Ellida (24 page)

Everything else disappeared: the pub, the
people inside, the band. It seemed that the music and Jack’s voice
were coming from somewhere above, from a different reality. They
were just the two of them there, in the time and place that
belonged only to them.

“I told you once that, by the time I finished
singing you this song, everything would be fine. Do you remember?”
Jack whispered in her ear during the instrumental part of the
song.

“It didn’t take me
that
long.”

“I know. Took me even less. Now when I think
about it, I know I was in love with you the moment your fingers
touched my skin. Before I even saw you.”

“I love you, Jack.”

“I love you, too. More than life itself.” He
kissed her soft lips, gently, and moved his lips back to her ear.
“Will you marry me, Astrid Mohegan?”

He gently took her left hand in his and
slipped the ring on her fourth finger. Before she could say a word,
Jack continued with the song.

THE MUSIC stopped. Suddenly, Astrid became
aware of the total silence. Jack stood in front her, looking into
her sapphire-blue eyes and holding her left hand, waiting.

“I will marry you, Jack Canagan.”

Jack’s lips met Astrid’s in a long kiss that
made her head spin.

And then, slowly, the carousel in her head
came to a stop.

“She said ‘yes’!” Jack announced aloud,
without moving his gaze from Astrid.

For a moment, it seemed that some sort of
explosion had just occurred inside Goblin’s Hollow. The cheering,
applauding and whistling was so loud that the windows rattled and
walls vibrated.

When the lights finally turned on again, the
magic of the night didn’t disappear. Astrid looked down at her hand
for the first time since Jack slid the ring on her finger. In the
middle of a wide platinum band, on a raised crown, sat a big
rectangular pink diamond.

“Do you like it?”

Astrid nodded, unable to utter a word, tears
spilling down her cheeks. Jack brushed them away with his
kisses.

“It’s beautiful, Jack. It’s beautiful beyond
description,” Astrid said in a shaky voice, and sniffed. “You
really surprised me. I would’ve never expected a proposal on the
stage in a local pub. And a pink diamond! And I just couldn’t
imagine anything more romantic. Pink diamonds are so rare and so
expensive… No other ring would make me happier. It’s perfect,
Jack!”

They were still on stage, completely absorbed
with each other. Holding her hands in his, Jack rested his forehead
against Astrid’s. The noise gradually subsided, as Goblin’s
Hollow’s guests started leaving the pub.

“Our house is ready. You’ll move in with me,
right?”

“Of course. About the wedding, Jack—”

”Don’t worry. I understand.”

“When we finish with Seth.”

“I know, baby. I love you. You
are
my
wife. I don’t need a piece of paper to tell me that.”

EXCEPT FOR Rawhide, busy packing up their
instruments, they were alone in the pub.

“Shall we?” Jack asked.

Their family and closest friends waited
outside for them.

James kissed Astrid’s forehead.
“Congratulations, my child. Your father would be very happy for you
tonight. You’ve chosen a great man for a husband.” He turned to
Jack. “Congratulations to you, too, son!”

“Thank you,” Astrid and Jack said at the same
time.

“Now you are going to be my daughter-in-law,
not only my niece,” Betty said and kissed both her son and Astrid.
“Let’s go home now. Your uncle and I made a dinner to celebrate
your engagement.”

“Congratulations,” Peyton said simply to
Astrid and Jack, without a trace of sadness or bitterness, and then
turned excitedly to her friend. “Now let me see your ring!”

THE LATE night celebration turned into an
early breakfast, and after that everybody resumed their own duties.
It was Jack’s turn to train his men. Peyton and Morgaine went for a
walk. Betty disappeared into her office. Maggie and Eamon listened
to music in the basement. Takeshi waited for Astrid with two bows
in his hands, and they walked together toward the woods.

Glancing happily every once in a while at the
ring on her left hand, Astrid concentrated on her kyudo practice,
sending one arrow after another right to the center of the target,
no matter where Takeshi had moved it.

I LOVED my new house!

