Destiny (The Chosen One Trilogy:Book Three) (23 page)

She nodded. “Maybe if we talked
first.”

Jasper cleared his throat and
everyone in the clearing jumped. “It’s not that I don’t appreciate
the moment, but I’d rather we get as far away from here as
possible. If we keep up a good pace we can be home by supper time.”
He led over one of the horses and boosted me up onto it.

Trent pressed his face into
Jenna’s neck and kissed it softly before nodding. He stood and
pulled her up, his arms still around her. He took a few deep
breaths and I could see the effort it took for him to let go. He
shifted and looked up at her. She smiled and followed suit. The two
grey wolves gazed at each other for a moment before Jenna licked
the end of Trent’s nose and dashed off into the woods. Trent yipped
playfully and leaped after her.

I looked down at Jasper and
smiled. He gave my leg a squeeze then shifted. I looked to Clara
and Nadine who had shifted into a leopard and a jaguar as they
chased after Brynn the black wolf.

“Jasper.”

He looked up at me.

“A shlova yan.”

He blinked and a loud purr
rumbled through him. I gave my horse a kick and we galloped off
toward home.

*****

It was just getting dark as we
neared the den. Brynn headed home while Clara and Nadine made their
way back to the clearing. We’d been fortunate enough to run into
Cole and his mate Hailey who was a healer and my face was now back
to normal. Trent howled to announce that we were close to home.

Luke, Mel, and Tyler were
waiting outside for us to arrive. I got off of my horse and started
to laugh at the mischievous gleam in Luke’s eyes.

“Never mind! Come on! Admit it!
Even you thought it should be safe for me to walk around with all
these cats and dogs around.”

He burst out laughing. “Hayden,
my dear, it doesn’t matter if you are surrounded by a complete
army, you are never safe.”

Jasper shifted back and grinned
at me. “See? I’m not the only one who thinks that and I’m fairly
sure that this little incident might prove the point.”

I stuck my tongue out and
laughed.

A small whine turned my
attention to Jenna. She was watching as Trent gave Tyler a hug. The
brothers laughed and Tyler gave Trent a playful punch to the
shoulder. Jenna was looking from one to the other. She shifted and
stood, tense.

“Oh! You found her!” Mel
grinned.

The twins turned to face Jenna
and she immediately relaxed. Her eyes found Trent’s and his face
lit up with his smile. He pulled her into a hug and kissed her
forehead.

“I’m glad you can tell us
apart.”

She started to laugh. “Me
too.”

Tyler stood with his mouth open.
“What? When did this happen?” He frowned. “By the moons, Trent, why
wouldn’t you tell me you dreamt of her?”

Trent put his arm around Jenna’s
shoulder. “Quite honestly, I didn’t think I would find her this
quickly. If I hadn’t chased after Uncle Jasper, who knows how long
it might have taken.” He took a deep breath. He looked from me to
Jasper and moved on to his mom, dad, and brother. “I need to talk
to Jenna.” He took her hand and led her away.”

The rest of us headed into the
house. We sat down to eat and I told them everything that had
happened during the course of my abduction. Over an hour later
there was a knock at the door. Mel got up to answer.

“Jenna, honey, come in. Where’s
Trent?”

Jenna sat at the table and put
her head in her arms. “He’s gone.”

“Where?” Luke looked at Jasper
who shrugged.

“He didn’t say.” She took a deep
breath.

“Well, what did he say?” Tyler
was frowning.

It took a minute for Jenna to
answer. “He said he couldn’t do it; that if we bonded now that he
wouldn’t be able to fight with Hayden. He said that he didn’t think
he could fight it so he couldn’t stay around me. He told me I had
to come back here so he would know I was safe and that he would
stay away.”

“He left?” Tyler sounded
outraged. “Which way did he go?”

Jenna shook her head. “He made
me come back before he left so I wouldn’t try to follow him.”

“Where did he take you?” My
nephew was vibrating.

“It was a clearing with two
fallen trees.”

Tyler shifted as he crashed
through the front door.

“Tyler!” Mel’s yell fell on deaf
ears.

We all stared at the open
door.

“Do you want me to go after
them?” Luke put a hand on Mel’s shoulder. She took a deep breath
and shook her head.

