Chapter Eight
2739 Words
Chapter Eight
“Sarina!” yelled Romeo from downstairs.
“Yeah?”
“Can you come down here please?”
“Sure, Dad. I’ll be right there.”
“Thanks, Sunshine.”
Sarina put her pen down and brought her journal downstairs with her, her heart pounding when she saw Brody standing with her father. “Yes, Dad? What is it? Mom left supper on the stove. Aunt Penelope is close to delivering so she wanted to head over that way and check on her.”
“That’s alright, sweetheart,” Romeo smiled. “As you know, we’ve all been impressed with how seamless it’s been to add Mr. Duscene’s pack to ours, how well he’s done stepping down from his alpha position. On the way home he asked for my permission to court you and I gave it, that is, if that’s what you want.”
Sarina felt her heart kick in her chest as her lungs worked to breathe. “I’d like that very much,” Sarina smiled, a blush covering her cheeks.
“Alright,” her father said. Sarina nearly dropped the diary from her hands.
“Would you like to go for a walk, Miss Traverse?” Brody asked with a twinkling smile.
“I would,” Sarina smiled. “We won’t be long, Dad.”
“Make it home for supper. From what I smell, your mother outdid herself again. Plus, I have a feeling that Penelope may be in a rush to deliver that baby.”
“Oh I almost forgot,” Sarina said excitedly. “I do love new babies.”
“I don’t know a woman alive who doesn’t,” Brody said, grinning.
Sarina took Brody’s arm and walked out of her parents’ home.
“Did I tell you that this home used to belong to my Great Aunt Mabel? She caused a huge uproar when she had a hysterectomy. She loved a human man and didn’t want the male werewolves sniffing around her when she came into season, not that it stopped them from doing it anyway. When she passed on, she left the home to my mother. That’s how she met my father. My grandfather, Jeremiah, had been Amanda’s father’s best friend and surrogate brother. When her parents were killed, Jeremiah and my father both watched over her from a distance until she turned twenty-four. That’s the year my great Aunt Mabel died. Along with the house, she’d also left a plethora of journals that go back ages and ages in our bloodline.”
“Your dad told me the story today, although I’d be interested to hear your mother’s perspective on it. He said that he was quite overbearing with her when she’d barely even discovered what and who she was.”
“Oh he was,” Sarina giggled. “I used to joke about my parent’s s*x life being like a copy of Cosmopolitan, although as I’ve grown older, I’ve matured some in that area. s*x is something beautiful, especially in the right relationship. I’ve always thought it should be an expression of love and not a consequence of l**t, or at least not just that.”
“You have a very practical viewpoint on it,” Brody said, sliding his hand down to intertwine their fingers. When her pretty, dark eyes met his, Brody felt the jolt that went through him, the recognition.
“I’ve learned a few things in nearly twenty-five years.”
“I bet.”
“Can I show you something?”
“Sure,” Brody agreed with a nod of his head. Sarina liked that about him. She liked that he saw her as an equal, a woman whose opinion and perspective mattered. She chose an open area of grass and sat down, waiting for Brody to join her.
“This is a journal that my mother gave me. Apparently my great-great-so on and so forth grandfather used to keep journals and it passed down through the generations. When my mother gave it to me I wasn’t really sure what to put in it, and then one day I picked it up and just started writing. I don’t always use it, but I do quite often.”
“Okay,” Brody smiled.
“Anyway, about a year ago I wrote in here about meeting a man named Brody who turned my world upside down...
April 24, 2015
I turn twenty-four today. It hardly seems possible. Is this really the year my change happens? Mom says that I’ll find my mate when the right man comes along. So far, that hasn’t happened yet. Maybe this year. It worked for mom and dad, so there’s always hope...
April 25, 2015
I met a man today. He asked me to dinner and I had an incredible time after our initial misunderstanding. He’s charming and I’m meeting him tomorrow. Hopefully Joshua will take the bribe and give me some peace and privacy.
April 26, 2015
Why doesn’t anyone share the lurid details of s*x and mating? I could have used them yesterday. Not that I’m complaining, but it would have been nice to know how wonderfully sore I’d feel today. I never knew there’d be so much inside me. I never knew that love could undo me so easily. I told Brody today and hearing him say it back to me warmed all the cold places inside of me. I’ve found my mate and I’m never letting him go...
“And this is important because?”
“It was less than a year ago, yet I’m out here with you, being courted by you and I can’t for the life of me remember that time. I remember my birthday and the days surrounding it, but absolutely nothing about Brody. Now why would I write down intimate things about a man I don’t remember? And I find it extremely odd that you show up here with a pack and your name is also Brody.”
