Journey 'The Chosen One Trilogy: Book Two'

by Chester, Mireille

  Jasper chuckled as he pulled off his shirt. “You know, that was a first for me.”

  “What?” I pulled the bandage off of the cut on his back to inspect the damage.

  “Being thrown through a table. It’s not an experience I’d care to repeat.”

  I started to laugh. “How exactly did they manage it?”

  “When I opened the door Dave punched me in the nose. While I recovered from that, two of them each grabbed an arm and picked me up, then slammed me into the table.”

  I made him sit on the toilet so I could have a look at his face. “Maybe we should cross so I can fix you. That one on your cheek is going to scar.”

  He shook his head. “They could have the whole bloody army waiting for us to cross back.” He pulled my tank top off carefully and looked at the bandages over my breast. He swallowed hard. “Bastard.”

  “Hun, I’m fine.” I leaned down, careful of his face, and kissed him softly. I smiled. “I’ve had much worse.”

  A low growl rumbled through him. “If we had been home, this would never have happened. I would have gone to the door expecting something like this.”

  “Yes, well, we’re not home.” My throat tightened as I realized that I meant it. Even though I had been raised here, this was no longer home. I had to swallow before I could continue. “It never occurred to me something like this would happen either.”

  Jasper pulled me to him.

  “I miss home.” It was barely a whisper, but I knew he had heard it.

  He took a deep breath. “Me too.”

  “I keep thinking about how the next time we see Kara she’ll already be almost two years old. Tyler and Trent will be thirteen. It will be their birthday in a few weeks and we’ll manage to miss this one too.”

  “Why don’t we go shopping tomorrow? We’ll get them something from here as a souvenir.”

  I nodded. “I really don’t think I want to stay here.”

  He pulled me down so that I straddled him and he could pull me close. “We’ll talk about it some more when we’re a little calmer.”

  I rest my head in the crook of his neck and breathed deeply. A groan escaped my throat.

  “What?”

  I thought about it for a moment, not sure how to phrase it then chuckled. “It’s just that, well, you always smell so good after a fight.”

  “Do I, now.” He bent his head to my neck and took a deep breath. “Hmm. So do you.” He ran his tongue along my collar bone and I shivered.

  “Hayden, Jasper? Are you guys alright?” Shay’s voice was followed by the sound of the entire crew walking into the house.

  I sighed. “We’re fine!”

  “Ok. Let me know if you need anything. I’ll find you some shirts and put them outside the door.”

  “Thanks, Shay.” I looked at Jasper and bent my head to his ear. “There’s only one thing I need right now and you’re the only one who can help me with it.”

  “Is that so?” He ran his teeth over my jaw. “Then I guess we’d better get going then. If you keep looking at me like that I might start to think it acceptable to just have my way with you here.”

  I smiled and we got dressed.

  Shay gave us each a hug when we got into the living room. “Do you guys want a drink?”

  We looked at each other.

  “Um, no.” I gave her another hug. “Actually, I think we are going to head home. We have to pick out a new dining room set and get that set up…plus a few other things need to get done.”

  Tara started to laugh. “I thought we had given you enough time for those other things.”

  “We had injuries to look after.” I blushed.

  “Well, get home and get to it, then.” Tara shook her head. “I don’t know how you’ve managed this long.”

  We said our goodbyes and almost ran to the truck, leaving Tara to explain to Shay what ‘other things’ had to be taken care of after a battle.

  Chapter Twelve

  Jasper looked at everything on the bed and swallowed. This was ridiculous. There was no reason to be nervous. It was a fight. He’d been fighting and killing since he’d been fourteen years old. He took a deep breath. It wasn’t the fight. It was not knowing who he was fighting, or how many of them there were going to be.

  “What are you thinking about?” Hayden walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around him from behind.

  “Tonight.”

  “The wedding?”

  He shook his head. “The fight.”

