The Soul Mate

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

“Ack!” I nearly choked on a mouthful of stew when Xan pulled me into his lap and buried his face in my neck, quickly making his way toward my mouth.

“How am I supposed to eat with you all over…mmph!”

“I can’t eat either; you’re both making me physically ill,” Shandor complained.

“How the mighty have fallen.” Gunnar grinned at Xan, who flipped both of them off around my shoulders.

I tried to eat another spoonful of stew and ended up with a mouthful of Xan.

“Seriously Trinity, take your man and get a room,” Becki said, laughing as she sat down next to me.

I tried to give her a hug but Xan was loath to fully release me. I ended up having to half hold onto him and give Becki a one armed hug.

Aside from wearing one of Hockey’s destroyed Blackhawk jerseys, she looked good. Her skin had a healthy flush and her eyes were sparkling. She was smiling too, something Becki hadn’t done willingly in a long time. Was it too much to hope that I had my friend back?

“Are you moving back home?” I asked.

Becki laughed and looked at Xan and then at Hockey. “Forget something, hun?”

I bit my lip and tried hard not to laugh at my scowling husband. Husband? So not used to that. The last thing I thought I’d be at 22 was married. Graduating from college, yes. But married, no.

“No,” She said, now laughing at the expression on my face. “I’m moving in with Hockey and Stevo.”

She didn’t mention Gerik, their third roommate. No one had seen him since he’d walked through the wards. He’d never come back to camp and no one had seen him since he left.

“It only seems right,” Hockey said, sitting down next to her. “That we let Stevo stay since he played such a critical part in our marriage.” Becki leaned into him as he planted a big, wet kiss on her cheek.

“Besides,” Becki continued. “How can I subject him to having to move back home?” She lowered her voice significantly. “To Aishe…” She made a face and the entire table laughed.

“He could move in with us,” Shandor said, referring to Pitti and himself. “Xan has officially left the building and joined the ranks of boring.”

“Nope!” Pesha slammed his fist down. “I went through two hours of my mamă crying and hugging me just so I could leave. I’m not giving that up!”

Pitti groaned. “I just barely got away from you, now I have to live with you again?”

A piece of bread went flying over the table. Bouts of cursing followed in several different languages.

I leaned back against Xan’s broad chest and tugged his arms forward, wrapping them around me.

“Mmmm,” He said and squeezed.

Crisis’s aside, the camp once again fell into a normal routine. Everything that had happened over the past few months began to slowly fade with time. With Gerik gone and Onyx refusing to leave her tent, it was easy to forget the turmoil I’d gone through.

Living arrangements were settled peacefully with only mild grumbling, mainly between Pitti and Pesha.

Becki and Jaelle began planning a formal ceremony to celebrate her marriage to Hockey.

And I settled comfortably into my relationship with Xan.

I delighted in the newness of having someone to share everything with, in a way that surpassed the boundaries of family and friendship. In a lot of ways I was experiencing so many things for the very first time. I had never realized just how many restraints the bond with Gerik had actually put on my life.

Things I had never taken any interest in before had suddenly emerged and I felt myself changing, wanting to become a part of everything and hating how much I had missed out on. Boys and parties, shopping and dances, bonding over ridiculous girly things, all missed. And for what?

Because Nature had strapped me with a magical chastity belt that had left me unable to move forward until I met my other half. No matter that my other half had been living out his life just as any normal male would; he hadn’t been repressed in any way. Or purposely conditioned to be a most dutiful and loyal mate. And why would he? He was the one I had been made for. He was all powerful and deserving. He was the one I had been made for.

I was more than ready to catch up.

Xan viewed my innocence as some sort of blessing, some kind of redemption he wasn’t deserving of. I’d often find him staring at me as if he couldn’t believe I was real. What I never told him is that at night, after we’ve made love and he’s fallen asleep, I do the very same thing.

Magic, for some people, is a state of mind.