del began to sing the remaining chorus, Abraham leaned down and whispered the words in my ear. His warm breath sent shivers down my spine, and I pulled him closer.
Without warning, Abraham took one of my hands in his, and used the other to grip my hip and twirl me away from him. I laughed as my skirt went sailing around my legs and swished back into place before Abraham pulled me into his arms again.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw more couples get up to dance too, their bodies moving to the same rhythm ours were. And still, it felt like it was only him and I out here.
Del strummed the final chord, and we slowed to a stop, still wrapped in each other’s arms.
“That was incredible,” I breathed.
He shook his head and leaned down to kiss my cheek right next to my ear. “You’re incredible.”
His face was so close I could see all the different shades of blue in his eyes and I suddenly knew I had to tell him. Right now. I couldn’t keep these three coveted words to myself any longer. He deserved to hear them, and I so badly wanted to say them.
It had taken me a while and through it all, Abraham had been nothing but patient. He’d known I’d get there, eventually. Knew I’d have no choice but to love him.
I wondered how much of it was the mate magic and how much was just us. Would we have found each other if we hadn’t been fated? Would this relationship have worked?
But, I shook those thoughts off. All I knew for sure was that I loved the man that Abraham was, and that’s all that mattered to me.
I opened my mouth to finally tell him I loved him when a wave of electricity crept through my body. Abraham’s shoulders twitched under my hands at the exact same time. We looked at each other in confusion as the crowd around us began murmuring, their anxious voices rising slowly.
“What was that?” I asked him.
He shook his head. “I don’t know.”
The electric feeling was still there, and it seemed to be growing in intensity. I turned to look at the people around me and found their expressions just as confused as mine must have been.
What was going on?
I turned back to look at Abraham and found him on full alert. His muscles were bunched beneath my fingers, jaw clenched, and eyes wary as they scanned our surroundings nonstop.
I cocked my head to the side as I listened to a faint crunching sound in the distance. It seemed like it was getting closer and soon I recognized it as Abraham’s gravel driveway.
We looked at each other at the same time and spoke, “Someone’s coming.”
Next thing I knew, there was a flurry of activity as the guests gathered under the tent and the alphas stepped out of the crowd. They were just as tense and alert as Abraham had been and my belly clenched with worry.
Abraham quickly walked me over to his sisters and leaned down to look in my eyes. “I need you to stay here while I figure out what’s going on, all right?”
I nodded absentmindedly as the charged feeling in the air grew until it filled the space around us almost tangibly. Abraham, seemingly satisfied, spun around to join Grady, Bryson, and Adam. The four men formed a line that was directly between whoever–or whatever–was coming, and us.
It didn’t feel right to stand back here. I wanted to be by Abraham’s side, facing whatever this was with him, but I knew I’d be more of a distraction than anything else. So, I linked my arms with Evey and Callie and waited with the rest of the group to see what was going on.
We waited for what felt like hours before a lone figure walked around the side of the lodge heading straight toward us. His gait was slow and purposeful, like he thought out every step before he took it. His clothes were dirty and his dark hair disheveled, but he didn’t look that threatening.
I glanced at Beatrice and reminded myself that sometimes, appearances could be deceiving. Bea was a little over five and a half feet tall and yet she was the best fighter in the pack.
The man continued toward us until finally coming to a stop several feet away from the line of alphas.
Abraham stepped forward and my blood pressure skyrocketed. “Can I help you, stranger?”
The man smiled, his teeth white and straight against the deep tan of his face. “I heard your festivities from miles away and it drew me here. You must be celebrating the solstice.”
Abraham’s shoulders relaxed the tiniest fraction of an inch, but I could tell he was still on alert. “Yes, we are.”
The stranger nodded, the smile still firmly planted on his face. “It’s so good to hear the old traditions are being kept alive by the younger generation.”
What generation was this guy talking about? He couldn’t have been older than thirty-five.
“What’s your name?” Abraham asked.
