Heart of Stone - Book 1: Fighting Fate

While he repeated his mental mantra in the glow of the bright parking lot lamp, he glimpsed a hint of a blush on her cheeks as she pulled into a parking space. “Something for food poisoning.”

That cooled his jets a bit, but why was she blushing? Was she also planning to pick up condoms and that was why she didn’t want his help? Wasn’t that the guy’s job? Why the urgency then? There had to be something else.

He could feel his temper dissipating little by little, but he still didn’t like the idea of her having sex with someone else.

When she glanced at him and caught him with a skeptical look, she added, “It was his own fault. I warned him that I didn’t think the meat was fully cooked.”

Turning off the engine, she unbuckled her seatbelt and climbed out of the car without waiting for him.

In his flustered and aggravated state, he fumbled with his own belt and scrambled to get out of the tiny space as quick as he could. He felt like one of those circus clowns climbing out of the mini car. His thick, six foot five built was not meant to enter such a small vehicle.

His long legs carried him across the parking lot to the front doors of the store, where she was already several paces ahead.

“I don’t even know what to get,” she mumbled. “I’ve never dealt with food poisoning before. I was hoping someone could help me with that.”

“I’m afraid I will be no help in that department,” he grumbled, still trying to compose himself, but still came off sounding annoyed. “My family and I have never had food poisoning.” We can’t even get food poisoning, he mentally added.

Entering the large store, he wrinkled his nose at the synthetic pharmaceutical scents. He looked over at Aubree next to him, giving him a quizzical look.

“Sensitive nose,” he told her.

Sensitive nose, excellent hearing, what more could he tell her without spelling it out to her? I’m not human.

“Well, we won’t be here long. Let’s grab what I need and get out of here.”

He liked that plan. Nodding, he followed her to the back of the store, where there was a pharmacist working behind a glass window.

Aubree went up to the counter and waited for him to notice her and come around to help her.

He was an older man of medium height with graying hair and seemed pleasant, if not slightly tired. “Can I help you?”

While she spoke with him, Stone let his eyes wander around the store. Everything was pretty quiet. Too quiet. Would Carina be out and about today, or was she still in hiding somewhere? He mentally reached out to Gunner at the borders, who assured him that everything was fine.

Keeping a bit of distance between him and the humans, he followed Aubree and the pharmacist down an aisle, where the older man helped Aubree choose which medicine to buy.

Stone squeezed the bridge of his nose again, the smells becoming too strong for his tired mind to handle now.

Thankfully, they headed to the front cash register soon afterward and they were on their way back outside.

The fresh air hit him hard and he breathed in deeply, like a diver plunging deep into a pool of water and kicking hard to the surface.

“Blessed be the night,” he whispered, his eyes closed as he inhaled again.

Aubree cleared her throat next to him, tapping her foot on the concrete. “Are you coming, or are you just going to stand there sniffing the air like a coked out drug addict?”

She must have been feeling calmer now. Her feistiness was back.

He opened his eyes and grinned at her in amusement. She never ceased to amuse him.

She also never ceased to aggravate him by not heeding his warnings.

But that was all going to change now. She was going back to Chicago soon and Carina would be none the wiser about it. Aubree would be safe and that was all he could ask for.

“Yes,” he said as he followed her to her car.

The sky was a deep navy blue with a sliver of purple on the western horizon. The stars were beginning to twinkle, but with the light pollution from the city, only the biggest ones were visible. It was like this in the woods where his pack house was too. Only at the edges of civilization could he see more than a dozen stars twinkling in the night sky.

“You know,” he began when they reached the car and Aubree’s hand was on the handle of the door, “where I come from, you could see all the stars in the sky. The galaxies of the universe were all there, glowing in mists of pinks, blues, and purples. The universe stretched out before us and we’d spend all night watching it move across the sky from sunset to sunrise.”

Aubree gave him an unimpressed look of impatience. “Are you reciting a poem or something? Get in.”

He narrowed his eyes at her, trying to figure out why she was upset. Was she tired or really worried about her stupid boyfriend?

Clenching his jaw, he went around the car and climbed in the passenger side. As she started up the engine, he buckled himself in and turned his gaze out the window.

He couldn’t help thinking about centuries past with Adelaide and the countless nights they had spent staring up at the stars. How he held her against his side and she nestled up against him, running her fingers across his chest while he had pointed out everything above that caught his eye. Stargazing had been their favorite past-time.

When the sun began to rise, he would turn to her and tip her chin up so her gaze met his.

‘And even the wonders in the heavens cannot compare to the one I cherish most.’

Struggling to swallow, he blinked back the moisture collecting in his eyes.

He’d lost it all. His home, his firstborn son, his soulmate, the night sky, his faith—it had all been taken from him. Everything he held dear.

He cleared his throat to rid himself of the lump of painful memories.

Now, he realized, he was going to lose his second chance.

Aubree was leaving, and while he knew this was best, it didn’t hurt any less. In fact, this should make it less painful, he tried to convince himself. They’d barely gotten to know each other, barely gotten close to each other, so there was nothing for him to miss.

Except, what could have been.

He still pointed out the way back home for her in a low voice, until she recognized her neighborhood. They were both silent as she returned to her parking space and turned the car off.

He waited for her to get out, or reach for the door handle. Instead, she sat there chewing on her bottom lip, her chest rising and falling, as she stared out the front windshield without uttering a word.

If only he could hear her thoughts. To know what was running through her mind right now as she stared into the darkness, about to leave him and return to her ill boyfriend; it would offer him some consolation. It wasn’t as though he was deaf either. He could hear her heartbeat slowly increasing and she was clearly uneasy about something occupying her mind.

He felt torn by their parting. He could make things simple, or he could make them hard. Her hesitation left him with a choice he wasn’t sure he could make.

“Well,” she said before he could open his mouth, “this is it.”

She turned toward him but kept her gaze lowered. “Thank you for your help. I really appreciate it.”

His heart thumped in his chest. He swallowed, but managed to croak out in a husky voice, “You’re welcome.”

Her eyebrows drew together and her head tilted slightly as her gaze focused on his collarbone. “What’s that on your neck?”

She reached out to touch it, but he snatched her small hand in his big rough one. Her wide eyes met his equally large and shocked ones as his heart began to hammer harder in his chest. His lungs labored hard to keep up with the spike in blood flow.

The pull of the matebond was crippling. It was drawing her to Adelaide’s mark—the most sensitive spot on his body. She had somehow noticed it peeking out from his collar and jacket. If she touched him there, he knew he wouldn’t be able to control himself. He’d want to take her and make her his, and despite his argumentative brain, every part of him wanted that.

Shifting her hand in his, he entwined his fingers with hers before pressing his lips softly on her delicate knuckles.

The blood rushed to her face and he could hear her heart skip a beat as a rush of pleasure enveloped them both.

How could the Goddess torment him so?

He could barely muster the words through the thickening emotions coursing through him. “Take care on your journey home.”

Her lips parted to speak, and he tore his gaze away from them as he reached for the door with his other hand. He pushed it open and released his hold on her hand as he climbed out.

She found her voice then, merely a breathy whisper, as he slammed the door shut behind him.

“Thank you.”

Taking a few deep breaths to clear his mind, he started on his way to the plaza where he was still parked.

He had to forget about her.

[Gawain, see to it that she makes it safely inside.]

[Yes, Father. All clear here.]

He heard her climb out of the car and slam the door. Heard her laborious breathing and racing heartbeat.

Heard her walk away toward the apartment building.

Heard his silent screams in his head as he fought to let her go.