7. Closer

'Absence makes the heart grow fonder, but it sure makes the rest of you lonely.' -Charles M Shultz

Ember

   I spent the next two days in a state of limbo as I got ready to tell Killian that I was ready to leave the coven with him. I made sure that Melody, River and Sandy knew what they needed to do and they jumped into the routine quickly. They took the safety of the coven seriously and River was trying to get one of the chaos witches to be his friend so he could learn if there were any secrets there.

    I could tell that it made Sandy jealous and she was squirming on the inside at the thought of him finding someone in the chaos witches he liked. I thought it was funny that Sandy and River thought that their little relationship was still a secret. Melody and I both knew about it but kept our mouths shut. I didn’t want to mess up any happiness if that’s what they found with each other.  

   Melody was keeping a close eye on Oberon and the cosmic witches. She felt like she was onto something there and I’m sure if there was anything to find she would figure it out. 

   After breakfast each morning, Bastet and I would run out to the woods to spend time with Killian. He still hadn’t tried to pet Bast yet and Bast was being very stand-offish with him. They needed to get to know one another and become friends.

   This morning was like any other and we met Killian in the trees in front of the fortress gates. I walked up and saw him leaning against a tree with his usual black pants and white long sleeve-shirt on. 

   I had teased him yesterday about his sword being there just for looks. He told me that I would get to watch him train when I left with him. I let him know that I would be training and not watching him.

   I learned that yesterday the coven witches set up the barrier around the pack territory and I noticed wolves now patrolling the area. They seemed to come through and stay for a little while before moving on. I hadn’t noticed the same wolf twice though, so I knew they were on a rotation. 

   “Good morning,” I told him with a smile. 

   “Good morning. How did you sleep?”

   “Pretty good actually. You look a little rough today. Did you not sleep well?” 

   “No. My wolf, Knight, kept me awake most of the night. He’s restless.”

   “Why?”

   “He wants you at home with us.” 

   “Oh,” I said as I perked up. 

   The thought of his wolf wanting me close by made me happy. It meant that all of him wanted me around and wanted to be with me. 

   “Don’t think that him being like that is a reason for you to hurry along with what you are wrapping up here.”

   I nodded my head, but it still made me feel bad. I was even finding it harder to watch him leave each day. I must have gone quiet while we walked because the sound of his voice brought me back to look at him. 

   “My pack members started asking why I had been missing so much. I hope you don’t mind that I announced that I have been sneaking off to see my mate and that I should be bringing you home sometime soon?”

   “I actually don’t mind at all. I mean, when I was looking for nominations to take my place I told others that I had found you,” I said with a smile. 

   He nodded his head while smiling at me. I could feel the pull to go with him even more, so I made up my mind. 

   ‘It's time to go with him.’      

   “I think me prepping the others has them ready so I can be ready to leave with you tomorrow.” 

   He stopped walking and I stopped with him. He gently took my hand in his and I felt the sparks dance along my skin mixed with the warm energy that was my natural being.

   “Are you sure they are ready?” he asked. 

   “Yes. If they need help, I’m not that far away. I can always come back to support them.” 

   He nodded his head with a huge smile on his face.     

   “Alright. I will arrive tomorrow with a horse and wagon to get you and your things to the pack.”

   “Ok,” I said with a bright smile.  

   I leaned forward on impulse and kissed his cheek gently. The feel of his short beard on my face was soft instead of coarse. I pulled back to look at his reaction and he had his eyes closed softly with a small blissful smile on his plump lips. I would have rather kissed his lips finally instead of his cheek. We have been skating around the bond pull for days now. 

   He opened his eyes and smiled brightly at me while I stared at his lips. I couldn’t help myself. Everything inside me was screaming to kiss him. I leaned back in and kissed his soft lips gently, leaving the smallest peck to them, not knowing where my boundaries were with him yet. 

   I pulled away to see his reaction to my peck. He had a look on his face that I had never seen before on him. I didn’t know how to register it to figure out what was going through his mind. I took a step back to give him space to figure out if I had done the wrong thing. 

   He took a step towards me and snaked his arm around my waist. He brought our bodies up against one another and held me firmly in place while I looked him in the eyes. I wasn’t scared at all and I began to register what that look was, it was his lust. 

   I relaxed in his hold and placed my hands on his strong chest. His other hand came up and buried in my hair at the back of my head. Slowly, he brought me closer to him until his lips touched mine once more. This kiss wasn’t a peck, it was smoldering hot with longing and need. He parted my lips with his and dipped his tongue into my mouth. The sensations that erupted from this action made me shiver and I whimpered out for more. 

   He deepened the kiss and I could feel his member up against me starting to thicken and pulse. My hands traveled from his chest up to his shoulders and down his back. We stood there holding onto one another as we shared our first meaningful kiss. It was intense and fiery. I loved it and was consumed by it. 

   After a few minutes of the intensity between us, I broke the kiss to gasp for air, tilting my head towards the sky as I felt his lips kiss my jaw, my throat and then the most sensitive spot in the world on the left side of my neck. I couldn’t control the sound that came from me or the volume of it. I had let myself moan from what he was doing to me while I gripped his shirt tightly.     

   He pulled his lips from my skin and rested his forehead against me with his nose in my neck as he breathed me in. Both of us were breathing heavily as we clung to one another still. We stood there for a while until we were both breathing normally again. 

   I pulled my face back to look at him and brought his face up from my neck to look at me. I noticed how swollen his lips were now from the way we had been kissing. 

   In a husky voice, he said, “your lips are swollen.”

   “So are yours.” 

