Journey 'The Chosen One Trilogy: Book Two' (29 page)

“I was hoping you would let me heal
you.”

“You have a magic wielder’s amulet. A
sorceress can’t heal.”

“I can.”

“You don’t have a healer’s
tattoo.”

I cringed. “I’m getting that
tomorrow.”

He chuckled. “I don’t envy you. Hanna
had to stitch me up once. I think I’d rather die than let her do
that again.”

“Thanks. That made me feel much
better.” I smirked at him. “And with that piece of information in
my pocket, I can tell you that if you don’t let me heal you, I’ll
have to stitch you. What in the world did he hit you
with?”

“Well, the chair broke my arm. My head
split open when I fell and hit it against the corner of the table.
He always was good at hand to hand combat.” He shook his head and I
had to laugh. “Bastard.”

“So what do you say?”

“Well, with the threat of needles being
thrown in my face, I’ll take the option of letting you heal me.” He
smiled.

“Thank you.” I pulled my chair closer
to his and let the green waves flow in front of me. He sucked in a
breath and kept his eyes closed for a few moments before nodding
and looking at me.

“No, Miss Hayden. Thank
you.”

“So, now that you’ve met me, can I get
your opinion on my character?”

Parker grinned and looked at Jasper and
Matthew who hadn’t moved a muscle since sitting down.

“They may have been a pain in my rear,
but they are also two of the best at what they do. I should know. I
trained them.” He chuckled. “They are also good men. If they
believe you are to be trusted, I’ll not argue with them.” His voice
dropped to a whisper. “But don’t tell them that.”

I started to laugh and his dark eyes
glinted with amusement.

“They have been sitting there for ten
minutes. If you can get them to follow orders that well, then
you’ve got my respect and admiration.”

I smiled. “I’ve seen the men you helped
turn them into. If they were as hard headed then as they are now
then you must be an amazing teacher.”

Parker took my hand and kissed my
knuckles softly. “You’re flattering an old man.”

I smiled. “I don’t flatter unless I
mean it and I can’t lie to save my own life. Trust me, I’ve
tried.”

He laughed. “I like you, Miss
Hayden.”

“I’m glad. I like you too.”

We made our way back toward Jasper and
Matthew, who stood at our approach. Parker nodded to Jasper who
nodded back.

“Parker.”

“Jasper. It is my understanding that
you are fated to Miss Hayden.”

Jasper nodded again. Parker glanced
down at me and grinned. “Lucky man. She’s a rare little thing,
isn’t she?”

I blushed.

“And what is she to you,
Matthew?”

Matthew put a hand on my shoulder.
“She’s a friend. A sister.”

The elder captain frowned and looked
back to the two younger ones. “If anything I have ever said makes
it into those thick skulls of yours, let it be this. Keep her
safe.”

Jasper and Matthew looked at each other
then back to Parker and nodded.

Parker took my hand again and gave me a
small bow. “Miss Hayden, it has been my pleasure to make your
acquaintance.”

I smiled and gave him a hug. “The
pleasure was all mine. If I don’t see you again before we leave,
stay safe.”

“Same to you, Miss Hayden, same to
you.”

“Alright, men,” Matthew addressed his
pack. “They’re all clear. Our shift is over, everyone go
home.”

Some of the men from Matthew’s pack
came to say hello before leaving. Quite a few of them had been with
us on our quest to rescue Jasper from the Maj cave. More than a few
of Parker’s men looked at me warily before making their way out of
the room.

“Captain?”

Matthew turned to look at the speaker.
“Yes, Roger?”

Roger had just tuned of age a year ago
and had been a part of Matthew’s pack ever since. He was pale with
sandy blond hair and dark brown eyes. I had to look up when I
talked to him, but not much.

“I had a question for Hayden, if that’s
alright.”

I wanted to laugh and would have had he
not looked so serious. “What is it, Roger?”

“Well, it’s no secret, really, that
Matthew will be leaving us to join your pack soon.”

Matthew and Jasper looked at each other
over Roger’s head and smiled.

“I was just wondering, if when he did,
would it be alright if I came, too?”

I smiled and nodded. “If you feel your
place is with us then you are more than welcome,” I reassured
him.

His whole composure relaxed.

“Alright. Run along, Roger. Take
advantage of the next few days. Who knows when we’ll be back here
again.”

“Yes, sir.” Roger saluted Matthew and
Jasper then stopped short when he got to me. “Um,
Hayden?”

“Hmm?”

“Do I salute you?”

Try as I might, I couldn’t stop the
laughter this time. “Oh, god, please….no! Don’t ever salute
me!”

Roger stood awkwardly and I took a deep
breath to stop the laughter. “Just a hug will do.” His eyes widened
in surprise as I wrapped my arms around him then stepped back.
“Have fun on your days off, Roger.”

He cleared his throat, his face red.
“Um. Yes. I’ll do that.” He turned on his heel and headed out of
the room.

“So any big plans for the afternoon?”
asked Matthew.

Jasper took my hand and shook his head.
“We were actually just about to lay down for a nap when you came to
the room.”

I smiled. “Yes. Let’s do that. Do you
want to meet at the pub for supper, Matthew?”

“Sure. I’ll see you there.”

We parted ways with our friend and made
our way to our room.

“Now, where were we,” whispered Jasper
as he nibbled on my ear.

I lay back onto the bed and pulled him
down to me. “I believe we were right about here.”

*****

Jasper’s heart jumped and he smiled to
himself. How did she do that? All she had to do was look at him and
he had to remember to breathe. Greg, one of the younger guards in
Matthew’s pack spun her away from him on the dance floor then
pulled her back. Her laughter floated over to him. Her hair was
loose and flew in long dark chestnut waves around her as she moved.
The firelight caught in her eyes and highlighted the gold in
them.

