Chapter 64

Anxiety is my closest companion these days. I’m starting to wonder if I will ever feel calm again. The only time I try to hide it this time is when Grace is around. She’s too perceptive though. She knows something is going on, but she doesn’t ask.

The day of the meeting, nausea doesn’t allow me to eat all day. My stomach is in knots and every time I even think about food, I want to be sick.

There are no good choices. If Adrian can’t make peace with the Lycans, I’ll be expected to choose, and I just don’t think that I can. Each loss would feel like tearing a part of myself away.

We leave early. Adrian says he wants to put additional people into place, just in case the Lycans are planning an attack. I look out the window staring at the passing cars, the people on the sidewalk, and the buildings and scenery.

I’m barely paying attention to where we are going until we pull into the parking lot.

“Why are we here?” I ask as Adrian opens my door and helps me out of the car.

“Because we need something good today and this is your favorite place.” He says, looking at me tenderly.

Jeneau Castle was closed hours ago. It looks strange, sitting deserted and empty. I stare and look back at Adrian as confusion fills me. We are about to go to a meeting that could result in war between our people, and he brings me here?

“It’s closed.” I point out.

“Not for us.” He says and looks toward the side entrance where a groundskeeper waits. We follow the groundskeeper through the gardens and trails until we reach the infamous swing.

When I first saw it, I had admired the beauty of it. I gasp in utter shock at the view of it now. Several lanterns light up the pathways in the twilight, making the flowers glow and attracting the fireflies to dance around the flickering flames.

The entire place is awash with low intimate light, and I turn in a slow circle at the mesmerizing view. Except as I turn behind me and look to Adrian, my heart stops entirely.

He is on one knee, a small black box in one hand. The diamond ring inside sparkles in the glow from the lanterns. He looks at me with a nervous hope I’ve never seen before.

“Lily, I can’t imagine a world in which you aren’t in my life. I don’t know what is going to happen today, but I never want to be apart from you. Will you marry me?”

My hand covers my mouth as I fight the tears in my eyes from spilling down my face. Joy floods my heart as I look down at him. I want to say yes more than anything.

Yet, as the joy overwhelms me, so too does the dread.

We can’t.

The werewolves will never accept me and the Lycans will never accept him. We were doomed from the start.

“We can’t do this.” I say and my heart tears in two to see the confused dejection on his face. “The Lycans will never accept this, and neither will your people. How will this work?”

“The werewolves accepted you the moment Phillip confirmed you were my mate. My people do not challenge mates.” He says firmly. “This solves the Lycans’ problems. It will unite the two groups and form an alliance that cannot be broken, so that what happened before will not happen again.”

Hope surges in my chest. He sounds so sure that it’s hard not to believe him. I drop to my knees in front of him.

“I don’t want to say yes, just to lose you later.” I confess. “I don’t think I could handle it.”

“You will not lose me Lily.” Adrian cups my cheek. “And I won’t accept a future that doesn’t have you in it. We will find a way, and I want to marry you. Do you want that too?”

I don’t have to think about it, and I don’t have it in me to refuse him anymore.

“Yes.” I nod rapidly. “A hundred times, yes.”

Adrian’s smile is so bright and full of joy it puts the lanterns to shame as he takes the ring out of the box and slides it onto my finger. It’s perfect. Like it was always meant to be there. And maybe it was. I was always meant to be Adrian’s.

There was a reason it never felt quite right with Julian. Why I was so hesitant with him. It was because fate had a different plan. I was meant to be with Adrian.

As we leave Jeneau Castle and get back into the car, I’m calm for the first time in days. The weight of Adrian’s ring on my finger and the sensation of his fingers interlaced with mine grounds me and wraps me in a feeling of safe security I’ve been searching for my whole life.

Ever since I met him, Adrian has been constant and reliable. Someone I could always count on. Suddenly, going into this meeting and taking on this new challenge doesn’t seem so terrifying anymore.

We would figure it out and no matter what, we would move forward together.

As we park the car in the field on the side of the road next to several others, we get out and I swallow down the remaining nerves.

The Beta walks toward us, a grin stretching across his face as he glances down at my left hand. “Congratulations.” He shakes Adrian’s hand and then wraps an arm around me for a quick hug.

“Is everyone in place?” Adrian asks, immediately down to business.

“Yes, just in case they’re planning something. At the first sign of trouble, we will go in and get you both out.” The Beta confirms and Adrian nods his approval.

“Are you ready?” He asks reaching out his hand for me to take.

I want to say no. I want to put this off and just enjoy the night of our engagement without the threat of something trying to tear us apart. But I know that’s not possible right now. Only when we finally make peace between our two people will we finally be able to move forward together.

I take a breath and let it out slowly, calming my nerves and feeling for the wolf that lurks just below the surface. She’s there, waiting to come out the moment I need her.

Then I take Adrian’s hand and let him lead me into the trees, the werewolf council trailing behind.

I follow the path I took the last time, making my way toward the clearing.

“Next time, we’re doing this indoors.” I mutter and Adrian scoffs a laugh next to me.

As soon as we make our way into the clearing, we find ourselves alone. I’m not sure whether to be relieved or concerned.

“Where are they?” One councilman asks.

Then, movement at the edge catches my attention and my wolf sings in recognition of her people nearby. Forms come from the trees. They’re surrounding us and the werewolves growl in response to a potential threat.

“Adrian.” The middle-aged Lycan says cooly. “You are brave to come here.”