to do...” He nuzzled her neck. “I could survive as long as it wasn’t for long.”
“Life was much simpler before we met each other.”
“We can’t turn back time,” Caleb told her.
“I wouldn’t want to even if I could.” Her words gave him some relief.
“I know I’ve complicated your life. But we’ll figure it out.”
“And live a simple life?” She inched away from him.
“Simple in some ways. But you want your own restaurant, so there are going to be complications, too.” He wriggled out of the sleeping bag as the water began to boil.
“I should get dressed.” Elise grabbed her clothes. “I have a sock missing, do you see it?”
Caleb chuckled as he hunted around the campsite for her sock. “Here it is.”
“How did it get over there?” Elise held out her hand for the sock as she wriggled around in the sleeping bag. “This is not easy.”
“You could get out of the sleeping bag,” he suggested. “There’s no one around but us and I’ll look the other way if you want me to.”
“I’m not shy,” she replied. “It’s just too cold.” She ducked her head into the sleeping bag. “It’s warm in here.” She came up for air. “There, all dressed.”
“Why don’t you put my sweater on, too?” he asked. “And my jacket is here.” He got up from the fireside and fetched his jacket for her.
“Thanks.” She pushed her arms into the sweater and pulled it over her head. “This is warm. Are you sure you don’t want the jacket?”
“Hot shifter blood,” he reminded her as he went back to the fire.
“Aside from your feet.” She smiled softly at him and then joined him next to the fire. “The sun is coming up.”
“Here’s the coffee. We can sit down and watch the sunrise through the trees and then we should make our way back to the truck. I don’t want you to be late for work.” Caleb quickly put the coffee in the cups and poured on the hot water. “Here. It’s not the best coffee but it’ll help wake you up.”
“I am awake,” she insisted as she accepted the cup and headed back to the sleeping bags.
Caleb pushed himself to his feet and followed her, not wanting to waste a single moment of their morning alone. Soon they would be back in Wishing Moon Bay where they would be surrounded by other people.
We need to figure this out, his bear told him.
You mean figure out how we’re going to live with Elise. Alone. His bear mulled that over. It’s going to be tough. Elise is loyal to Karros and he left his life here to offer her support. There’s no way she’ll just ditch him.
And we wouldn’t want her to. He’s her family. They understood Elise’s position completely, they would feel the same way about their brothers.
However, they were determined to figure out a way to make it work out for everyone.
Perhaps fate will lend a hand, his bear suggested.
We can hope. If Karros got called back to the fae realm by his family, he might leave if he knew Elise would be all right without him.
And she would be all right without him because she has us. His bear nodded sagely. I think you might have come up with a solution.
Wait, that all depends on their family needing Karros. So at the moment, it’s just a dream, Caleb said.
Maybe we should find ourselves a wishing stone of our own and make a wish. His bear settled down at the edges of Caleb’s mind, ready to take a nap as the sun finally rose overhead.
“This is amazing.” Elise reached for his hand. “I have only ever seen the sunrise in the wildwood once. It was a long time ago.”
“I’ve watched the sunrise from the top of a mountain many times. When we weren’t helping Valerie at the hotel, Aiden and I would often spend the weekend in the mountains. We’d shift and climb to a high peak near town and set up camp.” He arched his arm above his head. “The stars are so bright. It’s as if you could reach up and pluck one out of the sky.”
“I’d like you to show me them.” Elise snuggled closer as the pale light around them changed the muted colors brought alive by the touch of the sun’s rays just as he’d come to life from the touch of his mate.
Not that he hadn’t been alive before. He’d been happy. He’d been content but now he’d been shown something else,