“There are things I can’t tell you, Sarina. Things you have to know within yourself. You’re a beautiful woman and a very creative and smart one. I know that eventually you’ll figure out the missing pieces but for this particular situation to turn out well, I’m not allowed to help you decipher any of it. If I do, the consequences could be detrimental.”
“So you know how I know you and where from and when, but you won’t tell me?”
“It’s not that I don’t want to, sweetheart. It’s that I actually can’t. If I were to try, it would all fall apart on both of us and I won’t risk you like that.”
“Alright,” Sarina said. Leaning over, she grinned as her lips met his. Her tongue slid easily over his bottom lip, instantly igniting a passion that engulfed them both, nearly singeing them in the process. Sarina felt Brody’s hands wrap around her, laying her back on the blanket as his hand slid under her shirt to cup her warm breast. Stunned and shocked at the unadulterated need that flashed through her like a backdraft, Sarina pulled back and looked into a face she knew, but didn’t recognize. “I don’t think I can do this, yet.”
Brody felt like someone had dipped him in liquid iron and then dumped a bucket of ice cold water on him. His system was fighting to control the hunger and need she’d let loose with a simple kiss and the cold rejection he’d felt when she said, “No.”
“Sarina I... I need to get you home, now.”
“Alright,” she said, her countenance already changing.
“I’m not angry,” Brody tried to explain. “Try to understand that for you this is all new. For me, it’s different. I can’t give you more details than that, but for me wanting you is as natural as breathing. To be rejected stings in a way I wasn’t prepared for, I guess.”
“I’m not rejecting you,” Sarina said, her voice soft, innocent. “I just... I’ve waited my entire life to meet a man that I’m comfortable to even think about sleeping with. I shouldn’t have kissed you. It’s my fault entirely.”
“Rarely is anything just one person’s fault,” Brody said, taking her hand and helping her up. He kept holding her hand on their walk home and said his farewell without touching her again. Kissing her back had been a mistake. She was searching for the connection and moving too fast would only confuse her. Not that a very human part of him didn’t want to rush her along. Need gnawed at him like a virus, eating away at his control and resolve. The more he tried to ignore her, the more he focused on being resolved, making sure his people were okay, the more his mind betrayed him. He knew damn well when he’d said he’d never take another female to his bed, that she’d be it for him. He hadn’t known that having her would be the hardest and most difficult test of his life.
>>
The next morning, Brody stopped by the Traverse home and found Amanda, the woman he’d been looking for, in her garden. “Mrs. Traverse?”
“Yes?”
“I’d like to talk to you for a minute if I may.”
“Do you like to w**d flower beds?”
“It’s not a passion, but I’ve done so before.” Brody smiled and sat on his knees about five feet from her and started pulling out weeds that worked to choke her pretty plants. “I assume Romeo has told you of my interest in your daughter?”
“He has,” she grinned.
“I know you’re a very special and talented witch. Have you ever heard of someone’s memories being erased to the point that they can remember everything about those times and situations except an individual person or place, time, etc.?”
“I’ve heard of such black magic, yes.”
“Have you ever had success undoing them?”
“The point of the magic is usually to harm,” Amanda said. “However, I’ve found that though they start as black magic, this particular situation can often times test the strength of a relationship. Romeo told me what you confided in him. Let me first tell you that anything he shares with me is strictly confidential. Despite Sarina being my daughter and how much I’d love to spare her the hurt of remembering what she’s forgotten, what we all did; I want her to face her own struggle here, because I know how much it will mean to her when she does finally remember what she had with you.”
“I may have messed that up already,” Brody sighed.
“Oh?”
“She kissed me yesterday when we went walking and I went too far. I scared her and I couldn’t... didn’t exactly apologize.”
“It’s a struggle for you as well,” Amanda cautioned. “Perhaps even more so. While she doesn’t yet remember, you do. It’ll be up to you to encourage her in the right direction all the while controlling your hunger and need for her.”
“Thank you, for not hating me.”
“How could I hate a man who loves my daughter so much?”
“I don’t know, of course, but I’d be inclined to hate the man who deflowered my daughter and then got her trapped in a false sense of memory.”
“Being a mother doesn’t make me an uninformed woman. When I was Sarina’s age I was so headstrong. I like to think I put Romeo in his place. We’ve come to some compromises and agreements between us in the last twenty-five years. I wasn’t always the precise and easygoing woman you know. When I was younger, I was so full of passion. Thankfully I learned to direct it at my husband and mate, but I know what it’s like to be where you and Sarina are. You’ll make it through this and more.”
“I hope so,” Brody sighed.
