Page 29

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Talia

F orrester stands at the far end of the deck, his back to me as he leans against the railing.

The sun is just starting to rise, painting the black of night with streaks of blue, orange, and pink.

The forest is still shrouded in darkness, the sun not yet strong enough to penetrate the shadows within.

The cool air wraps around me, pushing through the thin white cardigan I put on before stepping outside.

I shiver, hugging my arms around my center and consider heading back inside for shoes and a thicker sweater, but ultimately decide against it.

Using magic should warm me up and if it doesn’t, my hot wolf mate in front of me will probably do it.

My bare feet are quiet against the wood of the deck, but Forrester turns to face me as I approach, a soft smile stretching his full, pink lips.

To think, when we met he was so full of hatred that even with the mate pull, he almost broke our mate bond and left.

Now, he looks at me with so much affection in his eyes, I can’t help but swoon a little bit.

“Come watch the sunrise with me,” Forrester says, his voice a quiet rumble in the peaceful silence of the morning.

“It’s beautiful. Not as beautiful as you, but still worth appreciating.”

My cheeks flush from his compliment, the heat a welcome feeling against the coolness of the air.

He reaches his hand out between us and I place my own in his, allowing him to pull me to the railing of the deck.

Forrester pulls me in front of him, caging me against him and the deck with his arms on either side of me.

My back is flush with his front and every nerve-ending in my body is on fire with his closeness.

His breath brushes the shell of my ear as he leans his head down towards me.

“So gorgeous,” he whispers in my ear.

Me?

The sunrise?

It honestly doesn’t matter, my knees are weak either way.

“Easy there, baby. Do you need me to hold you up?”

There’s a hint of humour in his voice, but it does nothing to hide the raw, undeniable need I can hear as well.

“No, I-I can stand,” I manage to mumble out, unsure if I actually can stand on my own.

The smell of him, the feel of him, all of it, is making my head spin with arousal.

Why are we standing here again?

Right!

The sunrise.

Focus on the pretty colours and not the tall, sexy man pressed against me.

“Are you sure, baby? You seem to be trembling a little bit.” Forrester’s voice deepens with every word.

His wolf must be pushing closer to the surface because he leans in and draws in a deep breath, growling his approval at my scent.

“Being this close to my mate has that effect on me,” I whisper back to him and close my eyes to breathe in his scent in return.

“It has the same effect on me,” Forrester growls in my ear.

“We should try that healing thing now, or I don’t know if we’ll get to it this morning at all.”

Heat shoots down to my clit, arousal setting my blood on fire.

Despite knowing exactly what he’s talking about, I play innocent.

“Oh? What would we do instead?”

“I would give you thirty seconds to run into those woods and see if you could hide from me, before chasing you down,” Forrester whispers, his lips brushing the outside of my ear.

“Then when I caught you, I would pin you against a tree and mark you for everybody to see while I fuck that pretty little pussy of yours.”

“I would very much like to do that,” I answer automatically before shaking the arousal away enough to bring me out of the haze.

“But we do need to see if I can heal your psychological wounds and ease some of the pain you carry around.”

"You’re right. Especially after everything with Marcus, all that pain and anger that filled me during his challenge with Drayton, I’m feeling desperate to try this.” Forrester sighs and steps away from me. “So, let’s do this. When I do finally take you, I want to be a better man than I am right now.”

Turning to face Forr, I twist my hair between my fingers nervously. “I don’t know for sure if this will work, but I’m pretty sure it will. I really hope it will. I don’t want you to feel so hurt and broken all the time. You deserve better than that.”

Forrester rubs the back of his neck and grimaces at my words. “I don’t know about that, baby. Thank you for putting your faith in me though, even after everything I put you through. I definitely don’t deserve shit after that.”

I move closer to him, unable to deny the pull of the mate bond or my magic. Without saying anything, I place my hands on his chest and suck in a deep breath to prepare myself for what’s about to happen.

His blue eyes pierce into mine and I can’t look away as my magic starts moving through my hands and into him. While my magic works inside of him, I instinctively know exactly what to say to help my magic penetrate these kinds of internal wounds.

“You are not a bad man,” I state firmly, keeping his eyes on me as my magic works through his body. “You have been through a lot of pain, manipulation, and abuse by the people that were supposed to take care of you and love you. Instead, they used you. They twisted your thoughts and memories for their own gain.”

My magic pulses between us in waves, surrounding not just Forrester, but myself as well. The teal magic wraps around us, creating a rapid swirling barrier between us and the world around us.

