Destiny Is Calling

Chapter 14

Sorry I know it's been a while - have been so busy lately. Enjoy!!

Sophia

Callie and I literally 'shopped 'till we dropped' for the whole of Saturday, only pausing for half an hour to have a few bites of lunch. It was late in the evening by the time we eventually staggered into the lake house and dropped our armfuls of shopping bags on the floor of the living room. I collapsed onto the sofa and looked at Callie. "Well, congratulations Cal. I am officially exhausted and never want to see another shop again!" I told her, leaning back into the soft embrace of the cushions behind me. "You don't really mean that," she replied as she sat down next to me.

"Oh, but I do," I said.

"You'll be back at the mall within a week. I guarantee it. In the meantime, I suggest that you go upstairs and have a shower while I fix up a chicken salad for dinner, then we can go to sleep. Cole took your bags and stuff with him, but there's an overnight bag with a change of clothes and some pajamas on your bed. Don't take too long; I might eat your share of the food..." Callie warned as she got up off the sofa and sauntered into the kitchen. I sighed and coaxed my aching legs up the stairs into our room.

Just as Callie had said, there was a duffel bag at the end of my bed with all my essentials in it, including my night things and clothes for the next day. I smiled. Normally, I would rather curl up and die than let a guy go through my clothes, but somehow the fact that it was Cole stemmed that impulse; it didn't bother me. I picked up a towel and walked over to the bathroom to turn on the water before stripping and stepping into the shower.

As I let the warm, steamy water flow over me, I couldn't help wondering how my life would change when I shifted the next day. Would I still be me? Would I feel the same about Cole? What if - what if he wasn't my mate? Could I handle that? Stop worrying; you'll give yourself a headache. Everything will be fine, the voice said impatiently. It had been quiet for so long that I'd almost forgotten about it. I mentally rolled my eyes and rinsed off my hair before grabbing my towel and stepping out of the shower. I dried myself quickly and slipped on my pajamas, then walked back out into the bedroom.

"Hurry up Soph! Dinner's ready and it's gonna disappear really soon!" Callie called up the stairs. I laughed quietly to myself and made my way to the door. As I was passing my bed, I noticed something lying on my pillow out of the corner of my eye and changed direction. Picking it up and turning it over, I saw that there was a short message in Cole's handwriting. It said; For my Belle - Not to be opened until ten o'clock exactly on her 17thbirthday, Sunday 29th September.

"Callie!" I called, walking down the stairs with the envelope in my hands.

"What? What's wrong?" she asked as I entered the kitchen where she had laid out our food.

"Nothing's wrong. Cole left this on my pillow. I think he's planning something. Do you know what it is?" I said.

"That's for me to know and you to find out. Now sit down and eat; I'm starving!" she replied. I shook my head and did as instructed. I itched to open up the envelope, but I knew that Cole didn't want me to until ten, and I wasn't about to ruin whatever he was planning.

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Sleep came swiftly that night and before I knew it, we were packing up and heading back home. We arrived just before seven in the evening and spent the next hour and a half dragging our things inside and putting away all of our new clothes from the day before. By the time we were finished, it was almost time to go and we had to scramble to be ready in time. "You'll need to give me a change of clothes for when you shift back. Oh, and wear something relatively old; your clothes will rip when you shift," Callie advised as I looked helplessly at my wardrobe.