A weight lifts off my chest. I have no answers for the future, but my wolf is happy to dwell in the now, basking in the presence of his chosen mate.
I pop another bite of croissant in her mouth. "May I see your drawing?"
She reaches for the pad, then hesitates, shooting me an inscrutable look.
"Please?"
I hold my breath as she slowly passes it to me, hoping I say the right things. The fairy is adorable-huge, wide-set eyes, a bow-tie mouth and red pigtails. Dainty long lines make up her body to give the impression of movement, like she's about to flit off to the next flower. She has her hands clasped behind her back, like Degas' Little Dancer, but so much cuter. There's a joyful, impish quality-I don't know enough about art to understand how Sedona produced it, but it's there.
"It's… perfect. You have a real talent, Sedona."
"Oh please." She tries to snatch it back, but I hold it out of her reach. "It's nothing. Cartoon-y stuff."
"That's not nothing. It's beautiful. It's bewitching. And most importantly, it's what you want to create." I can't help but think of monetizing her art-it was pounded into me at Harvard. "These would make perfect greeting cards. Or children's books. Even t-shirts."
She nibbles her lip, but I see a spark of hope in her eyes and I want to fist-pump. I said the right thing. "I-I don't really know. I'm not good with marketing or selling. I just like to create."
"Then let me sell them for you. I'll act as your agent. Or business-manager-whatever artists have." I grin.
"That'd be cool." She says it like she believes it won't happen, which pisses me off. It makes me even more determined to prove to her how hard I'd work for her happiness.
I flip a page back and she tries to snatch it away. I twist to hold it out of her reach, where I can see it.
It's me-my wolf, in loving detail. She has my coloring right, my eyes. She remembered everything, even though she's only seen him once.
"Sedona." I turn back to her, eyes wide with awe. "You drew me."
Her cheeks are pink. She shrugs like it's nothing. "Why wouldn't I?"
"May I have it?"
"No." She reaches for it and this time I reluctantly let her have it.
Disappointment lances through me. "Why not?"
"I want to keep it," she mumbles.
My nose-diving confidence takes a sharp turn. She wants to keep it. The drawing of me. I want to read so much into this, but I know that's not wise. She hasn't admitted any feelings for me yet.
"I want one of you, then," I demand.
She gives a snort. "I don't draw myself." Her cheeks turn an enchanting shade of pink.
"Try."
She rolls her eyes, but a smile plays around her mouth. "I'll think about it."
I settle back in my seat and sip the coffee, laying one hand on her leg. Touching her grounds me, eases my anxiety even as it revs the engines of lust always burning in her presence.
It feels easy and comfortable with her and I hardly dare think it, but I'm starting to believe we can find a way to make things work.
I don't know how yet, but I know I want to try.
~.~
Council Elder
I settle into my first class seat on the plane to Europe and pull out my laptop. I have a great many lab results to review from the tests run in Mexico City. Fortunately, they were at a lab, not the warehouse. I didn't chance stopping there, in case it's being watched. Not by Federales-they can be paid off. But by shifters. Word is a wolf who wasn't part of the American party got free when they did and his pack is now on the hunt.
Good luck to them. I've done an excellent job staying behind the scenes. It's easy when you're willing to pay top dollar for services rendered.
I scan the results, studying the genetic markers of the American she-wolf, as well as those of her pack mates. All healthy. Too bad I didn't have time to extract eggs and semen to initiate in vitro fertilization.
All the more reason Carlos needs to get his female pregnant on this trip, if the deed is not already done.
Barcelona.
Carlos couldn't have made my job any easier. I have a warehouse there, with two she-wolves, one jaguar, and two bears in captivity there, all transported in from Siberia.
I could have them transported to Mexico, but Carlos made the decision easy for me. I'll kill two birds with one stone.
If Carlos doesn't cooperate, I'll imprison him and his little American, and breed them another way. Better than killing him, like his father. What a waste.
I send a message to Aleix, one of the traffickers. There are two new wolves in your city. Find them, watch them, but don't touch them-they are under my protection.
~.~
Sedona
Carlos holds my hand as we walk up Las Ramblas, the open air pedestrian mall in Barcelona. I try not to read too much into it-whether I should let him hold my hand, or the message it sends. He's already sleeping in my room, waking me up at night to fuck my brains out. Probably hand-holding shouldn't be a hard limit.
The street is packed with tourists and vendors and I have to admit, I enjoy the way Carlos embodies safety and protection.
I stop to check out a street performer pretending to be statue for a moment, then Carlos leads me to the Miró mosaic set in the sidewalk where tourists tramp right over it, never knowing it's a famous work of art.
I check out a collection of leather bags at one vendor, and Carlos pulls his wallet out, as he has every time I've stopped. He's so eager to buy me anything my heart desires. Too bad I'm not some starving artist, or he could work that angle to bind me to him.
That was a weird thought.