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As if anyone would ever want to do something as crazy and foolhardy as that.

Not even Faye, the most stubborn of them all, had been able to stay away from her One True Fated Mate, the Welsh god, Arawn.

She’d done it for centuries without a hitch.

But in the end, even the Omnipotent Being known as Fate had succumbed to the Mating Call, proving that the biggest and the baddest fall the hardest.

Faye and Ari’s love story proved what Hopper believed: that not even a god or goddess who could stay away from their One True Fated Mate forever. He held onto that with both hands and prayed that Hel wasn’t the first to accomplish the task.

“Wouldn’t that be a kick in the teeth?” Sighing, he shook his head. “And something I’m not gonna dwell on… At least not today. I will find the off button for my brain’s endless musing. I swear I will…”

Needing to find his center and refocus, he inhaled deeply.

Holding it to the count of three, he focused on the large, flowing fins of an enormous koi as it sensually swam through the crystal clear water.

Shimmering scales of white, orange and black decorating its long, lithe body glittered and shone as he switched his train of thought and pondered all the fish represented.

Not only was it strong and courageous and able to swim against the strong currents, but that incredibly decorative and highly intuitive fish represented perseverance.

It would never give up. It would never give in.

And some even believed that when its life was coming to an end, it would swim up the great waterfall leading to the Dragon’s Gate and as it took its last breath would be transformed into one of the Universe’s own Chosen Warriors.

“And that is just another reason why I had to save them. Why I feel compelled to save everyone and everything that I can,” he said to the fish as it nibbled on his toes. “Right, buddy?”

Chuckling at his own silliness, Hopper instantly felt lighter, brighter and reinvigorated. At this rate, there was nothing and no one who could stop him from enjoying his time on Dreki Island.

Wiggling his toes in the water, he laughed aloud when the fish flipped his tail and showered him with water before disappearing into the depths of the tidepool.

Sliding his hands over the smooth rock underneath his butt, he knew the seat of his pants would be wet when he stood up, but he didn’t care.

After all, Pat wasn’t there to laugh at him, and he was so incredibly comfortable.

Continuing, he felt how soft the huge, flat stone was to the touch and the way the dips and grooves made the tips of his fingers tingle.

Stopping suddenly when the tickle of six teeny, tiny, little feet touched the back of his hand, Hopper lowered his gaze.

Smiling, he held perfectly still. Refusing to look, he watched as a very determined ladybug scurried across his fingers, spread her wings and took flight.

The simplest things always seemed to have the biggest impact and mean the most. That little red insect with black spots and her can-do attitude was further proof of that and so much more.

Life… It was everywhere. It was beautiful in all its forms. It was good. It was really good.

Then, in the blink of an eye, Hopper’s life got infinitely better.

Magic filled the air. Tiny beads of light, soft and glowing like fireflies in the early evening hours, fell from the sky, danced across the water, skipping across the tips of the ripples his toes had created.

The frogs on the lily pads croaked their welcome as the noses of fish of all varieties broke the surface.

Creating their own ripples, they wanted to see what was happening and to the festivity of life in all its many forms.

Looking to the right, Hopper opened his eyes wider as the shadows of two people slowly appeared on the water. Growing longer and more visible with every second, the silhouettes went from unrecognizable blobs to the outline of two people in the blink of an eye.

His heart skipped a beat. It was hard to catch his breath.

Even though he didn’t really need to breathe to survive, it was something he had trained himself to do to blend in, and it was a hard habit to break.

Goosebumps jumped to attention all over his body as excitement and anticipation made his palms sweaty.

Could it be? Was it wrong for him, of all people, to hope? Could this be the day his dreams came true?

Unable to wait a second longer, Hopper’s gaze darted to where the visitors stood.

It took a split-second for his eyes to focus, but when they did, his heart literally stopped beating.

There they were. No. Not them, there she was.

Oh yes, she was there, a mere fifty yards away, standing next to her father, an imposing figure to be sure, but Hopper only had eyes for her.

