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Lila

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I swear I felt like I was living some kind of fairytale right now. There had been so much happening that just didn't make sense to me. How was all of this even possible?

First, I found out from Trinity, my daughter in-law, that I was now immortal. I wasn't particularly upset about being immortal, but when I heard that news it made me think about my mate, my husband that died. Living this long life would be great, if I had him to share it with. But I didn't. I didn't have anyone to share my life with. I was basically going to be an immortal widow.

I thought about Collin a lot after I learned about my immortality. I couldn't get him out of my mind really. However, there was someone else that had been taking up residence in my mind a lot lately. Someone that I saw almost on a daily basis. And for some reason, I felt like there might be something there that wasn't there before.

I mean, I have known this man for so long. And I had mated with Collin all those years ago. Granted, my husband died in a battle just about twelve years ago. That shouldn't make a difference, though. I was only supposed to be mated once, just one time and that was supposed to be it.

I was feeling the pull though. I was feeling the pull towards a man that I have known for so long. Toward a man that I have been able to trust and accept with taking charge since the days that my husband was the Alpha. A man that was so much older than me that I never used to give it any thought at all, but now, why shouldn't I?

Age no longer seemed relevant to me. Now that I knew that I was going to live forever, did the fact that he was a little more than twenty years older than me really make a difference?

Oh, and there was that really interesting thing that seemed to be happening to him lately. He was looking younger and younger with each passing day. Hell, with each passing hour. He no longer looked like he might be in his sixties or seventies. No, he now looked like he was in his early forties. He looked no older than his son, that was for sure. Even his son looked younger too. He was looking somewhere in his mid thirties now.

Oh, even I was looking younger too, by the way. I was now looking to be closer to my mid thirties once again. I felt amazing and looked so young that I wondered if I was really awake or if I was just dreaming.

Anyway, enough about the way we looked. I only cared about the way that we felt. Specifically about the way that he felt. We spent a lot of time together, working on different things for Trinity. It's not like we were never around each other. And I had been watching him to see what it was that he was thinking and feeling.

Oh Goddess, I was getting so frustrated. I just wanted to read his mind right now. I almost felt like Belle in Beauty and the Beast. I was stuck trying to see how this beast of a man thought and felt about me.

The lyrics to that iconic song, the one that Belle and the Beast both sing, was playing in my mind whenever he was near.

'There's something sweet and almost kind

But he was mean and he was coarse and unrefined

And now he's dear and so I'm sure

I wonder why I didn't see it there before.'

Oh, Dammit! This was so scary. I wasn't a young woman anymore, despite my current appearance. I should just ask him how he feels about me. Why am I acting so scared? What am I, a middle school girl chasing after a crush?

I took a deep breath. I steeled my nerves. I got ready in any way that I possibly could. I even had more of those lyrics playing inside my head.

'New and a bit alarming

Who'd have ever thought that this could be

True, that he's no Prince Charming

But there's something in him that I simply didn't see'

OK, come on Lila, you can do this. You've got this. You can ask a man out. You have known him for a long time. You know that he is a good guy. He is so smart, so sweet and so kind, everything. On top of all of that, he was strong, capable, and confident.

I exhaled. I shook the nerves from my hands and blanked my mind. It was time for me to stop this. It was time for me to just do what I needed to do.

"Uh..uhm, S..S..Samuel?" I stuttered out his name like a moron. Oh Goddess, I was hopeless.

"Lila, you're looking so beautiful today." He smiled at me, that twinkle in his eyes that he always had when I was near. Or maybe he just always looked that way.

I thought for a moment. Samuel had lost his wife and daughter so long ago that he was probably ready for something now. Did he like me? Was he in love with me?

"Come on in, Lila, I just made some tea." Samuel opened the door to allow me to enter the room that he was in.

"W..w..well, Samuel, the thing is, I wanted to talk to you. I wanted to ask you something." Dammit, I was almost trembling right now. Was I that afraid that he would turn me down?

The answer to that is yes, I was.

"S..Samuel, I wanted to ask you, i..if.. I..I mean, h..how d..do y..you f..f..fe..feel-."

"Can I stop you there, Lila?" He grinned and leaned in towards me. "Can I answer that without you even finishing that question.?"

"H..Huh?" He already knew what he was going to say? "Uh, uhm, y..yeah."

The next thing that I knew, I felt a hand slide onto my cheek and cup it. Before I could register it too much, I felt someone press their lips against me.

Was I going crazy? Did Samuel just kiss me? Was he still kissing me? This was not how I expected him to answer my question.

"Do you know now? Can you see how I feel about you now?"

"Uh..uh..uh..-."

"I love you, Lila. I love you and I feel like you were sent to me to fill the hole in my heart."

"Samuel?" I felt like crying. "That is how I feel as well." He pressed his lips to mine again, softly and gently. He was such an amazing man.

From that day forward, Samuel and I were mated. What this really meant to people our age, was that we were basically dating with hopes of possibly getting married. I will admit, I was very happy that I was able to be with this man. He was the sweetest, especially when he was taking care of me in our new shared living space. He was also a lot more romantic than I would have ever thought that he would be.. I was so happy. 

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