Chapter 259 Chapter 259
Leah set the phone down and looked out the window. Everything is changing. She smiled Evanna was right about that. It was such a strange feeling to see her and hear her. She’d only ever heard her inside her head, she sounded so different on the outside. In all the years since Evanna had been around, she’d never known her to be like she had on the video. She’d sounded hesitant, almost insecure.
“Are you all right?” Jesse stood at the open door.
“I’m just,” she pointed to the phone, “that was different, seeing her talking to me.”
Jesse didn’t move to come inside, “we thought it would be an easier way for her to communicate because she’s not big on writing.”
Leah smirked, “no she’s not. I could write an entire book and she prefers five-word entries. The amused feeling faded. “She’s worried about,” she wasn’t sure how to word it, “things.” Turning in the seat, she clasped her hands in her lap and looked down at them, “about things with her and I and,” she glanced at him quickly, then looked away, “and how things will work with us.”
Closing the door, he sat on the step, he filled the small space and didn’t seem to notice. “It’s going to take a lot of communication with the three of us to make this work.” He paused, making her look back at him, “I want this to work. I don’t want either of you to feel any less than you are, because to me you’re both important.”
She nodded, more to tell him she understood what he was saying, she didn’t know if she agreed, she was so unsure of everything. “How do we make it work?”
He studied her for a moment, taking his time answering. “I don’t know, that’s what we need to figure out.” Sitting back against the corner of the cupboards that were beside the door, he brought one knee up and leaned on it. “Next week we’re going to Chicago, with the retrieval team and we can’t go there if we’re not in synch,” he shook his head, “it will be too distracting. You or Evanna will be clear of anything happening, but I might be in the mix of it with Calum, Blair, and the others so I need to be able to...”
“Focus and not be distracted by us.” She finished quickly. He nodded his head slowly, “what do we need to do?”
“Well, first,” he paused and looked at her, “we all need to be completely truthful with each other, if we aren’t it will never work.”
“I agree with that, no good can come out of any of us lying or hiding the truth.” She chewed on her lip lightly, “Evanna said the doctor said the only way us being mated, completely,” she couldn’t stop the flush of her cheeks as she said it, “is if we agree with the new arrangement.”
“New arrangement?”
She nodded, “yes, Doctor Collins and I spoke about it too, before on the mountain,” she looked out the window for a second, happy that this area felt like home too, “I did the cooking and gardening,” she looked back to see his entire focus was on her, “Evanna controlled Minn to hunt,” she exhaled slowly, doing the focused breathing the doctor had taught her, “if I felt threatened or- or scared, Evanna was out.”
“Okay, we’ll need to figure that out now that things have changed.”
She nodded, “yes. Like,” she licked her lips, having trouble concentrating with his pale eyes watching her so closely, “when you are with,” she took a deep breath, trying to talk about it without feeling frightened, “your team, obviously Evanna will be the one fronting because I-I can’t.”
“And that’s fine, if you are uncomfortable in any way at any time, I understand.”
His tone was so soft, so gentle, it calmed the jitters and allowed her to continue. “I’m not sure what my part will be now.” She touched the skirt material, “I don’t need to sew, we can buy what we need,” she looked over at the small kitchen space, “there’s not much to cooking here with so many things already done,” she turned back to him, “I don’t know my part or what I’m to do.”
He stood up slowly, always his moves were careful, so he didn’t startle her, and she appreciated that he knew to do that. Holding out his hand, he motioned to the small sofa, that she still couldn’t believe hid a bed inside it.
“Come sit here with me.” He waited until she stood up and then took her hand and sat down. Sitting beside him, she turned so she was facing him and smoothed the material over her legs. He took her hand again, his eyes searching her face, the look in them made her feel adored, something she couldn’t say she’d ever felt before.
“We don’t have to carve it in stone,” he shifted so he was facing her completely, “who is to do what and when,” he lifted one shoulder then dropped it, “there will be bumps along the way, I’m sure, but we’ll work together and figure it out.”
