“Me, too,” I responded. “It has been a scary thing, as well as wonderful, not knowing what I could do with it. I don’t want to hurt anyone.”
“And, you never had an inkling of it before? I mean, before Lex and you spoke to each other just a few weeks ago?” Edward chimed in, being very polite to say spoke rather than slept together, though I blushed, knowing it was what he meant.
“No. Nothing at all until I formally met Lex, and began to have feelings for him. I know it has been a short time,” I mumbled, leaving off, at a loss for words to explain what was between the two of us without sounding silly or pathetic.
“It has been a short time, but we are believers in the power of love, and in love at first sight. Many here found their mates while on short vacations from the island. They just knew the minute they locked eyes. Though, Lex has admitted to having feelings long before you knew about him.” Catherine turned to Lex then. “Please, know that while the rules were in place to protect the charge, to not let emotions get in the way of his or her safety, now that it has happened, and all that has come since, you both have our blessing to be together in any way you want.”
“Thank you,” Lex said. “I take all you have done for me very seriously. I would not have wanted to lose favor, to seem unappreciative in any way.”
“We know that. We are well aware of how long you tried to stay within the rules. But, the heart wants what the heart wants. Right?” Edward chimed in. “Though created magically, the spell has given you many of the same traits as a wolf, as you well know. In this case, I assume you found your mate, and there is no denying that.”
“Yes,” Lex said with a smile. “Yes, I believe she is.”
The word ‘mate’ hung around me, lingered in the air, tapping along my skin in a glorious rhythm that made my heart beat faster. We’d said we’d loved each other, but mate, in a werewolf world, if it was anything like the stories... that was permanent. The idea of it, rather than scare me, made me feel secure.
Catherine gave him another hug then, this time with tears making her eyes glisten. She pulled back from him and turned to me. While she took my hands, holding them out to my sides, looking me over from head to toe, a smile never left her face, and not one of those tears spilled from her eyes. She embraced me at that point, squeezing the air from my lungs, but in the best way. I felt the sting of my own tears as the air around us hissed.
“It’s okay, dear,” she said. “Emotions and magic, they are unpredictable things. You will learn to control them, and will get used to them. But first, we want you both to settle in here. It is your home now, too, the whole of this castle. We will have someone show you to your room. We’ve taken the liberty of having you share one, based on reports. I assume that is okay with the both of you?”
Catherine gave us both a wink, not waiting for an answer as she turned to signal to a servant who stood at the back of the entranceway to the side of the fireplace. I’d just noticed that the wolves who had flown us here and led us to the castle had not followed us in. The men in black butler-like attire, like I’d seen in the movies, walked past us to where our stuff had been left. There was the whole of two small bags we had come with, all of it thanks to Nira.
“We have your room ready, and we have taken the liberty of getting you some more clothes. We know you have essentially been left with nothing but what the vampires provided you. Nira gave me your size, so hopefully something there will work. We have staff that love to shop, so it was no trouble. We just want you to be comfortable. At some point, you can go shopping for more on your own.”
“Thank you,” I managed, wondering what clothes would be waiting for me, and exactly what the ‘at some point’ meant as far as how long my stay here was to be. “It is very generous of you to have done such a thing as to buy us clothes, on top of letting us stay here in your home.”
“We were happy to. Now, we want you to take a few hours to unwind from travel. Explore the house, which by the way, I meant, is yours. You are welcome here as long as you wish to stay, to come and go as you please. You are one of us now, Christina. I’m sure it will take a while to get used to, but that is how it is. Now, back to the next few hours: go explore the grounds, take a nap, or whatever you want. We will give you some time to recover from your trip. We will see you again in a few hours for an early lunch. Sound good?”