  “Hmm. I’m trying to not think about it.” She stood beside him and looked at the bed. On it were the two packs they used for travelling, their deerskin pants, tunics, belts, daggers, and her swords and healer’s bag. “Do you think the blue bird got our note to Luke and Alex?”

  “I don’t know. I hope so. Our odds of surviving this would be much better if we were nine as opposed to four.”

  Hayden started to pack the bags. “Do you have your stone?”

  “In my pocket. I’m not taking the chance that something happens and we have to cross early and I don’t have it on me.”

  The phone rang and Jasper could hear her mother on the other end.

  “Hayden?”

  “Hey, mom, what’s up?”

  “We’re heading out and wanted to know if you needed us to pick anything up.” She sounded like she’d been crying.

  “Oh, mom. Don’t cry. We’ll be back. I promise. Even if we don’t decide to come live here, we’ll for sure come visit.” Hayden cleared her throat and he could see how hard she was trying not to break down.

  “I know, hun. Just promise me you’ll be safe.”

  “Of course I’ll be safe.”

  Jasper held in his urge to grunt. In a few hours, they would be knowingly walking blind into some sort of an ambush. If they survived that, it was off to Howel where the chances that they would be executed were large. And after that, if all went according to plan, they would be marching off to the Northern Regions to take on the humans. He really didn’t think there was any part of their plan that would qualify as safe.

  He finished packing the bags and heard Hayden reassure her mother that they didn’t need anything and they would see them at the wedding.

  She took a deep breath once she’d hung up. “I don’t like lying to her.”

  “You’re not outright lying to her. You’ll be as safe as you can be.”

  She raised an eyebrow at him and smiled when he shrugged.

  “I’ll take this stuff out to the truck. You’d better get your dress on. We have to be at the church in an hour.” He leaned down and kissed her softly.

  She smiled and he had to remember to breathe. She gave her head a shake and the loose curls bounce around her face.

  He started to leave but remembered something he wanted to bring along. Hayden smiled when he took the painting she had done of him roping and started to laugh when he took the picture of Dodge as a colt.

  Kip barked excitedly as Jasper opened the truck door and put everything behind the seat under a blanket.

  “Sorry, buddy. You have to stay here for now. We’ll come get you after the church stuff is done.”

  He headed back to the bedroom and stopped short. Hayden was sitting on the bed with her head down, twirling her ring around her finger. A tear slipped off of her cheek and landed on her lap. She was getting much too good at shielding her feelings from him. He hadn’t had a clue she was feeling down.

  “Hayden?”

  She cleared her throat and wiped her tears with the palms of her hands.

  “Shlova, what’s wrong?” He went to sit on the bed with her. She leaned against him and he pulled her to his chest.

  “Nothing’s wrong.” She took a deep breath. “Everything is wrong.”

  “What is?”

  “God, Jasper, I don’t even know how to start…”

  “Is it the fight tonight?”

  She shook her head.

  “The wedding? Do you want a wedding?”

&
nbsp; No to that also.

  “Rainen? Braw?”

  Again, she shook her head.

  “Shlova, you’ll have to help me out. I can’t think of anything else.”

  She took a deep breath and the butterflies in his stomach started to fly. Whatever it was, it was bad enough she wouldn’t look at him. He rested his chin on her head and closed his eyes.

  “I couldn’t make up my mind when would be the best time to tell you.” Hayden’s voice was just a whisper. “But if something happens when I cross over…”

  Jasper’s heart was pounding in his chest. Her shield was slipping and he could feel the fear. The fear fell away and the confusion took over, which was followed by excitement, and more fear.

  “I’m pregnant.”

  His heart stopped. “What?”

  “I…I…”

  He stood and pulled her up and crushed her lips with his. His arms snaked around her waist and he lifted her off of the ground. He set her down and smiled down at her. She was crying again and he wiped the tears from her cheeks with his thumb before kissing her softly.

  “I thought this was what we wanted.” He tilted her face up so she would look at him.

