Shadow of the Wolf (10 page)

     Serenitee still saw doubt clouding his eyes but at least he was willing to talk about it.
  She would take what she could get at the point.

     “The side effects the patients have informed the doctor of were
headaches, nausea and fatigue, but nothing extreme was reported. These effects were temporary.  After a few doses, the side effects started waning until they disappeared completely.”  She placed her hand over his.  “Please, Trevor.  It’s worth a try if you can have a normal life.  Isn’t it?”

     Trevor squeezed her hand.  “If that normal life means that you’ll be in it.”  His eyes were asking her to stay.

     Serenitee rubbed his cheek with her palm.  “That’s all I ever wanted.  To be with you, Trevor.  I don’t want anyone else.  I could love no one else but you.”

     Trevor smiled and scooped Serenitee in an embrace.  “Then I’ll do anything to make sure we can be together.  I won’t give up ever again.”

     A few months had passed by and Trevor could already feel the difference.  He somehow knew that the medicine Dr. Shaw gave him was working wonders.  The side effects were nearly as bad as the effects of the Monkshood injection he used to give himself.

     It wouldn’t be long before the gene that had cursed him would be wiped out.  Dr. Shaw was a genius, designing an injection that targeted the lycanthropic gene and began dissolving it gradually.  Eventually, it would disappear.  The best thing about it was that he wouldn’t pass the gene on to any male offspring. 

    
Now, he no longer looked at the full moon with trepidation.  Rue and all her friends celebrated his return with a big feast.  Rue took him under her wing.  She knew this was a turning point for him.  She only wished his father and men before him had this kind of help.

     Rue was beside herself with joy when Trevor whispered something in her ear a few days ago.  She nodded and gave him a motherly hug.  “Yo
u know I’m happy for you and wish you the best, son.”

     Trevor had warmed at Rue’s endearment.  No one has called him ‘son’ in such a long time. 

     He wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Serenitee’s tenacity at helping him.  He loved her more every day for it.  She was his miracle.  He meant to cherish her as long as he had breath in his body.  She was his rock and he was never letting her go.

Chapter T
welve

    
Trevor hid something behind his back.  His mouth said nothing but his smile told on him.  Whatever it was, it was going to be a nice surprise.

     “I know that you miss your parents.  Nothing will ever come close to filling that void.  Believe me, I know.
”  He revealed a package.  “I want you to have this.”

    
Serenitee ripped it open like a child at Christmas.  She let the wrapping fall to the floor.  What she saw made her forget to breathe.  Her fingers felt numb.  So numb, she was afraid she would drop this beautiful gift.

     Serenitee looked at it and her heart caught in her throat.  One half of it was a picture of her parents hugging for a Christmas picture before they had Serenitee.  The other half was her mother’s award winning poem, “
Drifting Time”.
  The whole picture was encased in a homemade walnut wood frame.  The wood was etched with small leaves and flowers.  At the top, ‘Forever’ was burned into the wood.   

     Tears poured freely from her eyes.  “Oh, Trevor.  How did you manage this?”  She caressed the gift.

     “I know how much they meant to you.  So, when I was gone all that time, I was searching for your parents’ belongings.  I asked around for days until I found one of your dad’s sisters.  I explained who I was and what I wanted.  She seemed happy to give me one of the pictures of her brother with his wife.  She was very vocal about how happy she was that her favorite niece had found ‘such a nice man’. 

     “I had asked her about the poem your mother wrote but she only had a copy.  I wanted the original.  She told me where I might find it.  It was an older couple looking to retire but they haven’t had the funds.  So, I made them an offer for the original and promised them the copy.  I told them that it was my wife’s mother’s poem and how she had lost her tragically and that it would be nice for her to have
something that meant the world to her.  I thought we could work out a deal.

     “The money was more than tempting.  They
did
want to retire and for what I offered, they couldn’t resist.  So, I paid them and gave them a framed version of the copy, which satisfied them.”  He pointed to the picture.  “Now, it’s yours.  I had the craftsman burn ‘Forever’ in the wood.  Because no matter living or dead, your parents will be with you forever.”  He pulled her into a sweet embrace. 

     Serenitee held him tightly.  “Thank you so much, Trevor.  That gift was the best thing I’ve ever gotten.”  She kissed his cheek.  “One small question.  Why did you say it was for your wife?”

     “Because the same applies to me.  I want you to be
my
forever.  Grow old and watch our children’s children flourish.  I know we won’t live forever, but on the other side, we will walk hand in hand.  I don’t want to lose you no matter where we end up.”

     “I want that, too.  I love you so much, Trevor,” she cried.

     “That brings me to my second gift.”  He reached in his back pocket and pulled out a black velvet box.  “I love you now and forever.  I don’t want to spend my life alone.  Without you, I have nothing.”  He opened the box to a large diamond ring, glittering in the firelight.  “I want to do this right.”  He bent down to one knee and presented the ring to her.  “Will you, Serenitee Snow, please marry me?”

     Serenitee fell to her knees and wrapped her arms around him. 

     “Does this mean ‘yes’?”

     Serenitee laughed and slipped the ring on her finger.  “Yes.
I will marry you, Trevor.  Now and forever.”

EPILOGUE

    
Trevor nuzzled his wife’s cheek.  “I still can’t believe I’m here with you.  Sometimes, I don’t think I deserve you, Serenitee.  You’re the best thing to happen to me.”

     Serenitee pressed her lips to his.  “Yes, you do deserve me.  You deserve all the happiness in this world.  You never really had that until now.  Embrace it.  I’m not going anywhere.  Ever,” she vowed vehemently.

     Trevor ran his hands over her swollen belly.  He couldn’t believe it.  He was going to be a father in a couple of months.  Twins.  A boy and a girl.  He had a strong suspicion that the girl was going to look like the one in his dreams. 

     And the boy?
  Well, he would have a good, long life.  He would see to that.  No curse would touch him now.  And Trevor would be here to be the best dad he could be.  And Serenitee would be with him every step of the way.

     “I love you.”  Trevor whispered.

     “Oh, Trevor.  I do love you.”

    
They kissed each other tenderly. 

     Much later, they sat on the couch, while Serenitee read aloud her mother’s poem:

  “Time goes on

  
Many moons and suns will pass,

  
The drifting of time

  
Through the Earth’s hourglass.

  
Each grain of regret, confusion and sorrow   

  
Love, passion and hope,

  
Promises of no tomorrow.

  
Hold onto your love

 
For it can slip through your hands

  
Like the drifting of time and

  
The spilling of ocean sands.”

The End