Immortal Wolf - By Bonnie Vanak Page 0,78
water.
Salt. Like her tears.
Emily closed her eyes, lifting her face to the hard rock cliff. “I understand. I’m not worthy enough. I’m cursed. I’ll go. Please, just one small request, I beg you. Free Raphael from being the one. I’m willing to die, but please, don’t make him do this. It will break him. I just want him—” her voice dropped “—to be happy. I love him so much. I can’t bear to see him in pain.”
She set her trembling palm against the rock. It seemed to warm beneath her flesh. Startled, she hastily stepped away.
Overhead, the trees rustled their leaves. Gold and yellow leaves floated downward, showering her. A lilting voice whispered in the wind. Emily suddenly felt enveloped in a comforting warmth as if someone hugged her tenderly.
The feeling left as she heard Raphael’s faint call. Emily hastily scrubbed at her face, dressed and put on her shoes and began climbing back down.
Near the entrance of the path, she saw him. Her heart beat faster. Worry etched his expression.
“Chere, I’ve been searching all over for you. Where did you go?” Even as he spoke, he glanced upward at the path.
“I wanted to see the waterfall, and then I couldn’t resist a quick dip in the pool. It looked so serene.”
Tenderly he stroked her cheek. “You were crying.”
She managed a small smile. “Just a spring shower.”
Lines ravaged his handsome face. He jammed a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry I lost it. I thought I had better control. Once I did.”
He looked ashamed, as if baring his emotions had weakened him. Tears burned in the back of her throat. “You have control, but you have something greater as well. You gave me a great gift, Raphael. No one has ever offered anything so dear to save me. Everyone else has turned away.” She picked up his fingers and kissed them. “Nothing else I can do will ever come close to repaying you for what you offered on my behalf. I love you.”
“Emily.” Raphael gathered her to him. As she rested against him, he kissed the top of her head and buried his face in her wet hair.
For a long while they remained in each other’s arms. She cherished the contact between them, knowing with sorrow it would not last.
They spent the day together, quietly making love, reading and talking of everything. Everything but the inevitable.
After eating a delicious dinner of roast lamb, they retired to the living room. Raphael added logs to the fireplace. A side table had a collection of carved wolves. She went and picked one up, cradling it in her palm and marveling at the intricate craftsmanship. The wolf had a playful expression.
“Mine,” Raphael said, prodding the logs with the metal poker. “I carved all of them. I was here for about two months last time, and passed the time.”
“You’re very good with the wood.”
A boyish grin touched his full mouth. “There wasn’t much else to do at night. No radio or television, and I wasn’t permitted to shift and run with the moon. When Aibelle made me the Kallan, she arranged it so I’d never worry about money, nor would my family. It’s part of the gift of being Kallan, so we can concentrate on our duties. So to indulge my art, I carved, and Alex, my brother, sold the pieces. He’s an art and antiquities dealer.”
He sat on a love seat and she joined him. Raphael draped an arm about her as they stared into the crackling flames. The log snapped and popped as sap trickled into the fire.
Emily snuggled against him, relishing his warmth. She pushed aside the underlying sorrow threatening to steal over her. Tonight was for each other.
Tomorrow would come soon enough.
“What did you do for two months while you were here?” she asked, running her fingers over his chest.
“Meditated. Waited. Wondered. Since I was the youngest to be appointed Kallan, my time here was longer.”
Most Draicon who were Kallan were at least six hundred years old before they assumed the duties. Curiosity filled her. “What made you decide to undergo the test?”
His dark gaze grew somber as he gazed at the fire. “It was after Damian’s family was killed. We had taken Damian in, taught him everything about survival and fighting. One day we were out in the bayou and Grandpere was teaching him how to hunt for game Damian had never tasted.”
“Nutrias, the big rodents you told me about that resemble mutant beavers?”
Raphael grinned. “Yes, those. We ran across