Chapter 50
“I swear, only you would argue with a serial killer,” Abraham said with a shake of his head.
I rolled my eyes as I wrapped another glass in newspaper. “Well, I wasn’t about to let him just spew all that nonsense and not try to talk some sense into him.”
It had been over a week since everything had gone down with Calvin and we finally felt comfortable enough about what had happened to talk about it.
For a while I’d held back for fear I’d upset Abraham, come to find out he’d been doing the exact same thing. Once we figured that out, we carefully started bringing up things that had happened that night. Slowly but surely, we were talking it out and healing from our ordeal. It wouldn’t happen overnight, but one day I knew we’d put it behind us completely.
Abraham chuckled as he packed my seldom-used pots and pans. Without Evey or Callie here to cook for me, they’d acquired a fine layer of dust I knew I was going to hear about. Hopefully, we’d be able to pack all this before one of them saw how I’d neglected them.
“I still can’t believe he was keeping those girls. That must have been so awful.” When Abraham didn’t answer, I turned to look at him. “What?”
He reached up to rub the back of his neck. “We knew.”
I set down the pot I was holding. “Knew what?” I had a bad feeling about this.
He looked away and blew out a breath before meeting my eyes. “We knew he was keeping them.”
My mouth snapped closed as the ramifications sped through my mind. “You knew he was keeping them? That means you knew he wanted to keep me too.” I didn’t even bother phrasing it as a question. I already knew the answer.
I shivered.
He crossed the room and grasped my biceps. “That’s exactly why I didn’t tell you.”
“I thought we said no more secrets.”
Abraham sighed and hung his head. “I just didn’t want to scare you. What good would it have done for you to know he was keeping his victims?”
My immediate response was to argue back, but I bit my tongue and thought about his question. Would knowing that information have changed anything? Would I have acted any different?
“I still don’t like that you kept it from me.”
Abraham crouched down so he could look in my eyes. “I’m always going to do whatever it takes to protect you. Even if that means from yourself.”
I huffed out an irritated breath. This wasn’t a battle I was going to win today.
“Well, did you ever figure out how he masked his scent? I asked.
Abraham’s expression darkened. “We found wolf urine that he bought online.” When my incredulous look hadn’t changed, he elaborated, “Apparently farmers use it to ward off predators.”
“What are we doing with this couch?” Evey called from my living room breaking us out of our conversation.
I walked in to see her, Del, Callie, and Bea had packed up everything they could save. Me and Calvin had done a number on this room during the course of our fight, and unfortunately, most of it needed to be tossed.
“I’m donating almost everything. I’m pretty much only keeping my clothes.”
There was a warmth at my back before I was encompassed in my werewolf’s arms. “Why don’t you keep some of the tapestries?”
I turned to look at him. “And put them where?”
“I think our room could use a little more color.”
I craned my neck further, my smile spreading quickly across my face. “Seriously?”
He nodded and kissed the tip of my nose. “If it puts a smile like that on my girl’s face, the answer is definitely yes.”
I spun around and pulled him down for a thorough kiss. Would I ever reach the depths of how lucky I was? God, I hoped not.
I finally pulled away from Abraham’s lips and purposely avoided the heated look in his eyes. If we went there, we’d have to kick everyone out and we couldn’t do that.
I’d broken my lease early and only had the weekend to get all my stuff moved out. Thankfully a huge truck from the salvation army was arriving first thing tomorrow morning, so we’d be able to get rid of all my furniture. After that it was pretty much clothes and shoes I needed to pack.
I explained to the girls which tapestries I wanted to keep and even had them take down my strings of beads and pack them to take to Asheville. Abraham might be getting more color than he bargained for, but that would be his problem.
“How did your job react to you resigning?” Evey asked.
I pulled down a stack of plates and alternated them with paper ones, so they wouldn’t break once they were packed away.
“My boss, Mr. Hildebrandt, wasn’t thrilled about it, but once I explained to him about my crazy ex-boyfriend that was stalking me in Raleigh, he understood my need to move far away.”
“What ex-boyfriend?” Abraham growled.
I slapped his arm and pulled down a stack of bowls to pack. “Oh, be quiet, you know I made it up. I needed some story to explain the bruises still on my face.”
Abraham’s expression fell at the reminder of my injuries. Thankfully, since that time everything had healed up, and the bruises had faded, but I was afraid the reminder of them would live on with Abraham. Even now, his face so haunted that I couldn’t help walking over and pulling him into my arms.
