Chapter 45-Amara

When we get home from the cafe, I let my father wander off around the perimeter and I find Sophie, Violet, Blue, Gemma, Cici, and Serena in the dining room, eating a lunch of their own. I walk up to them and snag a scone out of Sophie’s hand. She yells in protest at me, but quickly grabs another one. I sat down in the chair next to her, munching on my stolen pastry.

“Whatcha guys doin?” I say

“We were just about to go walk the trail around the lake, do you want to come? I told Sophie how pretty it was” Cece says sweetly

“Yeah, I don’t think I’ve been there yet! Let me go find Roman though, I haven’t seen him all morning. Can you guys wait like 20 minutes?” I ask, suddenly really missing Roman, I was too distracted to miss him earlier but now that I’m not preoccupied, I just want to curl up in his arms and never leave. Ugh, this damn mating bond has me ungoddessly clingy.

“Of course, we all need to change clothes, anyways. Meet us on the benches by the training grounds whenever you’re ready” Gemma says and all the girls nod

I hand Sophie back the pastry that I only left two bites of and she flips me the bird before I run off to Roman’s office. When I get there, he’s staring intently at his computer. All I ever see this man do is deskwork. No wonder all Alpha’s are grumpy. He looks up when I walk in, and pulls his chair away from his desk so I can sit on his lap. I slide onto him and kiss him deeply.

“How was your lunch with your father? I didn’t sense any desire to burn any buildings to the ground, so I assume it went somewhat well” he says, pulling away from my kiss but snaking his arms around my waist and resting his chin on my shoulder.

“Well, the whole dad part of it was fine and dandy, I apparently have two siblings. Which made me feel pretty giddy before I learned about the grandfather that wants to hunt me down and kill me on top of the vampires who want to melt my brain. Oh, and by the way we leave for the underworld tomorrow.” I say the last part quickly, I internally kick myself for not asking him first. We just spent a week away from the pack, and now I’m dragging him away from it even more. I feel even worse when he rubs his temples and I internally prepare myself for a scolding.

“Well, you certainly have a growing fan club it seems. I expect the full information of this grandfather later. As for the underworld, that’s fine. I’ll make it work. I’ve never actually portaled to the underworld, but I remember being taught on how to do so. I’ll have to come back here every day to check on things though, but Aston and Max can handle it. I already prepared for this.” he says

“I’m sorry, I didn’t even ask. I can push it back, I’m sure he won’t mind”

“No it’s fine, I was hoping for a couple more days before we went, but you’ll be busy with your training anyways so I can hop back here during some of those sessions. We need to get you trained properly, I do need to come up with some way for me to be contacted though, should shit go down.” Roman says thoughtfully

I shrug “I’m sure you could ask my dad”

“I’ll figure it out,” he says, shaking his head. Typical stubborn Alpha, not wanting to sacrifice his pride by asking for help.

“Oh, fair warning, my father is very anxious to spar with you.” I tease him

“Well, this should be interesting. Although, I can’t say I’m surprised. I’m pretty sure he wanted to castrate me when he let himself into our living room. I always wondered whether or not I would meet the king of the underworld one day, but I didn’t exactly foresee myself being his prime target”

“God, possessive ass males. If you give our daughter’s mate shit for simply being her mate, I’ll castrate you myself. At least he didn’t get all growly and possessive. Although, I could tell him about Felix, that would surely draw his attention away from you” I said, and Roman growls

“No, then he would just be pissed I got the pleasure of killing that sick fuck. Too bad I can’t bring him back and do it again.” he says, and growls again, holding me tighter

“Oh well. Anyways, I’m going to the lake with the girls. They’re waiting for me, so I’d better get going. Can you ask Seth to come with us by the way?”

“To the lake? I’m not going to see him before you leave” he says and I reach back to smack him upside the head.

“No you dummy, to the underworld”

“Be more specific next time then. Yes I’ll ask him” he says and flicks my nose before kissing me again “have fun at the lake, I was meaning to take you there eventually.”

