Chapter 513: The Where Doesn’t Matter
Back on the island, Penelope had returned inside the castle with Zagan while Nedra and Seth remained outside with the caged creature.
The cage was sufficient to hold him. Nedra wasn’t worried about it failing, but given that the vampire was part fae she didn’t want to take any chances. Enchantments were always less effective on those with fae blood, and the stronger their fae genes were, the more resistant they were to them.
Nedra had never witnessed a cage fail even among the most powerful of alyko up until Sage destroyed those in the containment facility, but there was something about turning her back on this vampire that just didn’t seem smart.
"I wonder if something like this would even hold August now," she mumbled to herself while her and Seth sat against the base of a tree.
"Speaking of August, what is taking so long?" Seth groaned.
"Well the time is different. Remember? Who knows... we could be waiting for days," she said.
"Let’s hope that isn’t the case. I don’t want to leave you here next to this guy, but I would really like to give Brandt a proper burial and Emmett, too."
"You can go. It will be fine," she patted his leg.
"Not a chance," his soft growl puttered against her neck where he kissed the mark he left on her.
There was no way he was going to risk leaving her. He had always been protective of Nedra, but now that the blinders had been removed and he realized everything she was to him, there was no way he was leaving her alone in the vicinity of a vampire, caged or not.
Nedra shivered feeling his lips against her skin. She couldn’t believe this was now her reality. If it weren’t for the grotesque creature pounding against the walls of his invisible cage, she may believe it was a dream.
"What are we going to do?" She asked softly as he nuzzled into her neck.
"What do you mean?" He breathed against her.
"When we are done here, and this vampire is dead. What are we going to do?"
Unable to stop himself with her scent filling his nose and her flesh against his skin, he nipped at her neck. He wanted to mark her again and relish in that moment. He wanted to relive it—that moment he realized that she was his and only his and he was able to claim her.
"We are going to be alone," he breathed the promise that trilled inside of her stomach and caught fire.
Nedra squirmed against the tree. "That’s not what I mean," she whispered, though the tone of her voice was not unwelcoming to it.
"Then what do you mean?" He nipped at her skin again, creating a trail of small love bites up her neck.
Her fingers curled against his back with evidence of her struggle to resist whatever he was trying to do right now—simply tease her or actually take her in the woods right in front of the vampire. Somehow it didn’t seem like that horrible of an idea.
"You know what I mean. The future. Where will we go?"
He sat back with a thoughtful look. He had never truly allowed himself to hope for a future with her. They were both always under Zagan’s control, and that meant only hidden moments together. But now everything had opened up, and the future bloomed before them full of possibilities. They could go anywhere and be together.
"As long as it’s with you, the where doesn’t matter," he intertwined their fingers and drowned her in the intensity of his deep blues.
She scoffed at how cheesy it sounded, but that didn’t keep her from grinning like a fool at the sincerity that she felt from him. He was genuine, and now she could see him for the full truth he had always offered her.
Seth may not have realized that she was his mate all this time, but he acted in ways that were always gesturing toward the depth that he felt for her. He had always been that protector. He had always been that wellspring of love even when she pushed him away over and over again. He never abandoned her despite her constant rejections and the wall she had built around herself.
Nedra had always just thought that he was a stubborn male and that he suffered from lack of options here on the island. Seth was the leader here second only to Zagan, so she assumed that he had claimed the only female who was truly available instead of venturing off the island to have his needs met like the others. That’s why the other lycans left her alone. It was a stupid male power play. But that had not been the case... that had not been the case at all.
"I want to meet our children," he said gruffly, interrupting her thoughts and squeezing her hand in his. "Properly. I want to know them. Do you think they will let me? They probably think I have known about them and don’t care."
"No, they don’t think that. I’m sure of it," she said softly. "I’m sorry I kept them from you. I was just trying to protect everyone."
"I know," he kissed the back of her hand, but she could feel the ache that this subject created. He had missed out on something so precious. "Maybe we can make another one."
"What?!" She chuckled in surprise.
"Well we haven’t exactly aged," his eyes danced with the promise of this idea. "I want to see you heavy with my pup."
"We may not have physically aged, but I feel ancient after all of this," she chuckled again. "Don’t you?"
He shook his head. "I’ll make you feel young again," he teased and pulled her closer.
Someone snickered nearby, and Nedra gasped with the sudden realization that they were being watched. She scrambled to stand from the ground, and Seth took a protective step in front of her.
"Hi mom," Selah said with the slightest hint of a smile. She had a cautious, defensive look in her eyes like she was prepared to shield herself from rejection by these two adults who were the parents she had never truly known.
"Selah?" Nedra gasped, pushing past Seth to see her daughter. She had grown so much even since the last time she saw her. "Goddess, how..." And then she caught sight of Sage who was shielded behind his sister.
Nedra sucked in a breath. Both of her children were here.
