Twisting Her Fate
Chapter 153

Connor presses his lips to Lani's forehead and runs his fingers through her hair that he has released from its hairband, all those times that he stroked the glass of that photo imagining that he was stroking her hair, all the times that he thought he could remember the softness, he wasn't even close, nothing is like this, there is nothing softer in the world, there is nothing more fragrant, there is nothing better. No matter how great his imagination is he was still only stroking cold glass, feeling those white blonde tendrils between his large fingers is so amazing. "I can't believe the goddess finally got it right"

Leilani's finger runs around Connor's defined pectoral muscle. It amazes her how much he has grown and strengthened in the time that they have been apart. He was already a powerhouse before and now he is even more so.

The feeling of shelter and security that comes from the man is hard to put into words. Sometimes she thought that she was remembering it wrong, but it is so right, his strength is all encompassing.

Feeling his warm, taut skin under her hands and pressed under her cheek is like a dream come true. She never thought she would have another time like this. Just two lovers sharing a quiet moment when everything is laid bare. Two fated mates.

She loved him before and now knowing that he is all hers and there is going to be no other curve balls, it is such a relief to wear his mark on her shoulders, to be marked as his. She never liked the idea of being someone's possession before she met Connor and then that is all she wanted, it is so much more than that, it is a tie that bonds her soul.

As Lani listened to Connor's story her mind was racing and she was starting to piece everything together, working out why things went the way they did if they were always going to end up back in the same place, why there had to be that three-year gap, why there had to be so many hurdles.

"I've been thinking about it and what if this all needed to happen? What if Evie needed you to help her through? She needed to get over her initial hurdle without hurting anyone else. She couldn't just have a normal mate that would expect things from her. She needed that time to heal but she also needed that mate bond. So now that the time has passed, maybe she will be able to be in a relationship and do all those things because there was no pressure on her. She is just able to move at her own pace without the mate bond weighing down on her without an alpha blood mate that is fighting his own wolf to try and stay away from her. If she returned and she was still mated to Damon and he was ready to claim her straight away and she wasn't able to fulfil that obligation, wouldn't it be that, despite all Damon's good intentions, even if he was willing to try and wait, it would put such a strain on the relationship? Wouldn't it hurt both of them, wouldn't she only still be a scared little girl instead of the powerful alpha she is now, wouldn't Madison have everything she needed to destroy Evie again until she finally succeeded with her scheme? Evie needed this time to become strong with the bond helping her so that she could have a normal life, so that even after all she has been through that something more could be possible for her"

Lani's fingers trail along Connor's strong jawline.

"And maybe if we had just been able to go through with choosing our own path like we intended to do, maybe we never would have gotten here. You would never have been willing to sacrifice my life like that, so you would have tried to talk me out of keeping the twins, which if we had gone through with letting them go. I think that is something that would have been hanging over our heads for the rest of our lives. If you had to be there and watch me die so many times. If you had to sit by my side while I was in a coma for six months you would have gone crazy. Your wolf would have gone crazy. The whole stormy pack would have fallen in that time, everyone has been watching you, they would have attacked you in your weakness"

Lani presses a finger to Connor's lips, pausing any words that he is going to say. She doesn't need him to start defending himself in this situation, saying what he would or wouldn't have done in the same scenario. She feels like she has to be the one that is defending her own actions. He should have never been left out of the decision, but what she has at the end, the finished product, their two beautiful children are worth it.

"In that time, Gabriel has become a better person and a better leader which he never would have been if it wasn't for what happened then. His growth was down to my misfortune. Then if you hadn't been with me, maybe my human wouldn't have enough time to heal. Maybe my wolf wouldn't have had enough time to heal, but seeing you feeling you last night. It made my wolf surge and I was in a good enough place, I was physically well enough. I was strong enough for her to be able to come forth and then, today, seeing you after suffering through that separation, my wolf only wanted to get to her mate after such a long absence. Maybe if we were together the whole time. Maybe my wolf never would have come forward the way she did. Maybe I would have had to live my life wolfless. I know we have wasted so many years being apart and I'm sorry that you've had to miss out on your children being born and growing. Just remember that I missed out on a part of that too. Maybe this all happened so that Evie could live a happy life so that Gabriel could bring benefit to our world. Maybe it all happened so that we can live together as fated with our twins and with my wolf"

Connor tucks a spare piece of hair in behind her ear, running his hand down her cheek as he kisses her again. He can't get enough of touching her or kissing her. He hopes this feeling never fades. He knows it never will because the sparks that ignite under his touch soothe his whole body, setting his soul on fire at the same time it soothes his wolf.

"Are you saying that our separation has been worth it?"

"You know that nothing will be worth being separated from you but what we have now and the people we have helped. I guess it cushions the blow somewhat. Maybe what we were meant to do and the people we were meant to help maybe that was more important than our immediate happiness, and maybe all the trials that were from before would have pulled us apart, but now having to suffer these three years without you, I feel like we couldn't be closer. I cannot wait for you to spend time with our babies, they are worth it, they are worth the horrid pregnancy. They're worth dying numerous times. They are worth being without my wolf. I'm sorry that I kept them away from you. I'm sorry that I let my misunderstandings and that I tried to be reasonable, but somehow managing to be so unreasonable in my actions. Even if I had gone my life without my wolf it would have been worth it so that you were there at the start of their lives"

Connor tilts Lani's chin up so he can stare straight into her stormy blue eyes.

"Lani, I don't even care, from now we are just starting fresh. We have two beautiful kids and we have an massive extended family. We are going to start from where we were going to be three years ago, making the stormy pack your home, your brother's home. If they still want that, your mum is welcome. Everyone is welcome as long as you are there by my side. Everything is going to be so perfect from now on"

"You don't hold it against me?"

"I don't, as long as you are here now and they are here now, I like the way you put it. Maybe we were meant to help others along their paths and the reward at the end is each other and what a reward it is. I wanted you as my chosen mate. I can't believe that you are actually my fated. I can't believe that the moon goddess finally blessed me with exactly what I want. Maybe it is all worth it, all the loneliness just so I can know that you are line in every sense, just so now I can smell that amazing mate's scent"

Leilani cups Connor's cheeks as she presses her lips to his.

"You are everything I have ever wanted and more"

Connor captures her lips in another kiss.

"Shall we go in? I am so keen to meet what my DNA created, to see what a mixture of the two of us is like"

Connor's eyes are shining bright and there is a large smile on his face.

"I can't believe I am a father"

"You are going to be the best father"