Shenaya’s POV
As I sat alone in my room, my mind drifted through the maze of memories from the last few months. It was like reliving a storm, the way every image and feeling pulled at me, the echoes of fear and chaos still fresh, though softened now with time. I traced the grooves of the wooden armchair as if the act itself could ground me. Somehow, amidst all the noise, I had found myself grateful-grateful that, for once, things were… calm. Or as calm as my life could get.
For once, there was no immediate threat, no looming figure ready to strike. Even Skylar, of all people, seemed to genuinely care for Zoey. That shocked me. I’d half expected her to seize the chance to hurt me again, yet she hadn’t. Aunt Belle had assured me that Skylar’s intentions were true. She’d risked too much, broken through Belle’s own spells, just to reach us.
I sighed, folding my arms around myself, feeling the weight of the decisions we’d made for Zoey. To hand my daughter over to Skylar went against every motherly instinct I had, and yet… I knew she was right. Zoey’s magic was a wild force, and it needed the control that only her bloodline could offer. Still, the thought of Zoey being away from me tore at my heart. I prayed it would all be worth it.
A familiar scent curled through the room which made me lift my head before I even saw him. Aiden was standing at the doorway, leaning casually with a soft smile that made my heart quicken. He had that look, the one that had once captured me, a mixture of fierce protectiveness and an underlying gentleness he didn’t show to anyone else. In this fleeting moment, he was simply Aiden-no threats, no barriers, no anger. Just… us.
“Mind if I come in?” he asked, his voice low, gentle. He knew when I needed space, but today, I didn’t want it. I wanted him.
“Of course not,” I murmured, patting the seat next to me.
He moved toward me, his presence like a warm embrace, and sat beside me. Silence settled between us, but it wasn’t an uncomfortable one. It was the kind of silence that spoke more than words.
Aiden put out a hand, his fingers encircling mine, and as he looked at me, his thumb came up and trailed softly over the back of my hand.
“You know, you look… thoughtful.” he said with a small smile, “Penny for your thoughts?”
I looked at him, smirking sheepishly.
“I was just thinking about all that happened. It only took a few months to feel like this, like we know each other from our lifetimes.”
He merely gave a nod with a hint of a smile on his face.
“True. But you’re still here. We’re still here.”
It was the words that I was craving, the warmth that came from his mouth and his lips. I had started to doubt we would ever reach a moment when we could simply exist normally, as though life were some easy, day-to-day thing. For all that happened, the trials, the betrayals, pain, anger but, love had brought us back together. He did not go away despite constant storms. He stayed. Perhaps that was all he needed to do.
“Aiden,” I nervously called him ‘Do… Do you think there’s any chance that it’ll eventually be you and me alone, do you?’ No wars, no pack politics, no extremely peasant fighting??
He looked at me his eyes showing a different emotion in them.
“I don’t know. But if that place exists I will search for it and bring it to us, Shenaya. I’ll find it because you need that peace. You deserve it. And, perhaps, I do too.”
I gave his hand a squeeze, and the reality of what he said sank in. At times I begin to doubt whether peace is even in our future.
‘But for now, I think I’m okay with this,’ I held out my hand to him “I’m okay with you.”
His fingers found their way to my face, his touch was light as he brushed a stray strand of hair from my cheek.
“You’re more than okay with me. Admit it,” he teased, a spark dancing in his eyes.
A laugh slipped out before I could stop it, it sounded foreign but wonderful.
“Fine. I guess you’re more than okay too.”
Our laughter faded, leaving behind a warmth that wrapped around us both. He held my gaze, the intensity of his stare reaching parts of me that I’d kept hidden away, even from myself.
“Shenaya,” he started, his tone a little more gentler now, “Would you like to have dinner with me tonight? On the rooftop. Just You, and me. No one else, just us under the stars?”
This brought me a sudden wave of happiness from within. The rooftop was our place, our hide-out when the rest of the world became too much to handle.
“I’d love that.”
A wide grin spread across his face and he looked more like a high school boy that does not have much to worry about at all.
“Good. Oh, okay all right I’ll see you there in an hour?”
“Perfect,” I said getting up from the chair and watching him go down the hall, casting me one last sultry glance before leaving.
—
An hour later I headed upstairs towards the rooftop, I had so much adrenalin rush and tension. When I opened the door, I looked around and then words could not describe what I saw. It had been abundantly decorated, and fair nylon-hued fluorescent lamps hung around creating a rather more inviting environment. At the center of the space was a small table and Aiden was leaning against it, arms crossed over his chest, eyes powerful and undefined they were all the proof one needed to understand he was an Alpha but the look in his eyes when he turned to look at me was soft.