“I imagine they’ll have a lot to
talk about when Tyler finds him.”

“But Trent’s been gone almost an
hour. There’s no way Tyler will find him.” Jenna sounded
miserable.

“He’ll find him,” I reassured
her. “They’ve been able to find one another since they were able to
crawl. It doesn’t matter where one is, the other can always tell
which way to go.” As tense as the situation was, I couldn’t help
but laugh.

Jasper closed the front door and
raised an eyebrow in my direction.

I shook my head. “Sorry…I just…”
I took a few deep breaths to calm myself. “Good god, you’d almost
think he was your son! I mean, come one! He’s you when I first
crossed over!” I started laughing again.

“What are you talking about,
Shlova?”

“You and your damn sense of
duty.” I turned to Jenna to explain. “When I first crossed back
Jasper was the one who found me. He knew we were fated but I
couldn’t remember my dreams so I didn’t. He refused to kiss me
because he said we had business to attend to and he had to get me
to Melana. We couldn’t get distracted.” I shook my head. “Stubborn.
If I hadn’t taken matters into my own hands we would still just be
holding hands.”

Jasper smiled and shrugged.

“Anyway, the point of this
little story is ‘don’t worry’. Trent will come around. They can
only fight it for so long.”

Jasper took my hand and led me
to the spare room. “You need some sleep, Shlova. Let’s go to bed.”
I didn’t argue. I was exhausted.

We said our goodnights and left
Mel and Luke with their son’s future mate.

Chapter Eight

Jasper awoke feeling empty and
terrified. He looked out of the window and saw that it was still
dark. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself. His heart was
pounding in his chest. Hayden moved against him and he focused on
her feelings. She was still asleep. She sighed and he felt her
contentment. He was still unnerved, disoriented. Whatever he was
feeling wasn’t coming from her. He rolled his shoulders, trying to
get rid of the stiffness in his back.

He pressed his lips to her
forehead and breathed in the smell of her hair. His skin crawled,
like he was being watched.

“Jasper?” Hayden’s deep green
eyes were looking at him, her brow creased. “What’s wrong?” She
tightened her arms around him.

“Nothing.” Even as he said it,
he knew it was the wrong answer. He had no idea what was wrong, but
something definitely was.

“Did you have a nightmare?”

A small part of him relaxed. “I
can’t remember. Maybe that’s it.” That made sense. He’d probably
had a dream about her being taken again. He usually had one or two
of those after such an event occurred.

He tried to think back to his
dream, but couldn’t remember. Hayden’s fingers ran lightly over his
back. He focused on that feeling. His skin tingled.

“What’s on the agenda for
today?” Her hand trailed down his hip and along the back of his
thigh.

“Hmm? Not much really. We’ve
already appointed captains and separated everyone into packs. We’ll
assign the stragglers coming in the next few days to the packs that
need reinforcements. We’ll wait for Rainen. When she gets here,
we’ll come up with a few strategies and back up plans.” His heart
was still beating faster than usual, though he couldn’t tell if it
was still from the dream or the way Hayden was kissing along his
chest. Her fingers wrapped around him and stroked him softly. His
breath caught in his throat.

“And Rainen should be in
today?”

He groaned as her fist tightened
around his now very hard erection. By the moons, she was expecting
him to be able to hold a conversation while she did that to
him!

“Today.” He tried to think of
how many days it had been since they had left Howel. Hayden ran her
tongue over his nipple and he lost count. “Or tomorrow.” He vaguely
remembered talking with Luke about this yesterday. “No, today.”

Hayden brushed her lips over his
stomach and his abdomen clenched as her tongue darted out and
flicked over it. Her hand was still stroking, alternating between
his member and his balls. She kissed along his shaft and flicked
the head of it lightly.

“And we leave in three days for
the Northern Regions?” She placed him in her mouth and sucked.

Jasper groaned. At this very
moment he couldn’t tell her what his own name was, much less how
their travel plans were going to go. Her tongue and lips teased and
stroked causing another groan to rumble through him. She gently ran
her teeth along the length of him and he jerked. She brushed the
hair out of her face and looked up at him.

“You didn’t answer my question.”
She chuckled as his eyes widened. Her hand continued what her mouth
had started.