   He hummed before he leaned in and kissed my forehead. I clung to him while closing my eyes and inhaling his scent of burning cedar elm. I honestly didn’t want to let go of him and didn’t want him to let go of me now that I was in his arms.   

   My wish, though, couldn’t come true. He needed to get back to his pack and I had things to do and stuff to pack. We slowly started to release each other while talking about what had just happened between us. 

   “I hope I didn’t overstep with you,” Killian said. 

   I shook my head and told him, “I was worried I had crossed a boundary with you.” 

   He chuckled and shook his head before asking, “can I ask you a private question and share some private things with you?” 

   “Of course.” 

   “Are you still untouched?” he asked bluntly. 

   I had a feeling that's where this was going. How could it not after we just kissed like that? I was going to be honest with him about everything that I could. This was something I could share with him fully. 

   “No. I’ve been with only one person though.” 

   He nodded his head and pressed further, “was it the elemental that gave you his shirt after the battle?”

   I wanted to laugh as I asked, “River?” 

   He nodded his head with a serious look on his face. Something told me he was possessive enough to possibly kill someone for looking at me the wrong way. He also seemed slightly jealous of the thought. I wasn’t going to taunt him with laughter over this.  

   I shook my head and said, “no. It was someone else but he’s no longer with us.” 

   “Oh. I’m sorry…I guess.” 

   I raised an eyebrow at him and said, “I’m not. He’s not dead. He found his soulmate with the sea witches down south.”

   “Oh,” he said with raised eyebrows.  

   “Your turn. Fair is fair.”

   “Good point. I’ve been with three she-wolves on multiple occasions. Wolves tend to be encouraged to sleep with someone after a battle to help with the heat of things.” 

   I nodded my head and pressed my lips together before I asked, “with me going with you tomorrow, will they be a problem for me?” 

   “I hope not, but if they are, we will handle them together. You are my destiny and I don’t intend to break our bond or any promise that I make to you.”

   I nodded my head with a small smile. He took my hand and held it. I was beginning to really enjoy the feeling of the sparks between us. It felt like a new type of magic that I couldn’t quite explain.  

   “Are you disappointed in me?” he asked softly. 

   I shook my head and said, “no. It’s hard enough to find the other half to our souls. To even think of putting any standards on what they should be like if we do find them is absurd.” 

   He nodded his head, then asked, “Do you have any questions for me?”

   “Do you live on your own?” 

   “I live in the packhouse with Reginald and Wren. We are the only three that live there.”

   I nodded my head and said, “I really don’t have any questions, but when I do I will ask them.”

   “Good. I want you to know that I’m an open book to you. You can ask me anything.” 

   I nodded my head and said, “alright.”   

   I took a deep breath and we walked back towards the main gate. Bastet climbed down from a tree that I didn’t realize he had climbed and ran along with us. We stepped out of the woods towards the front gate while still holding hands. We both stopped and turned to one another. 

   “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

   “Alright. Be safe,” I told him.  

   “Always,” he said as he leaned in and kissed my forehead once more. 

   We released each other and I watched as he turned to walk away. Once he had entered the woods, I turned and went into the fortress. It was time to start saying goodbye and to pack my things.  

~

Unknown, in the Timber Coven

   I woke up this morning in my bed wrapped up in Oberon’s arms yet again. I couldn’t keep letting this happen, but telling him no was hard when I wanted him so badly. 

   I was worried that he would find out about me helping King Soren to take down the coven. In reality, I wanted this to all be over. There was only one side to pick now and that was the winning side. Soren wouldn’t stop until he had conquered everything and continuing to fight him was choosing death. 

   Oberon stirred awake and I felt his arms tighten around me just a little until he rubbed my bare back with one hand and ran his fingers through my long hair with the other. I ran my hand over his bare chest while lying there with him. I took a deep breath before looking up at him. He connected our lips in a sensual kiss. Giving me the sweetness that was him until it ended. 

   “Good morning,” he told me in his gruff morning voice. 

   “Good morning.”

   “Looks like we overslept again. I need to get to that planetarium to work on something important.”

   “What’s so important you have to rush off?” I teased him in a seductive voice. 

   He smiled at me and said, “something secret.”

   “Ah,” I said, realizing he wouldn’t say more.  

   He moved his body from mine and let go of me before climbing out of bed. He dressed while I lay there and watched him. Once he was dressed, he leaned over my bed and captured my lips once more in a gentle kiss. 

   “What do you have planned for today?” he asked me. 

   “The usual.”

   “So nothing exciting?”

   “Nope. I’ll just be in the sitting room thinking of ways not to go crazy.”

   “I heard that River has been spending a lot of time with your group lately,” he said with squinted eyes. 

   “Yeah. He’s trying to make a friend in the group.”

   “Why not be that friend and find out what he wants,” he suggested. 

   “Because I don’t need a new friend and knowing River he’s after a new set of thighs to sit between.”

   Oberon hummed and said, “we can’t have him doing that with you now, can we?”

   “Oh, so you don’t want to share me?” I teased. 

   “Nope. If I could claim you I would,” he said before he kissed me once more. “If I knew for sure that our soulmates were both dead, then I would ask you to be mine.”

   “Until that day then,” I said with a soft smile. 

   He smiled back and said, “meet me again tonight?”

   I nodded my head like the weak person I am and he left the room. I flopped back on my bed and considered what was going on in my life. Part of me loved Oberon, so maybe I should try to convince him to surrender to Soren with me. There was a chance he would turn on me though, and then where would I be?  

   If anyone caught me I’m sure I would die and if anyone found out that he was with me most of the time they would probably kill him too. Or worse, Libitina would kill him since they had a thing for a while a couple of years ago. Either way, I was screwed. I might as well have fun while I can, because death is inevitable.