Destiny (The Chosen One Trilogy:Book Three) (44 page)

It had been over five years of almost nonstop
action and near death situations. I was looking forward to doing
absolutely nothing for the next five. Jasper pushed his shoulder
into me playfully and I blinked at him, letting him feel how happy
I was. He blinked back, purring. I dug in and both of us leapt
ahead, anxious to get home.

Epilogue

I closed my eyes, enjoying the sunshine on my
face and the feel of Jasper’s arms around me. I leaned back into
him and felt him sigh. On this beautiful afternoon nearly a year
after our attack on Paradin, the birds sang and I was sure that
life would never get better. A small grunt made me look to the
left.

“Nina, honey, get off of your brother!” I
laughed as she looked up and brushed the light brown hair out of
her midnight blue eyes then took her time getting off of the wolf
pup lying under her. Japer chuckled behind me.

“Daniel, are you alright?”

The pup stood and shifted into a nine year
old boy with jet black hair and deep brown eyes. “I’m fine, Mom! I
thought if I bugged her enough I could get her to shift.” He
noticed his adoptive sister had gone to sit by herself by the
creek.

I smiled as he went to sit beside her and
wrapped an arm around her.

“Do you think she’ll ever shift?” I asked
Jasper.

“I’m not sure, Shlova. The first time she did
it, she broke both her arms; I imagine it will take a while for her
to forget that.” He looked up at the sky. “Is Dodge coming
today?”

I nodded. “He’s going to fly up to the
Northern Regions for me.” I went into the house, found the note I
had written for Ternach, and proofread it one last time.

Hello Ternach!

I thought I’d write and invite you to visit
us; you know I’ll keep pestering you until you do. Not much has
happened here since the last time I wrote. Nina still won’t talk or
shift and I’m worried she never will. Other than that, she seems to
be adjusting very well to having lost her family. Daniel has also
made tremendous steps since we found him trying to survive on his
own a few weeks after the Battle of Paradin. He’s started calling
us Mom and Dad and is very protective of Nina. The cabin is finally
finished and life is back to normal.

Rainen and William came for a visit a few
weeks ago. Everything seems to be going well for the Majs. Though
they still mourn the loss of Damian, Rainen is a great replacement
for him. Melana sent us a letter a few months back saying that
everything is back to normal around Pinsaber. The truce between the
Namaels and the Majs seems to be holding even if it is an uneasy
one. The borders remain the same but people aren’t killed on sight
anymore.

There have been a lot of rogue packs of
humans found wandering near the Wedelven border. Maj and Namael
packs have been patrolling there to try and get rid of as many as
they can. As usual, we give them a warning, let them know there’s a
different way to live, and give them the choice. Unfortunately,
they all seem to pick the fight and die option.

Tyler still hasn’t returned home though he
does send news at least once a month to let us know he’s alright.
Of all of us, Trent’s death has affected him the most and his
choice to leave Sageden didn’t come as a surprise to any of us. Mel
and Luke, as well as the rest of us, keep hoping he’ll come home,
though we know he needs to decide this on his own time.

Emelly still hasn’t come home and I fear the
worst. Matthew still leaves for weeks at a time to search for her.
It’s heart breaking.

Marilynn and I have been talking and we’ve
come up with a few ideas on how to get your magic back. If you’re
interested, be sure to come visit. You don’t need to go through
this alone.

Love,

Hayden

I glanced out of the window as Daniel whooped
in excitement. Dodge took to the air, my adopted son and daughter
on his back. I smiled and made my way outside to give my horse a
hug as he landed.

“Hey, Buddy.”

Hey, Hayden.

“Thanks for doing this.”

He shook out his mane.
Not a problem. One
of the herd’s young ones left on his stone quest a few months back
hasn’t made it back yet. I’m going to try and track down what
happened to him while I’m up there.
He stood still as I tied
the note to his mane. He bent his head down to hug me back.
I’ll
stop in when I get back.

“If you spot Matthew or Tyler, tell them we
miss them. Stay safe, Dodge.” I kissed his soft nose and watched
him fly away.