  “It was. It is. It’s just…What if it can’t cross? And even you said it. The next while is going to be a horrible time to raise little ones. I mean, I’ll be in the middle of it all. Remember what happened to Dawn?”

  The more she talked, the bigger the lump in his throat got. He swallowed hard and tried to make it go away. She had already convinced herself she was going to lose the baby. He started to panic. His chest hurt and he was finding it hard to breathe. Chances were, she was right.

  “Shlova.”

  She blinked away fresh tears and took a deep breath.

  “Hayden, you have to stay here.”

  Her green eyes widened. “What? No! You’re not going without me!”

  “It will be fine. I’ll go talk to Rainen. When she’s on board with our plan, I’ll come back here. We’ll postpone our march on Braw until after the baby is born.”

  She was shaking her head. “If I’m not with you, they’ll kill you.”

  “Then we’ll both wait.”

  She was quiet for a moment. He sat on the bed and watched her think. He was starting to think he might have convinced her when she shook her head again and his heart dropped. If they crossed over tonight, he might not only lose the child he had always wanted, he might very well lose the only woman he had ever loved. Hayden came to sit beside him.

  “Luke and Alex, they might all be there. We can’t leave them to fight alone.”

  Jasper growled in frustration. “By the moons, Hayden, could you be selfish for once in your life? You’ll stay here. I’ll cross over. When the fighting’s over I’ll come back!”

  “You’re not going off to fight without me!” She started to cry.

  He rubbed his hands over his face and took a deep breath. “What do you want to do?”

  “I don’t know.” He could barely hear her. He looked over at her and his heart broke. She looked so lost; absolutely devastated. He lay back on the bed and pulled her down so that she was snuggled into his chest. He kissed her forehead and held her close.

  “Let’s start over.”

  She looked up at him. “What?”

  He smiled. “So what’s this big news you wanted to tell me?”

  She raised an eyebrow at him.

  “Well? Come on, now. We have to leave soon. I don’t think Shay would appreciate us being late for the wedding considering we’re the best man and maid of honor.”

  She laughed and he felt the joy she had been trying not to feel. She rolled onto her back, took his hand and placed it on her belly. He leaned forward and kissed her softly. She ran her fingers through his hair and smiled.

  “I’m pregnant.”

  His heart soared and he brushed his lips against hers. “That’s fantastic.” He laughed and rolled back, pulling her on top of his chest. “I love you.”

  Hayden kissed him lightly and sighed. “I love you more.”

  *****

  I watched Jasper standing beside Shawn while we waited for Shay to walk down the aisle and couldn’t help but forget about my worries. He looked unbelievable in his black jeans, white dress shirt and dark blue vest. I didn’t think he’d stopped smiling since we had left the house. He caught me looking at him and his grin widened.

  I beamed at him. If I had done the math correctly, I was about eight weeks along in the pregnancy. My heart jumped and I tried not to think about all the ifs that could go wrong and concentrated on being happy. And I was extremely happy.

  The organ player started playing and everyone looked to the back of the church expectantly. Shay appeared on her father’s arm looking exactly like a model from a bridal magazine. Her shoulder length blond hair was loose, hanging in tight ringlets and was decorated with baby’s breath. Her dress was a strapless white satin number that was tight in the bodice and flared at the waist.

  The whole ceremony went without a hitch and we were soon all at the riding arena where the party was being held. There were still two hours before everyone was due to arrive and I took advantage of our time alone to slip out of my high heels. Tara grinned and did the same.

  Ben, who had been called on to fill in for Shawn’s groomsman that had fallen sick, came over carrying a beer for everyone. Jasper took his and I shook my head.

  Tara looked at me curiously. “Are you feeling sick?”

  “No. I’m fine. I just don’t want to drink before we fight.” After a bit of discussion on the way to the church, Jasper and I had agreed to keep the baby to ourselves for a while.