“What?”

“I asked what happens if we get
there and Melana is late?”

“By the moons, Shlova, how do
you expect me to think of that when you’re doing this?” He sucked
in a breath as her hand squeezed and her teeth nipped over his
stomach. He felt her smile.

She gave a surprised shriek as
he pulled her up and flipped them over so that he lying over her,
her petite frame hidden under his. He bent his head and took her
breast in his mouth, suckling on it. Hayden arched under him with a
gasp. He nudged her legs apart with his knees and settled his hips
down so that he could feel her wetness against the tip of his
shaft. His mouth moved on to her other breast.

“So how is Emelly’s herbal
training coming?” Jasper ran his tongue over her collar bone and
Hayden moaned.

“Good. She’s a quick learner.”
She squirmed under him then arched against him.

His tongue ran along the curve
of her breasts and followed the line between them down to her belly
button.

“Well, that’s good. I noticed
her sparring has improved quite a bit also.” He pushed her up to
the head of the bed and hooked her legs over his shoulders. He let
his tongue rub along the hot flesh then pushed a finger into her.
He smiled as she gasped. He quickly added another finger and pushed
down with his other arm over her waist to keep her from arching
into his strokes. He hooked his fingers and rubbed against the
small spot he knew would have her begging for release. She clenched
around his fingers involuntarily and he knew he was stroking the
right spot.

“What was that? I couldn’t hear
you.” He looked past her breast to her face and flashed a crooked
grin. Hayden opened her mouth to say something. He bent his head
and sucked on her sensitive nub. All she could manage was a groan
that vibrated through her all the way into his loins.

He released her and got on his
knees, turned her over and pulled her toward him. Hayden grabbed
the simple wooden headboard with both hands and thrust her hips
back toward him. He kissed each cheek of her bottom reverently. He
was rewarded with a giggle. He got closer to her and bent over her
back, reaching around and fondling her breast. She pushed back
against him and let her shield drop ever so slightly so he could
tell how she wanted him.

He groaned and obliged her. With
one slow thrust he buried himself to the root. His head reeled. Her
groan matched his and was followed by a simple sigh at the pleasure
of having him fill her. She pushed against the headboard and
wiggled her hips so that he slid ever so slightly deeper still. He
pulled out and thrust back in, both of them gasping. With each
thrust he could feel her getting tighter around him. He pushed her
to the brink and stopped, fully sheathed. He wrapped his arms
around her waist and held her still.

Hayden gave a strangled moan and
tried to move.

He kissed along her back and
shoulders. “Not yet, Shlova. I want to watch when I shatter you.”
He pulled out and rolled her so that she was on her back. She laid
still, legs spread, her body quivering. By the moons, she was
beautiful.

Jasper settled himself between
her legs and thrust in with one hard motion. Hayden gasped. Her
back arched and her hips rose to meet his. He pushed in hard and
deep, the rhythm fast and steady. She groaned and he thrust harder
and faster still. He could hear their damp skin slapping together.
He could feel Hayden squirming beneath him, struggling to get
closer. He groaned and lay fully over her, his tongue conquering
hers. She whimpered and wrapped her legs around him. He felt her
tense and rejoiced in the way she groaned his name as she bucked
under him. Her flesh stroked him in quivering waves and as Hayden
dropped her shield he gave a final thrust that sent him over the
edge.

He lay over her until their
breathing had slowed before rolling over and pulling her to his
chest. She looked up into his eyes, smiling, and he had to remind
himself to breathe.

“A shlova yan,” she whispered
softly.

“A shova yan jer.” He closed his
eyes and kissed her. For some reason he couldn’t pinpoint, beneath
the exhaustion and boneless contentment he was feeling, a touch of
the uneasiness was coming back and with it, a hollow, almost
painful feeling in his chest. He looked onto her soft features as
she drifted back to sleep with a small smile on her lips and
suddenly, he realised where and when he had felt this before. His
heart beat faster in his chest as he thought about the day Hayden
had died trying to save Damian. How he had felt when the presence
he was used to feeling had simply disappeared. Of course,
thankfully, there had been the knee buckling jolt he had felt when
she had jerked back to life in his arms.