“All right.” She felt better with his words but still couldn’t picture how that would work.
“Evanna is worried too,” he told her, a serious look on his face, “she doesn’t know what her part will be either now that things are changing, and you both are able to control your cat better.”
“It is a strange feeling,” she touched her chest with the palm of her hand, “to feel Minn so calm and settled. I won’t miss that tense feeling all the time.”
He nodded his head slowly, “she’ll still have her moments, all of our animals do, but you’ll be able to sense things better and keep a handle on her,” he smirked, mostly.
“And you have this with your cat too.”
He smirked, “all the time. What I want isn’t always what he wants, but we work it out.”
“Your cat,” she looked at his chest like she’d be able to see him, “is he okay with all of this?” She hesitated for a second, “with us?”
“He is.” He slumped his shoulders for a second, “he’s perfectly fine with you as our mate, that includes Evanna and Minn, he’s good with it.” Leaning closer, he brushed the hair back from her face, the way his fingertips barely touched her cheek sent a small shiver through her. “If he had his way we’d already be completely mated.”
Her face heated at his words. “I don’t entirely know how that works,” her face went hot, “I-I mean, I know um, that we,” she bit her lip, not sure how to say it.
Jesse grinned, “yes, there’s that, but there’s more.”
“More how?” She licked her dry lips again, trying to settle her nerves.
“We mark each other, you’ve seen those on other couples, haven’t you?”
She nodded, touching the side of her neck, and running her fingertips over to her shoulder, “yes, the marks, I’ve seen them. Are those so others will see and know?”
There was amusement in his eyes, “that’s not the sole purpose, but more of an added bonus.” He cleared his throat, “if you want the technical explanation, I’m sure Shaelan could explain it to you, but,” he gave her a soft look, “when we mark our mate, it combines our scents and that never fades,” he paused and watched her for a moment, “that is how others in our world know who is mated and who isn’t.” He cringed, “maybe I should ask Shaelan about the technicalities of it.” He grinned, “that was a pretty sad explanation.”
She smiled back at him, “no, it was uh, helpful.” She blew out a quick breath, “I never knew it did that. There’s a lot I don’t understand about my own kind.”
“That’s not your fault, your grandparents did right, keeping you hidden up on that mountain, I don’t know if Tomas’ people would have gone looking for you, but you staying up there kept you off their radar.”
“I didn’t think of that.”
“Your safety is all I think about.”
Those seven words were probably the most important thing he ever could have said to her, it made her steadier, just knowing that.
Evanna’s video came to mind, she didn’t have answers to everything she’d asked her, not until right now. Her heartbeat started beating a little faster, but not in a bad way for once. She bit her lip and looked at him.
“What?” He titled his head and gave her one of those half-smiles of his. She couldn’t help but look at his mouth.
“Nothing, I was just thinking about Evanna’s video to me. I should leave her one too.” She bit her lip, “I have no idea how to do that.”
“I can show you,” he pulled out his phone and glanced at it. “You can do that while I talk to the contractor, he’ll be here soon.”
“Contractor?”
He put his phone back in his pocket reached across the table and picked up the one he’d given Evanna. “Yeah, I’m having him close in the outer walls, get some doors and windows in, so when we come back it’s sealed up from the weather and we can start putting some rooms in it.”
“Oh,” she grimaced, “I hope you mean Evanna when you say we, I am not proficient with a hammer at all.”
He grinned, “that’s fine, Evanna said she was not wielding a paintbrush, so I guess you’re the decorator.”
“Oh yes, I love painting, pictures, walls, anything.”
Jesse smiled at her, “just as long as there are no pink shades, we’re good with whatever you choose.”
She couldn’t hide how excited she was about that. “I can’t wait.” She glanced at the phone he held. “How do I do a video?” He leaned closer and held the phone out to her, so many emotions and thoughts were going through her mind right now and for the first time ever, she wasn’t afraid of any of them.