Free Crossover 'The Chosen One Trilogy: Book One' by Mireille Chester Page B

smile.
“Leave it to Hayden to barely look at a man for twenty three years,
then spend four days here and become fated to one of the most
sought after bachelors on the guard.”
    I laughed at Jasper’s blush. “Most
sought after, are you?”
    He shrugged.
    My heart did a flip in my chest. “Did
you...I mean, do you have someone else?”
    His eyes widened. “Not for six years I
haven’t. Not since I started dreaming of you.”
    “Beings here are a lot like the ones
from where you came from,” explained Ben. “We get into
relationships and such. But once you start to see the one you are
fated to, the urge goes away until you find that one.”
    “Hmm. Interesting.” I leaned my head on
Jasper’s shoulder. “And comforting. I don’t think I would win a
fight against a big cat to win you.”
    He chuckled. “Now wouldn’t that be
something to see.”
    The rest of the group slowly started
coming back to camp and everyone was introduced.
    “So?” inquired Zane. “What’s the
verdict?”
    I was a little shocked to find they
were all looking at me. “You guys will go wherever I go? How did
that happen?”
    Jasper took my hand. “Like Shanus said
yesterday, it seems you have a way of drawing people to you. And
after what happened last night, no one will doubt your
judgment.”
    “Ok, then.” I was a little nervous. “I
still think we need to go see the Wedelves. I’m sure there’s
something or someone there I’m supposed to see or find.
    They all nodded.
    “What happened last night?” asked
Ben.
    I saddled Dodge while Jasper gathered
the blankets. “I’ll start at the beginning when we get moving,” he
said.
    “Sounds good.”
    “So where’s the bridge?” asked
Phlann.
    I laughed. “Like you can’t see the
bridge!” Then I stopped. “Oh, now what?” I was getting a little
tired of people looking at me like I had three heads.
    “Where do you see the bridge?” asked
Jasper.
    I pointed a little way up the river to
a beautiful wooden bridge.
    Zane’s eyes were wide. “Is there
anything you can’t do?”
    Ben clarified the situation for me.
“Only Wedelves can see the bridge. It keeps us from having to worry
too much about intruders. We move it every so often so the location
stays secret. There are a few out there, like Jasper, who know the
location because we trust them. But for the most part, people try
to brave the river to cross onto our land.”
    The way he said ‘try to’ made me
shiver. I didn’t think many succeeded.
    I hopped onto Dodge and we started back
on our journey, Tara and Ben leading the way. Dodge followed with
Jasper at his head. He was catching them up on the events of the
past four days.
    The forest on this side of the river
was amazing. There were still some of the blue trees but the
farther we got away from the river, there were less of them. In
their stead were tall, slender trees with faded brown, almost white
trunks. Their leaves were large, maybe the size of two of my hands,
shaped almost like an aspen leaf and were a mesmerizing greenish
silver in color. Every now and then I would catch a glimpse of what
looked like big spruce trees, only these had red drooping flowers
hanging from their branches instead of cones.
    I fought off the urge to sleep and my
head snapped up as I started to slip out of the saddle.
    “Close your eyes, Shlova,” whispered
Jasper in my ear. How he had got on behind me without my knowing
was beyond me. He put his arms around me and I leaned back against
him. It wasn’t long before I was asleep.
     
    *****
    “Hayden. We’re stopping for lunch.”
Jasper gave me a squeeze and kissed the back of my neck.
    A shiver ran through me and I smiled. I
reached back and ran my fingers through his hair.
    “Hello.” He murmured in my ear. “Did
you have a good sleep?”
    I nodded and opened my eyes. “Whoa!
What are those?”
    Standing not too far away from us were
a couple of animals that resembled white tailed deer. The only
difference was