The main floor was now one expansive
open-plan space, filled with cozy sofas, armchairs and an antique
dining room set. It extended into a roomy kitchen with a more
intimate dining area. The furniture was a combination of old and
new. Jack’s father’s hobby had been furniture making and he had
made the dining room set when he’d married Betty. It was beautiful,
elegant, high gloss furniture made of dark cherry wood. Two
armchairs and an octagonal coffee table were also his work. The
rest of the furniture was new, carefully chosen to complement the
antique pieces.

The Russian and Greek saints had their
permanent place above the fireplace. There was plenty of light in
this big room. Decorated in warm colors—soft yellow, cinnamon,
sage, terracotta and beige—it felt homey and inviting.

The master suite, a spacious room with a
caramel-color ceiling and dark wood beams, had soothing
creamy-white walls, russet flooring and mahogany furniture with
bursts of sunny yellow and apple green. The rugged woods perfectly
balanced the feminine touches: my elegant pink vases and blankets,
Japanese ink paintings above the headboard, soft lighting, and an
oval standing mirror in a delicate rosewood frame. There was a
built-in closet, two attached bathrooms—a smaller one for Jack, a
big one for me, with a huge, beige vintage claw foot bathtub—a
custom-made bed, a sofa and a table for two. Two armchairs beside
the fireplace with a thick, soft carpet and double curtains made
our bedroom an intimate and cozy place. I had let Jack decide how
our bedroom would look. He admitted Betty had helped him,
especially with the decorative accents.

I was glad Jack had been sensitive enough not
to ask Peyton, the family’s uncrowned queen of interior decoration,
for help. She might have done it gladly, but then she might have
told him to go to hell as well.

The other bedrooms were partially finished.
Some of them needed more furniture, some of them curtains or rugs.
The second biggest room, connected to the master bedroom by a door,
was completely empty. One day, it would be a nursery.

Jack and I planned to move in the next week,
precisely on Monday, one day before the next full moon.

UNTIL THEN we continued sharing my room at
the Mohegans’ house. Lying down on the bed and talking simply
didn’t work anymore, however. Not after the night Jack had
proposed.

I’d glued myself to Jack. I couldn’t
rationally explain the urge to be constantly close to him, as if I
was afraid he would vanish at the most critical moment, and I would
have to go through yet another change alone.

No matter how hard I tried to convince myself
that everything was going to be fine this time, I couldn’t shed the
nagging feeling that something unpredictable would happen if I let
Jack out of my sight for even a moment.

My neediness must’ve been annoying, but Jack
understood.

The sexual tension between us was stronger
than ever. We dealt with it by staying outside, walking and
talking.

Then one night, Jack said, “Astrid, I’m gonna
turn every night until we move to our house. We’ll still be
together, we can talk. I’ll be here all the time, but being in my
wolf form would take the edge of this pressure off.”

I agreed. It helped indeed. So every night,
as soon as we retired to our room, Jack would take his wolf form.
He would jump on the bed and I would put my head on his long,
strong back, breathing in his incredible scent and running my
fingers through his thick fur. We were both much calmer and
relaxed, although I couldn’t help wishing I could change, too, and
run with Jack through the forest. And maybe do what wolf mates do
when they were alone in the deep, deep woods.

ONE EVENING, Jack said to me telepathically,
“
Astrid, stop it. We rarely do that in wolf form.”

“You repeatedly assured me you couldn’t read
somebody else’s thoughts,” I said, laughing.

“
But I can read expressions, and my nose
works just fine. I know exactly what’s going on in that lovely head
of yours.”

“I become more and more sexually agitated as
the change approaches, you know that.”

“
How did you deal with that before you met
me?”

“I’m like this only with you,” I said.
“Before I met you, I hadn’t felt it as a sexual pressure. Come on,
you know that.” I rolled on my belly, took his head between my
hands, and looked into his beautiful amber eyes. “Jack, we still
don’t know what’s going to happen on Tuesday, right? We don’t know
for sure if my spirits will connect.”

“
Are you scared?”

“I’m just nervous.”