Jasper’s arms snaked around me and he rested
his chin on my head. “Are you alright?”

I took a deep breath. “Will it get better?
How long until everyone stops hurting?”

He turned me around and kissed me lightly.
“I’m not sure, Sholva.” I looked up into his sky blue eyes and
brushed a dark brown curl out of the way. Nina tugged on my sleeve
to get my attention then pointed to the west. I smiled.

“Yes, we’d better go. I’d hate for your
grandma and grandpa to get lost trying to get here on their own.”
After adopting Nina and Daniel, we’d decided that the best way to
keep my parents in our life was to give them crossing stones so
they could come visit us. Putting our children through the pain
Jasper had felt just wasn’t an option. Thankfully, we’d discovered
that if a human with no magic had a cross stone, they were able to
stay in Quelondain without getting their energy sucked out of
them.

Nina grinned and cocked her head to the side
as Daniel shifted into his wolf and loped off ahead of us. She
gazed back at us, a slight frown on her pretty face. Her jaw
clenched, I saw her take a deep breath, and I gasped as her form
blurred and she shifted into her grizzly cub. She stood completely
still, staring straight ahead. Daniel stopped short and looked back
toward his sister. His tongue lolled out of his mouth in an open
grin and he let out a quick bark. Nina took one step, and another,
and started to shuffle after her brother. He waited until she was
at his side before giving another excited yip and then loping
through the woods ahead of us toward the cross trail. Nina’s
shuffle turned into the powerful rolling run that only a bear could
pull off.

Jasper gave my shoulder a squeeze, shifted
into his tiger, and bound off after our children. I smiled and
watched my family for a moment then let my tigress take over. I
felt my bones rearrange, my body shift, and finally blinked my cat
eyes.

As I leapt off after the man I loved and the
children I adored, I started to purr. If Nina, who had lost so much
and been through so much pain, could find the strength to break
through the fear and anguish that trapped her, then I was sure that
Tyler, Matthew, Ternach, hell, Quelondain, given the time, would be
able to do the same.

Books by Mireille Chester

The Chosen One Trilogy

Crossover

Journey

Destiny

Also coming soon, two new series:

Tales of Quelondain
(for young
adults)

and

The Witteck Chronicles

Over a hundred thousand years ago, the
Wittecks were called to rid the world of an unspeakable evil. As
their magical orbs start to reappear throughout the land, the
question arises; is Quelondain in danger once again? Come along as
some of Hayden’s original pack members, as well as new ones, travel
across the three continents in search of answers. Can they hope to
stop the final destruction of the beautiful and magical world we’ve
all come to love?

A Witteck’s Dream

The Witteck Chronicles: Book One

Ternach moved under his blankets
so he could see where Sarah was lying. He felt the smile pull at
the sides of his mouth and he put his arm over his face, the sight
of her completely hidden except for a foot sticking out of the
blankets imprinted on his mind. He found a small stone, probably
the same one that had managed to dig into his back for most of the
night, and lobbed it softly in her direction. She groaned and
rolled over, her slender foot tucked back under the blankets.

“Go away.”

Ternach chuckled at her muffled
order. “Come on, now. Cass and Peter are already dressed and
gone.”

She grunted. “Go, then. I’ll
catch up to you.”

His grin widened. “I have no
doubt that you could.” He supposed there were distinct advantages
to being a cheetah. He watched as she stretched, her back arching
so he could see her slender shape under the covers. He coughed to
hide the groan that made its way up his throat. By the moons, it
was getting harder and harder not to make his way to her blankets
during the night. Well, it’s your own damn fault, he chided
himself. You’re the one who’s decided not to pursue this.

He looked away from where she
lay and proceeded to make himself a cup of coffee. You have enough
issues to deal with without adding a possible mate to the pile, he
argued back to himself.

“Do you want a cup of
coffee?”

Sarah sat up and Ternach
couldn’t help but smile. Her long auburn hair lay in a mess around
her face and shoulders. She ran her hands over her face and
yawned.