The strange man chuckled. “Please excuse my poor manners. I am called Will.”
I cocked my head to the side. He talked strangely. Like English wasn’t his first language. If I had to guess, I would say it wasn’t his second or third either. This man was an enigma, and the mystery deepened the longer he stood there.
“Will, are you a member of a local pack?”
“Me? Pack? No, no. I’m afraid I’m on my own.”
Evey pinched the tender skin under my arm, and I turned to glare at her.
“Lone wolves are dangerous,” she breathed. “They’re reckless and answer to no one.”
A chill raced down my spine at her ominous words. Who was this guy? He talked weird, he looked like he hadn’t bathed in weeks, and his presence charged the air around us. He sort of smelled like a werewolf, but there was something off about the scent. Something more, and I was having trouble placing it.
“What’s was your reason for coming here?” Abraham asked, the authority clear in his voice.
Will shrugged and looked at the line of alphas before his eyes roved over the crowd huddled under the tent. When his gaze landed on me, his lips twitched with the smallest smile before he looked at Abraham again.
“I’ve been traveling for a long time. I was hoping you could offer me some food and accommodations.”
Abraham nodded slowly. “I’d love to help, but I’m afraid I’m going to need to know more about you before I do that.”
Will smiled congenially and clasped his hands in front of him. “Of course, son, whatever you need to put your mind at ease. I promise, I come bearing no ill will.” He looked around at all the party guests again. “I haven’t been around my own kind in a while. I’ve missed it.”
“Where’ve you been?” Grady spoke up for the first time.
Will turned his smile toward the red-head. “I’ve been all over,” he said simply, not answering anything at all.
“Why aren’t you part of a pack?” Abraham asked.
Evey leaned into me again. “Most lone wolves don’t have packs because they’re alphas who don’t want the position. Since they won’t lead their own pack and they can’t be the second alpha in any other pack, they set out on their own.”
Was that what happened to this guy? He didn’t want to be an alpha but couldn’t change who he was? In that instant, I felt for the strange man. It must be awful to be thrust into a leadership position when you don’t want it and be forced to be on your own because of it.
I couldn’t imagine not having my pack and my friends around me. Which is crazy because two months ago, I was just as alone in the world as Will seemed to be.
The strange man shrugged. “I like to wander. No place has held me for any length of time in a very very long while.”
Now, that didn’t sound so bad.
Abraham crossed his arms over his chest. “That all sounds fine, friend, but I don’t believe you’re one of us. You might smell a bit like a werewolf, but you don’t feel like one. Why is that?”
Will’s smile never faltered. “It’s the magic that you feel. It can be a little disconcerting at first, but I assure you, you’ll get used to it with a little bit of time.”
Bryson spoke up this time. “You’re a witch?”
Will laughed and shook his head. “God, no. I’m a wolf, just like you.”
Abraham shook his head. “You’re not like us. Not at all.”
Will nodded. “Well, I suppose you’re right. I’m not just like you. But I am a wolf.” There was a short series of snaps, and Will held up his arm showing off his hand that had been shifted into a paw. “See?”
“If you’re a wolf like us, why is there so much magic around you?” Adam asked.
“It’s not around me, it’s in me,” Will explained.
“Okay, then why is there so much magic in you?” Abraham asked, his voice terse.
Will sighed. “It is a long story, but to summarize, a very long time ago, I made a deal with a witch. What you see and feel today is because of that.”
His words tugged at something in my memory. Something I’d heard before that sounded similar to what he’d just said. It was right there, on the edges of my mind, but it was just out of my grasp.
“What kind of deal?” Abraham asked, suspicion lacing his tone.
Will shook his head sadly. “I asked her to make me more powerful than I was. She chose to make me a wolf,” he said simply.
I played his words over and over in my head until they finally clicked into place.
Holy shit.
Abraham took a tentative step forward, his arms falling to his sides. “Are you trying to tell me you’re the original werewolf?”
Will smiled wide. “Oh, you’ve heard of me?”