I try to shut my mind off, but the day in the forest replays over and over in my head. Since I can’t relax, I decide to get out of the tub. At the sink, I rinse off my mask and then put on some moisturizer.
After I get dressed for bed I lay down. I have to get to the office by eight-thirty tomorrow, which means I have to get up at six. I’m the office manager for an up and coming tech company. I make a good living, but I’m not happy there. I want to feel passionate about what I do. Instead, I feel stuck, like I’m just treading water.
On that note, I crawl into bed and in no time sleep claims me.
“You’ve had the same dream every night?” My best friend Lily says from across the table at our favorite cafe.
I nod. “Yes, and then I feel this sense of longing that keeps getting worse. I swear the other night I woke up having…” I pause looking around to ensure we are at a safe distance so nowhere can hear me. Then lean in closer whispering the rest, “having an orgasm.” In that dream, Merick did things to my body that I’ve only read about in books.
“I still can’t believe none of us saw him when he approached you at the bar last week.” She takes a sip of her water. “What are you going to do?”
A simple description of him is all I provided for her—tall, alluring eyes, and a tempting smile. I wasn’t completely ready to share all the details of the mystery man, his name, his words. For a little while longer I wanted to hold those things close.
“What’s next?”
What’s next, that is the magical question. I shrug. “I have no idea. I thought maybe I’d take a trip to Montana. My parents still own the cabin, and the peacefulness it provides could give me the perfect chance to get my head straight. Maybe a vacation will do me some good. Lord knows, I haven’t taken any time off since I started working at Advanced Dynamics.”
That place is enough to drive any sane person crazy.
After we finish lunch we hug and then she goes one way and I head in the opposite direction. The more I analyze it the more I think a trip to Montana may be exactly what I need. — to stay in the cabin, and enjoy the quiet away from the hustle of the city. Away from the loud traffic, the constant noise, sirens, local businesses and wildlife. Maybe being there will give me some perspective, help me to make some life changing decisions, where I want to go at this point in my life, who I want to be. Because the rut I’ve found myself in, it’s not how I want to live.
Merick
I hide in the shadows, remaining discreet as I pretend to window shop when I need to blend in. I’ve spent months watching her. Week after week, I’ve observed her life, the fast pace of the city that dances around her, looking for a sign that she is truly happy in the life she lives. I want to ensure that what I’m about to do, the life I am going to give her, is in fact a life she might find happiness in.
Only the more I watch and wait, the more I come to realize that Taryn doesn’t exude any overwhelming passion one would display when they truly are in love with the life they’re living. So many times, I’ve seen her sit in the shadows of the trees in Grant Park, a blankness on her face and a far-off distant feel from the body language she expresses. Often, I’ve found her separating herself from a crowd and observing instead of interacting. Though she tries, I feel as though something is missing. Like a part of her wants to be someplace else. I know I can fill that void in her life. I know that I can give her all the things she is missing and more.
I sit in a cafe diagonal from the technology company I know she practically runs. Each day I watch her enter the double glass paned doors and I wait, wanting nothing more than to follow her inside, ensure that she is safe, but even more than that, I want to be close to her.
The waiting gets harder each day.
There is one thing that keeps me from violating all the rules I’ve put into place. It keeps me from exposing myself and confessing that I’ve been here all along, with her every day since we met in the woods. We are bonded, almost as one. I can feel her and see her reactions before she expresses them. Taryn has been mine since the very second her eyes locked on mine, maybe even before that.
My timeline is narrowing though, and I know that the day is coming soon when I have to reveal myself. I hope that she is as accepting of me now as she was as a child. In a young mind, one full of fantasies and dreams, one who believes in fairytales, took one look at me and instantly loved my beastly form. But with Taryn, now grown into a beautiful thriving woman, she may feel differently. It is a chance I will have to take, but to make her love me now before I reveal who I truly am, that would make the transition easier for both of us.
Living without her was something I could never accept. I need her, we need her, the fate of my future as well as the clan lies in Taryn’s hands. She is the key to recreating a world that was almost lost—for bringing home those that left years ago when all that was left was the