“Please. That would be
fantastic.” She reached into her pack, found her brush, and
proceeded to try and tame her hair. By the time he had gotten her
coffee made she had managed to put it into one long braid down the
middle of her back. She took the cup gratefully and took a sip. Her
fingers touched his and she looked up to see his reaction. By the
moons, the man was confusing. How did a being go from sharing an
unbelievable kiss like the one they’d shared to absolutely
nothing?

Ternach smiled and went back to
his blankets. “Peter said they’d be back in about an hour.” He
looked up and her hazel eyes met his white green ones. She held his
gaze for an instant and looked back into her cup.

“Did they go hunting?”

He shook his head then realized
she couldn’t see him. “No. They said something about filling the
canteens.”

She grinned and raised an
eyebrow at him. “An hour to fill canteens?”

He shrugged and smiled. “I’m
just relaying the information I was given.” He took a sip of his
coffee. “You said you’re from Bliar, yeah?

She nodded.

“Is there anybody in particular
you’ll be visiting when we get there?”

She blinked and looked up and
blushed at the way he was watching her. “No.” Inwardly, she
groaned. Did she have to act like such a twit when he looked at
her? And what exactly was it he was asking? Did he think she had a
mate there? She took a sip of her drink. Well, there was only one
way to find out. “Ternach…”

“Hmmm?”

She took a deep breath. “It’s
just… I was thinking about…” She stopped short and looked up as
Peter and Cassandra came trotting back into camp. Their forms
shimmered and the panther and wolf turned into the smiling
couple.

“You’ll never guess what just
happened to us!” Peter set his pack down and poured two cups of
coffee.

Ternach managed to tear his gaze
away from Sarah’s and grinned at his friend’s obvious excitement.
“You’re right. I have not a clue.”

“We were just stopped by a pack
of Namaels.”

Ternach frowned. “And?”

“And they asked us about the
orbs!” Cassandra took a cup from Peter and sat beside him.

Sarah jumped where she sat.
“Damn it!” She used her blankets to soak up some of the coffee
spilled with the motion. “What did you tell them?” She looked from
Peter to Cassandra and tried to ignore the fact that Ternach was
frowning at her.

Peter grunted. “Nothing.”

“It was strange, really. The
pack’s captain was Roland. He was in Sageden just before we marched
north. Anyhow, he’s a good man. He said they had orders from Taylor
to find out anything they could about the orb that was found in
Paradin.”

Ternach’s frown deepened.
“What’s odd about that?”

“The order didn’t come from
Melana.” Sarah’s eyes were saucers in her head. “Why would the
orders be from Taylor? Orders are always carried out in Melana’s
name.”

Cassandra was nodding. “That’s
what struck me as wrong. I told him we hadn’t heard anything but
that we’d be sure to let any pack we ran into know if we did.”

Peter pulled the yellow orb from
his pack and gazed at it with newfound amazement. “Now, why would
Taylor be interested in you?”

“Love, put it away.” Cassandra
opened his pack and held it open so he could slip the orb back into
hiding. She looked at her mate. “We have to let Marilynn know.
Maybe she could tell us what’s going on.”

He nodded. “We can send a
bluebird with a message when we get to Bliar.”

Everyone packed their things and
the small group started on their way.

“So what was it you wanted to
talk about before Peter and Cassandra came back?”

Sarah glanced sideways at
Ternach then back to the trail ahead of her. “Hmm? I can’t
remember. It mustn’t have been important.”

Ternach raised an eyebrow at her
and smiled. “Do you know what I can’t wait to get to Bliar
for?”

“What’s that?”

“A cold mug of sloan and some
deer steaks. It seems like forever since I’ve had deer meat.” He
shook his head. “By the moons, what a stupid thing to say.”

“Why?”

“Because I know what forever
feels like. It’s only been a few months.”

Sarah reached over and put a
hand on his arm. “Maybe you should head to Sageden. Maybe Hayden’s
right about finding your magic.”

He grunted. “Are you trying to
get rid of me?”

Peter glanced back at the pair
and grinned. “The pair of you are unbelievable.”

Sarah ignored him and linked her
arm through Ternach’s. “No, I’m not trying to get rid of you.”