Mated By Fate by Christa Wick

Chapter Twenty

The kitchen diminished around her.Walls receded. The field swallowed up the floor as Esme lifted her gaze to find she was on her back in the high grass, a blanket beneath her as she smiled at a younger version of Denver Gladwin.

Esme felt the ghost of a dandelion seed land on her cheek.

Young Denver lounged on his side, resting on one elbow and smiling down at her. He was eighteen to her sweet sixteen and every time she saw him, she felt a flutter of need deep in her stomach.

In his hands, he held a crown he had fashioned from the long summer grass. He placed it on her head, his face leaning in close to hers as he smoothed her hair out of the way.

He had never kissed her, but she felt like he had been dancing around it for months. He was close enough to do so on that blanket in the field, no one—especially her mother—there to scowl over the possibility of a wolf choosing to love a witch.

As far as Esme was concerned, there was no choice to it. She would stop loving him the day she stopped breathing.

Not a second sooner.

"What do you want, Ems?" His gaze dipped to her throat, heating her skin. "I mean beyond healing and casting spells with your mother."

Him. She wanted him.

She swallowed the answer down, her stomach tightening with the knowledge that a she-wolf would have answered him directly, probably by rolling him onto his damn back and straddling those muscular, lean hips.

But she wasn't a wolf, just a witch.

A slave witch as her mother always commented in private. There to serve the clan, bound by the promise of an ancestor who had died centuries ago—so far back it wasn't any kind of exaggeration to speak in terms of the "mists of time."

"Children," Esme answered finally, her response quiet and sure. Even though her offspring would be bound to the same promise, she wanted children, enough that not one of them would feel alone or outcast as one of the few non-shifters on clan lands.

She beamed at Denver. “I want lots and lots of children."

Denver lifted his head then, the topaz fire in his gaze slowly dying out.

His fingertips gently brushed her cheek before he nodded solemnly. His only acknowledgement of her reply.

A few minutes later, they gathered up the blanket and headed back across the field, the crown of grass blowing away before they reached the border of trees.

* * *

Back in the present,back outside on the porch, the bells began another dance, the sound pulling Esme away from the memory.

She quickly turned to the sink, brushing away the tears that threatened to spill onto her full cheeks before anyone saw.

As a curious sixteen year old, after months of clumsy attempts probing the artifact, she had learned enough about latents to wonder if she could possibly be one. Her suspicions were fortified late that winter when she realized the charms her mother had been sewing into her clothes since infancy would also hide a latent's nature.

By then, the wall between Esme and Denver had become too high and too thick.

Like that dandelion seed when they were teens, he’d simply drifted away from her. Randomly at first. Then into the arms of other women, shifters and humans, all of them sleek and beautiful, smaller than she could ever hope to be.

If ever he’d look at her, which was hardly ever, his gaze would grow another degree colder.

Until they avoided looking at each other altogether.

Before those painful memories could bring another bout of unshed tears for Esme, they were interrupted by the sound of approaching tires outside, crunching along the gravel drive.

"Who's that?" Fear crept into Oscar's voice.

Glancing over her shoulder, Esme saw Denver scoop the little boy up. She knew by the energy crackling through Lana that, whoever else might be in the vehicle, Seth was among them.

Leaning across the table, Lana parted the curtains and waved, a big smile lighting her face. "It's my husband, little man."

"And my boss." Denver tweaked Oscar's nose. "Not as cool as me, but he's okay."

Lana's smile disappeared before Seth's boots hit the porch. Sensing something was wrong, both women headed for the door. Esme bent to grab her healer's kit, the door missing her by half an inch as Seth stepped inside and Lana wrapped him in a hug.

"What's wrong?" Lana kept her voice low, her eyes darting to Oscar as the boy started to shake in Denver's arms.

Seth didn't answer immediately. He rubbed a reassuring hand up and down Lana's back as his gaze landed briefly on Esme before jumping to Denver.

Seeing Oscar, his brow furrowed. "The cub should be at Coop’s already."

"His name is Oscar, love." Lana wrinkled her nose at Seth, her gaze admonishing him to turn his "boss voice" down a notch as the child buried his face against Denver’s neck and shook harder.

Denver tossed one of his patented I-don't-give-a-shit grins, but kept his tone level as he answered his pack leader. "Just getting a little food in him and making sure he didn't need any healing."

Seth sniffed, his nose telling him that the boy was in no immediate need of healing and that Denver had used the child as an excuse to see Esme despite orders for him to stay away from the witch for the time being.

Seth's mouth flattened into a straight line. "Camille is a quarter mile from Coop's, she could have met you there and checked him over."

"I’ll remember that next time." Denver shrugged then smiled again, knowing that "next time” likely would never arrive. Not only was the cub the youngest child on Coop’s land until Lana’s baby arrived in two months, he was now the youngest child across the seven North American clans.

Lifting a hand to the boy’s face, Denver softly stroked Oscar's cheek. "Guess it's time for you to meet the big boss."

"No." Seth planted a kiss on Lana's forehead before extracting himself from her tight embrace. "Watch the cub, baby. Jory is just a few minutes behind me."

Seth turned toward Esme. "Leave your bag, Coop needs to talk to you."

“Me?” Esme's brow shot up and her heart rate accelerated.

Some fresh accusation? Another trial?

Denver placed Oscar on the ground, gently shushing the child's protest. Straightening, he glared at his pack alpha. "Why Esme? What’s going on?”

"Oh, you'll find out soon enough." Seth opened the door, his hand sweeping out in an order to leave. “Seeing as how you're coming with us, too.”