The prompt this week is this picture.

This is much much later in the story…like the next book. I wanted to give you all a happy-ish moment, though.  😉

As always this is un-edited mostly, so forgive any errors:

Velli leaned on the railing and closed her eyes. The waves lapped the shore of the hotel’s beach in a soothing rhythm.  With her magic the ebb and flow of the waves touched her deep down in her soul with its ease and normality.

The door to the balcony slid open, and then closed. She never heard the footsteps, but Kane’s warmth enveloped her within seconds.

He kissed the top of her head. “Feeling better?”

“For now.” She sighed and leaned against him. “I’m ready now.”

His whole body stilled, not even a finger twitched on her hand. After several long minutes of silence he spoke into the silence. “Do you mean what I think you do?”

“Yes.” She disentangled herself from his arms. Grateful he didn’t protest the action, she moved to the corner of the balcony. The last thing she needed was to be touched as she told the story.

“You’re going to tell me what happened to you, then. All those years ago.”

Fear wrapped itself around her vocal chords as it always did. Shame burned tears against the back of her eyes, and flooded her cheeks with heat. All she could do was nod. Every time she’d tried before things had gone so wrong. Still, after all he’d done for her, and the knowledge that he was her mate, and his Wolf was Tala’s, if Tala survived. “I’m going to try, but you have to let me talk. I have to finish.”

“Whatever you need, baby.”

She bit down on her tongue in hopes that the pain would overcome the indignity. When he leaned on the railing beside her, still not touching, she took a ragged breath. The story she’d buried deep began to come out too fast to stop. “It was just before my sixteenth birthday…”

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