Jenny, Greg’s mate, sat across from
him, watching the pair on the dance floor. She brushed some of her
dark auburn hair out of her face. Her pale green eyes were full of
her smile as she watched her mate try to blow blond bangs out of
his midnight blue eyes without losing his step. The door opened and
she turned to see who was coming in. She smiled nicely then turned
to Jasper and frowned.

“I told her not to bother. She knows
how it works. She insisted she would come see for herself; that
obviously the rules were changing and that maybe things weren’t set
in stone anymore.”

He frowned, confused, and looked up to
see who had entered the pub. He swallowed his groan before it made
its way up his throat. It never failed. If he was in Pinsaber, it
was guaranteed that Leah would find him. He remembered how he had
thought her to be one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen
the first time he had met her. She stood a couple of inches taller
than Hayden with long raven black hair and light blue eyes. He had
been nineteen and just been promoted to captain. She was a year
younger and had been determined that the two of them were meant to
be together. He had tried. She couldn’t take that away from him.
Yet deep down, he’d known; there would be someone else. The first
night he had dreamed of Hayden everything had fallen into place;
for him, at least.

His first instinct was to stand
politely. He decided against it. Leah smoothed her dark red very
form fitting dress and sat beside him, pulling her chair closer to
his.

“Hello, Jasper.” She smiled one of her
inviting smiles, one of the ones that had made his stomach knot in
anticipation. He wanted to grin at the fact that it had absolutely
no effect on him now. Instead, he nodded politely and pulled his
chair a bit farther away from hers.

“Leah.”

The song ended and the music started up
again, slower this time. Greg came to find Jenny. Jasper looked up,
hoping to use the distraction to get Hayden on the dance floor,
only to find that Matthew had already gotten to her.

“Is something wrong?” Leah breathed
into his ear.

“Not at all. I was going to see if
Hayden wanted another drink, but Matthew has her dancing
already.”

“I thought that was her name. I can’t
remember who told me.”

He closed his eyes and took a deep
breath, wishing that this situation would simply go away. His eyes
flew open at the feel of her hand on the inside of his
thigh.

“By the moons, Leah, why are you here?”
He pushed his chair even farther back.

“You know why I’m here. You were mine
first.” Her full lips pouted.

“Leah, I’ll tell you I’m sorry again if
that’s what you want to hear, but we both knew it might happen. We
were both young and the chances that at least one if not both of us
were going to fate were very good. I’m sorry that I did and you
didn’t, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t find someone else. You
have to stop hoping that I’ll become unfated, it just doesn’t
happen.”

She pulled her chair closer to his
again and she shook her head. “The rules are changing. You can’t
deny that. I’m betting I can get you to change your mind.” The pout
was gone with a quick flick of her tongue over her lips. She bit
her bottom lip lightly and moaned low in her throat. “I’ve missed
you, Jasper.”

He looked toward the dance floor and
saw Hayden laughing at something Matthew was saying. Matthew
glanced over to him and frowned. He had never liked
Leah.

Jasper turned back to excuse himself
and found himself face to face with her. She laced her fingers
behind his head and pulled herself up to him. Her lips melted
against his and her tongue sought entrance into his mouth. He
stood, scrambling backwards, only managing to trip over his chair
and fall onto his back, Leah on top of him. The music paused and
everyone stopped to see what was happening. He turned his head to
the side to get away from her, a deep growl rumbling through
him.

Leah pulled back, her eyes wide. He
pushed her off and stood quickly.

“By the moons, Leah, this is enough!”
His voice echoed in the quiet pub. He took a few deep breaths to
calm himself. He looked back and wanted to disappear, to get away
from the shocked look on Hayden’s face. Matthew had a hand on her
shoulder and was whispering something in her ear. He turned back to
Leah.

“I will say this one last time so
listen carefully.” He took a deep breath, knowing that Leah was not
the only one listening. “I am fated to Hayden. She is my heart and
soul and I love her more than life itself. This will not change.
The truth of it is, Leah, even if I hadn’t been fated to her I
would have fallen in love with her. Now, for your own sake, let
this be. It’s been almost ten years. You need to move on.” He felt
a small hand press lightly against his back and some of the tension
left him.

Leah’s wide stare narrowed into a
wicked glare and honed in on Hayden.

“He was mine.”

Hayden nodded. “And now he’s
mine.”

Jasper tried to keep the surprise at
Hayden’s words from showing on his face. Leah growled low in her
throat.

“You know, all I have to do is get rid
of you and that will change.”

Jasper tensed, seeing that she meant
it, ready to stop anything she might try. Hayden
shrugged.

“You could try.”

This time, he wasn’t able to hide the
shock. What was she doing? She hated fighting! Could she be feeling
her drinks? No, she’d only had one with supper and her second one
was still half full on the table. Her arm went around his waist
possessively. He looked down to see her face but couldn’t from this
angle.

“I might just do that.” Leah looked
ready to do something drastic even with all the witnesses
here.

Jasper looked from one woman to the
other. “That’s enough. There will be no fighting. Leah, go home.
Hayden, let’s get back to the castle.”

Hayden shook her head. “Let’s do this.”
Her tone turned mocking. “Or are you the kind who is too scared to
follow through on a threat. Maybe you’re the kind who waits until
the other isn’t expecting it?”

Leah turned red and Jasper felt the
blood drain from his face. He stepped in front of Hayden as Leah
shifted. Hayden stepped around him and smirked at the
tigress.

“I suppose if you think that’s the only
way you can beat me…”

Leah blinked and shifted back. “What
are you proposing?”