>>
Sarina spent the day working with her father on some remodeling that needed to be done in Elijah and Penelope’s home to accommodate the new baby. Penelope, being an extremely hands-on mother, wanted the baby’s room to have a large open space so that she could transform the nursery into a playroom and keep her sweet little Jeremiah Damon with her. “I never knew being a mother was so exhausting. I don’t think I’ve slept since he arrived.”
“He was just born last night, sweetheart,” Elijah chuckled, “and you slept when he did. You just don’t remember because you never sleep that deep.”
“No input from the peanut gallery,” Penelope grinned. “So, tell your aunt about this new guy.”
“He’s just a friend,” Sarina started, feeling her cheeks grow pink. “Although I think we’d both like to move it to the next level. I just can’t shake the odd feeling I get when I’m around him.”
“What odd feeling?”
“The first time I saw him I would have sworn I knew him, his face is that familiar to me. But there are things that don’t fit. I wrote last year after my birthday that I’d fallen in love with a man named Brody, but I can’t remember anything about him now. Then, this guy’s name just happens to be Brody. He’s much older than I would have expected myself to be overtly attracted to, not that I’m saying he’s unattractive. Ugh, I don’t know. I’m sending myself mixed signals.”
Penelope laughed. “I remember those times well. Elijah and I could barely get within ten feet of each other without sending sparks off. I could stand in the doorway watching him and practically feel him touching me in his mind.”
“Aunt Pen!” Sarina laughed.
“It’s true,” Elijah chuckled. “I wanted her so bad that eventually being around her became physically painful. I decided it was better to stay away from her than cause us both undue hurt. Then your awesome and brainy mother solved all our problems by proclaiming that a Radiant could marry whomever she wanted.”
“My mother did that?”
“She sure did. She’d already been mated to your father so Alessandra and Catrona decided they’d let her be a Radiant and keep your father by her side. Then they passed their powers to their daughters, Aunt Lucia and Aunt Briana. When that happened we all chose your mother as our leader. That’s when she changed the rule. She knew my heart’s desire was to hold my powers well, while living my life with Elijah.”
“My mother is awesome,” Sarina grinned.
“And what am I? Chopped liver?” her dad chimed in.
“Dad!” she laughed. “You’re just awesome in a different way.”
“That’s it,” he joked. “No more seeing Brody.”
“Please,” Sarina chuckled. “I’m not sure seeing him is such a good idea anyway.”
“Why?”
“I think he wants more from me than I’m willing or able to give right now.”
“What did he do?” This came from her Uncle Elijah and it made her heart soar to know that at the drop of a hat, any of her family members would gladly eviscerate any man who hurt her.
“I kissed him,” Sarina blushed. “Which admittedly could have sent the wrong message. But he went from being this great friend to talk to, to this hard and hungry man. I wasn’t quite ready for that quick a change.”
“Here’s a note of advice, darling. If you don’t want a man to think that you’re thinking like him, don’t initiate physical contact of any kind. Men have a tendency to think that a kiss means he’s getting the whole package,” said Aunt Penelope.
“I’m not saying I’m not interested in that eventually-“
“And I’m going to pretend as if my daughter isn’t having this conversation while I’m within earshot,” said Romeo.
“Please, Dad. I’ve heard from both you and mom about how your courting ritual went. You’ll only be sleeping with one man, and that’s me!” Everyone laughed at Sarina’s spot on impersonation of her father.
“Oh God, stop. I can’t take anymore,” Penelope laughed. “Sorry Rom, but she got you on that one.”
“It’s true big brother. Your girl here knows too much. And you were pretty overbearing. I’m surprised Amanda didn’t just punch you then kick you out and lock the door behind her.”
“I’d just have kicked it down,” Romeo said, sticking his head through the door and grinning.
“Doesn’t that figure,” Sarina smiled. “Alright Dad. I’m going to get going. Mom’s coming over in a little bit to visit with Aunt Pen and snuggle baby Jeremiah.”
“You’ll cook dinner, won’t you?” asked her dad.
“I’ll make sure we feed the horde,” Sarina grinned, hugging her family before she started home. On her way, she saw Brody working in the yard of the home he’d been given. It was a modest three bedroom home that had a pretty yard, one he seemed to be hell bent on keeping well. It was something to notice a man she was interested in being all domestic like.
“It’s coming along nicely,” she called, giving him a wave from the sidewalk.
“Thank you,” he smiled. Leaning on the shovel in his hands, he watched her until she became uneasy.
“Listen, if you’re not busy tonight, would you like to come to dinner? We need to talk.”
“Sure,” Brody said adding a wink. “I need to get these trees in before I shower, but I’ll be there.”
“See you then,” Sarina said, not winking back.
- Writer
