Chapter 144 – Delaying Fate

Cassidy covered her ears as she screamed aloud, “Stop it, it’s too much."

Natalie sighed as she pulled back and got up from the couch in Cassidy’s grandfather’s study to give her some space. Her frustrations were getting the best of her as she attempted to trigger any memory from Cassidy’s mind that happened these last few months.

“It hurts, it hurts too much. I don’t want to remember; I’ve been through enough pain in my life. I don’t want to take any more on,” she cried out.

Natalie’s heart ached for her friend, and she didn’t know what else to do for her. She was getting anxious and needed a release—these last few days with Cassidy had really taken a toll on her. Natalie had asked Gavin not to come and see her until she was sure that Cassidy was comfortable enough for people to be over at the house. But now, she didn’t care and missed her man. Natalie was in dire need of seeing her rugged man and feeling his calming energy flow through her with a simple touch of his hand.

“I’m going to step outside and get some fresh air,” Natalie told her before moving briskly out of the room and toward the outside world.

Natalie pulled back the front door, pushed the screen door open, and stormed out to the front balcony. She didn’t like the way she was feeling at that moment as she rested her arms on the wooden frame and lowered her head. She closed her eyes as she fought back the tears that were threatening to fall down her cheeks.

Natalie heard a thud on the deck and turned to look to see what had made the noise. Her eyes widened as her heart filled with joy when she saw Gavin walking towards her. He wrapped his arms around her and dipped her back before he covered her mouth with his and gave her a deep kiss. Natalie’s heart raced as the flutters tickled her stomach. She was so happy to see Gavin and be in his arms at that moment that nothing else mattered to her.

He pulled his girl back up but continued to keep her in his arms as he guided her to the porch swing and sat down.

“Gavin, I’m so relieved to see you.” Natalie confided.

His wolf howled in delight, knowing that their mate was happy they were there.

“I had to make sure that you were all right. Even if I could get close, I needed to know that you were doing okay. I could sense your frustration from inside and didn’t care if you yelled at me for coming to you. You needed me, and I wanted to make sure you knew I was here for you.”

Natalie let the tears fall down her cheeks, not caring that it was showing a moment of weakness. “Thank you,” she whispered as she rested her head against his chest and sucked in her favorite scent, him.

Gavin rubbed his hand against Natalie’s back. “How’s it going in there?”

Natalie sighed.

“She doesn’t want to remember. She’s scared of the pain. To a certain degree, I don’t blame her, but I can’t think about my life without you in it. It wouldn’t work for me,” she confessed.

Gavin kissed the top of her head. “Same for me, beautiful.”

He sat there quietly for a moment as he took in the view in front of him and his girl sitting next to him in his arms.

“Nat?”

“Hmm.”

“We might have to accept that it’s going to take longer than a few days for her to want to get those memories back,” he suggested.

Natalie let out a sigh, and her shoulders slumped. She knew that he had a point, but she didn’t want to give up on reuniting her best friend with the love she was meant to have.

“I don’t want her to lose out on her chance with love.” she confided. “Cass deserves better than this. Why can’t she and Jacob have this moment?”

Gavin shrugged. “Maybe now isn’t the time. They both have a lot to learn. Maybe fate has something in store for them, but there’s a lesson they need to learn first,” he proclaimed.

Natalie nodded as she carefully took in what her man had to say. What he said made sense. “So, I should stop pushing her to remember the past and help her with moving on, in hopes that sooner or later she will want those memories to come back. But she needs to be the one to want it, not all of us.”

He gave his sassy redhead a reassuring smile and said, “Exactly.”

There was a sense of relief that flowed through Natalie when accepting that maybe now wasn’t the right time to push Cassidy. She was feeling the strain that it was putting on her relationship with her best friend and didn’t like how it was making her feel.

She pulled herself up off the porch swing and turned to look at her sexy man. “Why don’t you come back by later tonight for some dinner and I’ll re-introduce you to my best friend, who’s also going to be my maid of honor at the mating ceremony we are having soon.”

Gavin got up from where he was sitting and pressed his lips against her forehead. “Will you be making my favorite dish for me tonight?” he inquired.

Natalie gave him a coy smile, “Maybe, and if you’re lucky, I’ll even let you have your favorite dessert.” she said before giving him a wink and heading back inside.