Journey 'The Chosen One Trilogy: Book Two' (23 page)

Melana laughed along with everybody
else. “I’m seventy three. When our rule starts, we stop aging until
we are replaced.”

“So, White Ones. Explain
that.”

She grinned. “I assume you noticed that
I am a little pale.”

I laughed and nodded.

“That’s how all rulers are born. We
also have a mark on our thumb.” She held hers up to me and I saw
what looked like a wave. “When we step down, we actually change
colors. I’ll never be very dark, mind you. I imagine I’ll turn
blond with blue eyes.” She smiled. “It’s interesting to try and
figure it out sometimes. When I shift I’ll never be orange like the
other tigers, but I will darken up so that I’m not white anymore,
probably more of a honey color.”

“Can I see?”

She stood and shifted.

“Wow!” I noticed I wasn’t the only one
amazed. Everyone but Jasper, Alex and Matthew were
staring.

Melana was beautiful. Her fur was the
purest white and her stripes jet black. She blinked her almost
white eyes and shifted back. She was blushing.

Dawn gave Zane a playful slap to the
back of the head.

He pulled her to him and kissed her.
“No worries, sweets. I’m more of a fox man myself!”

We all laughed.

We went on to tell Melana about
everything that had happened with the humans.

“Well, isn’t that interesting. I need
to get back to Pinsaber and discuss this with my generals.” She
glanced at Jasper. “Is there any chance that you might be convinced
to come back?”

He shook his head. “Not at this very
moment.”

Tyler yawned and reminded everyone how
tired we were.

We said goodbye to Zane, Dawn, Luke,
Mel, and the twins, all of whom promised to come back later the
next day.

“When you feel up to it, come visit the
castle,” offered Melana as she started to walk away. There were
still a few hours of daylight left and she wanted to get started
home as well.

“We will,” I promised.

Matthew seemed to hesitate. He glanced
towards Melana who was already shifted by the trees and
frowned.

I gave him a hug. “Thanks again,
Matthew.”

He nodded but didn’t move.

“Go,” I said. “We’ll still be here when
you’re ready.”

“It’s the strangest feeling; like I’m
being pulled in two directions. Is that how it was for you?” he
asked Jasper.

My mate shook his head. “I didn’t feel
anything out of the ordinary until Hayden told me I would have to
tie her up and drag her to the keep to get her there. That’s what I
should have done, but I couldn’t.”

“Mine was different. I felt mine break
the instant I stood in front of her in the clearing and I realized
she was the one I was dreaming about.” Alex laughed at Matthew’s
face and put a reassuring arm around Leslie. “We’re not fated. The
only thing we can think of is that I’m one of her guardians, like
Dodge.”

Kacey’s grey eyes were distant as he
thought back. “I knew something was different when we left the
keep. Every time I thought about the fact that we were going after
Hayden I would question the order. I have never questioned an
order. And when we were ordered to attack in the clearing, I
couldn’t even move. I just stood there while everyone fought. Then
the arrow got me and I fell, so I just lay there. I didn’t even try
to get away when one of your cats came to finish me off.

“All I could think was that I would
rather die than hurt her. But I don’t think I knew for sure until
Nate tried to take her and I was positive that had Dodge not killed
him I would have.” He blushed and looked back down. It was the most
he had said in the past week and a half.

Matthew seemed to take in all of this
information. He nodded to himself and shifted. The leopard bowed to
me slightly then bounded off after the white tiger.

“Wow, Hayden,” Alex was grinning at me.
“That’s two of the Queen’s best captains you steal from
her.”

“I don’t steal anybody.” I turned and
wrapped my arms around Jasper. “Except you; I would have stolen you
if I’d had to.”

He smiled down at me. “Now, that would
have been something to see.”

We made our way back into the house.
Kacey hesitated at the door.

“Come in, Kacey,” Jasper smiled at him.
“I’m sure we can spare the floor for you. Then you can move to the
spare room when Alex and Leslie head home tomorrow.” He grabbed
some extra blankets and passed them to Kacey.

“Kacey.”

He looked up from the floor, towards
me.

“We have a few rules in our little
group. Would you like to hear them?”

He nodded.

“We don’t kill unless we have to. We
don’t fight if it can be avoided. We all help each other.” I smiled
at him. “And most importantly, we aren’t an army, or a pack. We are
a family.”

His grey eyes widened.

“You are a part of this family now. So,
no more hesitating, no more looking at the ground. If you have an
opinion, say it. There’s no right or wrong. You won’t be punished.
If you feel like leaving to do something, you don’t have to ask
permission. Is that understood?”

He nodded.

Alex gave him a pat on the back.
“You’ll like it here.”

Jasper squeezed my hand. My heart did a
flip at the look in his eyes. He led me quietly to our bedroom and
closed the door.

“How are you feeling?” he
asked.

“Exhausted.” I smiled at
him.

“You had better get some sleep, then.”
His eyes were watching me as I slowly undressed. I shrugged and
wiggled my hips to get out of my pants.

He looked at me with a small smile on
his lips and I smiled back. I made my way to him and untied the
laces of his tunic, watching his muscles move under his skin as he
reached back and pulled it off in one fluid motion over his head. A
couple of curls fell down over his eyes.

I reached down and undid the ties on
his pants, helping them down to his ankles. My fingers ran lightly
along the inside of his thighs when I stood back up.

His shiver made me smile and I let my
tongue play over his nipples as I stroked him with my hand. He
moaned and pulled my face up to his, his lips crushing
mine.

