Half-Blooded | The Dark Child Prophecy Series [✔️]

Chapter 55: Desperately Wanting

Three Weeks Later...

I watched out the car window as the gates of Tanière du Loup receded behind us and the trees closed in around the car. I inhaled slowly, looking forward to see the narrow opening ahead where the large chateau waited. I glanced over my shoulder when Jenny made a sound of awe in the backseat. Luce chuckled and it made me smile. I was happy they had tagged along.  I glanced at Canaan in the driver's seat as he continued down the gravel road to the estate. He returned the look and smiled slightly with the corner of his mouth, his eyes hidden behind his aviators. I didn't have the sarcasm to tell him the sun had already set. But the thought alone made me smirk.

"This is where you might live?" Jenny asked, and I giggled.

"Maybe," I answered as I leaned forward to see the large wrought iron arch that framed the end of the road like a portal from the forest to the chateau. "We'll see what happens in the next few months with all of the transitions."

"It's gorgeous," she said from behind me.

"Just wait 'til you see the inside," I told them as I looked up at the grey stones of the home. The towering marble columns guarding the main doors and patio were glowing in the waxing moonlight, making the patches of ivy that covered the stones and rock look darker. I waited until Canaan pulled the car all the way around the circular drive and came to a halt. I glanced over my shoulder again to see the silhouettes of the rest of the cars behind us follow suit, the headlights clicking off.

Before the attendants could reach the bottom of the steps to open our doors, or Canaan could get out to do the same, I was already undoing my seatbelt. I popped the door open, immediately greeted by the warm scent of summer, distant rain, and the flowers from the gardens mixing with the deep woods. I felt myself breathe it in, relieved by the comfort it offered. The sounds of the forest and the evening birds and bugs were a soundtrack I had nearly forgotten. Before I could turn to look towards the front doors, I could hear my family as they got out of their cars and made little sounds of admiration and wonderment.

Another scent caught my nose and I looked away to find Maria and Thomas coming down the steps. Maria was dressed in her business professional clothes, her pencil skirt and blouse pressed and her heels clicking on the stone steps. She had let her wild curls bounce about her shoulders, no longer pinned back. Thomas followed in her shadow, dressed in an all-black suit.

"Seren," Maria called and I moved to her, grinning.  "I'm so happy you made it. And you have perfect timing, as always. Dinner is just about set and the Kiplings have arrived," she told me as she gave me a hug when we reached one another.

"Hi, Maria. Please tell me they're the only other guests here," I said, returning the embrace before stepping back.

"They are. Don't worry; I wasn't going to have the entire Pack arrive until tomorrow. No way do I have the man-power at my disposal to keep them all here for a full two days before the ceremony," she answered. "Besides, I figured you wouldn't be ready to throw your family to the wolves quite yet," she teased.

I laughed, turning to look over my shoulder as my mother and Marcus began to move towards us. Grandmother Kearran had taken Felicity the night before while we had stopped in London and would arrive with her the night of the ceremony. "I think they probably could have handled it," I said jokingly, making her laugh.  "Maria, this is my mother and stepfather, Elizabeth Bartholomeu and Marcus Augustus. I'm not sure if you were introduced last year."

"We were not," the petite brunette said, smiling at my parents with the warmth she always possessed. "Welcome, Lady Bartholomeu, Lord Augustus. We're happy to have you here with us."