“It’s okay. I’m okay,” I told him for the hundredth time. It seemed he needed constant reassurance of those facts and I’d never deny him.
He wrapped his arms around my waist and released a big breath, rustling my hair and tickling my skin. “I know. I just don’t like to think about it.”
I squeezed him once more before pulling back. “I know, baby. But I’m okay.”
His smile turned just the tiniest bit dirty as he pulled me back into his arms. “You know what it does to me when you call me baby.”
I feigned ignorance. “Do I?”
He growled low in my ear and a shiver went racing down my spine. “If you don’t quit it, I swear I’ll kick everyone out and show you. Again.”
I dragged in a shaky breath and opened my mouth to answer, but Beatrice beat me to it.
“Could you two save the bedroom talk for when I can’t hear you? I don’t want to lose my lunch all over Ellie’s floor.”
I laughed and pulled away from Abraham reluctantly. “You got it, Bea.”
She huffed out a breath and rolled her eyes before going back to packing.
“What’s going on with Will? I haven’t seen him in a while,” I said.
The original werewolf, much to all our surprise, was still around. Abraham had given him a room in the lodge and he’d become a permanent fixture in our lives.
“Fine.”
“Infuriating.”
The first answer was from Evey, and the second from Bea.
“Infuriating?” I asked. Will seemed like such a great guy, I didn’t understand what he could have done to Bea to make her that mad. Then again, once upon a time, I’d infuriated her too, so maybe I understood it a little better than most.
Bea grunted and tossed a throw pillow into an open box with a little more force than necessary. “He just thinks he knows everything. It’s annoying.”
Abraham laughed behind me. “He is thousands of years old, Bea. He probably does know just about everything.”
She sighed heavily. “Not you too.”
“I think you’re being too hard on him, Bea. He gets along with the whole pack and he’s fascinating to talk to,” Callie said.
Bea tossed another pillow, this one even harder than before. “Whatever.”
Where had this attitude come from? Why was Will getting to her like this? Was there more to the story than she was letting on? I resolved to do my best to figure it out as soon as I got back to Asheville.
When we’d wound down for the night, the girls excused themselves to head back to their hotel room. I’d offered them my guestroom, but they’d all declined. Apparently, no one wanted to sleep next to fated mates without soundproof rooms.
Can’t say that I blamed them.
Abraham crawled into my bed for the last time and fell onto the pillows.
“I forgot what a pain moving is,” Abraham confessed in the dark room.
“Ugh, I know. I’ve been here for so many years that I hadn’t realized all the crap I’d accumulated. Thank God I’m donating most of it.”
Abraham hummed in agreement. “Are you nervous?”
I turned to look at his profile. “Nervous for what?”
“To move in with me,” he said softly.
My heart clenched in my chest.
It seems like I was still paying for all the indecision I’d had in the beginning of our relationship. But I didn’t care. If it took another ten years of me reassuring Abraham, I’d gladly do it. I’d do anything for him and this was a small price to pay.
I rolled over until my head was resting on his hard chest. “Not even a little bit.”
I felt the muscles under my head relax slowly and my heart hurt a little more. I vowed then and there to go above and beyond to make him see how all-in I was. That there was nothing I wanted more than him and that nothing would ever come between us.
He ran his fingers through my hair. “Really?”
I turned my head and kissed his bare skin. “Absolutely.” A thought struck me then. “Are you nervous?”
He rolled over quickly, so we were face to face in the dim room. “I’ve never been more excited in my whole life. It feels like Christmas every day, and I’m getting the best present of all. Just knowing I get to wake up next to you every morning is enough for me, but knowing I get to see you all day and every night is like nothing I could have ever imagined.” He leaned forward and kissed my lips. “So, am I nervous? Hell no. I’ve never been happier.”
My heart swelled in my chest, easily growing twice its size as I tried to process everything he’d said.
I knew then that I’d never get enough of this man. I’d never reach the depth of my love for him and I’d never stop wanting him. He was it for me. Forever.
But, there was something hanging over us that I’d ignored until now. With all the changes we’d experienced in the past couple of weeks, I hadn’t wanted to add anything to our plates, but I knew I couldn’t put it off any longer.
Abraham had asked me a question a while ago and instead of giving him an answer, I’d told him to ask me again later.
Well, it was later.
I looked down at where our bodies touched, not sure I could watch his expression. What if he’d changed his mind? What if he wanted to wait now? What if he forgot about it all together?
