Fated | The Heir of the She-Wolf

Chapter 16

Chapter 16

[Eleanor]

After half an hour drive outside the limits of Carlton and through tiny roads surrounded by forest, Austin and I reached a small village spread long along the ocean coast. We drove for another few minutes before Austin stopped the car on a secluded street surrounded by forest on one side and low buildings on the other.

“Come.”, Austin said and extended his hand to me. I took it and we walked around the building which was right next to us. I could hear the sounds of the ocean waves getting closer and closer, mumbling in the distance and crashing with a thud. Valerio. His blood smelled like the ocean, I remembered but pushed away the thought as soon as it came.

“There are only humans here, so no magic.”, Austin whispered in my ear. The feel of his warm breath against my ear made my skin shiver and the tiny hairs on my arms stand up.

We reached the front of the building which was overlooking the vast ocean and I was surprised to see it was a cosy restaurant. We entered inside and a waiter greeted us, leading us to our table which was in the winter garden – a small space separated from the main seating area. There were only several tables all of which were empty except for ours – it was beautifully decorated with candles and a delicate bouquet of dark red roses in the middle. A large fireplace was warming up the air and throwing red glows on the floor. Transparent thin glass was encompassing the winter garden and a beautiful view was spreading to the beach and the ocean, now such a dark shade of blue that it looked almost black. Our table was right behind the thin glass and while getting seated, I couldn’t help but smile – it was breathtakingly beautiful.

I looked at Austin, his face beautiful beneath the low light of the garland of tiny bulbs above us.

“Thank you.”, I said and his eyes searched mine.

“For what?”, he asked while pouring me a glass of red wine.

“For bringing me here. It’s truly beautiful.”, I said and leaned forward and touched his hand for a moment before pulling it away. “Cheers. To you, for taking me out of the Tower and for being so supportive.”

“You are welcome. And cheers to you, for being one of the strongest women I know.”, Austin said and we clinked our glasses together before taking a sip.

“Strong? Are you sure about that after you saw me crying like a disgusting creature with snot and tears all over my face?”, I chuckled and ironized myself.

“I’m sure. Although I prefer to see you without snot. And yep, you resembled a disgusting creature for a bit.”, Austin laughed and so did I.

“Here are your menus. Just give me a sign when you are ready to order.”, our waiter said and placed the menus in front of us.

“Eleanor, can I ask you something?”, Austin’s gaze fell on mine intently as we were ordering more wine after finishing our main courses.  The whole evening so far had been nothing but amazing.

“Shoot. You can ask me anything.”, I smiled and waited patiently as I had a feeling his question was going to be more serious and personal.

“What did you mean that night, when you asked me if you were worthless because they did not come back for you? Who are they?”

I took in a deep breath and remembered the moment when I broke down in the hallway and could not help but let my biggest fear come alive in front of Austin.

“My parents. It was a long time ago… But one night, they just left. I heard them arguing and talking about visiting the King. They left our home despite my pleas to wait till morning and they never came back. I spent my whole life thinking Valerio did something to them but now I have hope they are alive. I just wonder why… you know?”

“Why they never came back for you.”, Austin finished my sentence and moved his chair closer to mine. He was just a few inches away now and I could sense his warmth and strong masculine scent so much stronger now.

“So what did you do after they left? You were how old exactly?”

“Thirteen. A neighbour saw that I was by myself for days in a row and called Child Protective Services. I ended up in a foster home until I was seventeen when I ran away.”, I explained even though the memories were painful to relive. But I wanted to tell Austin, something about him made me trust him and spill out the darkest moments of my life for the first time.

“Child protective services? But this is a human organization?”

“Yeah, well, my parents left our Magi settlement when I was about five, or six… I don’t remember exactly when, or why for that matter. We lived among humans and I was only allowed to practice basic spells at home.”

“And they never told you you might be a Triad?”, Austin asked. It was something I had wondered about myself – how come I never knew the truth about myself.

“No. They were both Magi, and I didn’t even know Lupi, Feri or Triads existed until I was seventeen and my friend Meredith told me. She also told me about Valerio, how he was the king of all clans and was a Triad and so on.”

Austin’s face grew concerned and he stared at the candlelight for a few seconds before turning to me.

“And how did you feel when you found out about our existence? It must have been so confusing.”

“I hated you. I hated Triads with my whole damn heart and I was sure Valerio had something to do with my life being ruined. But enough about me, I don’t want to turn our evening into a pathetic sob story.”

Austin laughed and looked me in the eyes with a playful smile on the corner of his lips. Gosh, he was so handsome, especially tonight in this dark grey casual shirt and dark blue jeans.

“Hm, alright, alright. What about your parents? Are they cool?”, I chuckled.

“My parents, huh. Not as spicy as I thought you’ll go on me.”