Chapter 21

Emersyn

“Are you okay?” His voice startles me from my thoughts, I realize Liam is staring at me, his honey eyes crinkled in the corner with concern apparent on his features.

“Yeah, I’m sorry I got distracted.” I say as I brush a loose curl from my face. I was standing by the pond, but hadn’t made my way to the gazebo just yet. I had stopped wanting to feel the breeze wash my worries away but had gotten lost in the moment, instead.

It took all of my strength to force myself to prepare to meet Liam, but I refused to allow Callum’s antics to derail me from keeping my word. He stayed, but that didn’t change that he was about to leave. He was showing me a side of him that I didn’t recognize and no matter how hard I tried, I was running out of excuses to give him.

Liam studies me for a moment before he responds with a smile, “Well, let me help with that. Tonight, I want you to forget all your worries and just enjoy yourself. Close your eyes, I have a surprise for you.”

I look at him and crinkle my nose up, “Don’t let me fall.”

“Trust me,” he whispers close to my ear, sending the slightest shiver down my spine.

He grins as he see’s me suppress my bodies reaction to him being so close before he says, “Now, take my hand.”

I feel the warmth of his hand grasp mine as a tingle shoots through the tips of his fingers. I expect my wolf to growl from within, but she doesn’t react, almost as if she is reserved to see where this leads us.

I am uneasy as I feel the gravel beneath my feet and hear the sound of music playing quietly, but his voice reassures me. “I know you said that you are hard to impress, but I had to give it a try. Open your eyes, and tell me what you think.”

I open my eyes and gasp as I see the gazebo. He has hung sheer curtains around its edge with twinkling lights attached to them, giving it the appearance of being the star lit sky. In the middle is a table sat for two with candles flickering in the wind. I allow my gaze to take in it’s beauty, before turning my attention to Liam.

“How did you do this in just a few short hours?” I say with shock still apparent in my tone.

He smiles as he whispers, “I may have asked for some help, but you haven’t seen the best part yet.”

“There is more?” I exclaim.

He smiles as he tugs my hand gently past the table and pulls the curtain back. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry when my eyes fall upon the most beautiful replica of the dollhouse he had ruined when we were children. My eyes well with tears as I lean down and delicately touch the side, memories flooding back of the joy that its predecessor had given me.

“How did you do this?” I ask with an awestruck look. “It’s perfect!”

Liam cast his eyes downward as he smiles and says, laughing slightly, “I have been busy. The paint may still be damp though!”

I laugh like a child on Christmas morning as he continues, “I didn’t know that it meant so much to you, but I wanted you to know how sorry I was.”

I had never had someone do something so thoughtful for me, and I couldn’t help but to be impressed. “You are something else,” I whisper.

“What’s that I hear? Is the stubborn Emersyn O’ Connor giving me a compliment?” he says grinning broadly.

I can’t stop the smile that spreads across my face. “I suppose I am.”

“Hmm. There are actual miracles,” he says as he nods his head to the table. “Are you hungry?”

“Always,” I say laughing.

He keeps his hand in mine as he pulls me towards the table, “Then let’s eat!”

I can’t help but feel a pang of sadness when he lets go of my hand, pulling my chair out for me, before sitting across from me. I can’t help myself and keep looking at the dollhouse as we begin to eat. Liam is full of surprises, but this feels different. This feels like a kindness that he didn’t have to do, and somehow it makes my emotions even more clouded.

I force myself to focus on the plate of food, as Liam leans forward on his elbow and says, “You look beautiful, tonight.”

I bashfully smile at him, still not used to being complimented so blatantly. “You don’t look too bad yourself.”

“Two compliments. Be careful, Emersyn, if you keep this up I might get the impression that you are actually impressed!” He says with a big grin planted on his handsome face.

I smile as I play with the peas on my plate, “And what if I am?”

“Then I would have say I have achieved what I was told was impossible,” Liam says.

I laugh as I lift my gaze to his, noting the way his eyes sparkle in the twinkling lights, “Apparently, I was wrong.”

Liam feigns shock as he mocks. “Could I get that on recording?”

“Absolutely not,” I say grinning. “Because that is a rare occasion, my friend. I’m always right.”

He laughs as he counters, “Well you were wrong about me.”

I flutter my lashes gently as I arch a brow playfully, “Is that a fact?”

“Yes,” he says with a look of longing in his eyes that can’t be denied.

I smile, knowing I am playing with fire, but genuinely enjoying myself. “Well I guess you will just have to prove it.”

His eyes dance across my face as he responds confidently, “I told you, everyday.”

I feel the pull of my wolf as she whines from within, and I am unsure of what she wants. She doesn’t speak to me in my human form, instead she expects me to use my instincts, something I am not as accustomed to as I would like to be. I stand feeling the urge to move. Liam looks at me questioningly, “Everything, okay?”

I smile, more to reassure myself than him, “My wolf is restless. But she is stubborn and doesn’t just tell me what she wants.”

Liam grins, “You are still young, it comes with time and experience. It doesn’t surprise me that your wolf is as stubborn as you are, though.”

I laugh, “Can we walk, maybe it will settle her?”

“Sure,” he says as he gets up to follow me.

My wolf is still unsettled, but she calms a bit as the fresh air fills our lungs. She is a relentless creature that feeds on my every emotion, and I am so lost in what I am actually feeling that I refuse to allow her to take the reins. But as we walk I know that is what she is after, she wants to be free.

Liam must understand, or his wolf must be calling to him as well, because as we approach the opening beyond the pond, he turns to me and smiles broadly, “Okay, no ravine this time?”

“Are you sure?” I say in a small voice.

“Yes,” he says stubbornly. “My wolf feels it too. I deny him too often. Let’s run!”

I smile at him as I lay my coat down and start to undress quickly. The cool breeze washes over me like a wave and I hold my breath for a moment allowing it to pass. I feel Liam’s eyes upon me, but my wolf is ready and I don’t even hesitate for a moment, as I begin to run.

I feel the rush of the wind as it whips against my body, the tingling of anticipation nipping at my heels. Liam is by my side and as I allow my wolf to take control, I realize that she is just as confused as I am. Because she doesn’t leave Liam this time.

She stops and stares the mahogany wolf, allowing herself to be drawn to him. She sniffs his wolf gently before she nips playfully at his ear. I don’t fight it. She is me, and I am her. And in this moment I realize she is giving me the freedom to choose as well. She is not refusing him, she is accepting him. Our hearts beat as one and are torn between two.