Jack pushed his muzzle under my chin and
lifted my head. “
Astrid, look at me… Love, I’ll be there. We’ll
go through this together. No big deal. We’ll make love during the
full moon. A few times, until your wolf joins your human
spirit.”

“Wait a second!” I said alarmed and pulled
myself into a sitting position. “What do you mean ‘a few times’?
Isn’t one time enough, and after that we can make love just like
other normal people? What are you trying to tell me? Jack?”

He sighed.
“I don’t know, baby, how many
times will be necessary. The pressure will continue to build and I
have to help you to release it. You’ve been accumulating it for
years—”

“I have not! There is a healthy and natural
way to deal with ‘accumulated sexual energy’ when you’re single, if
you know what I mean,” I said. I knew my cheeks turned red, but
what the heck!

“
I have no idea what you mean, so I’d be
thrilled if you demonstrate it to me one day,”
Jack said with a
chuckle.
“Astrid, if I’m okay with, er, prolonged lovemaking,
why are you worried? We’ll be making love, that’s it. A few times,
but that’s fine with me. It’ll be fine with you too, because that’s
what your body needs. We would’ve done that anyway; I doubt I
would’ve easily let you out of my bed once I finally got you there.
Not after just one lovemaking, for sure.”

“But I’m gonna turn into a crazy sex
machine.”

“
Honestly, baby, I’m looking forward to
it. That’s a unique experience. It’s not going to happen again.
Enjoy it while it lasts.”

I still couldn’t let it go. “What about you?
Isn’t it too much for you? How are you going to do that?”

His soft laugh resonated in my head.
”
Don’t worry about me. I have a plan.”

“Jack, is there anything else I need to
know?”

“
You think this isn’t enough?”

“You’re right. I don’t think I want to know
anything else. I’m going to sleep. If you aren’t concerned, why
should I be?
You
have to provide twenty-four hour sexual
service, the best possible. I’ll be on the receiving end.”

Jack laughed. “
Yeah, dream on. My success
totally depends on your engagement, Miss Spock, so you better do
your best.”

“Good night, Jack!”

“
I love you, Astrid. Sweet dreams
,” he
said and, still laughing, placed his big, beautiful head on my
stomach. His paws rested peacefully on my shoulder.

Blueberry, who’d been wary of Jack when she’d
seen him for the first time in his wolf form, now slid between us
and pressed her small back against Jack’s leg.

I lay in the dark room, listening to Jack’s
slow breathing. In spite of the act I’d put on, I wasn’t overly
concerned by the latest news. My mind easily found a logical
explanation: accumulated sexual energy, heat, previous human and
wizard lovers who couldn’t satisfy my animal needs. It would take
time to neutralize it. I trusted Jack. I knew he would safely take
me through the process. The need to get my spirits connected was
stronger than my fear of the procedure.

As long as Jack was with me.

MY ANXIETY wasn’t groundless after all.

It was a sunny Saturday afternoon, and Jack I
and had decided to drive to Red Cliff Mountain in my Ferrari. There
we had our favorite spot: a small plateau near the bottom of it
with a beautiful view of the town and the mountain range that
surrounded it.

Hand in hand, we were sitting beside each
other on a big flat rock near the road, talking. With the full moon
approaching, we couldn’t risk more intimacy than that.

Then Jack’s phone rang. As he answered it,
his face paled. He asked a few short questions—when, where, how
bad, finishing the call with a brisk, gloomy, “I’ll be there as
soon as possible.”

He turned to me. “Astrid, I have to go to San
Francisco.”

“No…”

I wasn’t sure if I said that or if the word
just flashed through my mind.

No!
yelled my other part, scared and
angry.
You can’t go now! No!!!

Jack took my hands between his. “I’ll be back
in time, Astrid, I promise. Tomorrow night or at the latest by
Monday. The full moon’s on Tuesday night. I give you my word I’ll
be here in time.”

“What happened? Why do you need to go?” I
asked in a shaky, desperate voice.

Jack held my hands between his. The warm,
soothing river of our bond ran between us. I took a deep breath,
fighting against the panic that was spreading inside me like
fire.

And there was someone else who had a say in
it, too.