“You did all this?” I said this both satiated and impressed.
He shrugged, his face flushed.
“I wanted it to be special. For us.”
“It’s perfect, Aiden.” I approached him, grinning all through.
He stood up and I watched him draw out a chair for me, and as I sat down I felt like a sixteen-year-old girl on her first date. There was something so pure, and so simple in this, something that I think few of us could remember as ever existing in today’s world.
We chatted about everything and literally nothing, we joked, and he told me funny and some things that were sad about his childhood and teenage years. It was almost as if the previous few days had never happened.
Once, he turned to me, his eyes solemnly staring at me and I felt myself shy under his gaze.
“Shenaya, I realize that times have not been really good with us.” he began “I know that I have sinned and I know … I caused you so much pain that it is difficult to find forgiveness, But I want you to know that I’m here at the moment for you. All of me. And I’m not going anywhere.”
I gulped because it felt like the floor had been pulled from under my feet. Once upon a time even the simplest of things that he told would have astonished me so much that I didn’t believe them, but tonight, in this moment, I believed him.
“I believe you, Aiden. And I’m… I’m glad you stayed.”
His hand went across mine on the table.
“Shenaya, you are all I have and I really wanted you to understand that I’ll always be with you, whether you like it or not. For you. For Leo. For Zoey. For us.”
A warmth spread through me, a feeling I hadn’t allowed myself to feel in a long time. Hope.
“I want that too, Aiden. I want us to have a future, whatever that looks like. I want us to be a family.”
He nodded, his gaze never leaving mine.
“We will be. I’ll make sure of it.”
So we just enjoyed the peace and each other’s company for a while, saying nothing. As if all that existed were just the two of us and the power holding us together was greater than any language.
When the night was getting dark he rose up, and with his hand outstretched toward me. “May I have this dance?”
I giggled, as he took my hand and wrapped his arms around me. They retired gracefully without any music but we did not lack any of it. We danced with each other under the stars and the quietness of the night was filled with everything left unsaid. His hands were around me, I hugged him and felt the comfort I somehow missed for quite a while.
“I love you,” he whispered softly and his lips touched my forehead.
For a moment, I could feel the wave of emotion that surged through me as the words settled into my heart, and I shut my eyes. “I love you too, Aiden.”
His hand cupped my face and tilted it upwards so that we were looking at each other. The sincerity in his look had me breathless, yet, for the briefest moment his eyes were intense as the air crackled around us, but then he slowly smiled.
“Shenaya”, he started, the sound so whispery low over the rhythmic dancing of the night wind. “I cannot imagine my life and my family without you. Not anymore. Regardless of the number of storms we have encountered… here we are.”
I swallowed hard as my throat constricted with a raft of feelings. He was staring at me as if I was the only woman on the face of earth and I wished that was true tonight.
“Aiden, I…” I opened my mouth to say something, but he slowly placed his finger at my lips, I felt his gaze burning me with passion.
“Let me get this out,” he whispered and there was a crack in his voice. “It never would occur to me that I’d have the opportunity to do better, not when there were so many times I messed up and let you down. But I need you to know that from this point onwards, I’m yours my heart, my body, my soul if you’ll have them. This means I am tired of resisting what we have. I want to make it right.”
I had barely exhaled when he bent down to go on one knee. Seeing him there and looking up at me with such a look made me feel as if I was struck powerlessly. I even bent my elbow on my mouth and found it very hard to believe what was going on.
“Shenaya,” he went on seriously, “will you do me the honor of becoming my wife? I promise that I will be the man by your side up until the day we both die.”
I could actually see the tears welling up in my eyes and the lump in my throat rising. My heart was beating loudly and I could not hear anything else. It was only him and I with the unfulfilled promise looming in the middle of us.
“Yes,” I said my voice cracking, as the tears rolled down my cheeks. “Yes, Aiden, I will.”
A smile that threatened and then blossomed into radiance washed over him and before I could blink, he was on his feet again, hugging me tight. Our lips touched gently.
When we eventually got apart he leaned his head on me as we were both panting and laughing like idiots.
“Thank you,” he said roughly, wiping his face with his forefinger.
For the first time in months, maybe even years, I was cool, I was right, I was where I was supposed to be. We still had a lot to cover and further tests to encounter but at that point in time everything was immaterial.