Page 43 of Warrick (Rocky Mountain Pack #1)
Warrick
Three Months Later
Aspen squeezes my hand in excitement. The last three months have been a whirlwind of preparing for our month-long trip. I still have to pinch myself to make sure it’s real.
After landing and exiting the plane, we make our way to baggage claim.
Aspen might have packed like she was moving here, but her argument is you never know what you are going to need.
As we come down the escalator, we find a tall, bearded gentleman holding a sign with my last name on it.
I give Aspen a questioning look before looking back at the man with his sharp nose and hair tightly curled against his head.
“Ms Stone.” He nods his head. “Mr. Merrit. If ye both can follow me, I’ll have someone collect your luggage.”
“How will they know which ones are ours?”
“Don’t worry, Ms. Stone, they will take care of it.” He turns to head out the sliding doors.
Aspen looks at me, she asks, “Did you know we were getting a car service?”
“Sure didn’t, but how cool is that?”
“I guess. Seems a bit excessive to me.”
As we prepare to walk through yet another doorway, I look at her and she asks, “You ready?”
I smile at her before saying, "As long as I have you, I’ll always be ready for anything.”
Later that evening, as we are unpacking our bags in the room the Conri na Sliabh pack offered us, I notice Aspen has been rather quiet since we came into the room.
Moving beside her as she tucks our clothes into the dresser, I rub my hand up and down her back in a soothing motion. “Everything okay? You’ve been rather quiet since we got here.”
She looks at me with a small smile. “Yeah, everything is fine. Just been feeling a little nauseous since we got off the plane. I thought it was from jet lag, but it hasn’t let up.”
The soothing circles I’m rubbing into her back seem to work as she leans into them. “You want me to see if they have some crackers or something to help with it?”
“No, that won’t…” Aspen is cut off when there is a knock at the door.
“Odd, I didn’t think we were expecting anyone yet,” I grumble as I walk over to the door.
The door swings open to reveal a rather older-looking woman with a full head of gray hair and skin aged with the passing of time.
Her milky eyes move across the room until they stop on Aspen, sitting on the edge of the bed.
“The she wolf that I was lookin’ fer.” She barely manages to get the words out before she is pushing past me to Aspen.
“Whoa ma’am, who are you?” I step in front of her with my arms held out to block her from slipping around me.
"Oi'm the pack seer, darlin'," she says as she pats my arm out of her way. "Aspen, now, she's the very wolf I'm needin' to see."
Her movements are slow but deliberate as she makes her way over to the bed to sit down next to Aspen. "Could I take a look at the palms o' yer hands?"
Aspen eyes flit between mine and this woman before she cautiously holds her hands out, palms up.
"Ah, aye, a fierce bond between the two o' ye.
Not without its trials, mind. It seems the love line, it was broken, but stitched back together, so it was.
" She looks at me, then back down at Aspen's palm.
"Many a hardship lies ahead for ye both.
" She pats Aspen's palm gently before looking straight into her eyes.
"The biggest trial, though, is the one nestled in yer womb. "
My body lurches forward as her words register. “What do you mean?” My body falls down beside Aspen’s knees as I grab her hand into mine.
The old woman places her weathered hand upon my shoulder and grasps Aspen’s other hand in hers. "She's carryin' a wee one," she says with a sad smile on her face.