ground will accomplish anything.”
“Not really,” I mumble.
He sighs overdramatically. “Get your ass up, Princess.”
My eyes widen in disbelief; that’s something the old Ben would say. I roll over and stare up at him, but the expression on his face is tough to decipher, void of any emotion. “What did you just say?”
As I sit up slowly, Ben extends a hand. I slide mine into his, and he yanks me upward in one swift motion. He glances over his shoulder, then stares at me, eyes shining. I barely have time to register what he might be thinking before he slams his lips against mine. As he slides one arm around my waist, he squeezes me against him, our bodies flush. Languorous warmth heats my skin, spreading from my head to my neck to my fingertips, and down my legs to my feet and toes. I fully surrender—mind, body, and spirit. This is what I wanted: my glorious, maddening, beautiful Ben.
He pulls away so quickly, it takes me a moment to register our mouths aren’t joined any longer.
“Candra,” he murmurs against my forehead, “I thought I might’ve lost you forever.” He hugs me tightly, planting warm, delicate kisses all over my face. “The past three weeks have been the longest of my life.”
I smack his chest. “Why didn’t you say something? The way you looked at me . . .” I shake my head, fresh tears welling in my eyes.
He tips my head back using one finger. “Like I could pretend we know each other. How awkward would that be for everyone back there?” He gestures toward the house. “Worse, how would we have explained it?”
I make a half-assed attempt at chuckling, but instead, it sounds like I’m snorting through a mucus infestation. “Beth already thinks I’m nuts, because I was asking about people who live around here, including Jana and Blake’s families, and yours. You should’ve seen the look she gave me.”
“Ethan’s not in this world,” Ben says, his voice overflowing with sorrow. He barely utters the words as he glances away. I can’t imagine the pain he must feel over the loss of his brother.
Hugging him firmly, I say, “I heard, and I’m so, so sorry.”
“Ah, it’s okay. It’s not like we can change the past anymore, right?” He tries to smile, but it doesn’t reach his eyes.
“We’re not werewolves anymore, either,” I say, then explain the conversation I had with my parents and relatives.
Ben just shakes his head and replies, “I guess Georgina was true to her word and reversed the spell on our ancestors.”
“I guess so. Good for her, then.” I watch Ben stare off toward the forest beyond us, and I know what he’s thinking, even without the ability to read his mind: he misses the freedom. “We’ll get through this,” I tell him.
Grasping my chin with his fingertips, he brings my lips to his for a brief kiss. “Of course we will; we have each other.”
The back door opens and closes. “We better get back. I’m sure they’re coming to check on us.”
“Remember,” Ben says, “pretend like we’ve never met before now.”
“Well, in that case . . .” I wiggle out of his embrace and extend my hand. “Nice to meet you, Benjamin Conway. My name is Candra Lowell.”
Being the dork that he is, Ben bends over at the waist, bringing my hand to his lips. “At your service, milady.”
I can’t help but laugh.
“Candra, is everything all right?” Beth’s voice reverberates through the forest.
“We’re fine!” I shout, jerking my hand out of Ben’s grasp. “We’ll be there in a minute!”
She comes into view through the trees, her arms folded at her chest. “Okay, I just wanted to let you know dinner’s ready, if you plan on eating.”
I respond, “I do.”
This seems to pacify Beth, because she smiles and turns on her heel, strolling toward the house. As soon as she slides the back door closed, Ben and I make our way out of the forest. My stomach is in knots once again—a conglomeration of fear and nervousness. This time, however, it’s not that I’m fearful of what the future holds, or that I’m nervous things won’t turn out the way they did in the past; it’s that I don’t know what will happen tomorrow, or the next day, or the one after that. It’s that nothing is as it was, and we can never get those moments back.
But we can make new memories in this lifetime, with old friends and old family members. At least Ben