“I’m sure there’s no shortage of places around this pack you can show me.” I say before I get up “I’ll see you in a few hours?”

“Of course, my love. I’m sure my ass will still be sitting right here when you get back. Seth may have taken care of my paperwork, but I still have plenty of shit to catch up on” he says, annoyed. I laugh at him and walk out.

Everyone is already by the benches when I get there, and we immediately start walking to this lake. The brisk November air is perfect to keep us all from sweating, but not freezing cold as we make the 20 minute walk there, me and Sophie at the back of the group following everyone else since we didn’t know where we were going.

We talk about completely irrelevant things, and I welcome this small sense of normalcy. I didn’t bring up the small vacation I was going to ask Sophie and Roman’s sisters to take with me. I didn’t want to make the others feel left out. Although I don’t think they would be particularly keen to head to the depths of hell with us, but it still felt rude to leave them out.

When we get to the lake, they head towards a picnic table and we all sit down, admiring the scenery. It really was a beautiful place, the lake seemed to sparkle under the midday sun, the grass still green despite the dead of winter knocking on its door. The trees were bare, having already shed their leaves last month, yet somehow, they still added to the beauty of this place. I felt at peace, I kept my eyes glued to the sparkling lake thinking about how great it was to be here with my friends-yes, friends, plural-with my mate safely at home in his office. And then, for the first time in my life, I felt like I truly belonged here. Like all those years spent in my discontent just led me here, telling me that if I just stuck it out, life would eventually be more than just surviving. I wasn’t miserable for all that time, no. Depressed and traumatized, yes, unhappy, yes. But it was enough to make me realize what I wanted, and who I didn’t want to be. I blink out of my thoughts when Sophie squeezes my knee. I look at her and she’s just smiling at me. Creep.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen that smile on you” she says and I scoff

“Don’t get all corny with me, you’ll ruin my moment.” I tell her. She simply shakes her head, clasps my hand in hers and looks out on the lake with me.

Cici and Serena force us all up a couple minutes later, and we spend the next couple hours doing a mini hike with them leading the way. If I thought the lake was beautiful, I couldn’t wait to see the foliage in the hike we took when it was Autumn or Spring. Large sequoia trees surrounded the trail, and all of the land the trail was between looked undisturbed. Not a single tree stump, piece of litter, or even an indication that there was any upkeep to control anything that might grow. Like everything here was allowed to grow entirely free, with no fear of being weeded out, mowed, or even trimmed.

I could have walked that path forever, but we head home when the sun starts to set. My legs were actually aching, between training and all that walking I couldn’t wait to get into the shower and let the hot water loosen my muscles up before relaxing in bed. Well, relaxing in bed after Roman turns my body to jelly. Despite that, I mindlink Blue, Gemma and Violet to meet me in my room, knowing Sophie will probably follow me upstairs anyways. Goddess, I miss the mindlink with her. I wish there was a way she could move here with me. Serena and Cece excuse themselves to go find their mates anyways, so when we all head up to my room I can sense the curiosity coming off of everyone.

“So, how does everyone feel about taking a small holiday with me to the underworld?” I say, cutting right to the point. Gemma’s eyes widen but Sophie and Violet smile devilishly. Peas in a pod those two are.

“Too bad I can’t tell Colton, I would love to see the look on his face when I tell him this.” Sophie sighs, like it’s the biggest inconvenience of her week.

“You don’t even have to ask me twice, I’m so in” Violet says

“Well, I guess unless I want to spend the week crocheting and painting with Serena and Cece, I have to say yes” Gemma says with a small laugh. “The last time I didn’t go with Violet on a trip, my hands turned into pin cushions and I got paint in my ear.

“Cool, cool. We leave tomorrow” I say

“Seriously? Give us a little more notice next time.” Violet says with an annoyed eye roll, but her smile gives her away that she’s just messing with me.

I send them all away and race for the shower. Roman is laying on the bed when I come out and I snuggle up to him and let sleep claim me, not at all anxious for tomorrow, surprisingly.