It had been her and only her since before she’d graced the universe with her presence.

And she was so excited, so caught up in whatever she and her father were discussing that she didn’t even notice that Hopper was there. It was his chance, the one and only he’d ever had, to take in the true splendor of his One True Fated Mate.

The gleaming platinum hair of her live side tangled with the ebony tresses of the other, creating a black and white kaleidoscope that he wanted to explore every day for the rest of his life.

Turning her head from side to side, his heart skipped a beat as her smile grew wider, brighter, and more wonderful.

Pointing the thinner, more delicate finger of her left hand, her giggle, like that of a schoolgirl no matter that she was over three hundred years old, drowned out all other sound.

Hopper had heard many others call the left side of Hel’s body her ‘dead side’, but that was absolutely untrue, a complete misnomer, and something he planned to clear up once they were properly Mated.

The world would know to whom he belonged and that she also belonged to him.

Hel was not dead. Neither was any part or parcel of her lovely visage. She was gorgeous. She was perfect. She was a goddess.

And she was his.

Hopper never saw Hel as anything other than absolutely beautiful. How could he? She was the woman made for him by his Auntie Universe. It was as simple as that.

His Mate was loveliness personified, and Hopper would never see it any other way. Her very existence represented the boundary between life and death. She was a living, breathing symbol of the true duality of the natural cycle of life.

How could that ever be ‘dead’?

Not only was she the Norse goddess of the Underworld and the Ruler of the Dead, but in Hopper’s eyes, Hel was quite literally everything.

She was the fresh new life of Spring, the warmth of the Summer sun, the splendor of Autumn colors, and the frigid winds of Winter that energized rebirth and started the cycle of life and death all over again for so very many things.

As the dichotomy of Life and Death, many said Hel was a Curse delivered upon her parents for their sins, but Hopper knew that couldn’t be farther from the truth.

He had heard the story from the source, his Auntie Universe, and more specifically Mother Nature, Aunt Mo Nat as Pat called Her.

They both confirmed what his heart already knew, The Big Four of The Powers That Be–Chaos, The Universe, Mother Nature, and God with a capital G–had given his Mate the honor of being a living reminder that life was to be lived, and death was not to be feared.

It was all part of the natural evolution of everything living–from the smallest atom to the largest life form.

For him, the Omnipotent Being known as Hope, his One True Fated Mate also reminded him that death was not the end of life, but simply another vital part of the circle of existence.

If being immortal had taught him anything, it was that even humans had many choices, and those choices had even more consequences.

Hope, the feeling, could help lead them in the right direction, help them make the best decisions, if they only had the courage to believe and the faith to act.

If having Hel as his One True Fated Mate had given Hopper any insight, it was that having a loving, caring Deity to cushion the blow for those that somehow fell in the gray area between Heaven and Hell after death was paramount to surviving their Afterlife–and Hel was the one that ensured they had a soft landing.

He had seen it with his own eyes, been a firsthand witness to her kindness and loving nature on many occasions.

She had a heart of gold and the Light of Mother Nature within her.

Hel knew her heart and mind and never suffered fools.

The Big Four had chosen the right person for the job of the Norse goddess of Helheim, Protector of the Souls of those who had not perished on the battlefield, and for him, more importantly, as his Mate.

If only she would…

Pulled from his revelry by more of Hel’s sweet, lyrical laughter, Hopper watched as she pushed to her toes and did a spin so reminiscent of a prima ballerina that he just knew she danced through the halls of Castle Niflheim every chance she had.

His Mate quite literally floated on air without even trying.

Starting slowly, then gaining speed, she let go of all pretenses and twirled with the wonder and awe of the happiest of children.

She literally danced like no one was watching.

The white flowing fabric of the layers of the skirt of her right side went upward as the black elegant silk of her left side danced downward with a singular grace reminding him of the harmony and balance of a musical masterpiece.