I swallowed all my fears and reached out to trace a pattern on Abraham’s skin. Finally, I took a deep breath and just spit it out. “Remember that time you asked me if I’d accept a ring from you?”
His whole body froze, and I did the same. The words were sitting on the tip of my tongue and all I’d have to do is give them the smallest of shoves to push them over the edge.
I could do this.
It was Abraham.
He’d done nothing but assure me of his love over and over.
I needed to do this.
I resumed my pattern tracing. “You could ask me again sometime soon,” I breathed. “If you want,” I quickly added and held my breath. I think my heart even stopped beating while I waited for him to speak.
His heart on the other hand, was pounding so loud as we lay there in silence for what felt like hours. Finally, he moved.
Abraham pulled me against him until there wasn’t the smallest of spaces between us. Even in the dim lighting, I could see how blue his eyes were as he looked down at me.
“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” he asked softly.
I shrugged a shoulder, my hands shaking. “What do you think I’m saying?”
He squeezed me tighter, his voice strained when he finally spoke. “Are you asking me to ask you to marry me?”
I swallowed harshly. “I think I am.” He was quiet for a moment, so I raced on. “But I’m not rushing you or anything. You can do what you want when you want, I just wanted to let you know that I won’t tell you no again. Or I guess I didn’t technically tell you no last time, but it wasn’t a yes and now I’ve changed my mind, so–”
He finally kissed me, saving me from the word vomit I’d succumbed to. His mouth was so warm and sweet on mine, my muscles instantly relaxed and I melted into him. Long minutes later, he finally pulled away before pressing his lips to the tip of my nose for the briefest moment.
He unwrapped his arms from around my waist and moved to get off the bed. I sat up quickly. “Where are you going?”
“Just stay there. I’ll be right back.”
I watched him search the floor before unearthing the pants he’d worn all day and digging in the pockets. When he had what he was looking for, he crawled back onto the bed and kneeled in front of me.
“Baby, you make me so happy.”
I smiled softly and reached out to stroke his face. “You make me so happy too, Abraham.”
He took a deep breath and let it out in small shaky bursts. Reaching out, he picked up my hand and pulled it toward him.
“You know I grew up with fated mates for parents, so I shouldn’t have been surprised by what’s happened between us.” He smiled and shook his head. “But nothing could have prepared me for you.”
My nose tingled, and I willed the tears away. I didn’t want to miss a second of this.
He took a deep breath and squeezed my hand tighter. “You’ve completely changed everything about my world. I can’t believe how incredibly lucky I was to be fated to be with a woman like you. You’re sweet and kind and funny and protective and beautiful and I come up with new ways to describe you every day.”
He took another deep breath and held up what he’d fished out of his pants. It was a black velvet box and my belly tightened into a ball of nerves.
With one hand, he opened the box to reveal a perfect blue stone surrounded by diamonds on a simple white gold band. My breath caught in my chest as the tears I’d been holding back ran freely down my face.
“Elizabeth, I love you more than I could ever tell you and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life showing you how much you mean to me. Will you do me the greatest honor and be my wife, my soulmate, and my partner?”
I swallowed the tears and reached out a shaky hand to stroke the beautiful ring he was presenting me.
“It’s a sapphire that they found on my land,” he explained softly. “I could have bought you a diamond, but I thought you’d appreciate having something on you at all times that’ll remind you of your new home.”
I looked up at him through watery eyes and laughed lightly. “I love it.”
He swallowed once, his Adam’s apple bobbing freely. “El, will you marry me?”
I launched myself across the distance separating us, catching him off guard so we both went tumbling onto my mattress. He laughed, and I wrapped my hands around his face to bring it to mine. I kissed him so long we were both out of breath when I finally pulled away.
“Yes, I’ll marry you.”
His smile was the widest I’d ever seen it as he pulled the ring from its box. A small chain came along with it.
“I had them put it on here, so you can wear it while you’re a wolf too,” he explained softly.
My heart swelled as I pulled it close to examine it further.
“It’s the same color as your eyes,” I said softly.
He nodded. “So, it’ll always remind you of me.”
I sniffed and met his gaze. “I don’t need a ring to remind me of you. You’re in every second of my day, in everything I do. You’re my whole world, Abraham, and I can’t wait to be your wife.”
Our love story wasn’t perfect. We’d both made mistakes and I’m sure we’d make more in the future, but I loved this man. And I knew from the depths of my soul that he loved me too. I’d wear his ring proudly as we took this next step together.