“By the moons, Hayden, I need you now!”
He picked me up and placed me on the edge of the bed. He looked
down at me, his eyes burning.

I put one leg up on his shoulder,
hooked the other one behind him and reached down to guide him in. I
closed my eyes and moaned as he filled me slowly then pulled back
again.

His hands gripped my hips and held them
steady. His thrusts were strong and deep. Every movement sent
shivers through my entire body. All of our fear, stress and relief
of the past weeks were being released with every stroke. I moved my
hips up to meet him and he groaned.

He pulled out and my body screamed for
him. Using his hands on my hips, he gently rolled me over. The way
he did it was almost like a question. It occurred to me that we
hadn’t tried this position since the night we had mated.

I spread my legs in answer, gasping as
he entered me and stayed completely sheathed in me. He lay down
over my back and kissed my neck softly where he had once drew blood
with a bite.

I moaned as he started to move against
me, softly pushing as deeply into me as he could. I pushed back
against him and could hear his breathing come in faster, shorter
breaths. I buried my face in the blankets as an electric current
started deep inside of me and spread outward to every nerve in my
body.

Jasper pulled me against him harder and
I gasped as another shockwave went through me before the first one
was done. I felt him swell inside of me, his thighs tensing against
the back of mine. His arms went around me, his chest on my back and
he kissed my neck and shoulders softly.

We stayed like that for a few minutes
until our heartbeats had slowed back to normal.

Jasper let go of me and I lay down,
watching him watching me.

I raised an eyebrow and smiled when it
became obvious that he wasn’t done.

Without a word he lay down beside me
and brought himself up on one elbow. His fingers traced the outline
of my breasts. His lips found mine, the kiss so soft.

“And now I need to love you,” he
whispered.

Every touch, every kiss was slow, soft.
I ran my fingers through his hair and my hips reached up to meet
him. His lips never left my skin. His hands never stopped touching
me. His rhythm never faltered.

Jasper covered my mouth with his as I
bucked under him. I clenched around him and sent him over the edge.
He rolled onto his side and pulled me to his chest, his fingers
running through my hair. I closed my eyes.

He pushed me back and looked at me in
surprise as a tear fell onto his arm.

“What’s wrong? Did I hurt you?” He
started to pull away from me.

I stopped him by hooking a leg over his
hip. “No. You didn’t hurt me. Will you quit worrying about that?” I
looked up into his worried eyes and smiled. “I’m just...I’m happy,
and relieved, and so grateful to have you home again.”

He relaxed and pulled me tightly
against him. “You saved me, even before you got there. I’m sure I
should have died. I could feel my body wanting to give up. But I
couldn’t. I wouldn’t. Every time I thought of you it gave me the
strength to hang on for another hour.”

I looked up at him with new tears in my
eyes.

“Shush,” he whispered and wiped the
tears away before kissing me softly. He pulled away slowly and
looked into my eyes. His voice was thick as he continued. “When I
was lying on the floor in the cave, I was thinking about how I
would try to tell you how much I loved you when I saw you
again.”

He shook his head a little. “There just
isn’t any way that is accurate enough. I could tell you I loved you
every minute of the day and it still wouldn’t come close to how
much I do.”

I reached up and touched his face. He
closed his eyes.

“I’ve thought about that too,” I
whispered back to him. “I think I came up with a
solution.”

He opened his eyes and I caught my
breath at how beautiful they were. I was positive I would never get
used to them.

“I think that maybe, just maybe, if we
tell each other every day,” I kissed him softly. “And if we show
each other every day for the rest of our lives, we might come close
to letting each other know.”

He groaned and kissed me
hard.

When I could catch my breath I looked
up and lost myself in his eyes. “I love you so much,” I
whispered.

We lay together, exhausted. I felt him
smile into my hair and I looked up.

“What?”

His smile widened. “I was just thinking
that after tonight, we’re off to a good start.”

I laughed and rolled so that my back
was against his chest. He pulled me tightly to him.

“Oh, and Hayden,” he said with a
yawn.

“Hmmm?”

He chuckled a little and I smiled at
what I knew was coming.

“I still love you more.”

I snuggled closer to him. “And he calls
me stubborn,” I mumbled as we fell asleep.

Chapter Six

Two months later, we were packed and
ready to go. The sun was bright and a warm breeze ruffled the tall
green grass.

“Did you lock the door?” I put my bag
over my shoulder and readjusted my swords.

“Yes. Where’s Tiny? Did you forget her
in the house?”

Tiny answered his question by running
up his leg.

“Did I forget her inside the house?” I
snorted. “And you want me to be the mother of your children?” I
stopped short, shocked that I would say something like that. My
throat tightened and I had to swallow a few times to loosen it.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know where that came from.”

Jasper had his arms around me in an
instant. “Don’t. We’ve talked about this. It wasn’t meant to
be.”

The fact that I hadn’t conceived after
our mating weighed heavy on my heart.

“I want to try again,” I
whispered.

He shook his head. “No. I won’t do that
to you again.”

I took a few deep breaths. Here I was
supposed to be able to save or destroy the world and I couldn’t
give Jasper the one thing he really wanted; the one thing I had
come to realize I really wanted.

“It was for the best, Shlova. With all
the fighting coming in the near future, it’s not going to be a
great place to raise little ones.”

“Then after. After this whole mess is
done and over with.”

He took his own deep breath and tilted
my head up with his fingers. He kissed me softly. “If this is all
done and over with the next time you come into heat, we’ll see.
God, Hayden. Why are you so willing to put yourself in that
situation again?”