“You were a puppet to people that only showed you what they wanted you to see. The love they should have given you was dark and twisted, but it was still love, which is why you latched on to it the way you did.” I release a shaky breath. “You are worthy and capable of true love. You are worthy of friendship and worthy of a family that doesn’t treat you in the despicable way yours did. You are not your parents. You are Forrester, my mate, and you are incredible.”

Forrester sucks in a breath and rests his forehead against my own. We stand in silence like that for a while, the magic swirling around us and sinking into Forrester from every angle.

Eventually the magic fades, drawing back inside of me and settling down. My peryton brushes against my mind, her contentment melding with my own from helping our mate.

The next step in healing is on Forrester to complete, but it’s now just a matter of coming to terms with what happened. His wounds are no longer feeding poison into his mind, now they are simply small scars that exist to remind him of what he has been through and survived.

I stay where I am, not willing to move until Forr does. I don’t know how exactly I know that this connection is just as important in his healing as my magic and words were, but I do. So, I keep myself still, letting Forrester work through what he needs to.

I have a higher purpose than most, being chosen by a goddess and all, and my magic reflects that. My men are also part of a higher plan and I am so honoured to be with them. I may be one of Adessa’s champions, but at this moment, I know that I was also brought here to help these men. To help them heal and grow. In the end it won't just be those chosen by Adessa that will help all of shifter-kind, it'll be shifters like my men. Those willing to stand up for others and those that are strong enough to fight for those who can't.

Standing there, forehead to forehead, breathing softly in the cool morning air, I know in my soul that there's nothing I wouldn't do for these men. They were made for me, just as I was made for them. Together we're going to do amazing things, but even if we weren't, our connection would be just as important. Maybe not to shifters as a whole, but to me.

Forrester sucks in a deep breath then pulls his head back from mine. “I— Thank you. My head is swimming right now with memories that are nothing like I remember them being. I think I need a bit of time to process. Alone. Is that okay?”

“Of course that’s okay.” I graze my fingers down his stubble covered jaw and smile softly. “I do understand that you process things better privately. I am here if you need me, though.”

“I know, beautiful. I think I need to go to the cemetery and release some of the anger that’s building in me right now,” Forr says, a tenseness to his features that I’m just now seeing. “I don’t want you anywhere near me when I let this out.”

“Go,” I say softly, stepping back to give him space. “I’ll see you when you get back.”

“You will,” Forr mumbles, a small twinkle of arousal coming back in his eyes before the anger rises again and flushes it out.

Forrester jumps over the railing of the deck and stalks off into the woods. I have no idea how long I stand there, staring out into the forest after him. The sun has fully risen by the time I shift my eyes away from the tree line, still no Forrester in sight.

“You okay, sweetheart?” Drayton rumbles behind me a moment before I feel his hand run up my spine.

I nod my head silently and lean back into his warmth.

“How did it go with Forrester?”

“I think it went well,” I murmur, twisting a piece of hair between my fingers. “He has a lot to process now that his wounds aren’t poisoning his memories into something they aren’t. I’ve never really done healing like this before so I don’t know how to gauge how successful it was.”

Drayton kisses the top of my head and pulls me into his arms. We stand like that for a few minutes, the sounds from the forest and our quiet breathing the only noise around us.

“Where is Forrester now?” Drayton asks with a slight shake to his voice.

“He went to the cemetery to release some of his anger. He said he didn’t want me around while he did that,” I tack on the end so Drayton doesn’t think I just stopped helping his brother.

“That was smart. His temper is a bit volatile at times like our father’s was. He’s much better at controlling it, but it’s still not something you need to be exposed to.” Drayton steps back from me, his eyes searching the woods for any sign of his brother. “Why don’t you head back inside and have some breakfast? Wes wanted to go over a few things with you this morning.”

“Are you going to the cemetery to see Forrester?” I ask, hope swelling in my chest at the thought.

“I am, sweetheart. I don’t like the thought of him being there alone any more than you do. My brother has been through a lot and doesn’t lean on others easily,” Dray explains with a frown. “It’s better if he sees he doesn’t have to go through all of this alone.”

“Be safe and bring him back home,” I murmur with a smile.

Pushing on to my tip toes, I lean in and kiss him softly before walking towards the back door. Drayton jumps off the porch the same way Forrester did and I can’t help but smile at the similarities between the two of them. They are definitely brothers. I just hope that this healing can also heal the bond between them. They need each other.

“You ready for pancakes, baby girl?” Penn yells as I step through the door. “We have blueberry, chocolate chip, or plain buttermilk!”

I laugh when I see Penn round the corner in a frilly apron with a spatula in one hand and the biggest smile on his face. We all need each other. We’re six pieces that make a whole and once we’re all in place, nothing will be able to get to us.

“A big plate of chocolate chip, please!”

“You got it, baby girl.”