  Ben laughed. “Hayden, you usually have a shot of jeckden before a fight if you know its coming.”

  I looked over at Jasper and he smiled. It had been my idea not to tell anyone. I was on my own.

  “You know, you two have been acting strange all day.” Shay stood in front of us and placed her hands on her hips.

  “What? How?” I didn’t think we had been acting differently at all.

  “Just a lot more touchy feely. You two can make a regular couple look like they hate each other on the best of days, but today, you’d think it was the two of you getting married instead of us. And these secret little looks.”

  I looked away from Jasper and laughed. He came to stand behind me and rest his chin on my head. He bent down so that his mouth was by my ear.

  “Can I tell them?”

  I looked back at him and burst out laughing. He looked like a kid on Christmas morning. “Yes. You can tell them.”

  Everyone looked at us expectantly and Jasper kissed me before turning his attention back to them.

  “I’m going to be a daddy.”

  Shay squealed and gave us both hugs. “Oh, my god! That’s awesome!”

  Ben poured me an orange juice and everyone else grabbed their beer. “Congratulations.”

  Jasper sat down and pulled me onto his lap. I leaned my head against his shoulder and took a deep breath. Tara sat beside us.

  “I, well, I don’t want to seem unhappy for you…” Her caramel colored eyes met mine and I smiled sadly.

  “I know. That’s why I didn’t want to tell anyone.”

  She put a hand on my arm. “Do you think it will be able to cross?”

  Jasper nodded. “Shay was able to cross because Hayden was touching her. Since the baby is in her, I think it’s safe to assume it will be fine.”

  “God, Hayden, Jasper. I’m sorry. I just…the first thing I thought about was Dawn.”

  “I know.” There was a lump forming in my throat. At least Dawn had been far enough along that Kara had been alright.

  “What if you stayed here until it was born?” Ben was standing behind Tara.

  “I can’t. I’m needed over there. I’m the missing piece of the puzzle, right?”

  Jasper’s arms tightened around me. “Don’t worry, Shlova. Things will work out how they are supposed to.”r />
  I took a deep breath and looked into his perfect blue eyes. He held my face gently in his hands and brushed his lips softly against mine. I sighed and kissed him back.

  “How do you do that?”

  He smiled. “What?”

  “Make me feel better with a kiss.”

  He kissed me again. “I’m not sure. But I’m glad it works.”

  “Me too.” My heart lifted and I smiled.

  He put a hand over my belly and kissed me deeply. “Now. We have a wedding we need to finish enjoying.”

  I looked at Shay and was shocked to see tears in her eyes. “What’s wrong, Shay?”

  She shook her head. “I just…I’m gonna miss you guys.”

  Tara and I pulled her into a hug. When we pulled back we were all crying. I smiled and hugged them again. “Come on, now. Look at us! This is your wedding! No more crying unless it’s the happy kind. Now, come along, Mrs. Johnson. We need to go fix your makeup.”

  I had laughed when I’d found out Shawn had picked his own last name when he’d gotten his fake ID’s. He’d shrugged and said it was easy to remember. I’d helped Jasper pick Mackenzie. I thought it went well with our story that he was from Scotland.

  Tara, Shay and I headed to the bathroom.

  *****

  “Hey! There’s some horses loose in the back!” Shay’s uncle came stumbling toward us.

  Shawn stood up. “We’d better go check.”

  We got up and headed outside, moving quietly in case the horses were skittish.

  “Do you see anything?” I took Jasper’s hand. Even without his tiger half he still had better night vision than me.

  “No. Isn’t there usually a light back here?”

  Shay glanced up the pole that held the yard light. “Ooh. Look at the moon.”

  I looked up and squeezed Jasper’s hand. “It’s time.”

  A horse snorted from in the shadows.

  “They’re over by the outdoor ring.” Tara started walking in that direction.

  Ben came jogging up to us. “I just checked the barn. No one’s missing.”

  We all stopped short.